Monday, October 18, 2010

Got Natural Milk?

For decades, Monsanto has been claiming that there is no difference between natural milk and milk from cows injected with their genetically engineered drug rBGH (also called rBST). When dairy farmers who refused to use Monsanto's GMO drug labeled their products as such, Monsanto would take them to court and file complaints with the FDA. For nearly two decades, Monsanto and the FDA got away with it. An Ohio court, however, decided to review the facts and after surveying 20 years of research, they're finally countering Monsanto's claims. According to GenerationGreen.org,

The court noted that scientists have found at least three significant differences that make rBGH milk inferior to natural milk:

  • Milk from cows injected with rBGH has higher somatic cell counts; in other words, there’s more pus in the milk. The court notes that this can lead to milk that sours more quickly (not to mention that most people would prefer to avoid pus-filled milk).

  • The use of rBGH “induces an unnatural period of milk production,” during which injected cows produce inferior milk that has lower protein and higher fat content.

  • Milk from injected cows contains higher levels of a hormone called IGF-1; several studies have linked high levels of IGF-1 in blood with breast and prostate cancer, among other health hazards.



This marks a significant change in direction for US food policy. Up until now, regulatory agencies showed a willingness to accept Monsanto's false claims. In fact, there is evidence that the FDA knew about the inferiority of GMO milk, yet they never acted on it.

It took one Midwestern court to stand up to the FDA and expose the truth about GMO milk. Hopefully they're going to set the trend!

1 comment:

  1. This is nauseating. I can't stand the thought of pus in my milk, let alone elevated levels of pus...

    ReplyDelete