"When they buy organic, consumers expect wholesome, real foods without synthetic ingredients or manufactured with questionable processing aids," states Vallaeys. "Real organic milk contains healthy fatty acids. It makes no sense to replace them with synthetic oil that was developed in a laboratory and produced in a factory."
Dean Foods' Horizon brand is already held in low esteem by many in the organic industry because of its dependence on industrial-scale "factory farms" that have historically confined their cattle rather than promoting fresh pasture intake. Research shows that pasturing cows leads to milk that is naturally higher in omega-3 fatty acids.
A study conducted by The Milkweed, a dairy industry newspaper, showed that Horizon brand milk tested lower in certain nutrients, including beneficial fatty acids, than almost all of its primary marketplace competitors.
In its previously published landmark report on infant formula, The Cornucopia Institute questioned claims, popular in advertising, that Martek's additives benefit brain and eye health for infants and children. Two scientific review studies substantiated Cornucopia's findings on the effects of DHA supplementation, revealing that only one of 18 included peer-reviewed scientific studies showed an advantage to development. Both meta-analysis studies concluded that DHA does not benefit cognitive and visual development in infants.
An additional study examining DHA effects on toddler development, applicable to Horizon's new supplemented milk, found no statistically significant results on tests of mental prowess between a group of children given DHA supplements and a control group. The study was funded by Martek itself, and published in Clinical Pediatrics.
Yet Dean Foods suggests, in its marketing materials, that its DHA-supplemented milk benefits child brain health. "Even if this DHA oil were legal for inclusion in organic products, there is virtually no research, other than a small minority of industry-funded studies, to indicate that Martek's oil benefits child development," Kastel added. "This is a marketing gimmick, plain and simple."
Cornucopia formally asked the USDA to take immediate action on this issue to protect the public and the integrity of the organic label.
"It appears that companies like Dean Foods and Martek think they are above the law," states Kastel. "It's time for the USDA to show that the organic regulations and standards are not a matter of interpretation by powerful corporations, but mean something and must be followed by everyone in the organic community."
MORE:
Certifier
Dean Foods' Horizon milk product line is certified organic by Quality Assurance International (QAI), San Diego, California. Although implicated in a number of other improper decisions, the accredited certifier has yet to be sanctioned by the USDA. QAI is the largest certifier serving corporate agribusinesses that have invested in organics.
Dr. Alan Greene
In its product launch, Dean Foods' Horizon spokesman, Dr. Alan Greene,
stated, "Organic milk fortified with DHA is a great option for families
looking to incorporate nutritious products in their diets with the proven benefits
of DHA, including those for heart, brain and eye health," despite the
obvious lack of scientific evidence to back up his statement. [Emphasis
added]
"We have had it with The Good Doctor," said Cornucopia's Kastel.
Greene, formerly a highly-paid spokesperson for Horizon's key competitor, Organic Valley, initially angered organic proponents when he endorsed Dean Foods' first non-organic Horizon products -- milk and yogurt targeted to toddlers (prior to these products, Horizon had been an exclusively organic label).
"At the time, we felt it was unconscionable for someone who had developed his personal brand name, Dr. Greene, by promoting organics, to recommend dairy products containing conventional fruits and vegetables that have been proven to have some of the highest levels of pesticide residue contamination," Kastel added. "These products were targeted to developing children, who are most vulnerable to the deleterious impacts of pesticide residues. It was evidence that Dr. Greene was willing to sell his endorsement to the highest bidder, regardless of its virtues."
Greene, author of Feeding Baby Green, and the proprietor of a popular advertising-supported pediatrics website, also rankled some organic farmers when he appeared, in 2009, as the keynote speaker at the country's largest organic confab, the Upper Midwest Organic Farmers Conference in Wisconsin. When he made his speech before organic stakeholders, Greene was working as an undisclosed paid spokesperson for Dean/Horizon, a company embroiled in controversy for allegedly operating illegal factory farms, milking thousands of cows each.
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