STARBUCKS DROPPING GROWTH HORMONE MILK

Responding to criticism from consumer groups concerned about the lack of testing and data regarding rBGH, a growth hormone given to some dairy cows to increase milk production, Starbucks has pulled growth hormone milk products from many of its stores and is expected to go companywide when new milk sources can be found. Earlier this month Starbucks announced it would quit selling food containing trans fats at half of the company's U.S. outlets. Starbucks has a long history of responding to consumer requests and is known as a leader in corporate social responsibility.

From USA Today:

Starbucks Coffee is ending its use of milk products that contain an artificial growth hormone, starting in much of the West and New England. Less than a month after announcing that the chain would stop selling items with trans fats in half its U.S. stores, Starbucks said Tuesday it had begun buying only milk products without bovine growth hormone in those areas. Starbucks has not raised prices and is working with suppliers on the cost of milk, half and half, whipping cream and eggnog, spokeswoman Sanja Gould told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Starbucks has 5,668 stores in the United States, but the number affected by the change was not immediately available. It covers company-owned Starbucks outlets in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, Northern California and New England. Earlier this month Starbucks announced plans to stop selling food containing trans fats at half the company's U.S. outlets. The move comes after Starbucks was targeted in a campaign by consumer groups critical of the use of an artificial hormone known as rBGH, which is given as a supplement to dairy cows to increase milk production. For more than a decade, some advocacy groups have asserted that there has not been enough research on the effects in humans of milk products from cows that were given the hormone, which is administered to dairy cattle during the middle phase of lactation to boost milk production. "We are actively engaged with all our dairy suppliers to explore converting our core dairy products to be rBGH-free in our U.S. company-owned stores," Starbucks spokesman Brandon Borrman told Reuters. "It is something we're aiming for."

NYC BOARD BANS TRANS FATS AT RESTAURANTS

The Board of Health in New York City voted unanimously to ban artery-clogging trans fats at restaurants. The ban will go into effect in July of 2007, at first eliminating trans fats only from cooking oils, then in July of 2008 the full ban eliminating trans fats from all foods will begin. From the AP article at Yahoo!:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who banned smoking in bars and restaurants during his first term, has dismissed cries that New York is crossing a line by trying to legislate diets.

"Nobody wants to take away your french fries and hamburgers — I love those things, too," he said recently. "But if you can make them with something that is less damaging to your health, we should do that."

Chicago is also considering its own trans fat law, which wouldn't ban the fats outright but would severely restrict the amount that kitchens can use. The measure would apply only to large restaurants, defined as those that make more than $20 million in sales per year.

Here is a pie chart from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that shows the major sources of trans fat for American adults: