rBST Bovine Growth Hormone Discontinued by Monsanto

Posted by Victoria Anisman-Reiner Sep 3, 2008

Greenpeace reports that Monsanto, the genetically modified food giant most blacklisted by health food junkies and environmentalists alike, has decided to stop producing the bovine growth hormone rBST.

BST or "bovine somatotropin" is a hormone naturally produced by lactating cows, but rBST ("recombinant BST") is produced by genetically engineered E. coli with cow genes. rBST is then used to increase milk production in cows.

rBST has been banned in Canada since 1998 (though it still arrives in unmarked GM food products), and companies including Starbucks, Safeway and Kraft have recently removed any rBST-tainted milk from their foods.

For more information, see Greenpeace's Good News for Canadian Consumers...

See also my article, Genetically Modified Foods: The Debate