Bovine Growth Hormone: consumers fight back

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  April, 2007  by Rose Marie Williams

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Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) was introduced in the early 1990s by chemical giant Monsanto to boost milk output from dairy cows. It was highly controversial then and is even more controversial now. Ignoring the fact that US dairy herds were already producing a surplus of milk for which tax money was subsidizing the dairy industry, Monsanto pushed, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acted quickly to bring this drug to market.

Monsanto was criticized for sending its rBGH scientist to the FDA to facilitate the approval process of her own research and for using its legal firm to assist the FDA in drawing up the necessary documents, which forbid farmers and retailers from marketing dairy products as "rBGH-free." When several farmers and retailers attempted to do just that, Monsanto sued and won. (1)

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Monsanto has continually denied there is any difference between milk from treated or untreated cows, and therefore, according to Monsanto, milk from treated cows poses no health risk to humans. Monsanto now refers to the genetically engineered combination of cow gene, plus DNA from Escherichia coli (E. coli), as supplemental bovine somatotropin or "supplemental bST." It is marketed under the trade name Posilac[R]. (1)

Posilac labels warn farmers of increased mastitis in cows (which raises pus in milk by 20%, requiring more antibiotics); increased digestive disorders; lameness and hoof problems; increased physical stress shortening the cow's life; and serious problems with metabolism and reproduction, including increased multiple births. A recent human study shows an increase in multiple births among women who are high dairy consumers vs. women who are not. Consumers Union, the Humane Society, and other organizations appealed to the FDA for proper labeling of treated milk products, but to no avail. (1)

Approximately 35% of American dairy herds are currently injected with rBGH, making it the largest-selling dairy pharmaceutical in this country. Monsanto is fighting to keep this drug in the market place, even though it has been banned in Canada, Europe, and other countries.

IGF-1 Cancer Risk

Early on, several medical doctors and researchers raised questions about rBGH's ability to increase production of another hormone, IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor), which promotes cell division and could raise the risk of breast, prostate, and other cancers. In 1995, George Tritsch, a former researcher with the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, raised concerns about IGF-1 and the growth of cancer cells. (2) Monsanto insisted the human digestive system safely destroys the hormone and poses no risk to humans. Tritsch disagreed, countering that if the "human digestive system destroyed all proteins, people would not have food allergies and many oral vaccines would not work. Complete destruction of the growth hormone in the stomach is not certain," he claimed. (2)

George Tritsch expressed serious concern regarding the enormous human experiment of adding IGF-1 to the American food supply and believed it "could have horrendous consequences and overwhelm the health care system." (2) Similar sentiments were expressed by Samuel Epstein, MD, a fierce critic of the cancer establishment, whose warnings were later ignored by journalists who were "re-educated" by Monsanto representatives. (1) (More information about this can be read in "Bovine Growth Hormone Cover-up," Townsend Letter, October 2006.)

During a 1993 application process to sell rBGH in England, Monsanto acknowledged that a substantial increase in IGF-1 was noticed, but a year later, in a letter published in the Lancet, Monsanto denied the earlier findings, claiming there was no change in IGF-1 levels in milk from treated cows. (1) The June 1995 issue of Cancer Research reported that increased levels of IGF-1 helped protect cancer cells from their programmed death. Particularly vulnerable to these tumor cells are breasts, ovaries, and prostate. The study did not conclude that increased levels of IGF-1 in milk automatically caused increased levels in the human body. (2)

Consumers Demand Organic Milk

Americans are hooked on dairy, thanks to aggressive advertising by the National Dairy Council, an industry lobbying group, claims Rita Arditti of the Women's Community Cancer Project in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Change doesn't come swiftly. More than ten years after rBGH treated milk first hit the market, and despite Monsanto's efforts to downplay health risks and silence critics, an increased consumer demand has created a shortage of organic milk. Consumers who can't afford or don't feel they need organic milk are letting the dairy industry know they at least want rBGH-free milk. (3) Consumers always vote with their dollar, the most powerful voice in the marketplace, and the dairy industry is finally paying attention.

Consumer demand for milk from cows not treated with rBGH is having a ripple effect. Increased numbers of farmers are voluntarily weaning their herds off the controversial drug. Dairy processors are getting on the bandwagon by asking their suppliers to sign affidavits declaring their dairy cows are rBGH-free. (4) Health Care without Harm, an international coalition of 443 organizations, has been responsible for numerous hospitals in the US beginning to offer rBGH-free milk. (5)