- “Fortified” ???
I haven’t had a rant for a while so I ask for your patience with this one. For years myself and many other dairy farmers have cried the benefits of a national California milk fortification standard. This could be a huge benefit to the nations dairy farmers and most importantly a better value of nutrition and taste for the consumer.
In California we fortify the milk with proteins and solids. It makes for a great tasting more “naturally” nutritious product.
The people opposing this are the processors…well of course they are! While dairy farmers have been devastated for the last two years. Processors have seen record profits. They claim that they worry about “us”. This fortification will hurt “us”. Well thank you for your concern….(I am being sarcastic)! You don’t have real concern for us. The minute you pay a penny more you quickly pass that on to the consumer. You have many products toting “Fortified, Enriched, Better Nutrition” YET you do that with additives of Calcium Carbonate or Calcium Citrate. Processors continue to import “MPC’s” (Milk Protein Concentrates) from other countries that do not have the same safety and requirements that we do in the US.
Why do they do this…because it is cheap. Better for their bottom line.
They sing the songs consumers want to hear. “Best quality”, “Good For You”, “Great Taste”. They just deliver it with cheap products they can put in under the radar. Without the consumers knowing any different.
National fortification to the California standards is a win-win for everyone….everyone except those Processors and their record profits…while at the demise of America’s Dairy Farmers.
(Here is an example of just one of the processor products praising “fortified”)
Keep the Calcium in Your Bones with the new NESVITA® CALCIPLUS™ with CALCILOCK®.
Dairyline: Processors oppose California standard
By LEE MIELKE
For the Capital Press
Dairy processors, as in the past, oppose legislation that would mandate the addition of higher milk solids in U.S. fluid milk. IDFA submitted a letter outlining its position at the most recent meeting of the Dairy Industry Advisory Committee, which was established to advise the department on farm milk price volatility.
IDFA’s Peggy Armstrong said the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute in August issued research findings on the proposal to require national adoption of higher nonfat-solids standards for fluid milks, which have been required under California state law for decades.
According to the report, the added milk-solids standard limits consumer choices, raises milk prices and unnecessarily increases costs for government-run programs.
“Contrary to encouraging low-calorie options in the marketplace, the added solids will increase the calories per serving of milk,” Armstrong said.
One key conclusion of the report, she said, is that such a policy change would result in an average increase of 17 cents per gallon in the retail price of fluid milk due to the added cost of the additional nonfat solids. The report notes that “fluid milk processors will have additional capital costs for storage tanks and other equipment that will be necessary to handle the increased need for nonfat solids.”
“Higher standards for nonfat solids in milk have not increased consumption in California,” Armstrong said. “In fact, per capita fluid milk sales are lower in California than in the rest of the nation.”
“IDFA believes that dairy policy proposals that could reduce milk consumption and limit exports are not good for the future of the U.S. dairy industry,” she said. “Instead we need proposals that focus on ways to make our industry more competitive with other beverage choices in our domestic markets and ways to promote exports in the growing world market for dairy products.”
Ditto Dairy Goddess. Good Rant.
California milk definitely tastes better. Good rant.