Monsanto Sues Dairy in Maine Over Label's Remarks on Hormones

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Monsanto Sues Dairy in Maine Over Label's Remarks on Hormones

>

> By DAVID BARBOZA

>

> CHICAGO, July 11 In another sign of how contentious food labeling issues

> have become in recent years, the Monsanto Company has sued a small milk

> producer in Portland, Me., over the labeling of its dairy products.

>

> Monsanto has accused Oakhurst Dairy Inc. of engaging in misleading and

> deceptive marketing practices by carrying labels that seem to disparage

the

> use of artificial growth hormones in cows.

>

> Monsanto is the maker of the only major artificial growth hormone,

Posilac.

> It has been on the market since 1994 and is used in about a third of the

> nation's nine million dairy cows

>

> The company, which also pioneered the development of genetically modified

> crops, says its product was approved for use by the Food and Drug

> Administration. It also says that the Oakhurst labels suggest that milk

> that comes from cows treated with artificial growth hormones is somehow

> unsafe or lower in quality.

>

> Since they were introduced nearly a decade ago, artificial growth hormones

> have come under vigorous attack from some consumer groups, organic farmers

> and other critics because of concerns that they are harmful to cows, that

> they make cows produce milk that is chemically and nutritionally different

> from natural milk and that they could induce higher rates of cancer in

humans.

>

> Many scientists, however, say those claims are largely fabricated and

> fictional. And Monsanto says its product, which is intended to bolster

milk

> production, is derived from a natural protein produced in cattle.

>

> Still, consumers have grown concerned about the use of the artificial

> hormones, which are banned from the market in Canada and the European

Union.

>

> Oakhurst Dairy and other New England dairy producers say that years ago

> they responded to consumer concerns by labeling their dairy products free

> of artificial growth hormones. Indeed, the state of Maine says that for

> dairy producers to use the state's quality seal of approval on their

> packages, the dairy processors must receive signed affidavits from dairy

> farmers who have pledged not to use artificial growth hormones on their

cows.

>

> Oakhurst's products carry the state's quality seal, and the company's milk

> cartons say, " Our farmers' pledge: no artificial growth hormones. "

>

> Stanley T. Bennett II, the president of Oakhurst Dairy, a family-owned

> company with sales of about $85 million a year, said today, in a telephone

> interview: " We don't feel we need to remove that label. We ought to have

> the right to let people know what is and is not in our milk. "

>

> Other New England dairy producers say they use similar labels.

>

> " In Maine and Vermont our farmers agree not to provide us with milk from

> cows treated with artificial growth hormone, " said Lynne M. Bohan, a

> spokeswoman at HP Hood, a large, privately held regional dairy distributor

> based in Chelsea, Mass.

>

> And Ben & Jerry's Homemade, the popular ice cream maker in Vermont, also

> carries a label on every pint of ice cream that says its farmers pledge

not

> to use artificial growth hormones.

>

> " We've been vocally opposed to bovine growth hormone for a long time, "

said

> Lee Holden, a spokesman for Ben & Jerry's, now an independent subsidiary

of

> the giant food maker Unilever. " One of the concerns is the health of the

> cows, but also there's the effect on family farmers. "

>

> But Monsanto, the maker of agricultural seeds and chemicals, has a

> reputation for responding strongly to critics of its biotech seeds and its

> artificial growth hormones.

>

> The company has been pressing government officials in Maine to get

Oakhurst

> to change its labels and tone down its marketing. On July 3, Monsanto

filed

> its suit against Oakhurst in the United States District Court in Boston,

> seeking an injunction preventing Oakhurst from using the labels.

>

> Monsanto says not only are the labels misleading to consumers but also

that

> there is no way to distinguish between milk that comes from cows treated

> with artificial growth hormones and milk that comes from cows not treated.

>

> In a statement released after the suit was filed, Monsanto said that

" these

> misleading representations directly disparage Monsanto's Posilac bovine

> somatotropin product and the milk from cows supplemented with bovine

> somatotropin. "

>

> The National Dairy Council also says Monsanto's Posilac drug has been

> " repeatedly proven safe, " according to Regan Miller Jones, a dietitian

with

> the trade group.

>

> The Center for Global Food Issues of the Hudson Institute has also become

> concerned about what it considers misleading dairy labels.

>

> While officials at the center have not taken issue with the Oakhurst

> labels, Alex Avery, director of research and education at the center,

said:

> " There's a whole lot of upheaval in the dairy industry because of

different

> claims. People are confused and this is harmful to the dairy industry. You

> see labels that say no pesticides, no antibiotics, but all milk has tiny

> traces of pesticides. There are even tiny traces of DDT. "

>

> The center's new slogan to stop milk producers from marketing with

> misleading health slogans is not as catchy as " Got Milk? " but it's just as

> simple: " Milk Is Milk. "

>

> http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/12/business/12MILK.html

>