Why is American Milk Banned in Europe?

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Why is American Milk Banned in Europe?

JoAnn Guest

Nov 06, 2004 19:32 PST

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Milk: America's Health Problem

http://www.preventcancer.com./consumers/general/milk.htm

 

Why is American Milk Banned in Europe?

 

American dairy milk is genetically-modified unless it's labeled " NO

rBGH " Genetically-engineered bovine growth hormone (rBGH) in milk

increases cancer risks. American dairy farmers inject rBGH to dairy

cows to increase milk production.

 

European nations and Canada have banned rBGH to protect citizens

from IGF-1 hazards.

 

Monsanto Co., the manufacturer of rBGH, has influenced U. S. product

safety laws permitting the sale of unlabeled rBGH milk. (Monsanto

would lose billions of dollars if rBGH were banned in America.)

 

Q. Is there any milk not contaminated with rBGH and IGF-1?

A. Yes. Milk that is clearly labeled " NO rBGH " is free of rBGH and

does not contain excess levels of IGF-1.

 

Q. What about cheeses?

A. American-made cheeses are contaminated with rBGH and excess

levels of IGF-1 unless they're labeled " NO rBGH " .

 

Imported European cheeses are safe since Europe has banned rBGH.

 

Follow the links below for details:

 

Dangers of IGF-1 in Milk include Breast, Colon and Prostate Cancers

 

Cancer Risks from IGF-1. Monsanto's Hormonal Milk…

 

Breast Cancer Risks from rBGH (Press Conference)

 

Colon and Breast Cancer Risks from rBGH (Press Conference)

 

Prostate Cancer Risks from IGF-1 press release

 

FDA allows rBGH to endanger Milk

 

United Nations ban on rBGH, Monsanto's Genetically Modified Milk…

 

Scientific Article on rBGH (1990) " Potential Public Health Hazards

of

Biosynthetic Milk Hormones "

 

Scientific Article on IGF-1 (1996) " Unlabeled Milk from Cows Treated

with Biosynthetic Growth Hormones "

 

IGF-1 and Milk: Q & A

 

Q. What is IGF-1?

A. Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1)is a normal growth factor.

 

Excess levels have been increasingly linked by modern research to

human cancer development and growth.

 

Q. How does IGF-1 get into milk?

A. In 1994, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use

of the recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). According to rBGH

manufacturers, injections of rBGH causes cows to produce up to 20

percent more milk. The growth hormone also stimulates the liver to

increase IGF-1 levels in the milk of those cows. Recently, Eli Lilly

& Co., a manufacturer of rBGH, reported a ten-fold increase in IGF-1

levels in milk of cows receiving the hormone. IGF-1 is the same in

humans and cows, and is not destroyed by pasteurization. In fact,

the

pasteurization process actually increases IGF-1 levels in milk.

 

Q. How does rBGH milk containing IGF-1, affect, humans?

A. After the rBGH milk is consumed, IGF-1 is not destroyed by human

digestion. Instead, IGF-1 is readily absorbed across the intestinal

wall. Additional research has shown that it can be absorbed into the

bloodstream where it can effect other hormones.

 

Q. Is IGF-1 likely to increase the risk of specific kinds of cancer?

A. It is highly likely that IGF-1 promotes transformation of normal

breast cells to breast cancers. In addition, IGF-1 maintains the

malignancy of human breast cancer cells, including their

invasiveness and ability to spread to distant organs. (Increased

levels of IGF-1 have similarly been associated with colon and

prostate cancers.) The prenataland infant breast is particularly

susceptible to hormonal influences.

 

Such imprinting by IGF-1 may increase future breast cancer risks,

and may also increase the sensitivity of the breast to subsequent

unrelated risks such as mammography and the carcinogenic and

estrogen-like effects of pesticide residues in food, particularly in

pre-menopausal women.

 

Q. Are cows adversely affected by elevated IGF-1 levels?

A. Cows injected with rBGH show heavy localization of IGF-1 in

breast (udder) epithelial cells. This does not occur in untreated

cows.

 

Cows are also affected in other ways by rBGH, through increased

rates of mastitis, an udder infection. Industry data show up to an

80 percent incidence of mastitis in hormone-treated cattle,

resulting in the

contamination of milk with significant levels of pus. Mastitis

requires the use of antibiotics to treat, which leaves residues to

pass on through the milk for human consumption.

 

Q. What does the FDA say about IGF-1?

A. The FDA has trivialized evidence for increased levels in rBGH

milk and insist that any such increases in IGF-1 are not dangerous,

and do not pose a health risk. However, a 1990 study by Monsanto,

the leading maker of rBGH, explicitly revealed statistically

significant evidence of growth promoting effects. Feeding relatively

low doses of IGF-1 to mature rats for only two weeks resulted in

statistically significant and biologically highly significant

systemic effects: increased body weight;

increased liver weight; increased bone length; and decreased

epiphyseal width.

 

The FDA has failed to investigate the effects of long-term

feeding of IGF-1 and treated milk on growth. Furthermore, the FDA

has

been hostile to the labeling of rBGH milk. The agency has prohibited

dairy producers and retailers from labeling their milk as

" hormone-free, " The FDA states that such labeling could be " false or

misleading " under federal law. Monsanto is suing several milk

producers for using the label.

 

Q. What have other scientists said about IGF-1?

A. Concerns about increased levels of IGF-1 in milk from cows

treated with rBGH are not new. In 1990, the National Institutes of

Health Consensus panel on rBGH expressed concerns about adverse

health effects of IGF-1 in rBGH milk, calling for further study on

health impacts, particularly infants. In 1991, the Council on

Scientific Affairs of the

American Medical Association stated: " Further studies will be

required to determine whether the ingestion of higher than normal

concentrations of bovine insulin-like growth factor is safe for

children, adolescents and adults. "

 

Unfortunately, these studies were never done,

 

HERE ARE THREE THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO:

 

1. Do not buy milk from cows treated with rBGH. Unless the milk-

label states " NO rBGH " , you can assume the milk is contaminated.

 

rBGH has become so widely used by dairy farmers. Most health food

stores sell rBGH-free milk.

 

2. Contact your local supermarket and find out if they have a policy

regarding rBGH and milk. Make clear that you would like rBGH-free

milk.

 

3. Write to the FDA and express your concern that they are

restricting the labeling of rBGH-free milk.

 

 

 

References:

 

Epstein, S. S. Potential public health hazards of biosynthetic milk

hormones. International Journal of Health Services, 20:73-84, 1990.

 

Epstein, S. S. Unlabeled milk from cows treated with biosynthetic

growth hormones: A case of regulatory abdication. International

Journal of Health Services, 26(1):173-185, 1996.

 

CONTACT:

Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., Chairman

 

Cancer Prevention Coalition

2121 West Taylor Street, M/C 922

 

Chicago, IL 60612

(312) 996-2297

_________________

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

DietaryTi-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Genes