Memo To General Mills: Quit Sugar-Coating Your Toxic Pink Yoplait Campaign

For the second time this week, it appears that we need to talk about the toxic commodifying of women’s breasts for corporate gain:

There aren’t too many things I like less than companies that sell toxic pink stuff to raise awareness about breast cancer. But when those of us who they are trying to con into thinking they are such good little corporate doobies complain and they respond with a letter suggesting that we shouldn’t worry our pretty little heads and then try to confuse the facts, then I’m seeing red.

In early October, we wrote about Breast Cancer Action’s campaign to protest General Mill’s Yoplait lids campaign because Yoplait contains a synthetic hormone called recombinant bovine growth hormone (referred to as rBGH or rBST). The hormone, which is used to increase milk production, has been banned in 25 countries and has numerous health implications according to Breast Cancer Action:

* Antibiotics. Antibiotics in our milk and other dairy products can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria in our bodies making it harder to fight infection.

* Increased cancer risk. rBGH increases milk production through the stimulation of another hormone, called insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). IGF-1 is a naturally occurring potent growth hormone and cell-death inhibitor that has been implicated in breast, colon, prostate, lung, and other cancers as well as abnormal cell growth. IGF-1 is chemically identical in humans and cows. This means that when we drink milk from rBGH cows we are adding the IGF-1 from that milk to our own IGF-1 levels.

That it is still legal in this country is beyond belief but to use a product that contains an ingredient linked to cancer to raise money for the cure to cancer is unacceptable, callous corporate profiteering at its worst. If you participated in the letter-writing campaign to General Mills, here is the reply that you got:

Thank you for contacting General Mills concerning BST.

BST (bovine somatotropin) is a hormone naturally found in cows. The synthetic version of this hormone (not to be confused with a steroid hormone) has been subjected to extensive testing. The Food & Drug Administration, American Medical Association, National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Agriculture along with a number of other science-based organizations have concluded that there are no food safety issues in conjunction with milk produced by BST-supplemented cows.

Because BST is naturally found in all cows’ milk, there is no scientific way to test the milk to determine if the BST present is from synthetic sources or natural sources. The amount of BST present in milk will not be greater from a synthetic source than it would be occurring naturally.

For more information about Bovine Somatotropin (BST) or Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) you may wish to visit the United States Department of Agriculture′s website at www.usda.gov.

We hope you will continue to enjoy our products.

And here is BCA’s excellent rebuttal:

Dear General Mills,

Thank you for responding to my concerns regarding the safety issues surrounding rBGH.

While bovine growth hormone does occur naturally in cows, recombinant bovine growth hormone (which is what I was referring to) does not. Recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST) is a genetically engineered version of the natural hormone.

rBGH was approved by the FDA on the basis of one study, which looked at the health impacts of rBGH on 30 rats over the course of 90 days. It was evaluated as an animal drug, which meant that the safety standards were significantly lower than they would have been had it been evaluated as a human drug.

Since its approval in 1993, numerous studies have found connections between the use of rBGH and several diseases. I understand that there is no way to test for rBGH in milk. The main concern is that milk from cows stimulated with rBGH will have higher levels of IGF-1. Increased levels of IGF-1 have been linked to breast and other cancers.

The American Medical Association’s (AMA) Council on Scientific Affairs stated in 1991 that, “Further studies will be required to determine whether ingestion of higher than normal concentrations of bovine IGF-1 is safe for children, adolescents, and adults.” In 2008, AMA President Ronald Davis said, “Hospitals should buy meat and poultry raised without non-therapeutic antibiotics, use milk produced without recombinant bovine growth hormone, and replace unhealthy snacks found in many vending machines with healthy choices.”

Although rBGH has been approved in the United States, most other industrialized nations have banned its use. The United Nations’ Codex Alimentarus, the UN’s main food safety body, has concluded that there is not enough evidence that rBGH is safe.

I believe it is better to be safe than to be sorry. There is significant evidence now to warrant concerns about this synthetic hormone. I would prefer to avoid dairy products produced with rBGH, rather than wait until the day we have absolute proof of its toxicity.

I urge General Mills to join companies like Wal-Mart and Starbucks in doing the right thing for public health by going rBGH-free, and help pave the way for other companies to follow.

Thank you for responding to my inquiry.

So no General Mills, not only will we not buy your products because they are not healthy and you use them to exploit women’s health, but also because of your patronizing refusal to respond appropriately to our legitimate concerns and your continued commodifying of women’s bodies to feed your bottom line.