Holy Cow! Hormones in our milk! Part 2

By the manufacturer's own admission (information printed on the product insert), use of Posilac results in increased risk for cows to develop clinical mastitis (or visibly abnormal milk); and increased risk of sub-clinical (invisibly abnormal milk).  It should be noted here that there are a number of other conditions related to Posilac listed on the label but since those are related to bovine health and not human I haven’t included them here.  Now mind you these risks-- they’re just what Monsanto ‘fesses up to- it’s not everything we need to worry about.  Supposedly our bodies do not have receptors for bovine hormones. (or just no receptors for non-synthetic ones?)  How does one then explain away fairly recent events in China?  In 2010 there was a furor because some baby girls fed on infant formula were developing enlarged breast tissue.  Worse yet in the 1980s in Puerto Rico there were multiple cases of precocious puberty in little girls.  Baby girls under one year old, not yet even walking, were developing enlarged breast tissue.  Girls as young as three developed pubic hair and had vaginal bleeding, and four year-old girls had fully developed breasts.  Boys were also affected and some had to resort to surgery for cosmetic reasons.  The situation was traced to the use of hormones in dairy cows.  Proof?  When the children were taken off dairy milk the symptoms regressed in most cases.  Check it out here. So these events are not related to synthetic hormones?  What then is the explanation?  It hasn’t happened here… yet, and hopefully it won't!  Not to worry then???  When the greater part of the developed world (Canada, the European Union, Japan, Australia and New Zealand) refuses to use rBGH in milk production, and refuses to buy our dairy products (and meat) because they say not enough research has been done, then I'd say they realize something big agribusiness and our FDA doesn't want us to know.  Land of the Free?  When it comes to our food supply, I'm not so sure.    

Holy Cow! Hormones in our milk! Part 1

We’ve heard about hormones in our milk supply.  Aren’t hormones natural? What’s the big deal?  Yes, hormones are naturally found in milk.  The naturally occurring hormone found in cow’s milk is BGH (bovine growth hormone).  The body of the cow naturally produces it so that her calf will grow, therefore it is secreted into her milk. Supposedly this is not a problem for people because it is a bovine hormone to which our bodies do not react.  The hormone that scientists, doctors and concerned consumers are troubled by is rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone) which is a synthetic form of the growth hormone injected into cows to increase growth rates and milk production.  Other names for this synthetic hormone include rBST (bovine somatotropin) and Posilac, Monsanto's brandname for the synthetic stuff.  The motivation to use it?  Increased profits- a cow can produce from 10 to 25% more milk when injected with rBGH.  I have nothing against someone wanting to increase their profits, but it poses a big problem for me when it comes at the expense of public health.  Initially four companies made the synthetic hormone, today the field is vacated but for Elanco Animal Health, owned by Eli Lilly.  Monsanto sold Posilac to Lilly in August of 2008 for $300 million saying it wanted to devote more of its resources to development of its genetically engineered seed (to the great disadvantage of all of us.)  Don’t worry about Monsanto though- Lilly will give them a cut of further action and also will assume payment of royalties to the University of California… hmmm?   So if BGH doesn’t pose a risk to our health, why would rBGH?  Because it is not the same as the naturally occurring hormone!  It is a manufactured substance made in a laboratory, injected into animals, and no real studies have been done on its long-term effects on people.   Part 2 will appear tomorrow.