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Samuel S. Epstein, MD
University of Illinois Medical Center Chicago

JAMA. 1991;265(11):1391.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

The Special Communication by Monsanto consultants Daughaday and Barbano¹ and the accompanying editorial² are misleading and scientifically flawed for reasons that include the following:

1. The claim that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "ensures that all new products used by dairy farmers are safe"1 is controverted by extensive congressional investigations, which concluded that regulation of animal drugs is in disarray and characterized by denial and cover-ups.3 Monsanto and the FDA are now under investigation by the US Inspector General for suppression and manipulation of "animal health test data—in efforts to approve commercial use" of rbST.4
   
2. The use of rbST is referred to as "supplementation,"1 ignoring the FDA admission that rbST is up to "3% different in molecular structure" from endogenous bST, containing up to nine additional amino acids. Substitution of a single amino acid can profoundly alter a protein molecule's biological activity.⁴
   
3. The claim that cows are not
   

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