Daily bites: by Jackie
Information provided by Liz Vaccariello, Editor-in-Chief, PREVENTION
Milk Produced with Artificial Hormones
The expert: Rick North, project director of the Campaign for Safe
Food at the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility and former CEO
of the Oregon division of the American Cancer Society
The problem: Milk producers treat their dairy cattle with recombinant
bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST, as it is also known) to boost milk
production. But rBGH also increases udder infections and even pus in
the milk. It also leads to higher levels of a hormone called
insulin-like growth factor in milk. In people, high levels of IGF-1 may
contribute to breast, prostate, and colon cancers. "When the government
approved rBGH, it was thought that IGF-1 from milk would be broken down
in the human digestive tract," says North. As it turns out, the casein
in milk protects most of it, according to several independent studies.
"There's not 100% proof that this is increasing cancer in humans,"
admits North. "However, it's banned in most industrialized countries."
The solution: Check labels for rBGH-free, rBST-free, produced without artificial hormones, or organic milk. These phrases indicate rBGH-free products.
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