No Such Thing as Hormone-Free Milk

"A milk marketing campaign by Associated Food Stores has riled several dairy farmers across the Beehive State and caught the eye of a state agency, forcing the Salt Lake City-based grocery cooperative to change its milk ads starting Sunday.

At issue is what has been described by the state and irate dairy farmers as a "misleading" milk ad run by 170 of Associated Food's 400-plus independently owned and corporate-owned stores, including Macey's, for the past two weeks.

The ad says: "Got Hormones? We Don't."

But there's no such thing as hormone-free milk, said Kyle Stephens, deputy commissioner of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.

"Hormones are naturally occurring in milk, so the ad is false and misleading," he said.

Starting Sunday, Stephens said, Associated Foods will change its milk ads to say "Got All Natural Milk? Our Cows Do."

"We want to be good corporate citizens. But obviously we've offended the dairy farmers," said Neal Berube, chief operating officer with Associated Foods."

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