Monsanto doesn't want you to eat rBGH-free ice cream

Here's an article today from MSNBC on the fight between Ben & Jerry's (and some dairies) versus Monsanto and some other dairies over whether milk producers can label their product rBST or rBGH-free. Unlike organics, the issue isn't whether the label actually fits the product. The issue is that anti-labelers think "rBGH-free" insinuates to the customer that it is safer than milk produced from cows injected with the hormone. The article notes that "The hormone, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration to boost production in dairy cows in the early 1990s, was not approved in Canada, Japan or the European Union, largely out of concerns it may be harmful to animals."

Apparently legislators have taken up the issue on behalf of the anti-labelers, passing legislation making it illegal to label milk (and ice cream) rBGH-free. Frankly I'm appalled (but not surprised) that legislators would make it harder to know how your food was produced, and I'd hate to see this spill over into the "cage free eggs" labeling. I mean, the issues seem the same- that consumers should have the right know whether their food was produced using a method harmful to the animals.