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Fairlife Milk Horror

June 17, 2019   46 Comments

Fairlife milk has become a horror story for the dairy industry. I have been critical for a while and now it is being pulled off the shelves in the Midwest.

Fairlife Milk Horror

Fairlife is distributed by Coca-Cola and is ultra-filtered to have less lactose and more protein. You used to be able to find it in stores around the nation.

In my 2015 post - Fairlife Milk Is So Deceitful That I Can’t Stand It - I brought up what I believed to be a misleading marketing campaign.

My initial problem was “Grass to Glass” as I knew that one of their farms (Fair Oaks Farm) with 30,000 cows was not pasturing their animals. I have been on dairy farms with 2,000 animals and they can’t efficiently pasture them and milk them three times per day.

Look at the logo on the front of the packaging! None of those cows are reaching down like that.

Photos on the Fairlife website included beautiful grassy fields (before the scandal).

The image in a consumer’s mind of a cow eating grass is below.

This beautiful dairy cow is near my house. You can see the family farmhouse behind her. She is chewing on grass. Fairlife cows did eat alfalfa - a kind of grass - but not on a pasture. I did not think that (unless you knew a lot about the dairy industry) consumers would understand that the cows were not happily chewing and traipsing about a field like the cow above.

But, that point about “grass to glass” turns out to be minor in comparison to the blatant falsehood of the first claim on the container - “Extraordinary care for our cows.”

This is what extraordinary care looks like. Look closely at this photo.

Her name is Giselle. Anyone want to try to name 30,000 cows?

Given the scale of the operation, extraordinary care would have been incredible. But, not only was the care NOT extraordinary but the cows were mistreated - from the Today Show article - Fairlife Animal Cruelty Controversy:

Employees were observed slapping, kicking, punching, pushing, throwing and slamming calves. Calves were stabbed and beaten with steel rebars, hit in the mouth and face with hard plastic milking bottles, kneed in the spine, burned in the face with hot branding irons, subjected to extreme temperatures, provided with improper nutrition, and denied medical attention,” ARM (Animal Recovery Mission) said in a statement accompanying the video that was posted on Facebook and Vimeo.

I’m not going to link to the video because it is truly awful. You can find it easily if you want to watch it.

Fairlife milk is now facing two federal lawsuits for (wait for it) FRAUD.

It took a group of activists that worked on Fair Oaks farm and documented abuses for Fairlife to face the music.

I know it isn’t possible for everyone to visit the farm that they buy milk from BUT don’t believe the hype of a company like Coca Cola when it comes to something as important as animal care.

I try to buy my milk from local family farms because I can visit and see happy cows like Giselle. Isn't she adorable?

Have you heard about the Fairlife milk scandal? What do you think?

Other posts you might like:

Fairlife Milk is NOT Grass Fed

Fairlife Milk Is So Deceitful That I Can’t Stand It

A new player in the milk game has arrived announcing that it is “better milk”....

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46 Comments:

Thank you, Lisa, for informing us of the mistreatment of dairy cows whose milk is sold as Fairlife. I have bought this often here in Akron, OH. thinking it was the best choice. I will not purchase this in the future. I had no idea Fairlife was owned by Coca Cola. I enjoy your morning posts - I always learn something from you!

Bunch of sickos .....people suck.

Not that I drink much soda but pretty sure I don’t even want to drink ANY CocaCola products in the future😡

So sad. It's all about the money. I hope Coca Cola has to pay millions.

Thank you for posting this. I'm horrified and ashamed I've bought into this brand for so long. I believe my family will not be supporting CocaCola products any longer. Disgusting behavior, morals, and values...

I thought Fairlife would be a good substitute for my lactose sensitive teen granddaughter. Not only will I not buy it, I won’t buy Coke Cola either. Thank you for this information!!

After viewing the video of abuse to calves I will no longer buy Coca Cola or Fairlife! The abuse of animals must have stronger penalties!!!

Thank you for this information. It is vital that we know about this and react to it accordingly.

How sad and shameful...

Everyone who buys their meat, eggs and milk from the grocery store are supporting factory farming. Please try to know where you’re food comes from and support your local producers if at all possible.

So sad. I usually buy Simply Smart, but do often buy FairLife too. This is awful - I believed what they said and thought it was a good product. I also did not know they were owned by Coca Cola.

Thank you for posting this. Unfortunately there are more stories, easily accessible on the Internet, along these lines. This does seem to be one of the more egregious ones though -let me count the ways!- yet as awful as it is, it is very very important for you to have posted this and equally important for ALL of us to know the story behind all of the labeling we are constantly bombarded with when we shop for our families....although I suspect that those of us who read your blog already have more than a passing interest in label-reading....btw, Giselle has a strong resemblance to Phoebe, who my girls fell in love with at the county fair several years ago. :) They will love seeing Giselle; the article, not so much. Thank you for everything you do, Snack Girl!

Thanks for posting this so we can make informed choices. Won’t be buying Fairlife!

Thank you for posting this article. I have bought Fairlife in the past because I thought they were a humane company. Not anymore. How can they claim to be humane when they torture these poor animals.

This Damm farm needs to be shut down. I never knew people could be so Damm curl to these beautiful ainmals.

Baby calfs are getting beat and punch taking away from their mothers.

And poor mother cows just give birth to a calf and is on the line getting milked.

I'm sorry but u seeing this video there's a mother cow just gave birth to a baby calf. She still has baby calf bag hanging from her and blood is still coming out from her.

This is not dairy farm.

This a farm from hell.

There is no way in hell u can have 30.000 cows and how many baby calfs .

These Damm owners knew what hell their employees were 😡 doing to these beautiful ainmals.

Oh my word!! Thank you for posting this! I'm so sad and angry! It breaks my heart that people can be so very deceitful to the public! And be so mean to innocent animals! I hope the people are prosecuted and the company closed!

Honestly, I feel like people who eat meat don’t get to be upset about the way dairy cows are treated. It feels wildly hypocritical.

I cannot imagine the fear of these poor animals it is time for responsible farming in our country. These mega farms owned by corporations do not have a concern for the animals or environment. Support Farm Aid and politicians that support the family farms. Coca Cola no more in my home and other products they produce!

Thank you truly eye opening. Sad humans mistreat animals who are so important to this earth.

I have seen the video and it made me sick to watch the treatment of these cows and calves

This is horrible how they treated these beautiful animal. Authorities must charge the people who did the abuse. Just thinking about the cruelty make me sad and angry!!!

I could not stop crying when I saw that video. I am boycotting coca Cola products and of course Fairlife. Just a few months ago I bought Fairlife milk because I was looking for something that was lactose free. I am sickened that I wasn't aware of this abuse. I will be more careful with researching where my milk comes from.

Having grown up on a dairy farm in beautiful Lancaster County, PA, I know first-hand what loving care of animals looks like. I cannot bring myself to watch the abuse perpetrated by Fairlife, and I never will. Please, as Lisa suggests above, seek out your dairy products (including eggs) from area farms or regional milk producers.

From day one of seeing this;no more coke cola(and I love pop) there are others to pick from! Also..yes buy milk from small town farmers..they are definitely the best!!!! So sad. I'm not a vegan by all means..but this is so cruel and for the Man letting it go on with zero cameras when our little local McDonald's has camera's....he had to know it was operating like it should have been.

The Harding and Meijer and Walmart where I live sells this milk and it is still on the shelf. They must not care we all should boycott the stores that still sell it.

This is why I don't drink milk !

Maybe once In a great while but it's always Soy milk.

I cannot bring myself to watch the video - however I will no longer purchase Fairlife or Coke products of any kind. I find it intolerable to anyone mistreats animals of any kind. It sickens me to think of the horrors...so very sad that this kind of behavior is not only tolerated but those doing it are being paid for their abusive behavior. I hope they get the kind of justice they all deserve. SHUT THEM DOWN!

While this is disturbing, I am sure that upon further investigation we would find that most commercial dairy cows are mistreated-not just the Fairlife girls.

Not that I drink milk (I use almond milk), nor do I drink soda. But you can bet that I will tell anyone who will listen who does use their products about this horror. Why am I not surprised that such a big company would succumb to greed like this. This just confirms my decision to use local farm products and the little guy who cares about their animals and the integrity of their product. Thanks, Lisa, for keeping us informed.

I too will not buy any Coca Cola products & willing to sign a petition against them. Thank You for the posting, I will pass it on. Bless You All. anneipp

I am so sad to hear this about Fairlife. I drink Fairlife since I am Lactose intolerance and it is the only one that I found that tasted like milk. I guess I will go back to Almond milk. So sad and angry.

There are many true stories surrounding the treatment of animals on our nations farms sorry to say most are true.God gave us animals to use but not abuse .these dairies need to be shut down and changes need to happen ,owners need to be held responsible along with employees , if you would abuse an animal then you would also abuse a human being,felony charges need to be filed and jail time along with huge fines.!!!!

I purchased this milk all the time to make cold start yogurt. I will not be giving my money to any Coke product here on out. Definitely deceitful and cruel. Any suggestions what to use instead of this milk?

Thank you Lisa. This is a brand I will no longer buy.

I didn't see it in the news yet and would not have known about this, if not for you. Thanks for always helping your readers be informed consumers.

I knew from the word Coca-Cola

Oh, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Coca Cola will likely suffer no more than a (monetary) slap on the wrist, since they can afford to battle it out in court with scores of lawyers. The problem is systemic in the dairy industry in particular. Family dairies are closing nearly every day because they can't meet the pricing demands of retailers like WalMart. I paid 47 cents for a half gallon of milk the other day. In no way do I think the milk I'm drinking is coming from happy contented cows. I DO hope the cows aren't being abused, but I know they're not allowed to graze in beautiful green pastures. It's sad, but true in today's consumer-driven society.

It so sad that that the writer is more concern about his own fame than the welfare of the animals AND that he is so biased and poorly informed.

I've been away from your site for awhile and today when I finally got to come back this is what I read.

I am so HAPPY that something is finally being done with the inhumane treatment of these poor cows!!!

Now we need to work on other poor abused animals!

Thank You Lisa for all you do to keep us imformed on these things and the good food we can eat

I will never buy any Coke/Fairlife related products again.

I find it odd that they call the company Fairlife, they do not treat the animals fairly by any means and I hope they are punished to the max, right in the bank accounts. They should be ashamed of how they treated helpless animals.

Like u. I will not drink anymore milk.. After watching the video on Fairlife

These videos are just absolutely horrible 😭😫😢..

Seriously how can anyone treat baby 😭 calves so horrible. By kicking them punching them. Dragging them by their little ears and shuving a bottle down their throats.

This angers me as I have been in the cattle business for over 20 years. I am glad to know this information and will not be purchasing Fairlife. We raised registered cattle and cared for them better than we did ourselves. If you are going to be in the business be prepared to care for those animals as they do not deserve to be treated inhumanly. Truly disappointing.

I looked at the website when I heard about it from a gas station cashier. They get milk from several different farms. They can't know what's going on in every farm, and of course, no one would support how this farm treated their cows. But fairlife has ended they're partnership with that farm and are checking on their farms very intensely. This happens a lot, and there's nothing they could or can really do now except cut ties and continue. Which they've done. So it's good for me. They're milk tastes great, I like the protein. Don't tell me what I should and shouldn't buy

Horrific, horrific video. I have recently transitioned to eating plant based for health reasons and this scandal just helped give me even more motivation!

Nicole not sure what you mean by your comment, you don't have to not eat meat to be sicken by this behavior. Not excuse.

Food lion in NC is still carrying it. Refuses to stop. Coke rep I spoke to inside food lion said it was a hoax. Said it was an isolated incident .

I was curious about her response and just let her do her talk. She had not seen the video. These people in video should all go to jail. I have a hard time believing the owner is a vet and wasn’t aware. Disgusting!

I just wonder? Has this been put on face book???

Many companies need to be outed for what they are putting in our food & also how they treat the animals that supply our

food. GREED, GREED, WHATEVER MAKES A FASTER & EASIER BUCK.

ALL OF YOU BE SAFE, THANK YOU SNACK GIRL FOR MAKING US AWARE. HAVE A BETTER DAY! anneippi

These kinds of stories and under-cover videos surface every 6 months or so. Virtually every one of these vicious monsters is an illegal Mexican who can't speak a word of English using a stolen SS#. If animal-welfare activists really cared about the treatment of livestock, they would push hard for mandatory use of E-verify by employers. But they don't. They would rather virtue-signal.

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