Making Mega Milk Money the Monsanto Way
Can We Afford the Cost?
Unethical, Unconscionable, Reprehensible
Bovine Growth Hormone, also known as Bovine Somatrophin
(BST), was Monsanto’s first transgenic medication. It is yet another of their genetically
manipulated travesties. Monsanto
developed this product from somatotropin, a natural hormone that is secreted by
the pituitary glands of cows after calving to produce milk.
The Big M introduced somatotropin into E. Coli which enabled them to produce BST on a large scale. They named the transgenic hormone recombinant
bovine somatotropin, or rBST for short.
rBGH is recombinant bovine growth
hormone and is found in the product Posilac.
Milk from rbGH-treated cows can increase risk of cancer
and other diseases.
Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone
is injected into dairy cows in USA to increase milk production. Milk from
treated cows has much higher levels of IGF-1, a hormone considered to be a high
risk factor for breast, prostrate, colon, lung and other cancers. The milk also
has lowered nutritional value, increased antibiotics and more pus from infected
udders.
(Twenty five
studies-Jeffrey Smith -Genetic Roulette-bibliography-PART-1,SECTION 7 No. 1-25)
Milk from rbGH-treated cows is likely to increase the
rate of twin births
Higher IGF-1 levels increase the rate of twin births.
Since milk drinkers increase their IGF-1, correspondingly they have higher
twinning rates. The number of twins grew at twice the rate in USA compared to
UK where rbGH is banned.
(Fourteen
studies--Jeffrey Smith --Genetic Roulette-bibliography-PART-1, SECTION 7 No.
26-39)
 | |
| The Cash Cow: When Monsanto Makes $ Everyone and Everything Suffers |
Both cows and humans produce the IGF-1 growth hormone and
its function will stimulate the proliferation of cells, causing organisms to
grow. The insulin-like growth factor IGF-1, also known as tissue growth factor,
is produced by the liver. Monsanto claimed that since humans and cows both
produce IGF-1, it is natural and safe. What
they failed to mention was that the level of IGF-1 is up to 75% higher in the
milk of cows treated with transgenic growth hormone than in natural milk.
The FDA, with tainted information fed to them by Monsanto,
claimed that rBGH is biologically and orally inactive in humans because it
cannot be absorbed in the blood and that it would be degraded in the human
gastrointestinal tract in the same manner as other proteins. This claim has been proven completely
false. Studies confirmed that IGF-1 is
not destroyed in digestion because it is protected by casein, the principal
protein in milk.
An elevated level of IGF-1 in humans can cause a disorder
known as giantism. Those affected often
have a very short lifespan. Elevated
IGF-1 levels also substantially increase the risk for breast, colon and
prostate cancer. America has seen a
significant increase in breast cancer.
Women who consume non-organic dairy products every day are more likely
to give birth to twins and the rate of twins has indeed increased.
One scientist who made an unannounced visit to a Monsanto
laboratory that was analyzing the effect of the hormone on cow tissues and
organs discovered that the kidneys in some test animals had disappeared! The organs and glands of the injected animals
had larger thyroid, liver, heart, kidneys, ovaries, etc. than the control group
but the total weight of these cows, when slaughtered, was significantly
lower.
BST injections to increase milk production are given to cows
twice a week. They often develop
mastitis caused by the BST injections which is extremely painful to the
animals. The increase of white blood
cells means there is pus in the milk. To
counter that problem, the cows are treated with strong antibiotics like
gentamicin and tetracycline that are not approved for the treatment of mastitis
in dairy cattle. They all end up in industrial
non-organic milk.
No wonder antibiotic resistance has increased
dramatically! Tuberculosis cases have also
increased. More and more hospital patients
die each year due to antibiotic resistant bacteria known as Super Bugs. MRSA is common. Now we have CRE
- Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae
which will kill up to half the patients that become infected. Some Enterobacteriaceae have become resistant
to all or almost all antibiotics, including last-resort drugs known as
carbapenem.
Adding Insult to Injury
Ironically, even before the introduction of Monsanto’s
transgenic cow hormones, the American government was paying farmers to
slaughter their cows because we had been overproducing milk for a quarter
century. Milk surpluses annually cost the federal budget the tidy sum of $2
billion. There was no need to create
increased milk production in the first place.
Much of the information we have now came from a top secret
document from Monsanto that fell into the hands of an investigative
journalist. The company threatened to
attack the journalist and the publication for plagiarism. They argued that when you take someone else’s
(referring to the corporation as a person) data and you submit it without
putting their names on it, it is plagiarism.
Consider your name put on the expose then. Did you really think you could keep the
magnitude of your greed and ruthlessness secret forever?
Looters, Inc.
After much political wrangling and insider maneuvering
instigated by Monsanto, on November 5, 1993, the FDA approved the marketing of
Posilac under the trade name of rBGH. The directions for use had to indicate that
the product could produce twenty-two side effects in cows. Among them were
reduced fertility, ovarian cysts and uterine disorder, a reduction in gestation
time and in the weight of calves, a higher rate of twins, an increase in
mastitis, and abscesses of one to two inches and sometimes as much as
four inches at injection sites.
rBGH is not purchased in veterinary pharmacies but is
ordered directly from Monsanto on a toll-free number. Nevertheless, veterinarians promoted the
product before it was even approved.
Monsanto offered a $300 bonus to every vet who persuaded a farmer to use
it. Monsanto held promotional banquets
in all the dairy states and distributed its propaganda about their “great new
product.”
To be able to get the hormone, a farmer would have to sign a
contract that included a confidentiality clause in case there was a problem. That Monsanto - always thinking ahead.
Farmers have been sued by Monsanto because they spoke publicly about their
experiences. Farmers told how they saw
their cows grow thinner and thinner on a daily basis. Numerous inseminations would fail time after
time. Many cows had to be slaughtered
after one season of using Monsanto’s products and many farmers went broke. When cows did give birth, the calves were often
deformed. Some had legs above their
heads or external stomachs. Since rBGH
is a powerful drug, cows would collapse if injections were stopped.
Cruel, immoral, unfathomable. There are not
enough words to convey the devastation to all forms of life caused by this
multinational tyrannical corporation.
Conflict of Interest does work. Due to a collaborative effort, the Guidance on Voluntary Labeling of Milk and Milk
Products from Cows That Have Not Been Treated with Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin was created. The purpose of this document was to prevent
“false or misleading claims” (in Orwell’s doublespeak – this really means The
Truth) regarding rBST. Unbelievable!
At the same time, the FDA did not require milk producers who
used the transgenic growth hormone to inform cooperatives or distributors of
dairy products. Monsanto ready cow’s
milk was mixed with natural milk with no warnings, no notices or accurate
labels – nothing. Unsuspecting consumers
have drunk untold gallons of this health-altering stuff for years and are still doing so.
The “Guidance”
stated that no significant difference was shown between milk derived from
rBST-treated and non-rBST treated cows. How do these people sleep at night?
Keep in mind that this is just one harmful product that
Monsanto was able to escort through the sham regulatory process that now exists. When ethical scientists and regulators discovered the loopholes and bad science submitted by Monsanto and demanded more testing that adhered to proper scientific protocols, they were fired.
Margaret Miller
was a former Monsanto employee who had become a deputy director in the FDA
Division of Toxicology, Office of New Animal Drug Evaluation in the Center for
Veterinary Medicine (CVM). She and other pro-hormone milk pushers wrote
the FDA’s opinion on why milk from BST treated cows should not be labeled. Dr.
Miller had been a researcher on BST for Monsanto before being strategically
placed in the FDA.
She was well aware that test herds consisted of several
hundred cows penned in straight rows. The animals never went outside and were
fed entirely with food supplements and genetically modified (GM) soy and meal.
It was operated like a factory farm and employed low-paid workers that were
easily exploitable. Furthermore, Monsanto
took certain American experimental herds and placed them in the food chain even
before the GE hormone had been approved.
Michael Taylor
who was then FDA deputy commissioner for policy, approved and signed the
Guidance document. Prior to joining the FDA, Taylor was an attorney who
represented Monsanto, and he later worked for Monsanto after leaving the FDA.
Who put the MON in MONOPOLY???
Many non-GE milk producers have felt the wrath of Monsanto’s
legal team. These are but a few cases. SwissValley Farms ,
a dairy cooperative in Davenport, Iowa, informed its 2,500 members that it
would not buy their milk if they used rBGH. Oakhurst Dairy Inc., the largest
dairy company in northern New England, also found itself in court. This family
business had sharply increased sales ($85 million) by labeling its products
with the statement: “Our Farmers Pledge: No Artificial Growth Hormones Used.” Tillamook
County Creamery Association, one of America’s largest cheese producers, was
also targeted by Monsanto’s well paid legal team. In the face of growing demand
from its customers to supply natural milk, the dairy cooperative had asked its
147 members to stop using the transgenic hormone.
What Fair Market?
To this day, Monsanto is still fighting organic milk
producers' right to label their product truthfully as rBST-free and rBGH-free. Monsanto has sent letters to the FDA and
Federal Trade Commission claiming such non-GMO dairies use “false and
deceptive” advertising.” Monsanto
further urged federal agencies to crack down on such practices and they have
done just that. Just because Monsanto said so.
Federal Agents?!?
Swat Teams?!? Raw milk producers
treated like hard core criminals and terrorists?!? Sadly, in today’s America, these injustices
and thousands more occur daily.
Jan. 2013. Morningstar Dairy Raid Video. If you have not seen this video, please take some time to do so.
Buy Non-Monsanto Milk: It Does a Body Good!
