Cow hormones sold to dairy farmers

Dear WDDTY

Is it possible to print the article enclosed from Compassion in World Farming? It would be useful for readers to know which dairies and supermarkets state they will not handle milk from BST cows. Ruth Albert, Birmingham......

WDDTY replies:

Thank you for the enclosed, which notes that on February 3, 1994 the US government made it legal for chemical giant Monsanto to sell Posilac, its genetically engineered dairy cow hormone BST, to dairy farmers. This article makes a persuasive case that Posilac not only has been associated with a variety of diseases in cows but also in humans. Researchers at the prestigious The

Institut Nationale de la Recherche Agronomic in France claim BST use may stimulate dormant retroviruses in cows causing increased amounts of infectious viruses to appear in their milk. The increased levels of insulin like growth factor in BST cows could trigger adverse reaction in babies and vulnerable consumers, it says. In the UK, the following supermarkets and dairies have declared that they will refuse to handle milk from BST cows: The Co-op, Marks & Spencer, Northern Foods, Safeway, Sainsburys and Unigate and Waitrose.