As you stand shivering in the tundra that is your local supermarket dairy aisle, you’ve got a choice to make: One 64-oz. bottle of milk costs $2.80. Right next to the bottle is a carton containing the same amount of milk for $4.20. The only difference is that it was produced organically.
Since the early aughts, when the organic food movement started gaining momentum, the label steadily proliferated within the dairy case: The global organic milk market hit $22.4 billion in 2021, up from $19.5 billion in 2017. That’s because customers willing to dish out upwards of 50% more for a gallon of organic milk think it’s “more nutritious, natural, and environmentally friendly,” according to one 2021 survey of 770 US customers. Meanwhile, others seem to think organic dairy cows are treated more ethically than those raised on conventional farms. These customer perceptions influence dairy sales, but it’s official USDA standards that regulate how organic milk is produced and processed.
There are a few clear distinctions between regular and organic milk: The latter comes from cows who have never been treated with antibiotics. They’ll also never receive synthetic growth hormones, like Bovine Somatotropin (bST), which have been given to dairy cows since World War II to increase milk yields. Organic cows only eat organic feed (crops grown on land that hasn’t been treated with synthetic fertilizers or pesticides for at least three years prior to harvest)—and 30% of it must come from pasture during the grazing season. Last, to accommodate “the natural behavior” of livestock, says a USDA spokesperson, organic dairy cows “must have year-round outdoor access.”
Before your next shop, here’s what all that means for your milk.
Why is organic milk more expensive?
For American shoppers, it’s likely that organic milk will cost at least one and a half times the same amount of conventional stuff. That’s because organic milk costs more to produce. Farms are required to pay for certification—a USDA accreditation that’s required to market and sell any food product as organic—and source or grow 100% organic feed. Organic farmers also need more land, since they’re required to keep their animals on pasture for a significant amount of time. And organic cows tend to produce less milk. These realities “add additional needs for the animal and result in higher production costs compared to conventional milk systems,” says Joelle Mosso, a senior director at the Organic Trade Association.
Is organic milk healthier?
A number of studies have shown that organic milk probably has a better fatty acid profile—which essentially means it contains a better balance of omega-3s (fats that reduce inflammation and may boost heart, brain, and liver health) to omega 6s (fats that mainly provide energy but can cause inflammation in excess)—than the conventional stuff.
The discrepancy between the two fatty acid profiles probably comes down to what the cows eat: Conventional dairy cows are fed cereals, soy, and corn. Whereas USDA regulations require organic cows to graze on plants, such as grass and red clover, which contain higher amounts of omega-3s.
In terms of vitamins and minerals, a few studies have uncovered only minor differences between the two milks. In other words: Both types of milk “are practically the same nutritionally,” says Ermias Kebreab, PhD, a sustainable animal agriculture professor at UC Davis. But if you care a lot about eating healthy fats, organic milk might be the better choice.
Does organic milk have fewer pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics?
In 2019, researchers from Emory University School of Medicine tested 69 samples of organic and regular milk collected from supermarkets around the country. They were on the lookout for pesticides, which are used to grow feed for conventional cows; bovine growth hormones like bST, which occur naturally in cattle but can also be supplemented synthetically; and antibiotics, which are used to treat conventional cows when they’re sick or injured. She found higher levels of all three in the non-organic milks.
Pesticides and antibiotics were detected in several of the regular milks but none of the organics. There’s a simple explanation for these discrepancies: The milk from dairy cows treated with antibiotics can never be sold as organic within the US. Among the conventional samples which tested positive, though, various exceeded federal limits for the antibiotics amoxicillin (1 of the 35 samples), sulfamethazine (37% of samples), and sulfathiazole (26% of samples).
An FDA spokesperson says Emory’s antibiotic findings “appear inconsistent” with the agency’s own reporting: Of the 3,494,330 samples collected in 2021, only 290 (0.008%) tested positive for a drug residue. According to the spokesperson, all milk produced in the US is tested for antibiotic residue before it hits shelves—and samples that exceed tolerance levels are illegal for human consumption.
Though antibiotics are allowed at certain levels in conventional milk, there “should be a significant decrease in their use,” argues Kebreab, the UC Davis agriculture professor. That’s because the antibiotics in cows’ milk have been “shown to promote antimicrobial resistance” in humans, he says. In other words: By microdosing tiny amounts of antibiotics in milk, certain microbes might stop responding to them.
The Emory research team also found the growth hormone, bST, along with Insulin-like growth factor 1 (a hormone that increases as a byproduct of bST) in both the conventional and organic milks tested. While some growth hormone is present naturally in milk because cows produce it, the levels in the conventional samples were significantly higher. “This could reflect the use of synthetic growth hormones, which are allowed in conventional but prohibited in organic milk production,” says lead author Jean Welsh, PhD, MPH, RN, an associate professor of pediatrics at Emory.
Though the use of the synthetic hormones in animal agriculture has been shrouded in controversy for decades (and Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 has been linked to various cancers), the FDA hasn’t set a maximum safe limit for bST in milk because the agency considers it safe for humans. “It has been shown conclusively that hormones such as bST have no effect on consumers,” says Kebreab.
Is organic milk better for the environment?
There’s little scientific consensus among researchers. Animal agriculture in general is a huge contributor to total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—at almost 15% by some estimates—and red meat and dairy tend to do the most damage. But studies into the impacts of dairying are all over the place: Some have found that organic farms produce less, more, and roughly the same amount of emissions as regular farms.
One study out of the Netherlands found that organic dairy farms caused less damage to our waterways. (Nitrates, a common group of ingredients used in commercial fertilizers, are more likely to leach into ground and surface waters in conventional operations, says Kebreab.) But organic dairy farms also generate greater methane emissions (organic cows tend to eat more fiber, making them fart more) and use more land per bottle of milk produced (organic cows need access to pastures, whereas conventional cows can be sheltered entirely indoors).
Even with higher methane emissions from organic farms, “total greenhouse gas emissions may be lower due to less inputs,” says Kebreab. Corn and soy, which are commonly fed to conventional cattle, can be energy intensive to manufacture, whereas raising animals on pasture can actually improve soil quality and store carbon. Organic systems might require more land, but they also “reduce the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers,” says Mosso, which may be better for biodiversity in the long run.
Are organic cows treated better?
One core tenant of organic dairy farming in the US is that livestock animals need to be kept in living conditions that support their natural behaviors. While conventionally raised dairy cows can be kept in barns, organic cows must have outdoor access all year. At face value, that might sound better for the cows—and it might be. But investigations have also uncovered the horrific treatment of animals at organic dairy farms.
Basic industry practices happen in both conventional and organic dairy industries. Male dairy calves have little value on farms, and may be sold for veal or shot. And the only way to have abundant supplies of milk is to (usually artificially) inseminate dairy cows to keep them in a near-constant cycle of calving and then weaning their offspring early.
Does organic milk taste different?
By some accounts, organic milk might appear more tan in color and taste a little sweeter (though that’s pretty subjective, according to one taste test). This could be due to the cows’ diet, but is more likely the result of pasteurization—a process by which milk is heated to a temperature high enough to kill potentially harmful bacteria.
Regular milk is brought to 161°F for 15 seconds (known as high-temperature short time pasteurization), whereas organic milk is heated to 280°F for only two seconds (known as ultra-high-temperature pasteurization) to offer a greater defense against microbial interlopers. It’s the latter method that might caramelize milk’s natural sugars and make organic varieties taste sweeter.
Because of the differences in pasteurization, organic milk also lasts longer: 40–60 days compared with 15–17 days for regular milk. So, if you can never quite get through a full bottle of milk before it turns, sticking to regular milk might actually leave you pouring money down the drain.
So is organic milk worth it?
Organic milk is supposed to never contain antibiotics or synthetic growth hormones, and typically has no pesticide residue (though technically some could drift onto organic crops from neighboring fields). Organic cows are also given more time outdoors to eat and, you know, be cows. Plus, your organic milk will last longer after opening thanks to a difference in pasteurization. Of course, all of that comes with a higher price tag. Whether or not the additional cost is worth it is up to you.