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Warning - ACSH (American Corporate Science and Health?) somehow fail to mention in their press release below that Monsanto's genetically engineered cattle drug rBST (aka rBGH) is banned both in neighbouring Canada and throughout the European Union. Nor in their allegations of vested interests amongst rBST's detractors, do they bother to mention that ACSH's extensive corporate backing comes from, amongst others (eg Dow, Cyanamid), Monsanto!  

Incidentally ACSH, which so avidly opposes the spreading of "False Fears" and "Misleading Attacks" on "Safe Foods", has amongst its advisors, the Hudson Institute's Dennis Avery: the big daddy of bogus organic scare stories - see: http://members.tripod.com/~ngin/organic.htm

 The Hudson Institute, needless to say, has Monsanto amongst its sponsors (not to mention, Aventis, Dow, Novartis, Du Pont etc.)  

Prior to the introduction of the EU wide ban on rBST, Prof Jonathan Jones of the John Innes Centre felt moved to write to the Guardian as follows, "George Monbiot and the Guardian have got wrong much of their coverage on GM foods and GM crops. But he is certainly right to highlight concern (Feb 19th; The next big thing) about milk from cows treated with bovine somatotropin (BST). It appears suspect both on animal welfare and human health grounds..."  http://www.jic.bbsrc.ac.uk/Sainsbury-Lab/jonathan-jones/GMO-pieces/sjjgmo4.htm

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Warning/ "Biodevastation" Activists Spread False Fears About Safe  Foods/ Misleading Attacks on Milk Cause Unnecessary Concerns For  Parents and Consumers, Says The American Council on Science and Health

SAN DIEGO and NEW YORK, June 21 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation -

Caveat Emptor. Consumers and Journalists beware -- Biodevastation  activists aim to target you over the next few days with false and  misleading information about food safety, nutrition and the  environment. The same people who brought you a long list of other  false health and environmental scares -- including the infamous Alar  in apples scare, the Dow-Corning breast implant campaign -- and  dozens of other debunked fears are at it again. This time the  scaremongers are targeting such safe foods as milk and other dairy  products in your local supermarket and at food retail outlets such as  Starbucks.

Like the misleading Alar in apples scare, activists use products  associated with children -- like milk and ice cream -- and falsely  link these products with horrible ills such as cancer to evoke the  greatest fear among parents and the consuming public. The harm and  cost to consumers and farmers alike can be significant.

In 1989 environmental activists and their public relations firm  Fenton Communications claimed that the use of the plant growth  regulator Alar by apple growers was causing cancer in children who  eat apples and drink apple juice. The claims made national headlines  and were highlighted on news programs like "60 Minutes." They turned  out to be false, but they cost apple farmers hundreds of millions,  increased consumer food costs, and caused a significant spike in  consumer purchases of organic produce. Conveniently, this public  relations firm also represented the benefiting organic food industry  interests, who were also conveniently funding the environmental  activists.

When the science and health community responded and showed that the  offending "cancer-causing" chemical was, in fact, less carcinogenic  than bacon, tap water or peanut butter (Bruce Ames, University of  California Berkeley), it was too late. The public relations firm had  celebrated achieving their goal; "the PR campaign was designed so  that revenue would flow back to the (client) from the public."  (Source: Fenton Communications memo published in the Wall Street  Journal, 10/3/1999). And when confronted over a decade later when the  false "cancer in children" fears failed to materialize, the PR firm  referred inquiries to their client, the Natural Resources Defense  Council, which stated, "The message of that report might have been  muddled by the media, and the public might have over-reacted, because  we never said there was an immediate danger from Alar ..." (Source:  PR Central's Inside PR Monday, September 4, 2000)

Today, more than a decade later, the same public relations firm and  the same activists are in San Diego and at local supermarkets and  corner coffee shops across the country spreading false fears about  the safety of milk from cows supplemented with protein-based bovine  growth hormones (rbST). This time Fenton Communications represents  ice cream manufacturer Ben & Jerry's and a variety of other "organic"  and "natural" products companies whose sales benefit from these  scares. Fenton is also representing the activists attacking the  safety of dairy products derived from cows that are supplemented with  rbST. Once again, these activists are receiving funding from the  benefiting organic industry interests.

These slick public relations professionals (often claiming to be from  the "non-profit" Environmental Media Services) promote speeches by  evolutionary ecologist Michael Hansen or fired Fox journalists turned  activists Steve Wilson and Jane Akre. These supposed experts proclaim  that such dairy products cause cancer, harm cows, and hurt small  dairy farmers. But check the facts from the hundreds of real experts  who have published and commented on these issues:

American Cancer Society: "There are no valid findings to indicate a  risk of human carcinogenesis."  

Children's Nutrition Research Center (Baylor College of Medicine):  There is "no scientific basis for claims regarding bovine  somatotropin and IGF-1 ... if (these claims) were true, then human  colostrum, human breast milk, and indeed, all milk would be  incriminated as a cause of cancer ... women and their children have  nothing to fear regarding the nation's milk supply."

The American Medical Association: "BST is a protein hormone that is  produced naturally by cows to help them make milk. Supplementing cows  with small amounts of BST has been shown to increase their milk  production by 10 - 40 percent per cow without harming the animal or  altering the nutritional value of their milk."

National Institutes of Health (Journal of the American Medical  Association): "rbST-treated cows experience no greater health  problems than untreated cows."  

Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop: "Unfortunately, a few  fringe groups are using misleading statements and blatant falsehoods  as part of a long-running campaign to scare consumers about a  perfectly safe food. Their long-range goal is to prevent the benefits  of biotechnology from reaching the public. Because dairy foods are an  important, widely consumed source of nutrition, it is necessary to  condemn these attacks on the safety of milk for what they are:  baseless, manipulative and completely irresponsible."

So, next time you look at a pint of eco-friendly Ben & Jerry's,  remember, all milk contains bovine growth hormones -- they are  naturally produced by all dairy cows. Supplementing dairy cows to  help them maintain their natural peak levels of this hormone does not  change the milk in any way -- but it does help protect our  environment by enabling family dairy farmers to produce more milk  with fewer cows. This results in significantly less water and fuel  use, less grain and land under the plow, and less animal waste. This  safe product -- used by more small dairy farmers than large -- also  helps family farmers remain profitable and ensure they can afford to  pass along their farms to future generations.

Biotechnology helps farmers produce more safe and nutritious food,  using less land and less input. This is good for consumers, good for  the environment and good for farmers -- misleading fear campaigns, on  the other hand, are not.

The American Council on Science and Health is a consortium of more  than 350 scientists and physicians dedicated to consumer education on  public health issues, such as the environment, nutrition, and  pharmaceuticals. ACSH differentiates between real health risks and  hypothetical or trivial health scares.

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SOURCE American Council on Science and Health
CONTACT: Jeff Stier of the American Council on Science and Health, 212-362-7044, ext. 225    http://www.prnewswire.com    Copyright (C) 2001 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.