One of the nation’s best-selling brands of organic milk puts an oil derived from algae grown in a factory into some of its milk as a nutritional enhancement, says the Washington Post. “Rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, the oil allows Horizon to advertise health benefits and charge a higher price,” the paper said.
Horizon doesn’t identify the source of the oil, says the Post. “This omission avoids any ick reaction from shoppers, but consumer advocates say it also dodges a key question: Is milk supplemented with an oil brewed in a factory really ‘organic’?” The nonprofit Consumer Reports said that consumers want beneficial nutrients in organic food to be the result of good farming practices “not from additives made in a factory.”
USDA officials said in 2012 that they “incorrectly interpreted” regulations to allow use of the oil. “The USDA then maintained the status quo – allowing use of algal oil, among other things – in order not to ‘disrupt’ the market,” said the Post. Horizon says consumers bought 26 million gallons of its milk with the algal oil in the past year, or 14 percent of its organic milk sales. The milk typically carries a price 30 cents more than regular Horizon milk, said the Post.