Consequences of Genetically Engineered Milk (31/1/2005)

Monsanto's genetically engineered cattle drug rBGH is banned in Canada and the EU but was pushed through in the U.S. in extraordinary circumstances.
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Consequences of Genetically Engineered Milk

Eleven years ago, the greatest controversy in FDA history began with a lie when the Clinton White House (Executive Branch Report on rbGH, February 9, 1994) concluded: "BGH-treated milk is safe because it is indistinguishable from normal milk."

The drug manufacturer (Monsanto) hired ex-Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop to compound the lie. Koop's press release, dated 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."

Did the National Institutes of Health agree? Here is what they concluded four years earlier:

"Recombinant rbGH treatment produces an increase in the concentration of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) in cow's milk."

"Levels of IGF increase in milk after cows are treated with rbGH."
National Institutes of Health, Assessment of Bovine Somatotropin, December, 1990

"A strong positive association was observed between IGF-I levels and prostate cancer risk."
Science, vol. 279. January 23, 1998

"Insulin-like growth factor is thought to have a role in breast cancer."
The Lancet, vol. 351. May 9, 1998

"High plasma levels of IGF-I were associated with an increased risk of lung cancer. Plasma levels of IGF-I are higher...in patients with lung cancer than in control subjects."
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, vol. 91, no. 2. January 20, 1999.

"The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system is widely involved in human carcinogenesis. A significant association between high circulating IGF-I concentrations and an increased risk of lung, colon, prostate and pre- menopausal breast cancer has recently been reported."
International Journal of Cancer, 2000 Aug, 87:4, 601-5

"...serum IGF-I levels increased significantly in the milk drinking group, an increase of about 10% above baseline-but was unchanged in the control group."
Journal of the American Dietetic Association, vol. 99, no. 10. October 1999

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com


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