If you’re wondering ” Is organic dairy better for me?”, this is just for post for you friend! First, organic isn’t a magic label. There are standards that must be met for the organic label to be placed on a product but it doesn’t make it healthy or magical.

Then, organic products vary brand by brand. Depending on if they put their cows out on pasture, feed them grains or however they treat them. This is a great post on the difference in organic milk brands so you can see how much they vary! But overall, organic really matters and is a better option for you, your family, the farmer, the cow and the environment.

Products containing dairy

• Yogurt
• Milk
• Butter
• Ice Cream
• Cheese
• Spreads
• Heavy Cream
• Whipping Cream
• Whipped Cream
• Milk Powder
• Creamer
• Dips
• Even some “plant based” cheeses

Additives in dairy to avoid

These are found in conventional milks most of the time. Some organic products will these additives, just not the ones that are restricted under the organic label.

• vitamin A palmitate
• vitamin A acetate
• carrageenan
• diglycerides
• citric acid
• fructose
• monoglycerides
• polysorbate 80
• powdered cullulose
• soy lecithin
• any gums (guar, locust, xanthan)
• calcium phosphate
• vitamin D3

Illegal chemicals in conventional dairy

Over 60% of dairy samples showed sulfamethazine and sulfathiazole which are ILLEGAL, y’all.. This is a chemical that is ILLEGAL to use in the United States so, why is it in the food we and our children are eating?

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Is organic dairy better than conventional – what organic guarantees

Organic is a huge step closer to “healthy” when it comes to products because it’s assuring your food, products, etc. are free from 700+ different toxic chemicals! Organic doesn’t allow artificial dyes, artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners or other MAJORLY YUCKY ingredients.

YES –

• health of the cows and consumers in mind
• sustainably practices
• organic feed
• pasture raised and raised in season
• ethically treated if they get sick

NO –

• contained in a feed lot for an extended amount of time (?)
• over-crowded
• kept in unsanitary conditions
• directly or indirectly exposed to artificial pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics, hormones, GMOs, or other synthetic contaminants (there are some loopholes but.. another time)

Brands I love

First and foremost, I always go with raw, organic and local dairy products. If I an unable to get those, these are the brands I will support (that’s what we do when we buy items from a brand) at the grocery store. We usually only buy yogurt so, those are the brands I will cover in this post.

For other dairy products, look for organic + pasture raised / grass fed. Grass fed isn’t enough unless you know the farmer and see what the cows are eating! Generally, the private brand label from the store you’re buying form, isn’t very good i.e. Sprouts, Trader Joes, Publix, Kroger, Costco, etc.

• Stonyfield
• Maple Hill
• Nancys
• Organic Valley (cultured pasture butter)

This is a great post on butter.

Brands that are better

These are some brands that I don’t personally support unless they are the only option. Even then, I usually opt out of my purchase whichever dairy product is it. But they are at least organic and clean products.

• Wallaby
• Straus
• Clover Sonoma

Brands that suck

These brands aren’t organic and they use green washing terms like “natural” or “healthy”. Words like these have no regulation and can be slapped on anything. So, I don’t like their deception. Organic truly matters for dairy products. If you’re wondering “is organic dairy better than conventional” these are the brands you want to stay away from.

• Yoplait
• Fage
• Chobani
• Dannon Oikos
• Powerful
• Voskos
• Green Mountain Creameries

Resources:

OTA <– amazing paper on organic vs. conventional

Organic Center <– the original source for the OTA article