Can you tell me more about Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH)
Recombinant bovine growth hormone is a genetically engineered copy of a naturally occurring hormone produced by cows. It is also called rBGH, BGH, BST (bovine somatotropin), or rBST. rBGH has been used extensively in dairy cows since it was approved in 1994, to increase milk production.
Controversy occurred even before the market release of rBGH over allegations that testing of this product was inadequate and biased. Veterinarians were concerned that cows routinely injected with rBGH would experience reproductive problems, digestive disorders, sore feet, infections in their udders (mastitis), and an inability to maintain body condition. Mastitis infections in cows, as in humans, must be treated with antibiotics, thus with the potential for an increase in antibiotic use in dairy cows. Citing increased risk of mastitis, infertility and lameness, in January 1999, Health Canada, Canada's food and drug regulatory agency, announced it has declined to approve rBGH for Canadian use. The European Union has never approved the use of rBGH in dairy cows.
Some doctors and scientists have expressed concern about the impact of a substance called Insulin Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1), which occurs in elevated levels in the milk and meat of animals treated with rBGH. The amino acid sequences of human and bovine IGF-1 are identical. IGF-1 is naturally produced by humans and is responsible for cell growth and division. However, in its role as a promoter of cell growth and division, IGF-1 works on both normal and malignant (cancerous) cells. IGF-1 is found in elevated levels in the blood of women with breast cancer and in men with prostate cancer. It is not clear whether elevated levels of IGF-1 in the blood of cancer patients is a cause or the effect of their illness.
Laura's Lean Beef does not use meat from dairy cows in its program, nor does it allow the use of any hormones in its beef.
Additional Reading on rBGH
American Cancer Society, Hormones and Increased Breast Cancer Risk, (May 1998).
Badinga, L et al. Bovine Somatotropin Attenuates Phorbol Ester-Induced Prostaglandin F2- Production in Bovine Endometrial Cells 1. J Dairy Sci. 85:537-543, 2002.
Boutinaud, M et al. Growth Hormone and Milking Frequency Act Differently on Goat Mammary Gland in Late Lactation. J Dairy Sci. 86: 509-520, 2003.
Burvenich, C., et al. Modulation of the inflammatory reaction and neutrophil defense of the bovine lactating mammary gland by growth hormone. Domest. Anim. Endocrinol. 17:149-159, 1999.
Epstein, S. 1996. Unlabeled Milk From Cows Treated With Biosynthetic Growth Hormones: A Case of Regulatory Abdication. International Journal of Health Services 26-1:173.
Manning, A. 1996. Risk of Cancer Debated: Report Cites Milk from Treated Cows. USA Today (Jan. 23).
SCVPH. 1999. Opinion of the Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures Relating to Public Health: Assessment of Potential Risks to Human Health From Hormone Residues in Bovine Meat and Meat Products (30 April).
USDA. U.S. Department of Agriculture Q&A's on Hormone Issue, Foreign Agricultural Service.
_____. 1999. Statement by Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman on the Beef Hormone Issue (April 19).
_____. 1999. Joint Statement by Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman and U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky on the EU Hormone Report (May 3).
Wright, L. 1996. Silent Sperm. The New Yorker (Jan. 15).
