Last week, we noted that General Mills announced that Yoplait Yogurt Products will be 100% free of milk from cows treated with rBST (aka BGH) by August 2009. rBST is a synthetic hormone used by many commercial dairies to increase milk production. It has been banned in some countries, such as Canada, which eschew the use of synthetic hormones in their food supply, but the USDA has stood behind it's safety.

Stonyfield Farms said (and this is my quote of the month), "Better Yo-late than Yo-never" as they did it 15 years ago.

Now Dannon has announced that they are also phasing out milk from rBST-treated cows by the end of 2009. The company, which claims that 80% of its milk is already 'rBST free', said the move is a result of consumer feedback. "This is a response to our market evaluation and consumer preference," Dannon's senior director of public relations Michael Neuwirth told DairyReporter.com.

Dannon currently produces 100 different dairy SKUs for the US market. Its leading products in the category are Activia, Light & Fit, DanActive and Danimals. Dannon says they hold 1/3rd of the US dairy market, General Mills is said to hold another 1/3, while a host of smaller companies make up the 1/3.

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