CONTACT:
Laurel Hopwood, 216-371-9779
Ronnie Cummins, 218-226-4164

TRADER JOE'S GIVES FALSE AND MISLEADING INFORMATION TO CONSUMERS

Environmental and consumer groups today criticize Trader Joe's for its use of the genetically engineered (or recombinant) bovine growth (rBGH).

Trader Joe's is selling cheese that comes from cows that have been injected with rBGH. Yet on Trader Joe's website, it states "We have identified any product containing ingredients that could potentially be derived from genetically engineered crops and worked with our suppliers to replace offending ingredients with acceptable alternatives."

Laurel Hopwood, member of Sierra Club's Genetic Engineering Committee, cited evidence that this genetically engineered hormone increases production of insulin growth factor (IGF-1) in milk, which has been shown to promote breast, prostate and colorectal cancers.

Ronnie Cummins, national director of the Organic Consumers Association, noted that injected cows get painful mastitis and persistent sores, contributing to the overuse of antibiotics and the worldwide crisis of drug resistant disease. Canada and the European Union have banned the use of rBGH. Although the U.S. government has approved its use, Cummins said, "We hear consumers say, 'I don't want any more hormones in my food and I don't want to be part of a system that's cruel to dairy cows!'"

The Sierra Club and Organic Consumers Association provided Trader Joe's with a list of rBGH free cheese
(www.sierraclub.org/biotech/nonrBGH.asp) yet Trader Joe's refused to sell what it claims to be selling.

Sierra Club, America's largest grassroots conservation organization, and the Organic Consumers Association, a leading consumers organization, oppose use of genetically engineered crops and also of rBGH to force increased milk production from cows.