onsanto Dairy Hormone Division For Sale Amid Consumer Concerns
Message-ID: <g7iifu+m2jd@eGroups.com>
User-Agent: eGroups-EW/0.82
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
X-Mailer: Yahoo Groups Message Poster
X-Yahoo-Newman-Property: groups-compose
X-Originating-IP: 69.147.103.131
X-eGroups-Msg-Info: 1:12:0:0:0
X-Yahoo-Post-IP: 68.12.155.141
From: "gibbkathy" <gibbkathy@...>
Subject:
X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=99994660;
y=OnkIG4lYmcy3qmZZtpMxxEUuN28-YJuXUJtzVjX_mhr1-fi7
X-Yahoo-Profile: gibbkathy

From the Family Farm Defenders list...
Mary Jo Fahey
Madison, Wisconsin

Monsanto Dairy Hormone Division For Sale Amid Consumer Concerns

Wednesday, August 06, 2008 6:35 PM EST

Monsanto announces its selling its posilac division that makes bovine
growth hormone.

St. Louis- based Monsanto, announced today it is selling the division
that produces bovine growth hormone, also known as rBGH or rBST.

There's no problem with the product, insists the company. During a
conference call today, Monsanto's Chrissie Chavis told reporters that
Posilac, as it's known commercially, is a "solid successful product of
significant value to dairy farmers."

But nationwide a growing number of consumers and dairy processors feel
otherwise. "No artificial growth hormones used" is now commonly
displayed on store shelves from Florida to California.

The proposed sale, she said, allows the company to focus on genetically
engineered seed. "Our long term growth platform is focused on corn,
soybeans, cotton and vegetables. Repositioning the business would ensure
that loyal dairy farmers could continue to receive the value of Posilac
in their operations."

Posilac, is sold in an injectable form to an unknown number of dairy
farmers in the U.S. and internationally. Monsanto refused to divulge
sales figures, but insists that one-third of the nation's cows receive
injections. The USDA estimate that number to be more in the range of 15
percent.

The dairy drug is now made at the company's Augusta, Georgia plant after
production problems at its Austrian facility forced it to close earlier
this year.

The sale would include the Augusta, Georgia plant facility. In the
meantime it's "business as usual," said Chavis about whether operations
there would cease.

Monsanto has no timeline for the sale and would not comment to *IB News*
on any prospective buyers, though Chavis says the product could
complement animal production or pharmaceutical companies.

Consumer surveys show that over the last decade, consumers have rejected
buying milk from artificial hormone treated cows.

In the last several years, major retailers such as Safeway, Publix and
Kroger have decided to ban the artificial hormone in their store-brand
milk. Starbucks has refused to purchase dairy from treated cows at its
6,793 company-operated stores. Chipotle Mexican Grill, a McDonalds
spinoff, has banned rBST in its company stores.

In January, Kraft Foods
<http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?id=3D29091>
announced it would offer a line of cheese made with rBGH-free milk,
despite assurances from the FDA that it is safe. Glanbia
<http://www.agweb.com/Blogs/BlogPost.aspx?=20
src=3DOntheUdderHand&PID=3Dfe7ec8a7-d7a7-4b09-9fcb-
387803f0f40c>,
a high-volume cheese production company in Idaho and New Mexico ,will
phase out the use of Posilac by next year. Dean Foods, the largest U.S.
dairy company now offers a line of rBST-free products.

Recently agriculture officials around
<http://www.injuryboard.com/national-news/public-outcry-keeps-hormone-=20
milk-labels-in-
pa.aspx?googleid=3D29144>
the country moved to limit labels on dairy products that disclosed
whether they came from treated or untreated cows. In February, consumer
pressure led to a reversal of a labeling prohibition in Pennsylvania.

Has pressure from consumers led to Monsanto's decision? Chavis denies
it. "Our core focus is in the seeds and trace business. Since 1994 it's
(Posilac) been a very strong product for us. We've sold more doses this
year than we sold last year. We see significant opportunity in the
future in the U.S. as well as the international markets."

The company plans to continue sales outside of the country, particularly
Mexico and Brazil.

rBGH is approved for use in 20 countries, says the Monsanto
spokesperson, although it is banned in all of Europe, Japan, Australia
and other industrialized countries, with the exception of the U.S.

rBGH was approved by the FDA in November 1993 and marketed in February
1994. Studies show that milk from treated cows has an increased level of
a spinoff hormone, IGF-1, which causes the cow to produce more milk.
IGF-1 is identical in cows and humans, and studies show that it causes
cells to proliferate, including cancerous cells.

The Cancer Prevention Coalition <http://www.preventcancer.com/>'s Dr.
Sam Epstein says that the IGF-1 from rBGH treated milk is "supercharged"
and can lead to an increased number of cancers in humans. Consumers
Union <http://www.consumersunion.org/pdf/AshvilleOp-ed07.pdf> cites that
elevated mastitis rates among treated cows leads to additional
antibiotic treatment in the animal. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics
"may pass into humans through milk, air, water or soil, or through
ground meat", says Michael Hansen, a senior scientist with CU.

Terry Etherton
<http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?id=3D29091>, at
Penn State University, says the growth of rBGH-free products is "part of
a smoke-and-mirrors campaign" that means consumers are paying more for
products of questionable value.

Chavis positioned the new face of Posilac as a "green" alternative for
farmers. Studies at Cornell University
<http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=3D/20080715/=20
NEWS01/807150337>,
where Monsanto has funded dairy scientist Dale Bauman and his studies
since the 1990s, show that the drug allows big savings in terms of feed
and land.

"As the environmental pressure on agriculture gets greater, this allows
dairy producers to produce more milk with less (sic) cows thereby
reducing the overall carbon footprint of milk production," said Chavis.

Posilac was the first in a long line of genetically engineered products
to be introduced by Monsanto, a former chemical company. Monsanto is
increasingly focusing on buying seed companies and converting the
industry to its own brand of genetically engineered seeds, where
qualities of foreign plants or plants and animals are merged to create
seeds that can be patented. The company then charges a premium for the
seeds and requires farmers internationally to sign user contracts.

More than half of the U.S. soybeans and corn that make up roughly 70
percent of pre-packages grocery store items come from genetically
engineered ingredients.

Recently, rBGH has been tested on catfish
<http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?=20
SEQ_NO_115=3D170650>
and tilapia to increase growth. #