Is Cabot cheese rBGH-free or not?
As it turns out, not all of it. There is considerable confusion about Cabot, a subsidiary of the Agri-Mark co-op, based in Methuen, MA. Agri-Mark is the 31st largest processor in the country, producing the Cabot and McCadam cheese brands, in addition to butter and powder. In January 2009, Agri-Mark representatives told various members of the media that Cabot was going to stop accepting milk from rBGH-injected cows starting August 1, 2009. A Dairy Reporter article said that the board made the decision “to protect sales of its brand against consumer concerns.” And Agri-Mark communications director Doug DiMento told Vermont Public Radio that “we’re trying to take steps to preserve markets for our farmers.” Agri-Mark said that it was banning the use of rBGH milk at its three plants in New England, located in Vermont and Massachusetts. The plant in Chateaugay, New York, which produces McCadam cheese, still accepts milk from rBGH-injected cows. Agri-Mark had not given the impression that the
