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*NOTE- Ben& Jerry's was bought by Dutch conglomerate Unilever in 2000*
Ben & Jerry's Homemade, one of the first companies to label its ice cream as free of a synthetic hormone, is protesting a move by some states to restrict such labeling.
The South Burlington, Vt., ice-cream maker has joined a national campaign to block what critics say is an effort driven by Monsanto (MON, news, msgs), which markets recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rBST, also known as recombinant bovine growth hormone, or rBGH.
But a newly formed farmers' group, backed by Monsanto, is pushing for labeling changes, saying the hormone-free labels imply that the milk is safer than other milk, when they say it's not.
Monsanto, a corporate sponsor of the group, says it's a question of accuracy in labeling. <--- THEIR OWN PRODUCT?
"Monsanto is really an advocate in support of accurate labeling of dairy products in the dairy case," said Monsanto spokeswoman Lori Hoag.
Others say consumers have a right to know what is and isn't in their food.
The hormone, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration to boost production in dairy cows in the early 1990s, was not approved in Canada, Japan or the European Union, largely out of concerns it may be harmful to animals.
And "there are unanswered human questions with it. It probably should never have been approved," said Michael Hansen, a senior scientist with Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports.
"As people worry about food they eat, the demand has increased," he said.
The use of the artificial hormones increases the levels of another growth hormone in cows, said Rick North, a spokesman for Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, a leading critic of rBGH. Elevated levels of that hormone in humans promote cancer, he said.
"There is not absolute proof that shooting cows up with rBGH is increasing cancer rates in humans, however, there is a significant amount of scientific data that is pointing in that direction and our stance is better safe than sorry. That this is an unnecessary risk," said North.
"From the outset, when rBGH was approved, we wanted to make sure that we were able to tell that message on our packing that the family farmers that provide our dairy have pledged to not use rBGH," Michalak said. "We thought it was a very important message."
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