More about the evil of Monsanto, and the health risks of drinking milk with bovine growth hormones in it
IN MY OPINION Jeffrey M. Smith
Friday, February 25, 2005
Minding the milk in Tillamook County
Last year, the Tillamook County Creamery Association moved to ban the use of a genetically engineered drug that increases milk production in cows. Soon after, the association reported that the drug's manufacturer, Monsanto Co., was pressuring Tillamook farmers to reverse the decision.
For those familiar with the history of this controversial drug, a growth hormone sold under the brand name Posilac, the intrusion by Monsanto is no surprise.
In the late 1980s, after three scientists with the federal Food and Drug Administration expressed concerns about possible human health problems related to dairy products from Posilac-treated cows, they were fired, stripped of responsibilities or forced out. Other FDA scientists subsequently wrote an anonymous letter to Congress, complaining of fraud and conflict of interest at the agency.
In 1998, six Canadian government scientists testified before their Senate that they were being pressured by superiors to approve Posilac, even though they believed it was unsafe. Scientists testified that files were stolen from a locked file cabinet and that Monsanto offered $1 million to $2 million for the drug's approval. (Afterward, a Monsanto representative went on national Canadian television claiming that the scientists misunderstood an offer for research money.)
This year, Monsanto was fined $1.5 million for offering bribes to Indonesians in an effort to gain approval for genetically modified seeds.
The most persistent concern about the drug has focused on one hormone, insulinlike growth factor 1, or IGF-1. Milk naturally contains IGF-1, and milk drinkers increase their levels of the hormone. Studies suggest that pre-menopausal women younger than 50 with high levels of IGF-1 are seven times more likely to develop breast cancer. Men are four times more likely to develop prostate cancer. IGF-1 is implicated in lung and colon cancer. Milk from cows treated with Posilac has significantly higher levels of IGF-1. (No comprehensive study has yet evaluated a direct link between Posilac and cancer in humans.)
This potential link between Posilac and cancer was one of the topics to be revealed in a four-part news series by a Tampa-based Fox TV station. Just before the series was to air, however, Fox received threatening letters from Monsanto's attorney, suggesting "dire consequences for Fox News." The show was postponed indefinitely. The reporters who had created the series later sued the station, testifying that they were offered money by the station to leave and never speak about the story again. A jury verdict in their favor was later overturned by an appeals court ruling that determined that Florida's whistle-blower laws didn't pertain to them.
Most industrialized nations ban use of Posilac. Within the United States, many school systems ban milk products from injected cows, and several dairies refuse to use it. Posilac was approved by the FDA at a time when one of Monsanto's former attorneys, Michael Taylor, was in charge of agency policy. Taylor later became a Monsanto vice president.
Another Monsanto attorney came to Oregon earlier this month. Farmers with the cooperative said he drafted an amendment to the co-op's bylaws that would prevent the ban on Posilac. Tillamook creamery's members will vote on that petition on Monday.
The creamery association has said that its consumers don't want Posilac in their milk. I don't blame them. Let's hope the consumers win.
Jeffrey M. Smith lives in Fairfield, Iowa. He is the author of "Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies About the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You're Eating" and is director of the Institute for Responsible Technology.
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