|
|
THE
MYSTERY IN YOUR MILK
Reporters' Version
Part I, Version 29
This is the unaltered rBGH story prepared by Jane Akre and Steve Wilson of WTVT of Tampa, Florida,
which the Fox-owned television station would not allow on the air.
NATSND, milk pouring into glass up/under for upcoming NARRATION
| NARRATION 1: |
"Nature’s most nearly perfect
food"—that’s how most of us have always thought of milk…wholesome,
nutritious and pure just like it says on some of the trucks that deliver it. But
down on the farm where most of us never see? Some Florida farmers have been quietly
squeezing more cash from their cows by injecting them with an artificial growth hormone so
they’ll produce more milk than nature intended. |
Thurman Hatten, Florida Dairy Farmer: "Yes I would say, people in Florida are
using it. (Reporter Jane Akre) And you yourself? (Hatten) Ahh…
| NARRATION 2: |
Thurman Hatten is one of many Florida
dairymen reluctant to admit that they’re injecting their cows every two weeks… |
Farmer Hatten continues: "…it’s possible I could be using
it."
| NARRATION 3: |
The drug some Florida farmers don’t want
you to know they’re using is a Monsanto laboratory version of
bovine growth hormone known as BGH. Here's how it works: when the cow gets injected with
extra BGH, it stimulates the production of another hormone called IGF-1. That's
really the stuff that speeds up the cow's metabolism, causing her to produce up to 30%
more milk. But some scientists like Dr. Samuel Epstein are warning what might be good for
the farmers' bottom line might be big trouble down the line for people drinking the
milk from treated cows. |
Dr. Samuel Epstein, Scientist, University of Illinois: "…there are highly
suggestive if not persuasive lines of evidence showing that consumption of this milk poses
risks of breast and colon cancer."
| NARRATION 4: |
Dr. Epstein is a scientist at the University
of Illinois School of Public Health. He's earned three medical degrees, written eight
books, and is frequently called upon to advise Congress about things in our environment
which may cause cancer. He and others like Dr. William von Meyer point to what they say is
a growing body of scientific evidence of a link between IGF-1 and human cancers which
might not show up for years to come. |
Dr. William Von Meyer, research scientist: "We're going to save some lives if we
review this now. If we allow BGH to go on, I’m sure we’re taking excessive risks
with society."
| NARRATION 5: |
Dr. von Meyer has spent 30 years studying
chemical products and testing their effects on humans. He's supervised many such tests on
thousands of animals at schools such as the University of London and UCLA. He's
headed agricultural, chemical and genetic research at some of America's most prestigious
companies. His concerns about BGH have have sparked an inquiry by Congressman Scott
Klug who wants to know just how was BGH ever approved for use in this
country three years ago while a dozen European countries, Canada, and New Zealand have all
blocked the use of it there.
Monsanto is the giant chemical company which sells the synthetic hormone under the
brand name Posilac…and Monsanto has consistently rejected the concerns of scientists
around the world. |
Dr. Robert Collier, chief Monsanto BGH scientist: "In fact, the FDA has commented
several times on this issue after there were concerns raised. They have publicly restated
human safety confidence…this is not something knowledgeable people have concerns
about."
Calf in pen: "Moo!"
| NARRATION 6: |
While other companies have dropped by the
wayside, Monsanto has invested a mountain of money into Bovine Growth Hormone. Company
sales tapes encourage farmer's to use it as a tool to milk more profits out of every cow. |
Video clip of Monsanto sales tape: "Of course you’ll want to inject Posilac
into every eligible cow, as each cow not treated is a lost income opportunity."
| NARRATION 7: |
A number of critics including at least one
state agriculture commissioner have called it "crack for cows" for the way it
speeds up the cow's milk production…but despite it's promise of profit, some dairymen
say the product doesn’t always lead to happy trails for the cows or for those who
tend them. |
Charles Knight, Florida Dairy Farmer: "It’s a tool that can be used but you
better be careful ‘cause it can burn you…"
| NARRATION 8: |
Near Wachula, Charles Knight won’t use
Monsanto’s synthetic BGH anymore. He is one of many farmers who say they’ve
watched Posilac burn their cows out sooner, shortening their lives by maybe two years.
Knight says he had to replace 75% of his herd due to hoof problems and serious udder
infections. Those are two of more than 20 potential troubles listed right on the product
warning label. But apart from potential suffering for the animals, the major concern is
how the hormone injected into the cow changes the milk that ends up on our
tables. |
Dr. Robert Collier: "…this is the most studied molecule certainly in the
history of domestic animal science."
| NARRATION 9: |
While that claim may be open to
dispute, the Monsanto product did put the product through a decade's worth of testing
before it was approved by the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine as an animal
drug. But that's part of the problem, according to many scientists who say
since BGH alters the milk we drink, it should meet the higher safety standards
required of human drugs. The critics say tests on BGH milk that could have answered
these concerns about long-term risk to humans were just never done. |
Dr. William von Meyer, Research Scientist: "A human drug requires two years of
carcinogenic testing and extensive birth defect testing. BGH was tested for 90 days on 30
rats at any dose before it was approved."
Dr. Robert Collier: "But suffice it to say the cancer experts don't see the health
issue and it's unfortunate the public is being scared by an issue that shouldn’t be
of concern."
| NARRATION 10: |
Monsanto’s dairy research director points
to what the FDA has repeatedly said since the day it approved BGH back in 1993: "The
public can be confident that milk and meat from BGH-treated cows is safe to consume." Nonetheless,
influential food safety officials from around the world remain unconvinced. Just last
summer, the members of an important United Nations committee again blocked efforts to give
a virtual green light to selling the drug around the world. For the second time in two
years, the committee decided synthetic BGH needs more study. |
Reporter Jane Akre standup: "So just how many dairy cows in Florida are being
injected with this synthetic hormone? No one knows for sure, but it’s enough to
virtually assure that at least some of the milk in every jug you bring home from the
supermarket these days comes from treated cows."
Clip of consumer protestors chanting: " No more BGH, No more BGH"……
| NARATION 13: |
Tomorrow: how consumers across America have
fought to stop the use of the drug….and why here in Florida you can’t know if
the supermarket milk on your family’s table comes from treated or untreated cows. |
Milk pouring into tall glass.
Jane Akre, Fox 13 News
THE MYSTERY IN YOUR MILK
Reporters' Version
Part II
Cow in field: "Moooo"
| NARRATION 1: |
You won’t find Ol’ Flossie and
Bossie on Fred Gore’s dairy farm in Zephyrhills. On Fred’s farm, all the cows
have numbers instead of names—and they’re watched by electronic eyes 24
hours a day. |
Fred Gore, Florida Dairy farmer: "they help tell me if proper procedures are being
followed."
| NARRATION 2: |
At a modern dairy farm, cows wear transponders
that even tell a computer how much milk she gave today. |
Farmer Gore: "She’s giving 121 pounds a day."
| NARRATION 3: |
In the competitive business of dairy farming these
days, productivity is paramount. That’s why Fred Gore and others like him were all
ears when the giant Monsanto chemical company started promoting it’s new product
called Posilac. |
Clip from Monsanto sales tape: "Posilac is the single most-tested product in
history and it helps increase your profit potential."
| NARRATION 4: |
Monsanto promised that Posilac—a
laboratory version of the cow’s natural growth hormone—could get Ol’ 2356
and her friends to produce up to 30% more milk. That was good news to Florida farmers who
need all the help they can get in a state where high heat, humidity and little local grain
make dairy farming a struggle. The "promise of Posilac" sounded great to
dairyman Charles Knight…but he says it didn’t turn out that way. |
Charles Knight, Florida Dairy Farmer: "About the same time we began having a lot
of foot problems with our cows because they got so crippled they couldn’t walk."
| NARRATION 5: |
Right after he started using the drug on his
herd near Wachula three years ago, Knight says his animals were plagued with those
problems and serious infections of his cows’ udders. Troubles he attributes to
Posilac eventually caused him to replace the majority of his herd. He says when he called
dairy experts at the University of Florida and at Monsanto, they both had the same
response. |
Farmer Knight: "It was like overwhelming because they said you’re the only
person having this problem so it must be what you’re doing here you must be having
management problems."
| NARRATION 6: |
The University of Florida, by the way, did
much of the research on BGH and has received millions in gifts and grants from Monsanto.
Knight says neither the university nor the company ever mentioned Monsanto research that
showed hundreds of other cows on other farms were also suffering hoof problems and mastitis,
a painful infection of the cow’s udders. If untreated, the infection can get into the
cow’s milk so farmers try to cure it by giving the cow shots of antibiotics…more
drugs that can find their way into the milk on your table, which could make your own body
more resistant to antibiotics. |
Dr. Michael Hanson, Scientist, Consumers Union: "So for example, if you drank milk
that had residues of eurythymicin in it, then bacteria in your stomach could pick up
resistance to that eurythymicin so that if you came down with an illness you wouldn’t
be able to use eurythymicin to treat it."
| NARRATION 7: |
Dr. Michael Hanson, a scientist with Consumers
Union, is not alone in his concern. The investigative arm of Congress and more recently an
important group of food safety experts from around the world have raised this very concern
related to the use of Monsanto’s drug. Even the Posilac label warns: "…use
of Posilac is associated with increased frequency of the use of medication in cows for
mastitus…" Citing thorough study of the product both before and after
approval by the FDA, Monsanto insists there are safeguards in place to detect any
potential problem with antibiotics in the milk. |
Dr. Collier: "Not only is every tank truck load tested but a sample is taken from
every bulk tank that way if a truck is found to be contaminated you have to be able to
identify which farm it came from."
| NARRATION 8: |
At the Tampa dairy coop, checks are
routine but co-op officials admit the testing is just not thorough enough to detect the
many antibiotics a farmer could use. More-complete checks are done by a few grocers and by
the state—but only on a spot basis. |
Dr. Hanson: "In fact there is over 60 drugs that they believe can be used on farms
and they test for a very small percentage of them."
File video of consumer protestors chanting: "Boycott bgh, boycott bgh…"
| NARRATION 9: |
Demonstrations against the product when it was
approved three years ago showed Americans were not very supportive of injecting dairy cows
with synthetic growth hormones. This University of Wisconsin study conducted just last
year says 74% of consumers are worried about unknown harmful human health effects of BGH
which might not show up until later. And outside the U.S., officials in other countries
also remain skeptical. |
Dr. Collier: "There are no human or animal safety issues that would prevent
approval in Canada once they’ve completed their review, not that I’m aware
of."
| NARRATION 10: |
But long-term human safety is exactly
the concern expressed by a Canadian House committee on health. Here are the minutes of a
1995 meeting where members voted to ask Canada's Health minister to try and keep BGH off
the market for at least two more years. Why? "…to allow members of Parliament to
further examine the human health implications" of the drug. It's still not legal
to sell the unlicensed product north of the border despite the company's efforts to gain
the approval of government regulators. |
NATSOT: "Monsanto Canada whose representative allegedly raised the subject of
money….:
| NARRATION 11: |
In the Fall of 1994, Canadian television
quoted a Canadian health official as reporting Monsanto offered $1-2 million if her
government committee would recommend BGH approval in Canada without further data or
studies of the drug. Another member of her committee who was present when Monsanto made
the offer was asked: "Was that a bribe?" |
File video clip of CBC documentary, CBC Correspondent to committee member: "Is
that how it struck you? (Dr. Edwards) Certainly!"
Reporter Jane Akre on camera: "Monsanto said the report alleging bribery was
"a blatant untruth", that Canadian regulators just didn’t understand the
offer of the money was for research. Monsanto demanded a retraction. The Canadian
Broadcasting Company stands by its story."
| NARRATION 12: |
Elsewhere, New Zealand and a dozen other
countries—all members of the European Union—are also unconvinced about BGH. The
product has been banned in Europe at least until the year 2,000. Could skepticism about
the safety of BGH around the world be fueled by memories of earlier Monsanto products? |
Dr. Michael Hansen: "Monsanto has a very checkered history with some of its other
products…"
| NARRATION 13: |
Dr. Michael Hansen of Consumers’ Union is
another American scientist still very skeptical about BGH. He says Monsanto was wrong
years ago when it convinced the government PCB’s were safe. Those were put inside
electrical conductors for years…until researchers in Japan and Sweden showed serious
hazards to human health and the environment. And you've heard of Agent Orange, 2-4-5-T,
the defoliant used in Vietnam? Monsanto convinced the government it, too, was safe. It was
later proven to be extremely harmful to humans…and a government investigator found
what she said was "a clear pattern of fraudulent content in Monsanto’s
research" which led to approval.
In the case of BGH, Monsanto was required to promptly report all complaints from
farmers. Florida dairyman Charles Knight says he was complaining loud and clear
that Posilac was decimating his herd…but four months later? he found the company had
not passed a one of his complaints to the FDA as required. |
Charles Knight, Florida Dairyman: "…so how many more hundreds of complaints
out there sat and were not registered with FDA?"
| NARRATION 14:
|
Monsanto admits a long delay in reporting
Knight's complaints. A company spokesman claims despite a series of on-farm visits and
telephone conversations with Knight, it took four months for them to understand he was
complaining about BGH. As for those safety claims for previous Monsanto products that
turned out to be dangerous, the company offered no comment. But back now to the dairy
co-op here in Tampa and the use of synthetic BGH by local farmers. |
Reporter Jane Akre to Riley Hogan, Tampa Dairy Co-Op: "Have you ever gotten a
communication from a grocer or processing plant asking your members not to use it? (Hogan)
No ma’am."
| NARRATION 15: |
When we continue tomorrow, you’ll see the
man who controls much of Florida’s milk supply admit how local supermarkets did
once try to avoid milk from Florida cows injected with BGH. We’ll show you exactly
how their plan didn’t work…and we’ll reveal how the dairy industry has kept
this issue so quiet for so long. |
Hogan: "It’s only an issue if you make it an issue!"
Jane Akre, Fox 13 News.
THE MYSTERY IN YOUR MILK
Reporters' Version
Part III
| NARRATION 1: |
Should you be concerned about what we found
Florida dairymen doing to their cows? Ask the men who market Florida fresh milk and
they’ll tell you: |
Riley Hogan, Tampa Dairy Co-op: "…to them and certainly to me it’s a
non-issue and I think to the general public it’s been somewhat of a non-issue."
| NARRATION 2: |
Riley Hogan is talking about what many Florida
farmers are doing…injecting their dairy cows with a synthetic bovine growth
hormone or B-G-H to "rev them up" so they’ll produce more milk. That
milk is then co-mingled in tanks with other milk from cows that may or may
not be getting the hormone. Whether you know it or not, by the time it’s bottled,
chances are milk from treated cows ends up in the jug you carry home. It’s made the
milk on your table one of the first genetically engineered foods ever to be fed to your
family…and the population at large. |
Jeff LeMaster, Consumer/Dad: "And for her now that she’s eating people food
we want to give her as much good stuff without the chemical additives as possible."
| NARRATION 3:
|
Grocers and the dairy industry know synthetic
BGH in milk worries consumers like Jeff and Janet LeMaster. A whopping 74% of those
questioned in this University of Wisconsin study released just last year expressed concern
about unknown harmful human health effects which might show up later. |
Dr. Robert Collier, chief Monsanto BGH scientist: "What they need to know is that
the milk hasn't changed and that's the important thing here-the milk hasn't changed.
| NARRATION 4: |
That’s the assurance of Monsanto, the
giant St. Louis-based chemical company that began marketing BGH 3 years ago under the name
Posilac. It's the company position despite scientific studies which show the milk we're
getting from BGH-treated cows has a higher level of something called IGF-1, a hormone
believed to promote cancer. That's what's worrying scientists such as Dr. Samuel
Epstein, the University of Illinois professor with three medical degrees, author of many
books on the environmental causes of cancer, and a frequent consultant to Congress. |
Dr. Samuel Epstein, University of Illinois: "…there are highly suggestive if
not persuasive lines of evidence showing that consumption of this milk poses risks of
breast and colon cancer."
| NARRATION 5: |
Government regulators in Canada, New Zealand
and all of Europe have expressed similar concerns and refused to license the drug for sale
in all those countries. |
File Video, consumer protestors chanting: "Boycot BGH!…"
| NARRATION 6: |
So three years ago when the drug was approved
in America and protesters started dumping milk that contained the synthetic hormone, your
grocer and your milkman decided something had to be done to protect sales. |
Riley Hogan, Tampa Dairy Co-op: "For good business reasons Publix and I both
wanted to avoid the use of the product until there was public acceptance."
| NARRATION 7: |
Maybe you recall these media reports from 1994
when Albertsons reassured Florida consumers "…we will do our utmost to ensure
that (people) don’t get it" in their milk. Publix issued similar assurances.
Riley Hogan wrote letters to his Florida dairymen to pass along the grocer’s request. |
Reporter Jane Akre to Riley Hogan: "Did any of the dairymen get back to you?
(Hogan) No. (Akre) What was their response? (Hogan) They accepted it I guess. They
didn’t respond. (Akre) Did you follow-up with them and ask if they were using it?
(Hogan) No, ma’am. (Akre) Was this sort of a don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy,
then? (Hogan) No, no.
| NARRATION 8: |
Minutes later, Fox 13 investigator Steve
Wilson asked: |
Reporter Steve to Hogan: "Was anything ever done to make sure they were honoring
the request by Publix? I mean I know you honored the request, you wrote the letter, but
did anybody ever do anything to see… (Hogan) I did not do anything more, no sir.
(Wilson) and did Publix ask you to do more? (Hogan) I don’t recall. I
don’t think so but I don’t recall.
| NARRATION 9:
|
The truth is nobody ever did anything but go
through the motions of asking farmers to keep BGH out of the milk supply. In fact,
Hogan says he made one thing perfectly clear to the grocers long ago… |
Riley Hogan: "I could not in any way assure them that they would not in any way
have milk from treated cows."
| NARRATION 10: |
And when we visited seven Central Florida
dairy operations chosen at random, how many were heeding the grocers' request? Not a one.
As we've been telling you this week, at all major Florida supermarkets and convenience
stores alike, because milk is co-mingled in those big tanker trucks, there's little doubt
the synthetic hormone has found its way into every jug you buy. |
Ken Deaton, Florida Dairyman: "I know we've used it since 1993!"
| NARRATION 11: |
The grocers haven't made a public comment
about BGH in a long time. We wondered just how would they answer consumer concerns about
the hormone today? In response to inquiries I made as the mother of a
2-year-old, Publix wrote to say although they originally asked dairymen not to use it on
their herds, "it is impossible for us to determine" whether or not they are.
Albertsons acknowledged: "It is widely accepted in the industry that most all
dairy farmers now use BGH" … but "we do not know which or how many dairies
use it".
But it’s a different story at Food Lion. Its president Tom Smith wrote us:
"We have asked our dairy producers not to purchase milk from dairies using Bovine
Growth Hormone…and will make our decision as to whether to sell these products at
a later date."
We called the corporate office to confirm Smith’s letter and a spokesperson
assured use Food Lion actually sends out inspectors to make sure Florida farmers aren't
using it. And if they are? "we don’t buy from them," she assured us. |
Natural sounds of dairy barn
| NARRATION 12: |
But meet dairy farmer Fred Gore. He tells us he
uses BGH…and he says he supplies milk that ends up on the shelves at Food Lion. |
Fred Gore, Dairy Farmer: "It speeds up their metabolism where they’ll eat
more feed and give more milk."
| NARRATION 13: |
Food Lion now admits…there are no
inspectors checking and Food Lion milk does likely contain synthetic BGH. |
Reporter Jane Akre to Ben and Jerry: "Does that have BGH in it? Absolutely
not!"
| NARRATION 14: |
But not everybody’s using it. Ben and
Jerry, America’s icons of ice cream, don’t want anything to do with it…and
they’re leading the fight to give you a choice at the grocer’s dairy case. |
Jerry Greenfield, Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream: "My son eats a lot of ice cream,
drinks a lot of milk, eats a lot of cheese and given the choice I want him eating products
that don’t have BGH in them."
Jane Akre, Fox 13 News.
THE MYSTERY IN YOUR MILK
Reporters' Version
Part IV
Ben Cohen, Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream: "A big part of the issue is that
consumers are well aware that what the FDA said was fine and healthy 10 and 20 years ago,
the FDA is saying is really bad for you today…
| NARRATION 1: |
It’s one of the big reasons Ben and
Jerry, makers of some of America’s favorite ice cream, are so opposed to farmers
injecting their dairy cows with Bovine Growth Hormone genetically engineered in a Monsanto
chemical lab. It's now used throughout Florida and elsewhere to rev up the cows so they'll
produce a lot more milk…but some well-respected scientists are worried. They
cite studies which show injecting cows with BGH changes the milk we drink and that
it contains a higher level of another hormone believed to promote cancer in humans.
Monsanto says there is absolutely no cause for worry, its product is entirely safe. |
Dr. Robert Collier, chief Monsanto BGH scientist: " This is a product that was the
most extensively reviewed product ever to go through the Center for Veterinary Medicine so
ah-the implication that something wasn’t done thoroughly is not true."
Ben Cohen continues: "Thalidomide, Saccharin, DDT, you know, so a lot of consumers
are starting to say ‘I want to make my own decisions’."
| NARRATION 2: |
Ben and Jerry have long wanted to put labels
on their nationally distributed ice cream products to alert consumers that none of it
comes from cows injected with artificial BGH. But the makers of Chubby Hubby and Cherry
Garcia quickly found officials in Illinois and at least three other states turning a cold
shoulder to the idea. In some cases, products with similar labels were being confiscated
by officials who agree with Monsanto that such labels are unnecessary and maybe even
misleading. |
Jerry Greenfield, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream: "If someone wants to buy ice
cream that is BGH-free, how is somebody gonna know? If they want to buy milk for their
kids and they don’t want BGH in it, how do they know? They can’t even
know!"
| NARRATION 3: |
Monsanto has not only fought efforts to label
products from cows injected with BGH…but supported regulations like those in Illinois
that make it illegal for dairies not using it to let you know that. Dr.
William von Meyer is a BGH critic with 30 years experience in the study of chemical
products and their effects on humans. He testified in favor for such a law in New York
City. |
Dr. William von Meyer, research scientist: "The city council there voted 11 to 1
to label milk and that went to the legislature of New York and Monsanto was able to
influence legislative votes so a mandatory label law was not enacted."
| NARRATION 4: |
In a survey conducted by Monsanto itself, at
least half the people questioned believe milk from cows treated with synthetic
hormone is different…and most of them think untreated
cows produce safer milk. |
|
In Florida, state agriculture commissioner Bob
Crawford supports what he says is the widespread use of the synthetic hormone…and he,
too, opposes labeling. |
Robert Crawford, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs: "There
are a lot of things you could label and inundate the consumer with all kinds of
information that’s not necessary and this is one of them."
Reporter Jane Akre on camera: "Here in Florida no legislator has ever proposed a
law to require dairy products be labeled so you can easily identify which come from
BGH-treated cows. Commissioner Crawford says he would oppose such a law. He and a number
of state lawmakers have received generous contributions from Monsanto and Florida dairy
interests but Crawford says that had no influence on his position because he doesn’t
even recall the gifts.
Commissioner Crawford: "If they did I appreciate it but it won’t effect this
issue, it must not have been very much or I would have remembered it."
Natural sounds at Golden Fleece dairy
| NARRATION 5: |
Our investigation has found only one dairy in
Florida which produces milk from cows not treated with BGH…and what happened
when the folks at the Golden Fleece dairy in Central Florida wanted to label their
products as synthetic BGH-free? Well, first they say Commissioner Crawford’s
people strongly discouraged it, but what really deterred them was a fear Monsanto—the
company which makes the hormone—would come after them in court. |
Glen Norton, Golden Fleece Dairy: "From the information I heard and read I was
afraid at some point that if we tried to do extra labeling that Monsanto could cause
damage to my small, fragile business."
| NARRATION 6:
|
Norton and others like him may have reason to
be scared. Right after Monsanto started marketing its BGH three years ago, a number of
dairies that didn’t use it began to label their products so consumers would
know. |
Dr. Robert Collier: "In fact, there are quite a few co-ops that
do just that and we have not opposed that at all."
| NARRATION 7: |
But that's not true. Monsanto did file
lawsuits against two small dairies, forcing them to stop labeling. Then the company spread
the news with follow-up letters to other dairies that apparently saw the writing on
the wall…and they also stopped. At Golden Fleece, Norton says he hopes the generic
wording on his new labels will alert consumers without sparking a legal battle with
Monsanto. |
Glen Norton: "I think hormone (free) is the best way to describe it and other
products will follow suit, and in a generic sense it will cover all the bases."
| NARRATION 8: |
The labels on Ben and Jerry's ice cream will
soon be different, too, in wake of a recent legal victory in Illinois. Officials there
will now allow a label which says "We oppose…bovine growth hormone"
and "the family farmers who supply our milk and cream pledge not to treat their cows
with (synthetic) BGH". The label will also carry wording that says the FDA has
said there is no significant difference between milk from treated and untreated
cows, a claim some scientists sharply question. That wording, by the way, was
written by Michael Taylor, an attorney who worked for Monsanto both before and after his
time as an FDA official.
Some dairy people say Ben and Jerry have jumped on the anti-BGH bandwagon as
just a way to sell more of their ice cream. |
Ben Cohen: "The tremendous amount of chemicals that’s used in conventional
agriculture is having a horrible effect on the environment and on the health of our
citizens and our customers and you know, (laugh), if you want to say is it our
self-interest? Yeah! We want to keep our customers alive. They eat more ice cream when
they’re alive!"
| NARRATION 9: |
As part of an effort to influence these
reports, a lawyer hired by Monsanto wrote a Fox television executive saying the discussion
of any possible link between the use of synthetic BGH and cancer is "…the most
blatant form of scare mongering". In a second letter, he said Monsanto critics are in
all probability "scientifically incompetent". He is referring to critics such as
Dr. Samuel Epstein at the University of Illinois School of Public Health. Dr. Epstein has
three medical degrees, he's the author of eight books, and is frequently called to testify
before Congress about the environmental causes of cancer. Like other BGH critics,
Epstein contends it's just wrong to introduce a product into the marketplace when there
are so many important and still-unresolved human health questions. |
Dr. Samuel Epstein, research scientist: "We’re living in the greatest
democracy in the world in many ways but in other ways we're in a corporate dictatorship in
which big government and big industry decide what information the consumer can and should
have and its the objective of me and the Cancer Prevention Coalition to assure that this
information be made available and let the public decide…(c/a) ...and let grass-root
citizens take over where government and industry has failed."
Jane Akre, FOX 13 News. |
