HIDDEN DANGER IN YOUR MILK?
HIDDEN DANGER IN YOUR MILK?
Milk… is it still "nature’s most perfect food" when dairymen are injecting their cows with the artificial hormone BGH many scientists link to cancer? How many Americans even know their milk has changed as a result of secret injections down on the farm? Why is this approved in the U.S. but banned in in all of Europe and unapproved through Canada and several other countries? And if there is nothing wrong with BGH, why has its maker Monsanto fought so hard to avoid honest labels which would identify milk from hormone-treated cows and allow consumers to choose for themselves?
Reporters' Version TV Report, Jane Akre, Fox 13 News - Florida.
"Nature’s most nearly perfect food" that’s how most of us have always thought of milk wholesome, nutritious and pure just like it says on some of the trucks that deliver it.
But down on the farm where most of us never see? Some Florida farmers have been quietly squeezing more cash from their cows by injecting them with an artificial growth hormone so they’ll produce more milk than nature intended.
Thurman Hatten, Florida Dairy Farmer: "Yes I would say, people in Florida are using it. (Reporter Jane Akre) And you yourself? (Hatten) Ahh
NARRATION 2: Thurman Hatten is one of many Florida dairymen reluctant to admit that they’re injecting their cows every two weeks
Farmer Hatten continues: "it’s possible I could be using it."
NARRATION 3: The drug some Florida farmers don’t want you to know they’re using is a Monsanto laboratory version of bovine growth hormone known as BGH.
Here's how it works: when the cow gets injected with extra BGH, it stimulates the production of another hormone called IGF-1. That's really the stuff that speeds up the cow's metabolism, causing her to produce up to 30% more milk. But some scientists like Dr. Samuel Epstein are warning what might be good for the farmers' bottom line might be big trouble down the line for people drinking the milk from treated cows.
Dr. Samuel Epstein, Scientist, University of Illinois: "there are highly suggestive if not persuasive lines of evidence showing that consumption of this milk poses risks of breast and colon cancer."
NARRATION 4: Dr. Epstein is a scientist at the University of Illinois School of Public Health. He's earned three medical degrees, written eight books, and is frequently called upon to advise Congress about things in our environment which may cause cancer. He and others like Dr. William von Meyer point to what they say is a growing body of scientific evidence of a link between IGF-1 and human cancers which might not show up for years to come.
Dr. William Von Meyer, research scientist: "We're going to save some lives if we review this now. If we allow BGH to go on, I’m sure we’re taking excessive risks with society."
NARRATION 5: Dr. von Meyer has spent 30 years studying chemical products and testing their effects on humans. He's supervised many such tests on thousands of animals at schools such as the University of London and UCLA. He's headed agricultural, chemical and genetic research at some of America's most prestigious companies.
His concerns about BGH have have sparked an inquiry by Congressman Scott Klug who wants to know just how was BGH ever approved for use in this country three years ago while a dozen European countries, Canada, and New Zealand have all blocked the use of it there.
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE -->
Excerpted from:
Jane Akre, WTVT Channel
13 in Tampa Florida; BGH Bulletin.
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