Boulder Ice Cream opposes the use of rBGH


WHAT'S IS rBGH?

Bovine Growth Hormone is a natural protein produced by the pituitary gland of cattle. The hormone has a variety of effects including the stimulation of milk production. The gene responsible for natural production of Bovine Growth Hormone in cattle was isolated, genetically modified, and transferred into bacterial cells to produce the genetically engineered Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) also referred to as rBST. The current consensus is that cows given rBGH increase their milk production by an average of between 10 and 25 percent. The hormone is not used for any therapeutic purpose in animals.

*From the Center for Food Safety of the International Center for Technology Assessment, Washington, D.C.

WHY WE OPPOSE rBGH

At this time, it is our company opinion that there is insufficient information to make a determination of the long term effect of human consumption of milk from cows treated with rBGH based on the following data:

  • When rBGH first appeared on the US market, a controversy immediately arose regarding the method of its approvel by the FDA. The FDA discussed their approval process in an article in Science Magazine in 1990 and said the rat study showed "no toxicologically significant changes" in the rbGH-treated rats. However, the
    FDA did not require the normal human safety toxicological assessment usually required for a veterinary drug
    Statement of Michael Hansen, Ph.D., Research Associate Consumer Policy Institute, Consumers Union On FDA's Safety Assessment of Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone December 15, 1998


  • Furthermore, recent research has shown conclusively that the levels of a hormone called "insulin-like growth factor-1" (IFG-1) are elevated in dairy products produced from cows treated with rBGH. Canadian and European regulators have found that the FDA completely failed to consider a study that showed how the increased IGF-1 in rBGH milk could survive digestion and make its way into the intestines and blood stream of consumers. These findings are significant because numerous studies now demonstrate that IGF-1 is an important factor in the growth of cancers of the breast, prostate and colon.
    - The Center for Food Safety

We are also concerned about the effects of rBGH on the cows receiving the injections of the hormone:

  • In cows treated with rBGH, significant health problems often develop, including a 50 percent increase in the risk of lameness (leg and hoof problems), over a 25 percent increase in the frequency of udder infections (mastitis), and serious animal reproductive problems, i.e., infertility, cystic ovaries, fetal loss and birth defects.
    - The Center for Food Safety

WHY HAVE CANADA AND EUROPE BANNED rBGH?

  • The EU has already issued two detailed scientific reports raising questions about human and animal health issues that arise when the hormone is used, and will decide at the end of 1999 whether to continue its current moratorium. Canada banned the hormone in January on grounds of its effects on the health of dairy cows, because cows treated with rBGH are more likely to contract udder infections which are treated with antibiotics
    - Consumers Union press release June 30, 1999

  • The EU prohibited the use of hormones for non-therapeutic purposes in 1985, and banned the importation of U.S. beef in 1988 to avoid importing hormone-treated meat. Since then, there has been a heated dispute between the United States and the EU over the ban, and, in a 1999 ruling, the World Trade Organization (WTO) decided in favor of the US. However, in April of that year, the EU's Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures relating to Public Health (SCVPH) released a report indicating that the use of the six growth hormones posed a risk to consumers. The EU ban remains in place.
    - The Center for Food Safety

    • HOW YOU CAN MAKE A CASE FOR NATURAL MILK

    Contact the FDA and urge them to review their approval for rBGH, or at least require products that are from rBGH treated cows be labelled as such. You can write to the FDA at:

    Food and Drug Administration
    5600 Fishers Lane
    Rockville, MD 20857

    Ask for products from cows not treated with rBGH where you shop. Let the store managers know you are concerned and that you will buy these products. Your demand for products from untreated cows will send a message to the farmers and the use of rBGH will decrease.

    Support companies that are buying milk from untreated cows. The demand for untreated milk will let farmers know that consumers want.

    Educate others! Get involved with your local PTA and schools, asking then to require that our kids are eating and drinking dairy products that are made with milk from cows that have not been treated with rBGH.