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Living Maxwell

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Non-Organic Milk Tests Positive for Illegal Antibiotics, High Levels of Growth Hormones and Controversial Pesticide Contaminants

For years, I have been warning about the health risks of drinking non-organic hormonal milk.

But it isn’t just the synthetic growth hormones that are worrisome.

It is also the alarming level of antibiotics that animals receive and the pesticide-soaked, GMO grains they are fed.

A recently published report from researchers at Emory University, in collaboration with The Organic Center, is validating our concerns with non-organic milk.

Scientists found that a majority of samples of conventional retail milk tested positive for residues of antibiotics – two of which are banned from dairy production — and currently-used, controversial pesticides. Organic milk showed no such contaminants.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE STUDY

* Antibiotic residues were detected in 60% of conventional milk samples and none of the organic samples. Significantly, 37% of the conventional samples tested positive for sulfamethazine, and 26% for sulfathiazole, both of which have long been outlawed in lactating dairy cows. Furthermore, one of the conventional samples contained residue levels of amoxicillin that exceeded the federally-allowed limit.

* Bovine growth hormone (bGH) residue levels were found to be 20 times higher in conventional milk than organic.

* Pesticide residues of chlorpyrifos, atrazine, permethrin and more were found in 26% to 60% of conventional samples and none of the organic samples. Residues of the controversial and restricted-use pesticide chlorpyrifos showed up in 59% of the conventional samples.

What this report clearly demonstrates is that not all milk is created equal, and conventional milk contains incredibly harmful and illegal materials.

“This study finds that the presence of antibiotics and pesticides in conventional milk is much more prevalent and pervasive than previously thought – and that organic milk doesn’t contain any of these contaminants. We hope this study will let people know that the choice is out there for good, clean organic,” said Dr. Jessica Shade, Director of Science Programs for The Organic Center.

WHAT TO DO

For families that feed their families milk, the choice is obvious. Organic is the safest way to go.

Furthermore, organic milk has been proven to be healthier, as it contains higher levels of omega 3s than conventional milk.

Unfortunately, this does not mean that shoppers should just buy any brand of USDA certified organic milk in the refrigerator case. Why?

Because not all organic milk is the same.

The USDA has turned a blind eye toward “organic factory farms” where animals are not given adequate space to roam and may not be following organic production rules. Case in point was The Washington Post’s investigation into Aurora Dairy.

That being said, there are many fantastic organic dairy farmers in the U.S., and the most trusted way to know which organic milk brand is the best is by checking Cornucopia’s Organic Dairy Scorecard.

Please share this post with any of your friends who are still buying their families conventional milk. They need to know the truth about the kind of milk that their loved ones are drinking.

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Organic Insider

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Why We Should be Very Worried about GMO Contamination of Alfalfa

Many people are under the impression that organic crops will just “always be there”.

Meaning, we don’t have to worry, we’ll just go to the local farmers market or Whole Foods, they’ll always have organic. These people will figure out any potential problems.

Yet, if you look behind the scenes and learn what is happening with alfalfa, a main source of feed for animals in the organic meat and dairy industries, you’ll quickly realize that the situation for organic is very dire.

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Living Maxwell

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Another Reason to Eat Organic – Lower Your Risk of Cancer by Up to 25%

In the latest President’s Cancer Panel report, it was found that 41% of Americans are going to get cancer and 21% of Americans are going to die from cancer.

What makes these numbers even more sobering is that this data was from a decade ago, and I have heard doctors say that they now believe a minimum of 50% of the population will get cancer at some point in their lives.

Given how deeply cancer has permeated our society, it would seem to make sense that people should be doing whatever they can to avoid contracting this deadly disease.

And according to a recent study out of France, as reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, eating as much organic food as possible is an important strategy to accomplish this.

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Organic Insider

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The EPA Continues to Ignore the Danger of Atrazine, Which is Ruining Our Water Supply and Putting Our Health in Jeopardy

One of the reasons that many of us purchase organic is because we don’t want to put food into our bodies that contains synthetic chemicals.

Yet even though we may not eat conventionally-grown food ourselves, we still need to be very aware (and concerned) about what is going on in the non-organic world. Why?

Because the toxic chemicals that are sprayed on conventionally-grown food end up in the water supply.

And the EPA is not doing its job when it comes to protecting the integrity of our water.

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livingmaxwell: a guide to organic food & drink