Know More About rBGH/ rBST
Posted by Jeremy at 6/27/2008 3:45 PM 
Categories: Health, Gov't and Corporate Deception, Organic Foods, Meat and Dairy Industries
Categories: Health, Gov't and Corporate Deception, Organic Foods, Meat and Dairy Industries
Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), also known as Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rBST) is a drug injected into dairy cattle which increases dairy production by up to 16%, but has been the subject of widespread controversy since its introduction because of:
Jeffrey M. Smith, author of Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette produced this two part video revealing the dangers and somewhat sordid past of rBST. Mr. Smith is the executive director of The Institute for Responsible Technology, a public education nonprofit. Near the end of Part II, Mr. Smith tangentially discusses his number one passion: the health risks of genetically engineered/modified food.
rBGH is banned in Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and all 27 member nations of the European Union. According to Monsanto, approximately 8000 dairy producers in the U.S. use the product on their cattle. It is the top selling dairy cattle pharmaceutical product in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration has come under heavy fire for their rapid and heavily influenced approval of the drug in 1993. Several scientists involved in the review of the product were later dismissed or pressured to leave the FDA. At the time of the approval, the executive deputy of the FDA, as well as several other key FDA scientists and consultants were former attorneys and employees of Monsanto.
All organic milk (and other dairy products) sold in the U.S. is rBST-free, as is milk labeled as rBST-free or rBGH-free. Monsanto lobbied the FDA to ban rBGH-free labeling, even going so far as to form a grass-roots advocacy organization called Afact (American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology) promoting itself as working in the public's interest. Since the introduction of synthetic hormones in dairy cattle, demand for rBST-free milk has increased by 500% in the U.S.
Many corporations involved in milk production and sales have reacted to public pressure. Dean Foods, the nation's largest dairy processor, no longer sells milk from rBGH-treated cows, and the top three grocery chains, Wal-Mart, Kroger, and Costco have pledged to sell only rBGH-free milk. Starbucks, Sam's Club, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Safeway and many others have also joined in not selling products from rBGH injected cattle.
A four-part television news story developed in 1996 by Fox TV affiliate WTVT/Fox13 in Tampa, Florida revealed a lot of the controversial information surrounding Posilac. The story was never aired due to pressure on Fox from Monsanto. The reporters were later terminated; one of them won a large wrongful termination suit against the network in 2000, but that decision was overturned in 2003 by an appeals court.
- its links to potential cancer-causing agents,
- the unusual circumstances surrounding the drug's approval by the FDA,
- a 1996 news story in Tampa pulled off the air and followed by several lawsuits, and
- studies indicating the drug's adverse effects on the health of injected cattle.
Jeffrey M. Smith, author of Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette produced this two part video revealing the dangers and somewhat sordid past of rBST. Mr. Smith is the executive director of The Institute for Responsible Technology, a public education nonprofit. Near the end of Part II, Mr. Smith tangentially discusses his number one passion: the health risks of genetically engineered/modified food.
Video Part I
Video Part II
rBGH is banned in Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and all 27 member nations of the European Union. According to Monsanto, approximately 8000 dairy producers in the U.S. use the product on their cattle. It is the top selling dairy cattle pharmaceutical product in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration has come under heavy fire for their rapid and heavily influenced approval of the drug in 1993. Several scientists involved in the review of the product were later dismissed or pressured to leave the FDA. At the time of the approval, the executive deputy of the FDA, as well as several other key FDA scientists and consultants were former attorneys and employees of Monsanto.
All organic milk (and other dairy products) sold in the U.S. is rBST-free, as is milk labeled as rBST-free or rBGH-free. Monsanto lobbied the FDA to ban rBGH-free labeling, even going so far as to form a grass-roots advocacy organization called Afact (American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology) promoting itself as working in the public's interest. Since the introduction of synthetic hormones in dairy cattle, demand for rBST-free milk has increased by 500% in the U.S.
Many corporations involved in milk production and sales have reacted to public pressure. Dean Foods, the nation's largest dairy processor, no longer sells milk from rBGH-treated cows, and the top three grocery chains, Wal-Mart, Kroger, and Costco have pledged to sell only rBGH-free milk. Starbucks, Sam's Club, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Safeway and many others have also joined in not selling products from rBGH injected cattle.
A four-part television news story developed in 1996 by Fox TV affiliate WTVT/Fox13 in Tampa, Florida revealed a lot of the controversial information surrounding Posilac. The story was never aired due to pressure on Fox from Monsanto. The reporters were later terminated; one of them won a large wrongful termination suit against the network in 2000, but that decision was overturned in 2003 by an appeals court.
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