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Mon Feb 16, 2009 at 08:35:40 AM PST
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Last week Yoplait announced its decision to go rbGH-free. This week, the papers are full of articles proclaiming the news. Here's what the cat Google alert dragged in this morning:
Consumer Demand, Not Safety, Led General Mills to Ditch rbGH - This article does not make the claim that rbGH is actually safe - it just says that General Mills did not take sides on the safety of the product. Its decision was based on marketing.
The article's author has her own opinion:
Are artificial hormones actually unsafe? I won't pretend to be qualified to answer that question. There are studies and scientists supporting both sides of the issue (though when it comes to possible but unproven cancer links, my personal instinct is to err on the side of caution).
However, regardless of whether or not the artificial hormones are potentially risky for humans, there is a general agreement that they're bad for cows. Cows taking the hormones get more udder infections - and when cows get sick, farmers give them antibiotics, "the residues of which also may end up in milk and dairy products," as the Center for Food Safety explains.
These residues can cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals and contribute to the growth of antibiotic resistant bacteria, further undermining the efficacy of some antibiotics in fighting human infections.
To me, the whole thing sounds like a pretty bad idea. But it also seems pretty unlikely that the FDA will change its rules on rBGH any time soon. Instead, I predict we'll see more even more companies deciding, like GM, to cater to the common consumer perception that injecting cows with artificial hormones is, at the very least, kind of creepy.
More below... |
| Jill Richardson :: rbGH in the Media |
An Iowa paper carried an op-ed ("You Are What You Eat With Cows, CAFOs") that was downright emphatic about how absolutely unacceptable CAFOs are on the whole - including their use of rbGH:
Well, you are what you eat. Healthwise, rBGH has been linked to colon, breast and prostate cancer, obesity and earlier onset of childhood puberty. Wal-Mart doesn't even carry milk with rBGH as their store brand, and countries like the EU, Japan, Australia and Canada already have banned it in total. We are behind on sustainability and have to destroy the means by which CAFOs actually operate. They are inhumane and unjust to every civilization that has ever come before us.
(I recommend reading the whole op-ed - it's short and very graphic about the lives these poor cows lead.)
Then there's the aspect of the story that the activists won (yay!). This article tells how Breast Cancer Action won the day on the Yoplait fight:
Since its creation in 2002, BCA's Think Before You Pink campaign has been urging consumers to scrutinize pink ribbon marketing, ask questions and to take action when necessary. This year the campaign focused on "pinkwashers", companies that claim to care about breast cancer by promoting sales-driven contributions, but manufacture products that are linked to the disease.
"Pinkwashing companies try to have it both ways," said Brenner. "If they care as deeply as they say they do about women's lives, they'll take their commitment to the next level, as General Mills now promises to do."
And then there are the articles that tell about the NEXT rbGH fights - schools and hospitals. One focuses on the major buying power of hospitals and their ability to influence food companies to change their products. And last, this one asks parents to consider what their kids are getting in their school lunch milk. |
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