St. Louis-based Monsanto announced recently that it is selling its posilac division that makes bovine growth hormone, also known as rBGH or rBST.

The Organic Consumers Association triumphed over the sale reporting that after 5 years of declining sales and several legal setbacks, Monsanto has decided to dump rBGH.

Monsanto insists that there's no problem with the product. But nationwide declining sales of rBGH injected milk and a growing number of consumers and dairy processors proof otherwise. Signs advertising "No artificial growth hormones used" can be found in dairy departments throughout the United States.

Due to consumer pressure, large retailers, dairies, and cafes, from Kroger to Publix and Safeway are selling milk free of artificial hormones. Countries like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, and the European Union have banned rBGH because of its impacts on human and animal health. Starbucks has refused to purchase dairy from treated cows. Chipotle Mexican Grill, a McDonald’s spin-off, has banned rBST in its company stores.

Recently U.S. agriculture officials tried to limit labels on dairy products that disclosed whether they came from treated or untreated cows. However, consumer pressure led to a reversal of a labelling prohibition in Pennsylvania last February.

Posilac is sold as injections to an unknown number of U.S. and international dairy farmers. Monsanto refused to offer sales figures, but claims that one-third of the cows in the U.S. receive injections. The USDA estimates that number to be closer to 15 percent.

The company plans to continue sales outside of the country, particularly Mexico and Brazil.
Recently, rBGH has also been tested on catfish and tilapia to increase growth.

Monsanto did not comment on any details, such as timeline of the sale or prospective buyers.
Monsanto declared that the proposed sale allows the company to focus on genetically engineered seed such as corn, soybeans, cotton and vegetables.

More than 50 percent of the U.S. soybeans and about 70 percent of corn in pre-packaged food comes from genetically engineered ingredients.

Monsanto sparked controversy with the introduction of rBGH or rBST in 1994 after its approval by the FDA. Studies show that milk from treated cows has an increased level of a cancer accelerating hormone called IGF-1, which causes the cow to produce more milk. Though this hormone is naturally found in mothers to be fed to their infants it produces adverse effects in non-infants. IGF-1 behaves as a cancer accelerator in adults and non-infants; and is associated with breast, prostate, and colon cancers.

Posilac was the first in a long line of genetically engineered products to be introduced by Monsanto.