Consumer Victory: Monsanto Admits They Are Dumping Their Controversial Bovine Growth Hormone

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Consumer Victory: Monsanto Admits They Are Dumping Their Controversial Bovine

Growth Hormone

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_14001.cfm

* Monsanto Looks to Sell Dairy Hormone Business

By Andrew Martin and Andrew Pollack

The New York Times, August 6, 2008

Straight to the Source

 

 

After struggling to gain consumer acceptance, Monsanto on Wednesday announced

that it would try to sell its business of producing an artificial growth hormone

for dairy cows. The company will focus instead on its thriving business of

selling seeds and developing ways to improve crops.

The decision comes as more retailers, saying they are responding to consumer

demand, are selling dairy products from cows not treated with the artificial

hormone.

Wal-Mart, Kroger and Publix are among the retailers that now sell house-brand

milk from untreated cows. Almost all of the fresh milk sold by Dean Foods, the

nation's largest milk bottler, also comes from cows that were not treated with

the artificial hormone, a spokeswoman said.

Monsanto officials said the decision was not related to the retail trend and

that business for the artificial hormone, sold under the brand name Posilac,

remained brisk. Monsanto, which is based in St. Louis and is the only commercial

manufacturer of the hormone, declined to provide sales numbers.

Selling Posilac " will allow Monsanto to focus on the growth of its core seeds

and traits business while ensuring that loyal dairy farmers continue to receive

the value of Posilac in their operations, " Carl Casale, Monsanto's executive

vice president for strategy and operations, said in a statement.

The growth hormone, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1993, was

one of the first applications of genetic engineering used in food production.

When the artificial hormone, which is made in genetically modified bacteria, is

injected into cows, it increases milk production by about a gallon a day. A 2007

survey by the Department of Agriculture said 17 percent of the nation's dairy

cows were receiving it.

Despite the government's approval, many advocacy groups have long maintained

that Posilac is bad for the health of cows. Some even claim it could pose a

cancer risk in people, though little scientific evidence has emerged to support

that view. Their concerns have been fueled by the refusal of many countries,

including Canada and members of the European Union, to permit the use of the

hormone.

" I think they saw the handwriting on the wall and gave up, " said Andrew

Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety, a consumer advocacy

group based in Washington. " It's a major victory for consumers. "

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/07/business/07bovine.html?...