Ohio drops labelling regulation thanks to dairy community
The State of Ohio in the US has agreed that it will no longer pursue regulations limiting labelling on organic dairy products.
The State of Ohio in the US has agreed that it will no longer pursue regulations limiting labelling on organic dairy products.
Ohio had attempted to prohibit statements on labels which informed consumers that organic dairy products are produced without antibiotics, pesticides or synthetic hormones.
After the Organic Trade Association (OTA) sued the State of Ohio, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with consumers’ right to know and gutted the Ohio rule, finding that it was unconstitutional. Ohio has now agreed to abandon the rule rather than trying to revive it, recognising that the First Amendment allows organic dairy products to proudly state that they’re produced in accordance with the organic standards, without the use of synthetic growth hormones, pesticides or antibiotics.
“This is significant for all of us who support what the organic foods are about, and for consumers who carefully read food labels to find out what’s in their food and how it’s produced,” said Christine Bushway, executive director and CEO for OTA. “The Sixth Circuit opinion made it clear that states cannot unduly restrict organic labels or consumers’ right to know how their food is produced, and the State of Ohio’s actions today make it clear that the fight to keep labels accurate by OTA, its members, farmers and consumers was worth it.”
In 2008, the State of Ohio issued an emergency regulation that restricted the free speech rights of organic and conventional farmers and marketers of milk within the State of Ohio. The regulation illegally restricted the right of farmers and marketers to state that some dairy products are produced without the use of synthetic and artificial ingredients.
OTA and its members, including Horizon Organic, Organic Valley and Stonyfield Farm, appealed a lower court decision that upheld the rule in question to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In 2010, the Sixth Circuit reversed the lower court decision, agreeing that consumers have a right to know how their dairy products are produced. Critical to the decision was the Court’s reliance on an amicus brief filed by The Center for Food Safety and other organisations to rule that milk produced with synthetic hormones is different than milk produced without it (as all organic milk is).
Source: Organic Trade Association
All content and features on this website are copyrighted with all rights reserved. The full details can be found in our privacy statement
