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Consumers rejoiced last week in a victory over artificial growth hormones. The company Monsanto, which produces recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone used widely in milk, announced its intention to sell its milk business on August 7. The decision comes as more and more retailers such as Kraft Foods, Starbucks and Wal-Mart are responding to consumer demand for milk without hormones by creating “rBGH-free” products. A year ago, Monsanto tried unsuccessfully to persuade federal officials to restrict the labeling of products as hormone free, arguing that milk from treated cows and untreated cows was the same. Although no definitive link has yet been discovered between the hormone and diseases in humans who consume the milk, rBGH-injected cows have higher-than-normal levels of another hormone called insulin growth factor-1. High levels of IGF-1 in humans have been linked to colon and breast cancer. Scientists have also linked rBGH to an increased chance of udder infection in cows.

GUEST: Patty Lovera, Assistant Director of Food and Water Watch. For more information, visit www.foodandwaterwatch.org.