SIGHTINGS



New Call To Take
rBGH Bovine Growth
Hormone Off The Market
http://www.purefood.org/rBGH/cfsrbghlegal.cfm
2-15-2000

 
In early 1999, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) initiated a legal action against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting that Monsanto's genetically engineered Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) (also known as rBST or PosilacÆ) be taken off the market. CFS took this important step upon the release of information from Health Canada (the Canadian equivalent of FDA) that the FDA failed to investigate studies showing that the oral feeding of rBGH led to thyroid cysts and prostate activity in male rats. The Health Canada study emphatically found that these results necessitated further study of the human health impacts of rBGH. The study also found that significant animal health problems were associated with rBGH use in dairy cows, including a 50% risk increase of lameness and a 25% risk increase of mastitis (udder infections). However, the FDA approved rBGH for use in the U.S. in late 1993 without finding that it was safe for use and ignoring studies that indicated these human and animal health risks. In contrast, both Canada and the European Union have found the potential human and animal health impacts associated with rBGH great enough to prohibit rBGH use.
 
Please demand that the government take rBGH off the market and support the CFS legal action. You can submit your comments to the FDA today!
 
Visit http://www.foodsafetynow.org To Send an urgent message to the commissioner of the FDA
 
Or Write To:
 
Docket No: 98P-1194
Commissioner Jane Henney
Food and Drug Adminsitration
5360 Fishers Lane
Room 1061 (HFA-305)
Rockville, MD 20852
 
Organizations signing onto CFS' legal petition include the American Humane Association, Community Nutrition Institute, Family Farm Defenders, Greenpeace, the Humane Society of the United States, Organic Trade Association, Rural Vermont, Vermont Public Interest Research Group and several prominent breast cancer activists.
 
Today, genetically engineered bovine growth hormone continues to be used by dairy farmers throughout the United States.The numerous human and animal health and economic concerns about its use include:
 
Cancer Risks. Insulin-like Growth Factor I (IGF-1) is a hormone found at elevated levels in the milk derived from rBGH-injected cows. IGF-1 is known to survive in the digestive tract, plays a role in cancer in general, and may have significant effects on colon tumors in humans.
 
Severe Animal Health Problems. Significant animal health problems including a 50% risk increase of lameness (leg and hoof problem), over a 25% increase in the frequency of clinical mastitis (udder infections), and serious animal reproductive problems (including infertility, cystic ovaries and fetal loss) have been associated with rBGH use.
 
Antibiotic Resistance. Because rBGH use results in elevated mastitis levels, dairy farmers tend to use more antibiotics -- residues of these drugs may end up in milk and dairy products. These residues may cause adverse (i.e. allergic) reactions in a few sensitive individuals and contribute to the growth of antibiotic resistance in bacteria, an ever important human health problem.
 
Loss of Family Farms. Even a small increase in milk surpluses causes a big decline in family dairy farmers' incomes. Milk production has been shown to rise sharply in states where rBGH sales are highest, depressing milk prices nationally.
 
Because of the FDA's inadequate review, millions of American infants, children, and adults are consuming milk and dairy products derived from cows injected with genetically engineered bovine growth hormone every day!
 
Tell the FDA to remove this potentially dangerous product from the market!
 
BioDemocracy and Organic Consumers Association
6114 Hwy 61, Little Marais, MN 55614, E-mail:<../staff.cfmStaff
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