A win for the little people!

That's us, the little people. Turns out that the FTC has told Monsanto to stuff it regarding their whining about companies labeling their foods as being Bovine Growth Hormone Free.

You know you want to hear more! Follow the link.

Here is a case where the market actually is forcing a producer to change their ways and the producer (Monsanto: maker of "recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rBST, a hormone that boosts milk production in cows.") has been furiously trying to push back.

"Who cares what those foolish consumers want! We are Monsanto! If we say rBST is safe, by golly it is!"

Nevermind the fact that rBST is banned in Canada and Europe already, but heaven forfend that we attempt to stop using it in the good ole USA! Nuh-uh!

St. Louis based-Monsanto, which markets the hormone under the brand name Posilac, had asked the FTC to investigate more than a half dozen companies that advertise milk products.

The company claims the ads mislead consumers into thinking that milk from cows not treated with rBST are healthier or safer than dairy products from cows treated with the hormone.

The hormone is banned in Canada and Europe, mainly due to concerns that it leaves cows more prone to illness. But the Food and Drug Administration and the company insist the hormone is safe and the FDA approved rBST to boost production in dairy cows in 1993.

Still, many dairy farmers concerned about possible safety risks refuse to use the product and a growing number of retailers, including grocery chains Safeway and Kroger Co., have switched to milk free of synthetic hormones.

The national milk brand Borden, for example, advertises that "we work exclusively with farmers that supply 100 percent of our milk from cows that haven't been treated with artificial hormones. So, who do you trust when it comes to your family's milk?"

The FTC declined to launch a formal investigation or take enforcement action against any company. But FTC associate director Mary Engle said a few small businesses were warned about making unfounded claims about rBST on their Web sites and told to revise those claims.

--FTC: Milk Ads not Misleading

Incredible! I don't know about you, but I like my food in as natural a state as I can get it, which is getting harder and harder to do every year. Not to mention the increased expense.

Considering that we don't know what the long term effects are of exposure to rBST, do we really need to experiment on ourselves or our children? The sheer number of chemicals that show up in our blood and breastmilk from all of the dust and off-gassing of products around us and in the foods we eat is already mind-numbing.

I'd be happy to drink milk that is just milk and eat fish that just has fish in it.

Call me crazy.