Web Note: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in responding to Monsanto's complaint against dairies that truthfully label their products as "made without" Monsanto's artificial recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), rejected the company's complaint, stating that FTC "did not find any examples of national or significant regional advertising campaigns" that were contrary to agency rules, and that "formal investigation and enforcement action is not warranted at this time." (1) In other words, dairies and food producers are free to continue informing consumers when they prohibit their milk suppliers from using Monsanto's drug.
The Post erroneously stated that companies that accurately label their rBGH-free dairy products were told by FTC that they also "must add a disclaimer." In fact, the FTC letter to Monsanto reiterates the Food and Drug Administration's 1994 guidance on rBGH labels. As the FTC letter clearly states, the FDA guidance "does not require" the disclaimer outlined by the Post.(2) The FTC response to Monsanto forcefully affirmed that companies like Kroger, Starbucks and many others can continue to use labeling to let consumer know that they are cautiously avoiding milk made with Monsanto's cow drug, which is banned in Europe, Canada, Asia and much of the world.
Charles Margulis
Center for Food Safety __________________________________________________________
Federal regulators are requiring changes to the websites of a few small dairies that claim to produce healthier milk by shunning use of a synthetic bovine growth hormone made by Monsanto Co.
The Federal Trade Commission, which enforces advertising regulations to prevent companies from making false or misleading claims, is taking action in response to a February complaint by Creve Coeur-based Monsanto.
This action is the latest volley in a battle over public opinion on the use of recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rBST, which Monsanto sells as Posilac. The company - backed up by the Food and Drug Administration - says that injecting cows with Posilac to boost dairy production has no effect on the resulting milk.
But activists and some dairies say Posilac poses threats to the health of dairy cows and of people who drink the milk...
Charles Margulis, spokesman for the Oakland, Calif.-based Center for Food Safety, a nonprofit that opposes biotech crops and other food-production technologies, said the regulators' actions will make no difference to "99 percent of consumers."
"Consumers clearly are looking for (rBST)-free milk and that's because they believe there's a health concern . and an animal-welfare concern," he said. Monsanto "has already lost the public argument, the consumer argument, so their best action in that is to make sure the public doesn't know whether it is used or not."
For Full Article: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/manufacturingtechnology/story/0F3FB656F80DC7908625734500063FEE?OpenDocument
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FDA & FTC Reject Monsanto's Request to Ban rBGH-Free Labels on Dairy Products
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FTC takes websites to task on claims
By Rachel Melcer
St Louis Post-Dispatch - MO, Aug 28, 2007
Straight to the Source
