Artificial growth hormones in our dairy supply

Robyn O'Brien, Author of The Unhealthy Truth, explains how the United States is the only developed country that allows cows to be injected with artificial growth hormones and the negative health effects they result in
The Effects Of Artificial Growth Hormones In Our Dairy Supply
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Artificial growth hormones in our dairy supply

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Why is there risk in giving a child a glass of milk today? Well, interestingly, the United States is the only developed country in the world that allowed our cows to be injected with an artificial growth hormone that has been linked to, not only a whole bunch of conditions in the cows, which required an increased antibiotic use, but it also has been linked to an elevated hormone level that is linked to breast, prostate, and colon cancer. This growth hormone was introduced and found its way into our dairy in the 1990’s, in 1994. Countries around the world said, “There are no long-term studies. We don’t like what it’s doing to the health of these animals, and we will not allow it.” They revisited that decision again a few years later, and again, they said, "We do not want this artificial growth hormone going into our dairy cows.” Here in the United States, we took an entirely different approach. We said, “This has not yet been proven dangerous.” It was incredibly profitable for the dairy industry to inject their cows with this growth hormone to help them make more milk. At the same time, when you step back and you look at the statistics of breast, prostate, and colon cancer. Today, 1 in 8 women are expected to get breast cancer in their lifetime, but only 1 in 10 of those cases are genetic, which means 9 out of 10 breast cancers are environmentally-triggered. And what that means is that there is so much that we can do to protect the health of our families from these environmental triggers that we are increasingly finding in our food supply. With 41% of Americans expected to get cancer in their lifetime, there is nothing more important that we could be doing.

Robyn O'Brien, Author of The Unhealthy Truth, explains how the United States is the only developed country that allows cows to be injected with artificial growth hormones and the negative health effects they result in

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Robyn O'Brien

Author, The Unhealthy Truth

Robyn O'Brien is recognized by Teri Hatcher, Kourtney Kardashian, Kristen Bell and moms around the world.  She has been called “food’s Erin Brockovich” by The New York Times and has been named by SHAPE Magazine as a “Women To Shape the World”, by Forbes Woman as one of “20 Inspiring Women to Follow on Twitter,” and by The Discovery Channel as one of its 15 Top Visionaries. She is a former food industry analyst, author, mother of four and the founder of AllergyKids Foundation. Robyn graduated as the top woman in her class from business school before working as a financial analyst that covered the food industry. She is regarded as an expert on children’s health policy.  She has appeared on CNN, The Dr Oz show, Today Show, Good Morning America, CNBC's Kudlow Report, Fox News and the Ricki Lake Show and has appeared in several documentary films, including Food Patriots, Unacceptable Levels, Genetic Roulette.  

Robyn’s work has been recognized by individuals such as Yoko Ono, Robert Kennedy Jr., Ted Turner and Prince Charles. She is the founder of the visionary organization allergykidsfoundation.org which is focused on restoring the integrity of the food supply and the health of children, the author of The Unhealthy Truth (Random House 2010) and her work is seen in Food, Inc. filmmaker Robert Kenner’s 2012 video, Labels Matter, and in Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.

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