During a recent annual shareholder meeting of Horizon Organic's parent company, Dean Foods, shareholder Mark Kastel, a senior farm policy analyst at the Cornucopia Institute, questioned the practice of relying on "factory farms" to produce organic milk.

Dean Foods CEO Gregg Engles disclosed profits were dropping as a surplus of organic milk grows, an indication, according to Kastel, that Horizon was fueling "a monster" because of its factory-farming practices.

Despite claims that Horizon purchases milk from family farms with access to pasture, it also uses milk produced by larger company-owned farms with dubious pasture access.

The USDA is currently reviewing its own regulations governing the ability of factory farms to call the food substances they produce organic.

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

It looks like our recent newsletter article about the deception involving Horizon Organic -- the company that has routinely ignored federal standards regarding the production of organic milk -- hit home in a big way.

However, even in the unlikely event that Dean Foods changes its standards, remember that there's no great "benefit" in drinking organic milk anyway. It's all one giant delusional hoax. Please remember that nearly all organic milk is pasteurized, just like all the other conventional varieties of milk found at your neighborhood grocery store.

Pasteurization changes the physical structure of fragile proteins into substances that can be harmful for your body. While organic milk is clearly superior to conventional milk, the benefit is marginal at best; and when it comes to Horizon organic milk, as the article suggests, there may be no significant difference at all.

The real health benefit lies with drinking raw milk, a growing trend in America. Raw milk is an outstanding source of nutrients including beneficial bacteria such as lactobacillus acidophilus, vitamins and enzymes, and it is, in my estimation, the finest source of calcium available. 

So don't waste your money on "organic" milk anymore.

This is a waste of your resources. Redirect your energy to find real raw milk sources. Ideally, you can find a local farmer who will be willing to sell this to you. If you find one you will want to encourage him to consider restricting grains from the cows' feed to improve the quality of the milk.

If you are unable to find a local dairy farmer who will cooperate with you, try taking a look at the Real Milk Web site.

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