How is ‘organic’ milk really classified?
The next time you pick up a carton, consider this
Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Peter Whoriskey.
Inside a South Carolina factory, in industrial vats that stand five stories high, batches of algae are carefully tended, kept warm and fed corn syrup. There the algae, known as Schizochytrium, multiply quickly. The payoff, which comes after processing, is a substance that resembles corn oil. It tastes faintly fishy.
Marketed as a nutritional enhancement, the oil is added to millions of cartons of organic milk from Horizon, one of the nation’s largest organic brands. Rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, the oil allows Horizon to advertise health benefits and charge a higher price.
“DHA Omega-3 Supports Brain Health,” according to the Horizon cartons sold in supermarkets around the United States.
What the Horizon milk carton doesn’t advertise is that some of its contents were brewed in closed stainless steel vats of Schizochytrium. This omission avoids any ick reaction from shoppers, but consumer advocates say it also dodges a key question: How is a product made with oil, brewed in a factory, considered “organic” milk?
Exactly what should be considered an ‘organic’ food?
At least in part, it’s a lobbying tug-of-war: On one side, many companies, seeking to maximize sales, push the USDA for an expansive definition of “organic.” On the other, consumer groups advocate for a narrower, “purer,” definition.
“We do not think that [the oil] belongs in organic foods,” said Charlotte Vallaeys, a senior policy analyst, at Consumer Reports. “When an organic milk carton says it has higher levels of beneficial nutrients, like omega-3 fats, consumers want that to be the result of good farming practices … not from additives made in a factory.”
The quiet problem
In deciding to allow the use of the oil and similar additives, USDA officials, at least initially, misread federal regulations. In 2012, five years after the algal oil was introduced into milk, it quietly acknowledged that some federal regulations had been “incorrectly interpreted.” The USDA then maintained the status quo — allowing the use of algal oil, among other things — in order not to “disrupt” the market.
Asked this month about the issue, a USDA spokesman declined to address the confusion saying that current regulations have been “interpreted to allow for the use of … (DHA) algal oil in organic processed products.”
The ‘organic’ oil misconception
“Millions of people choose our Horizon Organic milk with DHA Omega-3 for the added benefits DHA Omega-3s are thought to deliver,” a Horizon spokesperson said in a statement, which says the additive may improve heart, brain and eye health.
To critics, though, the popularity is based on a misconception of what is and isn’t organic. They argue that supplementing “USDA Organic” products with algal oil betrays consumer expectations that organic foods need no laboratory-inspired razzle-dazzle, and that the nutrients in organic products are good enough without additives.
This means consumers are buying an “organic” milk supplemented with algal oil, though many likely don’t know that stainless steel vats of Schizochytrium are the source of the Omega-3s in the milk. According to Consumer Reports surveys, 7 out of 10 consumers think the USDA should not permit the use of non-organic ingredients in organic food production if they are not deemed essential, Vallaeys said. The USDA position means that millions of people buying milk may be getting something different than the “USDA Organic” seal seems to promise.
“Algal oil is one of several nutrient additives that have not gone through this proper review and approval process,” Vallaeys said. “It’s very disappointing that we have yet to see proper enforcement action from the National Organic Program on this issue.”
