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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Tillamook dairies uphold ban on cattle hormone rBST

Associated Press

PORTLAND – Dairy farmers whose cows provide milk for the second-largest producer of chunk cheese in the nation voted Monday to ban a Monsanto Co. hormone on schedule, rejecting pressure from the chemical company.

The Tillamook County Creamery Association said members voted 83-43 in favor of the ban on recombinant bovine somatotropin hormone, or rBST.

A Monsanto spokeswoman said the company hopes the dairy farmers will reconsider.

The dairy association’s board voted last May to phase out the hormone, sold under the brand name Posilac, following consumer complaints. It was one of the first major biotechnology-related products to enter the nation’s food supply when it was approved in 1993 by the Food and Drug Administration to boost milk production in dairy cows.

Spokeswoman Christie Lincoln said the dairy association had been under intense pressure recently from Monsanto to withdraw the proposed ban. She noted the company sent its attorneys to Oregon to propose an amendment to association bylaws that would have prevented the ban.

The ban will be fully implemented by April 1.

Rick North, spokesman for Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, called the Tillamook ban a victory for consumers.

“They’re not only doing the right thing, they’re doing the smart thing,” North said of the co-op vote. “This should be great for their business.”

North noted the hormone is banned in a number of other countries as concerns have increased among doctors and scientists.

Canada rejected Monsanto attempts to win regulatory approval for Posilac after a Canadian Veterinary Medical Association panel concluded in 1998 that cows ran a 50 percent higher risk of lameness in the feet and legs using Posilac.