Last year I became aware of several products that I buy contained ingredients that were unsafe for my family to eat and use. Some companies were using dairy products from cows that have been treated with the artificial growth hormone rBGH. This hormone has been linked to several cancers including breast cancer.
The good news is that consumers are demanding rBGH-free dairy products, and corporations are taking note. In addition to the many dairy companies that offer rBGH-free products, huge retailers and food and beverage chains like Wal-Mart, Publix, Kroger, Starbucks, and Chipotle have committed to reducing or completely eliminating dairy products made with rBGH from their stores.
Yesterday I found out that my favorite yogurt,Yoplait had announced that they were going rBGH free. This was a big deal for me. I had tried lots of different yogurt and did not find one I really liked. My kids stopped eating it too. The others just did not taste as good to us. Yoplait was rBGH free as of August 29th, 2009, and Dannon has announced they will follow by the end of the year! Two thirds of the nations dairy products will be free of rBGH! I think it is a huge leap for us consumers in America.
The other issue I have been worried about is bisphenol-a, or BPA. It is found in all kinds of plastic products that we use in our homes everyday! this chemical is used to make baby bottles, water bottles and food containers. Last year I found it very hard to find BPA free products but now they are everywhere. Water bottles that we send our kids to school with are now BPA-free and also food containers that we buy and use are also going BPA-free. Check you labels and make sure you are buying BPA-free products for your family.
It is about time that simple things that we use everyday in our lives are now safe for us to use! No one knows what causes some of us to get cancer and not others and there is no true way to find out why we have this terrible disease. But there are changes we can make in our everyday lives to make sure our food and water is safe to drink and that we can rest easier when it comes to our kids and their health.
good to know! we eat a ton of yogurt in our house! thanks for the heads up!
Posted by: keri otto | September 10, 2009 at 12:49 PM
Wow...I had no info about this hormone. I'm careful about using no plastic containers—threw them all away. If people realized what happens with plastic and a microwave they'd throw 'em away, too.
But in food? Yogurt? I didn't know. Thanks for the info!!! And I hope you are doing well...I really do.
Posted by: Pam Cobyn | September 11, 2009 at 11:20 AM
Thanks for visiting my blog! Your blog is lovely, too. I agree with you about the rBGH issue. I'm glad that people are demanding it despite the stupid disclaimer they're forced to put on the package. :)
Posted by: Natalie | September 11, 2009 at 11:26 AM
Bravo! We've gone BPA free too, and thank goodness it has been an easy fix for us thanks to stores listening to consumer demands. More and more there are reasons every day to switch to a natural organic lifestyle. Way to go, and thanks for posting about this! Passing on awareness is so important because when we know better, we do better.
Elle
Posted by: Elle Bee | September 12, 2009 at 11:43 PM
Oops! I am so glad I read this post. I knew about the growth hormones (was a vet student a long time ago) but did not know about the stuff in the plastic. I'll have to look at the Ziploc containers and such that I use for lunches and things.
Thanks!
Posted by: drivingrein | September 14, 2009 at 06:56 PM
I was aware of the BPA but didn't know about the dairy stuff. Good to know Yoplait should be safe now - that's the only kind my daughter likes.
Posted by: Amy J in SC | September 15, 2009 at 01:51 PM