Wal-Mart rejects bovine growth hormone

Wal-Mart last week decided not to sell milk under its own label from cows treated with Prosilac (or “rBGH”), the Monsanto synthetic bovine growth hormone.

In doing so, Wal-Mart follows the lead of Kroger, Safeway, and Starbucks, as well as the European Union and Canada. The effect is not so clear-cut, though, because the powerful dairy industry has long threatened lawsuits against "rms that use labels that proclaim the product to be hormone-free. Wal-Mart is not exempt.

With Monsanto’s approval (or is it the other way around?) the USDA has approved a label that reads, “No signifficant difference has been shown between milk derived from cows treated with artifcial growthhormones and cows not treated with artifcial hormones.” In certain states the no-rBGH label can run if it’s accompanied by the above disclaimer.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest says US children now drink twice as much soda pop as milk; in the 1970’s the ratio was reversed.

Source: World Business Academy (www.worldbusiness.org)