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Austrian concerns on animal welfare, food safety, and genetically modified (GM) foods are among the highest in the world. However, these concerns are complicated by the fact that the GM milk hormone, rBST, is exclusively manufactured in Austria by Biochemie Kundl, a Novartis plant under license to Monsanto; in 1998, over 100 million doses of the GM hormone were exported to the U.S. and also to 16 other Third World Countries. While the administration of rBST to cows in Europe was banned this month on unarguable animal health and welfare grounds, there are no restrictions yet on the import of GM dairy products, nor any requirements for their GM labeling. Austria could resolve this dilemma with two initiatives. First, a grass roots campaign and/or government ruling requiring the labeling of imported GM dairy products; the labeling of such GM foods is now under consideration by the EC. Second, representation to the European Parliament and European Council by the Austrian government to ban imports of GM dairy products from the U.S. and other Third World Countries on human health grounds on the basis of the well-recognized "Precautionary Principle." GM milk, produced by injecting cows with the hormone rBST, is qualitatively and quantitatively different from natural milk. These differences include: contamination of milk by the GM hormone rBST; contamination by pus and antibiotics resulting from the high incidence of mastitis in rBST injected cows; contamination with illegal antibiotics and drugs used to treat mastitis and other rBST induced disease; increased concentration of the thyroid hormone enzyme thyroxin-5'-monodeiodinase; increased concentration of long chain and decreased concentration of short chain fatty acids; reduction in casein levels; and major excess levels of the naturally-occurring Insulin-like Growth Factor, IGF-1, including its highly potent variant. There are very persuasive grounds for invoking the "Precautionary Principle" with regard to the public health hazards of GM milk. Evidence for these hazards, published in peer-reviewed scientific literature, is over a decade old. This evidence has recently been fully endorsed in the March 15-16, 1999 EC risk assessment report, by a team of 16 internationally recognized experts, on "Public Health Aspects of the Use of Bovine Somatotropin." These hazards include: allergic reactions, antibiotic resistance, and cancer risks from residues in milk of antibiotics used to treat mastitis in GM-hormone injected cows; unresolved concerns relating to elevated thyroid hormones; cardiovascular disease from elevated levels of long chain fatty acids; immunological effects of rBST absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract; and growth promoting and cancer risks from elevated IGF-1 levels. Multiple lines of converging evidence have strongly incriminated elevated IGF-1 milk levels with major excess risks of breast, prostate, and colon, besides possibly other cancers. Furthermore, IGF-1 is known to inhibit the programmed self-destruction (apoptosis) of cancer cells, thus promoting their growth and invasiveness, and also decreasing their responsiveness to chemotherapy. In spite of such fully-documented evidence, in July 1999 the London-based Committee for Veterinary Medicinal Products of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products Veterinary Medicines Evaluation Unit (EMEA), rejected the proposed ban on the GM hormone on public health grounds. It should, however, be stressed that a minority Committee report expressed strongly divergent views, stressing their recognition of the cancer risks of GM milk. Furthermore, the EMEA agency has no track record of competence and scientific authority in the relevant area of cancer prevention. Even accepting that there possibly may be scientific uncertainty with regards to the public health hazards of GM milk, there is more than a sufficient weight of preponderant evidence to unreservedly invoke the "Precautionary Principle," whose validity has achieved substantial support internationally and in the European Parliament. The "Precautionary Principle" could also be used in support of labeling requirements for GM dairy products and/or for a ban of all such imports. Finally, the "Precautionary Principle" mandates the categorical responsibility of industry to unequivocally establish the safety of new candidate products, as opposed to imposing a heavy burden on regulatory agencies and citizens to prove risks. Monsanto has completely failed to comply with this requirement with regards to the cancer, and other, risks of its GM hormone and GM milk. CONTACTS: Dr. Samuel S. Epstein. The School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago 2121 W. Taylor, Chicago, 60612, (312) 996-2297 (telephone), epstein@uic.edu(email) Michael Buchner (Animal Welfare), Robert Hanke (Communication Director) VIER PFOTEN, Sechshauserstraße 48, 1150 Vienna, 00431/8950202-23 or 31(telephone) michael.buchner@vier-pfoten.at; robert.hanke@vier-pfoten.at
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