FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2011
12:54 PM

New Organic Milk Contains Illegal Synthetic Additive

- February 23 - A prominent organic industry watchdog filed a formal legal complaint today alleging that a newly introduced product, by the giant dairy conglomerate Dean Foods, includes a synthetic nutritional oil that is prohibited in organics. The product, Horizon Fat-Free Milk Plus DHA Omega-3, bears the USDA organic seal despite a ruling in 2010 by the USDA that the proprietary DHA oil, an ingredient derived from algae, is not legal in organic production.

“This is a willful and flagrant violation of the law governing organic foods,” states Mark A. Kastel, Codirector of the Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based farm policy research group.

Federal law strictly prohibits synthetic additives in organic foods unless the additive appears on the USDA’s National Organic Program’s list of allowed substances. Ingredients are included on this list only after careful review and approval by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), an expert advisory panel, and the Secretary of Agriculture.

Synthetic materials on the list include benign substances like baking powder that are not available organically but important for commercial food production.

“The specific type of laboratory-produced DHA oil that Horizon adds to its milk has never been reviewed by the National Organic Standards Board or approved by the USDA,” explains Charlotte Vallaeys, a Farm and Food Policy Analyst with The Cornucopia Institute.

Due to its past unauthorized use, federal regulators recently issued a statement confirming that adding these synthetic oils violates the Organic Foods Production Act. “It is therefore absolutely baffling that Dean Foods would introduce a product with synthetic DHA and have the audacity to label it organic, and it’s even more disturbing that their certifier would allow this,” Vallaeys added.

In addition to Dean Foods, a few other food processors and several infant formula manufacturers have included the synthetic additive, manufactured by Martek Biosciences Corporation, in organic products, despite their lack of approval.