Dairy May Stop Milk Carton Effort to Find Children

The millions of milk cartons with pictures of missing children have helped solve only six cases, federal documents indicate, and one major dairy in the Northeast says it may soon drop the project.

Records in the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an arm of the U.S. Justice Department, show that six missing youngsters have been tracked down nationally through milk carton displays, center spokeswoman Barbara Chapman said.

It is believed that pictures carried by H. P. Hood Inc. on containers of milk and orange juice sold by the company across New England and Upstate New York since January, 1985, have failed to solve any cases.

Although company officials are thinking of replacing the children’s pictures with other public service messages, they believe the project was beneficial in making people understand the problem, said Peter Minasian, a company spokesman.

In addition to the six children found through milk carton pictures, 109 children have been found in the last 2 1/2 years through other displays of pictures, such as those in grocery stores, publications and television programs, Chapman said.