Environment

Consumer Pressure Cripples Artificial Growth Hormone Use In Milk

by Barbara McPherson | August 14, 2008 at 03:51 pm

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Think your food is the same as 50 years ago? That cow's milk is the next best thing for babies? Think again. There has been some quiet tinkering with milk production in the United States. To date, Canada has kept the artificial growth hormone known as rBGH out of the milk supply.

Milk cows on factory farms are injected with this substance to increase milk production.

Now it would seem that Monsanto is rethinking the profitability of rBGH in the light of growing consumer concern over this hormone.

Not Even Monsanto Wants rBGH Consumer Pressure Cripples Artificial Growth Hormone Used In Milk Production
Washington, DC – Monsanto’s announcement that it is “repositioning” Posilac, its artificial growth hormone used in milk production and more commonly known as rBGH, is good news for consumers but not the end of the struggle for food safety advocates, warned the national consumer rights organization Food & Water Watch today.

“News of Monsanto’s divestment of Posilac is one more sign that no-one wants the growth hormone rBGH used in milk production, not even the company that makes it,” said Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter. “In the last year we’ve seen retailers including Walmart, Kroger, and Starbucks fall like dominoes in the race to meet consumer demand for artificial growth hormone-free milk. “

Food & Water Watch contends that the last several attempts by Monsanto to salvage rBGH’s profitability have been underhanded. Just last month, a widely publicized study came out with the claim that rBGH was good for the environment. Much coverage of the study failed to note that the lead researcher was in fact a Monsanto consultant and another researcher was the company’s technical manager for rBGH.

“RBGH is not used by small-eco-friendly farms. The artificial hormone has contributed to the growth of mega-dairy operations that cram together thousands of cows generating mountains of waste that are toxic to us and to our environment,” explained Hauter.