We're a little hormonal today about ice cream, and it has nothing to do with downing a pint standing in front of the freezer during that time of the month (at least I don't think so).We're talking about recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rBST. Just as a little brush-up for everyone including myself, rBST is a hormone that is meant to boost production in dairy cows. The hormone was not approved in Canada, Japan or the European Union, but for some reason, the FDA approved it in the US. Neat!
Ben & Jerry's was one of the first ice cream makers to label their ice creams as free of these rBST hormones. However, some states are now trying to BAN the labeling saying that it implies that hormone-free milk is safer than milk that comes from cows that have been injected with chemicals that aren't even approved in other countries.
Uh, oookay.
Now I'm not saying whether I believe hormone-free milk is safer or not, but I do think that it's kind of stupid to restrict information to the consumer. If Ben & Jerry want to tell people that there are no hormones in the milk they use to make their ice cream, they should be able to.














