rBGH & Monsanto

[Guest guest]

rBGH & Monsanto

 

 

BGH: Monsanto and the Dairy Industry's Dirty Little Secret

 

Seven years ago, Feb. 4, 1994, despite nationwide protests by consumer

groups, Monsanto and the FDA forced onto the US market the world's

first

GE animal drug, recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH, sometimes

known

 

as rBST).

 

BGH is a powerful GE drug produced by Monsanto which, injected into

dairy cows, forces them to produce 15%-25% more milk, in the process

seriously damaging their health and reproductive capacity.

 

Despite warnings from scientists, such as Dr. Michael Hansen from the

Consumers Union and Dr. Samuel Epstein from the Cancer Prevention

Coalition, that milk from rBGH injected cows contains substantially

higher amounts of a potent cancer tumor promoter called IGF-1, and

despite evidence that rBGH milk contains higher levels of pus,

bacteria,

and antibiotics, the FDA gave the hormone its seal of approval, with

no

real pre-market safety testing required.

 

Moreover, the FDA ruled, in a decision marred by rampant conflict of

interest (several key FDA decision makers, including Michael Taylor,

previously worked for Monsanto), that rBGH-derived products did not

have

to be labeled, despite polls showing that 90% of American consumers

wanted labeling -- mainly so they could avoid buying rBGH-tainted

products.

 

All of the major criticisms leveled against rBGH have turned out to be

true. Since 1994, every industrialized country in the world, except

for

the US, has banned the drug.

 

In 1998, Canadian government scientists revealed that Monsanto's own

data on feeding rBGH to rats, carefully concealed by the company and

the

FDA, indicated possible cancer dangers to humans.

 

Since rBGH was approved, approximately 40,000 small and medium-sized

US

dairy farmers, 1/3 of the total in the country, have gone out of

business, concentrating milk production in the hands of industrial-

sized

dairies, most of whom are injecting their cows with this cruel and

dangerous drug.

 

In a 1998 survey by Family Farm Defenders, it was found that mortality

rates for cows on factory dairy farms in Wisconsin, those injecting

their herds with rBGH, were running at 40% per year. In other words,

after two and a half years of rBGH injections most of these drugged

and

supercharged cows were dead.

 

Typically, dairy cows live for 15-20 years.

 

Alarmed and revolted by rBGH, consumers have turned in droves to

organic

milk and dairy products or to brands labeled as rBGH-free.

Nonetheless,

use of the drug has continued to increase in the US (and in nations

like

Brazil and Mexico) especially in large dairy herds, so that currently

15% of America's 10 million lactating dairy cows are being injected

with

rBGH.

 

Compounding the problem of rBGH contamination, most of the nation's

1500

dairy companies are allowing the co-mingling of rBGH and non-rBGH

milk,

thereby contaminating 80-90% of the nation's milk and dairy supply

(including all of the major infant formula brands). For a list of

organic and rBGH-free dairies in the US consult the Organic Consumers

Association (OCA) website.

 

The major reason that rBGH is still on the market is that it is not

labeled. Supermarket dairy managers, following guidelines circulated

by

the rBGH and biotech lobby, routinely lie to consumers, telling them

either that rBGH is not in their products, or that there's no way to

tell, and reassuring them that the FDA has certified that rBGH is

safe.

 

Of course, every survey conducted since 1994 shows that if consumers

were given a choice, they would boycott rBGH-tainted products.

 

Responding to the global controversy surrounding the drug, Monsanto

put

BGH for sale in 1998, but there were no takers. Transnational PR firms

working with the biotech industry have categorized Monsanto's handling

of the rBGH controversy as a " public relations disaster. "

 

Starbucks has been a target as 3/4 of the 32 million gallons of milk

it

buys every year in the US are coming from dairies that allow cows to

be

injected with rBGH.

 

Once Starbucks' 15 million customers learn that most of the latte or

cappuccino drinks they're paying top dollar for (3/4 of the volume of

these drinks are milk) contain an extra dose of pus, antibiotics, and

growth hormones and that Fair Trade and organic coffee constitute less

than one percent of company sales, they may decide to take their

business elsewhere.

 

Total annual sales for the company are approximately $2.5 billion.

 

The worst nightmare of Monsanto and the biotech industry is starting

to

materialize: a mass-based consumer and environmental marketplace

pressure campaign in the heartland of GE foods-North America.

 

A number of major US food companies are already responding to public

pressure and starting to sweep GE foods off their products lists and

their grocery shelves: Gerber (baby food), Heinz (baby food), Frito-

Lay

(at least for their corn), Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Trader Joe's, and

even McDonald's (at least for their French fries).

 

OrganicConsumers.org