Monsanto's milk cows

The hormone—called ‘recombinant bovine growth hormone’ (rBGH)—is designed to increase a cow’s milk output, but protesters are worried about the health effects it may have on human consumers.

The hormone has already been banned in Europe and Canada, and individual states are being pressured by worried consumers to do the same.

Some dairies are already stepping out of line and are producing rBGH-free milk—even though it is illegal to advertise the fact.

But some commentators reckon that Monsanto will fight the campaigners to the bitter end as it’s investing its future in genetically modified (GM) products, and rBGH was one of the first that it launched (Townsend Lett Docs, 2007; 285: 60–2).