More Info on Monsato Hormone Case

"Agribusiness giant Monsanto Co. is challenging a growing trend among dairies to label their milk "hormone free," saying that claim misleads consumers into believing the cow growth hormone Monsanto makes is unsafe.

St. Louis-based Monsanto's aggressive move against a group of dairies to halt use of the labels could send ripples through the food industry.

In letters filed recently with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission, Monsanto protests that milk labels touting the fact that cows did not receive the hormone--known variously as rBGH, rBST or Posilac, the trade name--have unfairly damaged its business, as well as that of dairy farmers who use the drug on their cows.

The FDA has found no difference between the milk produced by cows that received the hormone and the milk from cows that did not receive it, Monsanto says. The hormone increases milk production by about 10 percent."

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