Wawa, Inc., a convenience store, has announced that the company will only process and sell rBST free milk at its 570 stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The artificial hormone rBST supplements a natural hormone cows use to direct the energy they gain from their feed. The Food and Drug Administration has found no significant difference between milk derived from supplemented cows and non-treated cows.
To ensure that all products processed and packaged by Wawa and under the Wawa label are free of artificial growth hormone, Wawa will now only purchase raw milk from farmers who will pledge, and sign legal affidavits, that they will not use artificial growth hormones in their cows. Customers will be able to see this “Farmers Pledge” through a seal on the label of all Wawa dairy products. Wawa is offering this choice to customers who, in recent years, have shown increasing interest in natural products and a greater commitment to overall health and wellness.
“Our commitment to selling the safest and highest quality products goes back to the opening of Wawa Dairy Farms in 1902, when we offered bottled milk that was certified safe from cows that were guaranteed to be healthy and disease-free,” said Howard Stoeckel, Wawa President and CEO. “Offering artificial hormone-free milk furthers our commitment to offering our customers the quality and security they have come to expect from Wawa.”
Regional milk producers are well-positioned to supply Wawa’s demands, said Amber DuMont, spokeswoman for the Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association. “We produce 3 billion pounds of milk per year. A significant portion of our milk supply is rBST-free, and the producers market it that way.” While the cooperative takes no stand on the hormone — except that it is legal and FDA-approved — it does accommodate both sides of the debate over its use.