
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 9, 1994                   TAG: 9402090092
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

MILK-HORMONE LABELING PRECISE

Consumers can be told whether the milk they buy comes from cows treated\ with a controversial new hormone, but they can't be told that milk from\ untreated cows is any better or safer.

In guidelines published Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration explains what should and shouldn't be said about recombinant bovine somatotropin, BST for short.

The agency said labels for cheese, milk, ice cream and other dairy products can state that they come from "cows not treated with" the hormone.

But that information must be put in "the proper context," the agency said, meaning the label also has to carry a statement such as "No significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rbST-treated and non-rbST-treated cows."

The genetically engineered version of the naturally occurring hormone went on the market Friday. The drug makes cows produce more milk.

The agency said labels could not carry the claim that milk is "bST-free" because the hormone occurs naturally in milk. Labels also cannot say the milk is "rBST-free" because that would imply the milk is different.

- Associated Press

by CNB