Ryan Remiorz A dairy cow at a Quebec farm on Aug. 31, 2018.

The latest tri-lateral trade deal will open Canada up to more American dairy products — and farmers argue that will disrupt a finely tuned system that has successfully buoyed Canada's industry while many of the developed world's dairy farmers teeter on the brink of bankruptcy. "The message sent to our passionate, proud and quality-conscious farmers and all the people who work in the dairy sector is clear: they are nothing more than a bargaining chip to satisfy President Trump," Dairy Farmers of Canada president Pierre Lampron told Sudbury.com. Producers aren't the only critics of the United-States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA). If the #BuyCanadian campaign on social media is any indication, many Canadian consumers aren't pleased either — largely because, well, a lot of us think American milk is gross:

I will continue to support the Canadian dairy industry. I prefer our milk and our cows, despite the fact that we will have 3% more American options. I don't like hormones and antibiotics in my milk and cheese, regardless of the price. — Patty (@PattyOLimerick) October 1, 2018

I will never buy american milk or ice cream, it taste bad and they dont have the same standards as we do in canada, its pure garbage — ladyblackisdone (@ladyblackisdone) October 1, 2018

But is our fear warranted? As Canadians face the prospect of more red-white-and-blue options in the dairy aisle, here's some insight on common concerns about American milk.

Darryl Dyck Dairy cows walk in a pasture at Nicomekl Farms, in Surrey, B.C. on Aug. 30, 2018.

Does American milk contain growth hormones? Yes, but the impact of those hormones on humans is unclear. Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand have all banned or blocked American milk because of a synthetic growth hormone called recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBST). This hormone is injected into a cow so it produces more milk. The hormone was reviewed by Health Canada in the 1990s. At the time it was determined that rBST didn't pose a health risk to humans, but did compromise the health and welfare of cows. The hormone was never approved for sale in Canada. By contrast, rBST is approved for use in the US, and a handful of recent studies have led some researchers to float concerns about its health risks for humans. That's because milk from rBST-treated cows has been proven to contain elevated levels of IGF-1 — a hormone that may influence the development of prostate, breast, colorectal and other cancers, if present at high levels in humans. But that's not something that's likely to affect Canadian consumers. "As a result of public awareness campaigns by consumers, the number of American farms that treat their herds with the hormone have been reduced dramatically," Mike von Massow, associate professor of food agriculture at the University of Guelph, told HuffPost Canada. "So first, it's unlikely you will consume the milk of an rBST-treated cow. Then, the likelihood of consuming enough of it to have an actual impact on your health is even slimmer." The USMCA is set to have a serious impact on dairy farmers. Story continues after video:

Nathan Denette Canadian cheese on display in Toronto on Oct. 18, 2013.