A26—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 4,1983
Meadow Fresh - some questions still need answers
HARRISBURG
Fresh Milk.”
That’s the name given a product
that was offered for sale in paid
advertising several weeks ago, in a
southern York County weekly
publication. In small print, near
the bottom of the ad was the fur
ther description, “limitation white
milk.”
Meadow Fresh is not milk.
According to federal standards
definition, milk is the lacteal
secretion product, free from
colostrum, that is obtained by the
complete milking of one or more
healthy cows (or goats, in which
case it must be labeled ap
propriately).
Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Food
Chemistry further defines milk
under state standards as con-
Ag Sec. Hallowell’s statement
State Sec. of Agriculture Penrose Hallowell issued the following
statement concerning Meadow Fresh:
“The department has followed Meadow Fresh closely for more
than a year. We have consistently advised schools, hospitals and
institutions that this product may not be reconstituted for their use.
“The company appears to be trading on local advertising, which
is false and misleading.
“Consumers should be aware that this is not milk nor is it a dairy
product. While we don’t approve of their marketing and advertising
techniques, the department has no authority to take action against
Meadow Fresh.
“Deceptive advertising laws are enforced by the Attorney
General.”
tainmg not less than 3.25 percent
milkfat (for whole milk) or more
than 6 percent, and not less than
8.25 per cent soUds-not-fat.
Further Pennsylvania standards
clarifications define how milk may
be separated, or have cream ad
ded, be concentrated, a dry whole
product, skim, non-fat dry, or have
Vitamins A and/or D added.
Meadow Fresh is a whey-based
•‘imitation milk powder” ac
cording to product labeling. The
powder product is manufactured
by Meadow Fresh Farms, Inc., of
Salt Lake City, Utah, and sold
through multilevel marketing,
sometimes dubbed,. “pyramid”
selling.
The use of advertising labeling
Meadow Fresh a “milk” is illegal,
affirms the company’s regional
distributor, Sheri Roseberry, of
Harrisburg. The advertising,
which was run by a York county
distributor of the powder, has since
been discontinued.
Instead, says Mrs. Roseberry,
Meadow Fresh is to be considered
an “alternate” to milk, aimed at
individuals who suffer from milk
intolerances. She and her husband
Ron, who co-manages the Penn
sylvania region of the multilevel
marketing establishment moved
here about two years ago from
Indiana, to handle the
distributorship.
Major ingredients in the drink
powder are whey, the by-product
of cheese manufacture, corn syrup
solids, partially hydrogenated
coconut oil, nonfat dry milk and
sodium caseinate, a milk protein.
The imitation milk product comes
in white, chocolate and orange
flavored.
"It’s been proven that it’s not
nutritionally equal,” contends Ray
Weber of Dairy Council of
Philadelphia, who adds that there
are so many vital trace elements in
milk that are necessary to interact
in the body, and are not found in
imitations.
Protein per eight-ounce glass of
whole milk is 8 grams, while an
equal serving of Meadow Fresh
contains 3 grams. Calcium levels
also differ, with an eight ounce
glass of whole milk containing 30
percent of the Recommended
Daily Allowance of the mineral,
compared to the whey product’s 20
percent. (Figures taken from
Meadow Fresh promotional
materials.)
“Meadow
While cost per reconstituted
gallon of Meadow Fresh is com
parable to that of whole milk,
Dairy Council points out that a
consumer would have to consume
much greater quantities of the
imitation product in order to obtain
the same protein and calcium
levels gotten from whole milk.
While only vitamins A and D can
be added to milk in Pennsylvania,
powder product regulations do
allow numerous other vitamin and
mineral additives in items like
Meadow Fresh.
A favored sales angle for the
whey drink powder is that it has a
lower cholesterol content than does
whole milk, or 3 grams cholesterol
8-ounce serving as compared to 32
in whole milk. Meadow Fresh also
says in advertising that it has 3
grams of fat per ounce, while
whole milk has 8 grams of fat per 8-
ounce serving. Calorie com
parision is 90 per 8-ounces of the
whey-drink, and 150 of whole milk.
However, the fat ingredient in
Meadow Fresh is coconut oil, a
vegetable fat which Dairy Council
notes is higher in saturated fats
than is butterfat. Sodium (salt)
levels are also higher than those in
whole milk.
Meadow Fresh basically relies
on word-of-mouth sales to promote
the milk imitation, and an in
creasingly high discount on the
product to dealers as they handle
more volume.
A distributor can sponsor others
that work under him, and move
higher in the sales organization as
the volume he handles grows. With
, increasing volumes, the price of
the product decreases to the
distributor. Thus, a bottom level
distributor perhaps may get the
product with a 10 percent discount,
the distributor above him may get
a 15 percent discount, and the
distributor above them a 20 per
cent discount.
Final retailer of the product can
charge whatever price he chooses,
although the company does have
suggested retail prices. By
enlisting others to sign up and sell
under his sponsorship, distributors
can earn profits for handling
volume.
Meadow Fresh’s booth at last
year’s Ag Progress Days raised
the ire of some dairy farmers.
Literature handed out at that
exposition advertised Meadow
Fresh as “the most exciting
breakthrough in dairy science in a
century.”
"Meadow Fresh is 70 percent
dairy derived and 99 percent
agricultural ingredients,” says
Mrs. Roseberry, who argues that
fanners would welcome an ag
related product that is trying to
win back soft-drink consumers to a
more nutritious beverage.
She also lays blame on the dairy
industry for not responding to a
dropping rate of milk sales,
beginning back in the mid-1960’5,
when some of the medical
profession began issuing low
cholesterol diet recommendations.
And, adds the regional
distributor, the dairy industry
needs more research and
development into foods, in
response to the sluggish sales of
Sheri Roseberry, regional distributor of Meadow Fresh, arranges a display of
the powdered product sold by the firm as a "milk alternate."
products that some doctors are
still saying should be avoided.
Bill Fouse, head of the Penn
sylvania Department of
Agriculture’s Bureau of Foods and
Chemistry suggests that the
nutrition claims advertised by
Meadow Fresh may be somewhat
exaggerated.
While the product did gam state
approval for sale as a powdered
drink mix, Pennsylvania’s non
alcoholic drink regulations
prohibit it from being sold as a
beverage. Thus, the whey-based
product can be marketed solely as
a powder, for mixing in private
homes.
That ruling prohibits any public
institution from purchasing the
product and mixing it for a meal
service beverage. Such use would
put Meadow Fresh under the
beverage regulations, which would
require it, once liquified, to be
Leadfield Associates
(Continued from Page A2l)
buck’ cows”, according to
Doebenener.
The other cow he was referring
to is “Leadfield Glamorous Eve”,
the “Very Good” Elevation
daughter of “Allendairy
Glamorous Ivy”, the “million
dollar cow”. “Eve”, described as
“better than her mother” by
Doebenener, completes 4
generations of “Excellents” and is
the only cow at Queens Manor to
make the Elite cow list.
Explaining that high cow m-
C. Craigo Petro Telstar is the fountainhead of tl
and the chief moneymaker of Leadfield Associates.
regulated, processed, licensed and
labeled by the same standards as
milk.
If such requirements were met,
the product could possibly gain
approval for beverage use but
would have to be labeled “non
dairy”. No one, however, in
Pennsylvania has yet met those
conditions for selling the product
as a beverage.
According to Dairy Council’s
Weber, the product " has been
banned in several states, and
several states recommend that
institutions not purchase it as a
milk replacement product.
Although Meadow Fresh ad
vertising is rumored to being
under scrutinization by the Con
sumer Protection Agency, a
spokesman at the Allentown office
contacted would “neither confirm
or denv” that such a study is un-
dexes are difficult to make at
Queens Manor due to the high herd
average of 22,184 lbs. milk, 3.8%
and 841 lbs. fat on 14.7 cows,
Doeberiener goes on to say that
“Eve’s” cow index is +1463 while
her dam’s is around +7OO. “Eve”
also just finished her 3 year, 8
month record in 365 days with
36,423 lbs. milk, 3.8% 1378 lbs. fat.
Flushed to “Columbus”, “Eve” is
currently in calf to “Arhnda
Chief” and due' in June.
When Leadfield Associates
purchased MO Maplelawn
derway.
In recent months, the imitation
white milk product is no longer
considered a major front-runner
sales item, notes Mrs. Roseberry.
Instead, flavored diet-drink
powders have become focal items.
Each |1.50 package of diet drink
mix, blended with ice and water,
makes an 8-ounce, 150-calorie
beverage which is advertised as
“tasting like a “shake," and is
designed to replace one meal.
Dieters following the program are
advised to not replace more than
two meals per da/ with the mix,
and to consult a physician before
beginning any diet plan.
Major ingredients in the
“shake” product are sodium
casemate, sweet dairy whey,
coconut oil, non-fat dry milk and
corn syrup solids.
(Turn toPageA27)
Marquis Glamour, Ivy’s dam, she
was carrying the Osbomdale
Ivanhoe, “million dollar” Ivy,
whom Leadfield then bred to
Elevation to receive “ Eve”.
Petro, Linda, and Eve are also
joined by several other grand
ladies of the Holstein breed.
“Leadfield Petro Boots”, who was
recently appraised “Excellent -
90”, is the “Bootmaker” daughter
of "Petro” and resides at the farm
along with her “Columbus”
daughter who can boast that 5 of
her 7 nearest dams are either
scored 96 or 97. Due to the demand
for “ Petro’s” offspring, this
lanor
weens
ling program