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Despite evidence that it may be harmful
to human health, recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH)
milk is spreading across the nation.
rBGH is injected into about 30 percent
of the nation's cows, according to Monsanto, the company behind
the controversial hormone. Extracted from cows' pituitary
glands, rBGH increases milk input by as much as 20 or 30 percent.
rBGH milk is added to cream, cheese, yogurts and baked goods,
but is not labeled.
While Monsanto claims that rBGH milk is
just as safe as regular milk, experts say dozens of studies
show otherwise.
Dr. Samuel Epstein, professor of environmental
and occupational medicine at University of Illinois School
of Public Health in Chicago, told MSNBC that some studies
indicate that insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), a protein
found in slightly higher levels in milk from hormone-treated
cows than normal milk, has been linked to cancer.
The Food and Drug Administration gave its
stamp of approval to rBGH in 1993, dismissing safety concerns.
Two FDA scientists cleared rBGH in an article appearing in
the journal Science. In Canada, however, government scientists
came to a much different conclusion. Shiv Chopra of Canada's
Health Protection Branch and four of his colleagues found
evidence that the FDA had overlooked, or even suppressed,
studies showing adverse reactions to rBGH in rats, Chopra
says.
"Although the paper published in Science
gave the product a clean bill of health, the U.S. FDA ignored
the harder information, a 90-day study of rats showing that
the hormone did indeed get absorbed into their bloodstreams,
and that it produced antibodies and lesions," Chopra
told MSNBC. He added, "I'm afraid to say that despite
all that is known about the adverse reactions that cows have
to the drug, and the ample evidence of human health concerns
as well, that the U.S. government took an expedient route
to approval with this drug."
In 1999, Canada decided not to approve
rBGH milk.
Ben & Jerry's ice cream, which has
an arrangement with its dairy supplier to purchase only non-rBGH
dairy products, has a web page devoted to its arguments against
the hormone. According to Ben & Jerry's, some studies
report a 79 percent increase in mastisis (infection of the
udder) in cows, resulting in the need for greater use of antibiotics,
reduced pregnancy rates, cystic ovaries and uterine disorders,
digestive disorders and lacerations, and enlargements and
calluses of the knee.
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