No more GMO: Monsanto drops bid to approve new crops in Europe

[proverbialwisdom]

49. Ironic you'd mention risk factors. Here's a 2009 Press Release from Breast Cancer Action about rBGH.

http://bcaction.org/2009/09/22/bca-confronts-eli-lilly-demands-they-stop-milking-cancer/

BCA Confronts Eli Lilly, Demands they Stop Milking Cancer

Posted on September 22, 2009 by Caitlin C.
For Immediate Release

CANCER ADVOCACY ORGANIZATION CONFRONTS THE SOURCE OF rBGH, DEMANDS PHARMACEUTICAL GIANT ELI LILLY STOP “MILKING CANCER”

Breast Cancer Action Challenges Pharma Giant’s Marketing of the Artificial Hormone, Asks the Public to Demand Action

San Francisco—Breast Cancer Action (BCA), known as the watchdog of the breast cancer movement, today announced the launch of their “Milking Cancer” campaign challenging the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly to stop manufacturing rBGH. rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone, also known as rBST) has long been linked to cancer.

Eli Lilly is the sole manufacturer of rBGH which is sold worldwide under the name Posilac. The company also markets drugs to treat breast cancer and a drug to reduce the risk of breast cancer in women at high risk.

“Eli Lilly profits from cancer any way you look at it,” said Barbara Brenner executive director of Breast Cancer Action. “It’s the perfect profit cycle. When Eli Lilly milks cancer, it’s great for the company, but bad for the public’s health.”

The artificial hormone rBGH has been banned in Japan, Australia, Canada and the European Union. Large corporations such as Walmart and Starbucks no longer use milk from rBGH-treated cows in their store-brand products.
“There is strong evidence of a connection between rBGH and cancer, including breast cancer,” according to Dr. Martin Donohoe, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Community Health, Portland State University. “Many leading dairies and health care facilities have eliminated its use. Why should we take a chance with the public’s health?”

BCA is launching the Milking Cancer campaign –featuring an on-line video and website, (www.milkingcancer.org) – to raise awareness and to encourage concerned consumers to contact Eli Lilly directly and tell them to stop manufacturing rBGH.

This project builds on BCA’s Think Before You Pink®– a campaign raising critical questions about pink ribbon promotions and targeting “pinkwashers”: companies that say they care about breast cancer, but make products that contribute to the incidence of the disease. Bolstered by the many successes of the campaign, including a 2008 effort that persuaded General Mills to discontinue the use of rBGH in pink-lidded Yoplait yogurt, Brenner urges people to believe they can effect change over Eli Lilly as well. “Ordinary people have extraordinary power to change corporate behavior,” said Brenner. “People who care about public health can and will get Eli Lilly to stop milking cancer and end the manufacture of rBGH.”

Breast Cancer Action is a non-profit education and advocacy organization that does not accept funding from pharmaceutical companies or any other organizations that profit from or contribute to the breast cancer epidemic.
Partners in the Milking Cancer Campaign are DES Action, Food and Water Watch, Institute for Responsible Technology, Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, Our Bodies Ourselves, Physicians for Social Responsibility-Oregon, and the Women’s Community Cancer Project.

http://thinkbeforeyoupink.org/?page_id=6

rBGH & Breast Cancer
The Connection Between rBGH and Breast Cancer

Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), also known as Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rBST), is injected into cows so they will produce more milk. Research suggests that a number of health concerns, including breast cancer, are associated with the consumption of dairy products from cows treated with rBGH.

The use of rBGH stimulates the production of another hormone called insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a naturally occurring hormone in both cows and humans that regulates cell growth, division, and differentiation. 1 2

Cow’s milk that is treated with rBGH has higher levels of IGF-1. Studies in humans, animals, and cell cultures have indicated that elevated levels of IGF-1 in humans may increase the risk of breast cancer. 3 4 5

In addition to breast cancer, increased IGF-1 levels have been associated with prostate, colon, and other cancers.6 The use of rBGH also increases the need for antibiotics in cows, which can lead to increased antibiotic resistance in humans.7

There is controversy about whether or not the IGF-1 in milk makes its way into the human bloodstream. Some studies have indicated that IGF-1 does survive digestion while others have not. 8 What is clear is that there is sufficient evidence for concern about the human health impacts of using rBGH.

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The use of rBGH has been banned entirely in Australia, Canada, Japan, and all 27 countries in the European Union. Although there is not definitive proof that the use of rBGH leads to breast and other cancers, there is enough evidence now to take precautionary steps and to eliminate its use.

FOOTNOTES

1) European Commission. Report on Public Health Aspects of the Use of Bovine Somatotrophin. Food Safety—From the Farm to the Fork. March 15-16, 1999. ↩
2) Prosser C.G., et al. Increased secretion of insulin-like growth factor 1 into milk of cows treated with recombinantly derived bovine growth hormone. Journal of Dairy Research 56 (1) 17-26, 1989. ↩
3) Hankinson S, et al. Circulating concentrations of insulin-like growth factor 1 and risk of breast cancer. Lancet 351:1393-1396, 1998. ↩
4) Macaulay VM. Insulin-like growth factors and cancer. British Journal of Cancer 65:311-320, 1998. ↩
5) Resnicoff M, Baserga R. The insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor protects tumor cells from apoptosis in vivo. Cancer Research 55:2463-69, 1998. ↩
6) Yu, Herbert and Thomas Rohan. Role of the Insulin-Like Growth Factor Family in Cancer Development and Progression. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 92:1472-89, 2000. ↩
7) Kronfield D. Recombinant bovine somatotropin and animal welfare. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 216(11):1719-1720, 2000. ↩
8) Xian C. Degradation of IGF-1 in the adult rat gastrointestinal tract is limited by a specific antiserum or the dietary protein casein. Journal of Endocrinology 146:215-225, 1995. ↩