Ag Groups Question Dannon on Sustainability

A group of farm organizations has sent a letter to officials at Dannon questioning the company’s pledge to be more sustainable. In April, Dannon announced a pledge to use fewer genetically modified ingredients, a goal that includes the feed given to milk producing cows. The pledge also vowed to label GMOs in its products by December 2017 and the ambition to offer products coming from a more sustainable agriculture. But six groups representing ag producers don’t see this as a sustainable goal at all. In the letter to Dannon President and CEO Mariano Lozano, the groups say this pledge would force farmers to abandon safe and scientifically backed farming practices. Chris Galen with the National Milk Producers Federation says concerns about the impacts of GMO feed in the dairy supply are unfounded. “There’s no such thing as genetically modified milk just because a cow may consume corn or soybeans,” he said. “That actually has been very clear in the science, and the recent legislation signed into law by the President clarifies you don’t have biotech milk just because you have GMO grains that go into the cattle.” Galen says that pledges like Dannon’s are misleading to consumers.