• Reuters , Thursday, August 7, 2008 10:30 AM

Monsanto is putting its dairy hormone business up for sale. The company and its backers have battled with consumer activists for more than a decade over whether Posilac bovine somatotropin, an artificial growth hormone that makes cows produce more milk, is harmful to human and animal health. The company says concerns raised about the product had no role in the decision to sell.

The debate has taken a marked turn in the last two years as a growing number of dairy and food companies started demanding hormone-free milk, citing consumer concerns. But "that didn't play a role at all" in the decision to sell, says Monsanto spokeswoman Danielle Jany. She says that sales have been strong.

In August 2007, Kroger, one of the nation's largest retail grocery chains, said it was switching to supplies from cows free of synthetic hormones. Other chains have followed. National Milk Producers Federation spokesman Chris Galen says that Monsanto's move comes as the trend is expanding beyond bottled milk to also include cheese products.

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