Environmental Research Foundation . . P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403 . .
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To subscribe, E-mail the words . . Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario have banned commercial use of synthetic bovine growth hormones. To make the synthetic product, rBGH, drug companies have learned to snip out a fraction of cow DNA that codes for this hormone, insert it into the DNA of E. COLI bacteria, grow the bacteria in vats, and extract large quantities of rBGH from the vats. Introduction of the rBGH product last month was met by an uproar from consumers who want the product banned until safety questions have been resolved and who want milk labeled if it is produced from rBGH-treated cows. Monsanto, the chemical company that has brought the first rBGH product to market, vigorously opposes labeling.