CLAIM: 

Hormones injected into cows linked to human cancer risk

FACT: 

FALSE! There is no conclusive scientific evidence to support this

The First Check team came across an Instagram post from the account "Satvik Movement, where they attribute a person’s recovery from cancer to the diet and lifestyle changes prescribed by Satvik Movement practitioners. 

One claim made in the post suggests that the injection of hormones into cows is one of the causes of cancer. 

"... In my research I understood that the hormones injected into cows for commercial milk contribute to cancer. …," reads a part of the post which has 13,000 likes since it was uploaded on October 17, 2024. The channel with 736,000 followers has so far published 602 posts. 

What are the facts?

The First Check team found that the bovine growth hormone known as Bovine Somatotropin (bST), is approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to increase milk production in dairy cows.

“Somatotropin is a protein hormone produced in the pituitary gland of animals, including humans, and is essential for normal growth, development, and health maintenance," the FDA says. 

"Like most dietary proteins, bST is degraded by digestive enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract and not absorbed intact. The digested proteolytic fragments have no biological activity. Furthermore, even if it was injected, bST does not promote biological activity in the human body because somatotropins from lower mammalian species have no activity in humans," the FDA adds.

However, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS),  the drug’s use “is not  permitted in the European Union, Canada, and some other countries."

The ACS itself does not consider the drug harmful. "The evidence for potential harm to humans is not conclusive,” it says. “It’s not clear that drinking milk produced using rBGH significantly increases IGF-1 levels in humans or adds to the risk of developing cancer." 

In India, the situation regarding hormone use in dairy farming presents a complex challenge. While bST (bovine somatotropin) is illegal in India, there are reports that the drug is used in some parts of India. 

"The banned injection, bovine somatotropin (bST), is being used in some parts of Haryana and other states to improve the milk yield in buffaloes,” reads this report from The Tribune. 

But First Check could not find any evidence or reports of widespread use across the country. Secondly, the scientific consensus indicates that milk from cows injected with bovine growth hormone does not pose a confirmed cancer risk to humans.

Also read: FACT CHECK: Are broiler chickens injected with hormones and steroids? - First Check

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