Just passing these messages on as received, can anyone tell me more? ----------------- Since its release onto the market in 1994, Monsanto's recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH but better known in the UK as BST) has been banned in most industrialized nations, other than the U.S., Brazil, and Mexico. While the genetically engineered hormone is regularly being injected into 22% of the dairy herd in the U.S. to force cows to give more milk, scientists warn that it may increase your risks of getting cancer. Knowing consumers want to avoid rBGH, Monsanto has successfully sued a number of dairies over the years for labelling their products "rBGH-Free." After a decade of forcing rBGH-tainted milk and dairy products on consumers, Monsanto has recently admitted to having mysterious production problems in the Austrian factory supplying them with rBGH. Last week, the company announced it is being forced to cut back production of rBGH (trade name Posilac) by 50%, due, in part, to failing FDA inspections at its manufacturing plant. Rumours are circulating in the dairy industry that rBGH, the first genetically engineered animal drug put into the U.S. food supply, may be pulled off the market. .... [more at]... http://www.organicconsumers.org/rbgh/cowhormone012804.cfm ------------------------------- From: "Robert Cohen" Sent: Friday, January 23, 2004 Subject: NOTMILK - Something Very Bad Has Happened Very shortly, perhaps in just a few weeks, cows sent to slaughter will have to be separated into two lines--those treated with the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone and those not receiving injections of Posilac. USDA will mandate this because of some very serious news. The first rumors came out of the state of Kentucky on Monday. Representatives of dairy co-ops have been telling dairy farmers that cows treated with Posilac have been developing bone cancers. I have received this news from a very good authority, although I am not at liberty to reveal my source. Let's call him Mr. W.M. What could be worse? I have a copy of a letter that Monsanto mailed to its dairy farmer customers on December 19, 2003. On that date, Monsanto shocked farmers by alerting them to the fact that Posilac would be in limited supply until: "Conditions and improvements in manufacturing are made..." Monsanto is accepting no new customers, and anticipated their "shortfall" to last for "several months." I have just learned (another rumor) that Florida farmers are being warned that Monsanto will cut back Posilac distribution to 50% or less on or about March 1, 2004. All of genetic engineering and biotechnology was based upon the safety of Posilac. We naive Americans have been part of an experiment, and are learning that Posilac may have compromised the safety of rbST-treated cows and humans who consume hormone-rich body fluids from these cows. Ex-Surgeon General C. Everett Koop was hired by Monsanto to tell Americans on February 6, 1994: "Milk from cows given supplemental bovine somatotropin is the same as any other milk...Unfortunately, a few fringe groups are using misleading statements and blatant falsehoods as part of a long-running campaign to scare consumers about a perfectly safe food." The following day, Monsanto scientist Bernard Violand submitted a paper to the Journal of Protein Science admitting that Posilac contained many different "freak amino acids." That paper was stamped "received" by the journal on Thursday, February 10, 1994, and published on July 6, 1994. Monsanto fixed the errors. FDA now knows of those mistakes because my whistle broke windows. During the process of developing a new technology to filter out those freak amino acids, Monsanto never alerted FDA as to the nature of their error. Had they done so, such honesty would have cost Monsanto over $500 million. Monsanto should have repeated the research because every scientific paper submitted to FDA was performed on animals with a different formula than the one currently on the market. Monsanto's actions are criminal. So are FDA's. We know the perps. Look at your kids. Look at your friends and relatives. They are the victims. Robert Cohen