Take genetically engineered Bovine Growth Hormone off the market!

In early 1999, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) initiated a legal action
against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting that Monsanto's
genetically engineered Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) (also known as rBST or
PosilacÆ) be taken off the market. CFS took this important step upon the
release of information from Health Canada (the Canadian equivalent of FDA)
that the FDA failed to investigate studies showing that the oral feeding
of rBGH led to thyroid cysts and prostate activity in male rats. The
Health Canada study emphatically found that these results necessitated
further study of the human health impacts of rBGH. The study also found
that significant animal health problems were associated with rBGH use in
dairy cows, including a 50% risk increase of lameness and a 25% risk
increase of mastitis (udder infections). However, the FDA approved rBGH
for use in the U.S. in late 1993 without finding that it was safe for use
and ignoring studies that indicated these human and animal health risks.
In contrast, both Canada and the European Union have found the potential
human and animal health impacts associated with rBGH great enough to
prohibit rBGH use.

Please demand that the government take rBGH off the market and support the
CFS legal action. You can submit your comments to the FDA today!

Visit http://www.foodsafetynow.org
To Send an urgent message to the commissioner of the FDA

Or Write To:

Docket No: 98P-1194
Commissioner Jane Henney
Food and Drug Adminsitration
5360 Fishers Lane
Room 1061 (HFA-305)
Rockville, MD 20852

Organizations signing onto CFS' legal petition include the American Humane
Association, Community Nutrition Institute,
Family Farm Defenders, Greenpeace, the Humane Society of the United
States, Organic Trade Association,
Rural Vermont, Vermont Public Interest Research Group and several
prominent breast cancer activists.

Today, genetically engineered bovine growth hormone continues to be used
by dairy farmers throughout the United States.The numerous human and
animal health and economic concerns about its use include:

Cancer Risks. Insulin-like Growth Factor I (IGF-1) is a hormone found at
elevated levels in the milk derived from rBGH-injected cows. IGF-1 is
known to survive in the digestive tract, plays a role in cancer in
general, and may have significant effects on colon tumors in humans.

Severe Animal Health Problems. Significant animal health problems
including a 50% risk increase of lameness (leg and hoof problem), over a
25% increase in the frequency of clinical mastitis (udder infections), and
serious animal reproductive problems (including infertility, cystic
ovaries and fetal loss) have been associated with rBGH use.

Antibiotic Resistance. Because rBGH use results in elevated mastitis
levels, dairy farmers tend to use more antibiotics -- residues of
these drugs may end up in milk and dairy products. These residues may
cause adverse (i.e. allergic) reactions in a few sensitive
individuals and contribute to the growth of antibiotic resistance in
bacteria, an ever important human health problem.

Loss of Family Farms. Even a small increase in milk surpluses causes a
big decline in family dairy farmers' incomes. Milk production has been
shown to rise sharply in states where rBGH sales are highest, depressing
milk prices nationally.

Because of the FDA's inadequate review, millions of American infants,
children, and adults
are consuming milk and dairy products derived from cows injected with
genetically engineered bovine growth hormone every day!

Tell the FDA to remove this potentially dangerous product from the market!