Deeply concerned about the Yoplait campaign

[RTZTAS]

I am writing today with deep concern over ZTA's involvement in Yoplait's "Save Lids to Save Lives" campaign. I am a supporter of ZTA adopting breast cancer awareness as a philanthropy. In fact I voted for this change at the 1992 convention in Atlanta. When the Race for the Cure began being planned in my community, I jumped on board and started serving as the ZTA liaison for several years. I've served at many breast cancer awareness events in my community.

However I am deeply concerned over ZTA's involvement with what I call a "Pink washer," Yoplait's lid campaign. General Mills, owners of the Yoplait label, use milk that comes from cows which have been given the synthetic hormone, rGBH. This hormone, developed by Monsanto, is genetically engineered and has been implicated in a number of health issues, including breast cancer. It has already been banned in Australia, Canada, Japan and all 27 countries in the European Union. Here in the US, many large corporations have committed to reducing or completely eliminating dairy products made with rBGH from their stores. Some examples are Ben & Jerry's, Starbucks, Kroger, Safeway, Publix and Wal-Mart. There is no reason why General Mills/Yoplait cannot make the same commitment.

I posted this information on the ZTA website because I felt it was important to make others aware of the food they are consuming and encouraging others to consume. My post was removed and my login cancelled for posting my opinion (which differed from National Council's position to support Yoplait regardless) because it was viewed as circularizing instead of making others aware of the important issues surrounding this campaign. Here are excerpts from the email I received from National President, Laura Ladewig Mauro:

"While the use of the hormone is controversial, no direct links between and cancer have been proven and the FDA contends that it is safe for consumers."
and
"We value our partnership with Yoplait and applaud their ongoing efforts to increase awareness and education about breast cancer and promote research for a cure."

So the FDA contends rBGH is safe for consumers. Let's take a closer look at that statement. rBGH was approved by the FDA on the basis of one study, which looked at the health impacts of rBGH on 30 rats over the course of 90 days. It was evaluated as an animal drug, which meant that the safety standards were significantly lower than they would have been had it been evaluated as a human drug. Since its approval in 1993, numerous studies have found connections between the use of rBGH and several diseases.

From Citizens for Health (www.citizens.org):
"The research shows that injecting rBGH stimulates the production of another hormone called insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), which regulates cell growth, division, and differentiation. The research also indicates that these higher levels of IGF-1 make their way into the milk produced by those cows injected with rBGH. While IGF-1 is a naturally-occurring hormone in both cows and humans, studies have indicated that elevated levels of IGF-1 in humans may increase the risk of breast cancer. Increased levels of IGF-1 have also been associated with prostate, colon, and other cancers. Although the connection between rBGH and these cancers is not (yet) definitive, there is now more than sufficient evidence to take precautionary steps and to limit its use."

So I agree with our National President about applauding an ongoing effort to increase awareness about breast cancer, but I feel that awareness should not be one-sided. I am a ZTA and I take the position that Yoplait, while they may be raising lots of money for breast cancer organizations, they are touting a product which is questionable at best, and possibly causing breast cancer. I cannot in my good conscience stand for that.

I feel that each individual who wants to consume yogurt and wants to donate to a breast cancer cause, should choose whatever his/her favorite brand is and the make a separate donation to the charity of his/her choice. There is no reason we need to be hocking a product (any product for that matter) in the name of breast cancer program funding.

Here is some more information:

What is rBGH?

Think Before You Pink

Tell Yoplait to "Put a Lid on rBGH"

What is a "Pinkwasher"?

Where to find rGBH-free yogurt and other dairy in your area

Fraternally,
Katy Wentz Williams
katywms@gmail.com

[ZTAmillz]

Hi Katy, thanks for sharing this. I too feel that the chemical rGHB should be banned from all dairy. I buy only organic milk because of it.

I am not really sure how I feel about it in regards to the Lids program. My first thought is that the good truly outweighs the bad in this case. Not everyone can afford to buy organic and yogurt is a healthy snack. (its not like we are encouraging people to eat tons of cookies or fast food)

I don't feel there is great amount of harm coming from this program. To me, time would be better spent trying to get rGHB out of milk that children drink and put in their cereal every day.

Thanks again for sharing this viewpoint.

In Zeta,
Milly

[RTZTAS]

Hi Millly,

Thanks for the comments. I hear what you are saying. I will say that one does not have to buy organic in order to avoid the rBGH in their dairy products. Many products now are labeled rBGH-free or hormone-free and haven't gone to the trouble and expense of becoming certified organic (which is expensive and causes the price of the item to go up when its organic). Again I'm not saying everyone should buy organic. I am saying I wish we were not promoting this particular product since it contains a highly questionable toxin, and I suggest people buy whatever yogurt brand they like (and can afford). I just want people to be aware. Then they can make the correct choice for themselves and their families.

Actually kids these days are being fed a lot more yogurt for the pribiotic benefits. We actually don't eat boxed cereal (that's a whole other topic) and we drink milk fresh from a farm, which surprisingly is very affordable.

I am choosing to target the Yoplait campaign because I feel it is so hypocritcal. And because I am a ZTA I am being associated with it. I just can't stand by anymore and let that happen without at least speaking up.

Katy

[true_blue]

////Crashes thread

As a mom who works to provide dairy products without rBGH for my child, I was unaware that Yoplait was a product that I should be concerned about.

In my local grocery, the "store" brand milk is offered without rBGH, so I am able to purchase it without worry. I look for other dairy products that make the same statement on their containers as well. For some reason, I had not paid attention to the Yoplait containers. I saw the pink tops and thought that I would be helping with the cause. I had the intentions of donating the lids to a ZTA advisor that I am friends with, in order to show support for your philanthropy.

Although I applaud Yoplait for their support of breast cancer research funding, I hope that they will change their choice of dairy producers and go to a healthier option for everyone. Thanks for letting me know.

////end crash

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by Zeta13Girl

Hey Katy, I haven't heard much about rBGH but I will definitly talk to my dad about it as he works for a pharmaceutical company and usually has first hand knowledge of things in this area....As he informed me not to get the Gardisil shot because of several incidents of blood clots and death resulting from receiving the shot.

Anybody else thats interested I will post whatever info my dad tells me he's read on it from the medical journals and stuff.

CRASH! Before anyone decides not to get the Gardisil shot due to this post, here is the prescribing information from the Gardisil site. To get a drug approved, you have to evaluate all reported side effects and determine if they are truly due to the drug or were basically occurring in the patient incidentally. The true side effects of gardisil are minor reactions. The following are the reported side effects which were NOT statistically significant (i.e no higher risk when compared to a placebo shot)

Out of the entire study population (25,274 subjects), only 0.05% of the reported serious systemic
adverse reactions were judged to be vaccine related by the study investigator. The most frequently
reported serious systemic adverse reactions for GARDASIL compared to AAHS control or saline placebo
and regardless of causality were:
Headache [0.02% GARDASIL (3 cases) vs. 0.02% AAHS Control (2 cases)],
Gastroenteritis [0.02% GARDASIL (3 cases) vs. 0.02% AAHS Control (2 cases)],
Appendicitis [0.03% GARDASIL (4 cases) vs. 0.01% AAHS Control (1 case)],
Pelvic inflammatory disease [0.02% GARDASIL (3 cases) vs. 0.04% AAHS Control (4 cases)],
Urinary tract infection [0.02% GARDASIL (2 cases) vs. 0.02% AAHS Control (2 cases)],
Pneumonia [0.02% GARDASIL (2 cases) vs. 0.02% AAHS Control (2 cases)],
Pyelonephritis [0.02% GARDASIL (2 cases) vs. 0.03% AAHS Control (3 cases)],
Pulmonary embolism [0.02% GARDASIL (2 cases) vs. 0.02% AAHS Control (2 cases)].
One case (0.007% GARDASIL: 0.0% AAHS Control or Saline Placebo) of bronchospasm; and 2
cases (0.02% GARDASIL: 0.0% AAHS Control or Saline Placebo) of asthma were reported as serious
systemic adverse reactions that occurred following any vaccination visit.
In addition, there was 1 subject in the clinical trials, in the group that received GARDASIL, who
reported two injection-site serious adverse reactions (injection-site pain and injection-site joint movement
impairment).
Deaths in the Entire Study Population
Across the clinical studies, 24 deaths were reported in 25,274 (GARDASIL N = 13,686; AAHS Control
N = 11,004, saline placebo N = 584) subjects (9- through 45-year-old girls and women; and 9- through
15-year-old boys). The events reported were consistent with events expected in healthy adolescent and
adult populations. The most common cause of death was motor vehicle accident (4 subjects who
received GARDASIL and 3 AAHS Control subjects), followed by overdose/suicide (2 subjects who
received GARDASIL and 2 subjects who received AAHS Control), and pulmonary embolus/deep vein
thrombosis (1 subject who received GARDASIL and 1 AAHS Control subject). In addition, there were 2
cases of sepsis, 1 case of pancreatic cancer, 1 case of arrhythmia, 1 case of pulmonary tuberculosis, 1
case of hyperthyroidism, 1 case of post-operative pulmonary embolism and acute renal failure, and 1
case of systemic lupus erythematosus in the group that received GARDASIL; 1 case of asphyxia, and 1
case of acute lymphocytic leukemia in the AAHS Control; and 1 case of medulloblastoma in the saline
placebo group.



According to this data, clots and death were not related to the gardisil shot. Remember that association does NOT equal causation!

End Crash!