http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,61612,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2Agricultural biotech giant Monsanto is negotiating with a small dairy in Maine to settle a lawsuit over the farm's use of labels promising hormone-free milk, according to both companies.
The label, used by Oakhurst Dairy in Portland, states: "Our farmers' pledge: no artificial growth hormones." Monsanto sued Oakhurst in July, saying its label implies the dairy's milk is somehow better than milk from cows treated with recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rBST, a hormone sold by the company under the brand name Posilac. About 17 percent of dairy farmers use rBST, injecting 32 percent of all cows in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
A federal judge in Boston had set a trial date for Jan. 5, 2004. But now the two companies say they might settle out of court. I was really hoping Oakhurst would take it all the way.