Large dairy stripped of organic certification

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A large dairy in Tulare County recently became the first in California to have its organic certification suspended because it violated organic standards — a move consumer advocates claimed as a victory.

“People should be able to buy organic milk with confidence,” said Mark Kastel, co-director of the Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based consumer watchdog group. “Our hope is that this is the first salvo in a crackdown against these industrial farms that are masquerading as being organic.”

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Officials at Vander Eyk, whose dairy cows produce both organic and conventional milk, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Horizon Organic — a brand of Texas-based Dean Foods Co. that sells about 45 percent of the nation’s organic milk — stopped buying milk from Vander Eyk in December because it wasn’t satisfied with the quality of the organic milk, spokeswoman Molly Keveney said.

On May 16, investigators working with a company that certifies organic dairies for the USDA found that Vander Eyk did not meet federal organic requirements. For dairies, that means proving that the herd eats organic feed, has not been dosed with hormones and has access to pasture, among other requirements.

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