Dannon announced this week that it will stop using milk from cows treated with rBST in its yogurts by the end of 2009.
Dannon’s decision comes on the heels of rival Yoplait’s announcement that it would eliminate rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone) from its product line.
The companies were pressed to halt the use of rBGH milk after more than 200 hospitals around the country — including Kaiser Permanente, Legacy Good Samaritan and OHSU in Portland, Good Shepherd in Hermiston and Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver — pledged to serve rBGH-free products to their patients, staff and visitors.
The rBGH-free initiative was spurred by Health Care Without Harm, an international coalition that promotes ecologically sustainable health care that doesn’t harm people or the environment. The Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility also supported the initiative.