As of August 2009, General Mills has made the commitment to eliminate milk sourced from cows treated with rBST (recombinant bovine somatotropin), a synthetic hormone also referred to as rBGH, in the production of its category-leading Yoplait® yogurts.

Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the National Institutes of Health remain fully confident in the safety of products made from milk sourced from cows treated with rBST in accordance with current guidelines, Yoplait is taking the initiative to change its dairy sourcing strategy to provide consumers with the option to choose a category-leading yogurt with milk produced by cows not treated with rBST.

Approved by the FDA in 1993, rBST is considered chemically identical to naturally occurring bovine hormones. Based on scientific research and extensive regulatory review, use of milk produced by rBST-supplemented cows in products is deemed safe both by the FDA and USDA, and milk from rBST-supplemented cows is approved as safe for use in products such as yogurt. However, consumers are demonstrating greater support for milk and milk products from cows not treated with rBST. So-called 'rBST-free' milk is more difficult to source, but companies such as General Mills are making the switch to 'rBST-free' milk nonetheless.