WASHINGTON -- Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, is questioning the safety of a genetically engineered growth hormone that is used to increase milk production in dairy cows and is urging the Food and Drug Administration to immediately halt sales of milk in which traces of the drug are found.
Spokesmen for the manufacturers say the experimental hormone, bovine somatotropin, is being tested in more than 100 herds around the country. In 1985, the FDA declared that the hormone was safe, and milk from the experimental herds has been sold in commercial markets ever since.
