| ■ No More Milk Products with Bovine Growth Hormone: Starbucks | 07.01.22 |
| Less than a month after it announced it would stop selling items with trans fats in its U.S. stores, Starbucks Coffee Co. said this week that it is phasing out milk products that contain an artificial bovine growth hormone. The company said that as of January, 37 percent of dairy products at its U.S. outlets are free of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), compared to 27 percent of milk products in December. The company did not say when it expects to reach 100 percent, the Associated Press reported. For years, some advocacy groups have said there's inadequate research on the effects in humans of dairy products from cows that are given rBGH, which is used to increase milk production. Those groups applauded Starbucks' decision. "We think it's good news, and we are happy to hear it," Patty Lovera, assistant director of Food and Water Watch in Washington, D.C., told the AP. However, large-scale dairy producers said there's no scientific evidence to suggest that rBGH has any effect on humans. |