From: "Basil R. Eastwood" <BEASTWOOD@cite.esusda.gov>
Organization: Extension Service, USDA
To: DAIRY@ESUSDA.GOV
Date sent: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 13:20:28 EST
Subject: DAIRY UPDATE-BST FACTSHEET-2/23/94
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The following fact sheet was written by Professor David Barbano,
Department of Food Science, Cornell University.
BST Fact Sheet
**Are milk and meat from bST-supplemented cows safe?
YES! Extensive studies of the safety of bST have been conducted
world-wide and reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The FDA concluded that both milk and meat are safe. A separate
review of the data has been conducted by the National Institute of
Health, the World Health Organization, the Office of the Inspector
General of the Department of Health and Human Services, and reviews by
the Journal of the American Medical Association, Pediatrics, and the
Journal of the American Dietetic Association all independently have
arrived at the same conclusion, milk and meat from bST supplemented
cows are safe. In addition, regulatory agencies from countries around
the world have reached the same conclusion, milk and meat from bST
supplemented cows are safe. In addition, regulatory agencies from
countries around the world have reached the same conclusion.
**What is bST?
bST is an abbreviation for bovine somatotropin or what is also called
bovine growth hormone. The term rbST has been used to refer to bST
that is produced using fermentation technology and injected into
dairy cows to increase efficiency of milk production.
**Is bST a hormone?
Yes. However, there are two types of hormones: steroids and
proteins. bST is a protein hormone. Protein hormones have no
activity when taken by mouth, while steroid hormones do have
activity. For example, insulin is a protein hormone. Insulin has no
activity if taken orally. Therefore, a diabetic has to have
injections of insulin. Like insulin, the protein hormone bST has no
activity when taken by mouth. In contrast, hormones used in birth
control pills are steroids and therefore are effective when taken by
mouth. Again, bST has no effect when taken by mouth.
Furthermore, studies were conducted in the 1950's to determine if
children suffering from dwarfism could be given direct injections of
high levels of bST to stimulate growth. The conclusion of the study
was that somatotropin from cows is not active in humans even if
injected. Why? The structure of human somatotropin is so different
from bovine somatotropin, that injections of high levels of bovine
somatotropin into children have no influence on growth and
development.
**How does bST work?
The pituitary gland of the dairy cow normally produces bST. bST is
one of a group of hormones produced naturally in the cow that
controls milk production. Supplemental rbST can be injected into a
dairy cow. Both sources of bST (that produced by the cow herself
and supplemental) are carried to the liver of the cow via the blood
stream. bST in the liver stimulates this organ to produce insulin-
like growth factor (IGF-1), another protein hormone that plays an
important role in helping regulate the conversion of dietary
nutrients into milk.
Supplemental bST helps increase the efficiency of conversion of feed
to milk in the cow's body. It has been shown that to support
increased milk production, a cow supplemented with rbST automatically
consumes more feed. The amount of nutrients required for the cow's
body maintenance remain unchanged, therefore, the cow's increased
nutrient intake is used primarily for milk production. bST is found
in trace amounts in milk from all cows, unsupplemented and
supplemented.
Milk from cows given supplemental bST contains no more bST than milk
from cows not given the supplement.
**Is there any difference between milk from bST supplemented cows and
unsupplemented cows?
For all practical purposes no. There are no differences in nutrient
content (i.e., fat, protein, calcium, vitamins, etc.) or sensory
characteristics (flavor, color, etc.). There is no difference in bST
content.
The concentration of IGF-1 in milk from supplemented cows is slightly
higher than from unsupplemented cows. However, the average increase
in concentration in milk is small compared to normal variations in
concentration of this compound from cow-to-cow in milk from
unsupplemented animals. The average increase of IGF-1 in milk
produced by supplemented cows is also small compared to the
variation in amounts that occur normally from the beginning to end
of the cow's lactation period.
**Should I be concerned about the small difference in concentration of
IGF-1 in milk?
No. IGF-1 is normally present in milk. It is a protein hormone and
is digested just like any other protein in milk, meat, or other
foods that you eat. IGF-1 is not active when consumed by mouth.
IGF-1 is a normal component in human milk. The average amount of
IGF-1 in human milk is higher than that found in milk from bST
supplemented cows. IGF-1 is also present in human saliva and the
average person consumes IGF-1 from this source each day that is
equivalent to the amount consumed from any source of milk.
**How much more milk does a bST supplemented cow produce?
On average about 10%. After having a calf, a cow produces milk for
about 300 days. The highest daily milk production will occur at
about 8 weeks after calving and then the level of milk production
per day gradually declines during the rest of the lactation period.
Not all cows give the same amount of milk. Cows that produce the
highest amounts of milk generally have about the same peak milk
production per day as lower producing cows. However, the rate of
decline in daily production of milk during the rest of lactation is
slower in these high-producing cows.
Administration of supplemental bST is started after the peak of milk
production occurs and causes the cow to maintain a higher level milk
production per day during the period when milk production is
normally declining. Therefore, a cow supplemented with bST will not
be producing more milk per day than it produced per day at peak
production prior to the start of bST supplements.
**Won't higher milk production trigger mastitis in cows?
The question of animal health has been reviewed extensively by the
FDA and was the subject of a special FDA Expert Advisory Panel
hearing on March 31, 1993. The Panel reported that based on
extensive research results, any increase in mastitis that may result
from use of bST is insignificant compared to the increase in mastitis
that occurs normally for other reasons, such as seasonal variation,
extremes of weather conditions, age of the cow, and stage of
lactation. The influence of season of the year changes the incidence
of mastitis 9 times more that the influence of bST.
**Doesn't treating mastitis require antibiotics which might find their
way into milk and affect milk safety?
No. Federal and state milk safety and quality assurance programs,
as well as testing by farmers and processors, ensure the safety and
wholesomeness of milk. When a farmer treats a cow with an
antibiotic, the milk from that cow is discarded by the farmer for
several days as defined on the label of the antibiotic. In many
cases today, a concerned farmer sends a sample of milk from that cow
to the dairy plant to be tested for antibiotics before the milk from
that cow is allowed to go in with the milk to be sold.
When milk is picked up at dairy farms, the truck driver must take a
sample of milk from the farm bulk tank at every farm before the milk
is pumped into the truck. When every truck arrives at a milk
processing plant, a milk sample is taken from the milk in the truck
and tested for antibiotics. If the load is positive, the truck is
not unloaded. Another sample is taken and the positive test is
confirmed. If the load of milk is positive for antibiotics, then
all of the individual farm samples that the driver collected are
tested to identify which farm's milk contained the antibiotics. In
addition, the dairy plant must notify the local regulatory agency
that milk is being discarded and they need to document the manner in
which is was discarded.
There are very large financial penalties imposed on dairy farmers
that contaminate a truck load of milk with antibiotics. Many
processing plants have offered incentives to their farmers to avoid
contamination of tank trucks of milk with antibiotics. If a farmer
thinks a mistake has been made and his/her milk is contaminated,
he/she can call the plant and have a milk sample picked up and
tested. If the tank of milk is positive and the farmer prevented it
from contaminating a full truck load, then some plants have a program
to pay the farmer for one tank of milk during some period of time
(for instance, 1 year).
**What impact will the approval of bST have on the economy and the
environment in the US?
The US Office of Management and Budget recently reported that the
use of bST will likely have a small but positive impact on the US
economy and environment. Use of bST will reduce the amount of animal
waste per unit of milk produced and will reduce the amount of feed
required to produce a unit of milk. This will be an environmental
benefit.
**Will some dairy products be labeled as "from cows not treated with
rbST" and what does it mean?
This type of label will be allowed by the US FDA. FDA also requires
that all statements on food product labels must be truthful and not
misleading. The FDA recommends that the company also put information
on the label to inform the consumer that "no significant difference
has been shown between milk derived from rbST-treated cows and non-
rbST-treated cows". FDA says that this will put the statement "from
cows not treated with rbSTS in proper perspective so it is not
misleading. The FDA recommends that firms that make such claims
establish a plan and maintain records to substantiate their claims,
and make those records available for inspection by regulatory
agencies responsible to verify the accuracy of the label claim.
**Will the commercialization of bST hurt the small dairy farmer?
The effective use of bST has nothing to do with farm size. Unlike
many new technologies, there is no up-front capital costs before a
farmer starts using this technology. Thus, small farms will have
equal access to this technology. The Office of Technology Assessment
has concluded that "quality of management" on the dairy farm, not
farm size, will be the major factor affecting the magnitude of milk
production response from bST. Better farm managers will benefit most
from bST, regardless of farm size. Milk price is derived from many
factors including consumer demand, business costs, and government
regulations.
**Will bST create a large surplus of dairy products?
No. The signal to a dairy farmer that triggers the production of
more or less milk is the difference between the price of milk paid to
the dairy farmer and the cost of producing that milk. Farmers will
continue to respond to these signals. The larger the spread between
cost of production and price paid to the farmer for milk, the greater
the incentive for dairy farmers to produce more milk. Prior to the
introduction of bST there have been times of short and surplus milk
supply and times of high and low milk prices. This will continue
with or without bST use.
Use of supplemental bST will provide dairy farmers with a production
management tool to produce the same amount of milk that would have
been produced without bST with fewer cows and at lower cost. The
signal to the dairy farmer to produce more or less milk will continue
to be based on the difference between the price paid for milk and the
cost of milk production. For the well-managed dairy farm that adopts
bST technology (just like any other technology that improves
efficiency), profitability should be enhanced.
Over the period from 1982 to 1992 (when most of the research on bST
has taken place), new technology and better dairy farm management
without supplemental bST has increased the annual milk production per
cow from 12,306 to 15,423 pounds per year (25% increase in
productivity per cow), while the number of cows has decreased.
Increased production efficiency has kept the rate of increase of
dairy product prices to consumers lower than increases in prices of
other foods. Thus, excellent food value for the price, new product
offerings (such as low fat products) developed through dairy product
research that meet changing consumer needs, and promotion of dairy
products have increased total sales of milk for commercial use from
122 billion pounds to 142 billion pounds over the same 10 year
period.
**Should I buy raw milk from a local farmer and pasteurize it at home
to be sure I don't drink milk from bST supplemented cows?
While it is possible to do this, there are several risks involved
that a consumer should be aware of before they begin this practice.
About 2 to 10% of raw milk contains harmful bacteria (such as,
Salmonella, Listeria, Campylobacter, E. coli 0157:H7 and possibly
other pathogens). These disease causing bacteria are all killed by
commercial pasteurization. There is very strict regulatory
inspection, control, and testing of milk processing equipment and
personnel to ensure that commercially pasteurized milk does not
contain pathogenic bacteria and tha milk is not recontaminated after
it is pasteurized. When pasteurization of milk is done at home, there
is always a possibility that the milk will not be fully pasteurized
or that it will be contaminated after pasteurization.
In addition, all milk from commercial processing plants is tested for
the presence of antibiotics prior to processing and bottling. If a
consumer buys raw milk directly from a dairy farmer, that consumer
has abandoned the dairy industry's quality and safety assurance
system designed to protect them from antibiotic contaminated milk.
The food safety risks of home pasteurization could be large compared
with the low level of risk that has been enjoyed by consumers of
commercially pasteurized milk.
For answers to additional questions, contact:
Professor David M. Barbano
Department of Food Science
Cornell University
(607) 255-5482
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