In October, Dennis Wolff, Pennsylvania's Secretary of Agriculture, gave a huge gift to the Monsanto company.

Bovine growth hormone (BGH) is an artificial additive used by industrial dairies to increase milk production. Wolff issued an order banning dairies from using labels that say their products are free of BGH - even when those labels are telling the truth.

Since November, unbossed has been following the milk labeling controversy and uncovering the politics behind this story. But that period has included the holidays and has played out over many weeks. This post is intended to give you an update. A new post will discuss more on how this story has played out in the media.

So just who was on Wolff’s anonymous Food Labeling Advisory Committee? Who are the FLACs?

Two weeks ago, unbossed went on a quest looking for the members of the committee Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture claimed made the decisions about milk labeling. Link Then we came up with zilch.

Now we can name names.

This is the last week for controversial Dennis Wolff as Pennsylvania's Secretary of Agriculture, according to a press release issued by PA Governor Rendell.

One question on everyone's mind is why?

Just a few months ago, Wolff was issuing press releases announcing that he was humbled to be under consideration for the position of Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And now he’s leaving government?

Today we got good news. The Monsanto astroturf scheme to take away the rights of the citizens of Pennsylvania to know how their milk was produced lost . . . mostly. The Department of Agriculture issued a notice removing the gag rule, but with lots of caveats.

But more important than the milk labeling is what this this battle says about democracy and how fragile it is.

According to press releases and news stories, Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Agriculture, Dennis Wolff, decided to ban milk labels that state the milk is rBST free, as a result of the findings of a Food Labeling Advisory Committee. Now don’t you feel better knowing that the decision was made based on the deliberations and findings of a committee and not the whim of one man?

Well, don't get too comfortable.

So who would be about the worst person the Obama administration could be talking to about heading the U.S. Department of Agriculture? Besides the CEO of Monsanto? How about PA Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff? The Dennis Wolff otherwise known as the Monsanto shill who approved a stealth milk labeling ban last year to help out his buddies at Monsanto?

"Couldn’t be!" You say? Think again!!

Just because you haven't heard much lately about the Monsanto campaign to take away our right to know how our milk is produced does not mean nothing is happening. In fact, in recent months, in state after state, Monsanto is continuing to push.

This time the state is New York. If you are in New York and want to know whether your milk comes from cows who are not given artificial hormones, then you need to get your comments in immediately. Details below.

More on the Pennsylvania Milk Labeling Scandal - This time, we are digging into the identities of the people on the Food Labeling Advisory Committee who are supposed to have decided to ban milk labels that reveal information the use of rBST or rBGH.

Bonnie McCarthy is the first name on the Food Labeling Advisory Committee 10/5/07 meeting list. Who is she? Why is she there?

Suddenly, it's all over the place - Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio - at almost the same time and using similar tactics - planning to ban milk labels that tell the public whether the milk we buy was produced using Monsanto's Posilac - that is, whether it was produced with recombinant bovine somatatrophin or recombinant bovine growth hormone - rBST / rBGH. An amazing coincidence?

When the Pennsylvania Milk Labeling scandal broke a couple weeks ago, unbossed could not find the names of the Food Labeling Advisory Committee (FLAC) that Ag Secretary Wolff claimed made the labeling decision, a group supposed composed of consumer advocates, dietitians, food industry representatives. Now that we have that list, just how correct was that claim?

Starting point for what? To ban labeling that gives the public information it wants about how their food is produced. Thus said, Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff last month. Yes, milk is just the starting point.

Terry Etherton participated in a discussion of Pennsylvania's milk labeling on WHYY, Tuesday's Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane. If you listen to the show (here via real player) you will hear him make certain claims over and over - when he wasn't shouting to try to keep the other guest, Consumer's Union Michael Hansen, from making important points about the weakness of Etherton's claims. You could almost gauge just how much Etherton's ox was gored by the level of his yelling.

Etherton was right on message with the behind-the-scenes propaganda campaign to make the world safe for Posilac a/k/a rBST. Wanna see what I mean?

How was it that Pennsylvania came to ban references to rBST on milk labels?

First, here's how the story goes, according to Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff.

So, you might think, who better to carry water for agriculture on the Obama transition team than a George Washington University Research Professor in the Department of Health Policy? Someone with past appointments at USDA and the FDA? Someone with think tank experience.

Oh, yes, and someone who was Vice President for Public Policy at Monsanto Corporation.

The Philadelphia Inquirer was the first to sound the alarm about Monsanto's campaign to censor milk labels and take our right to know how our food is produced. The story was picked up and moved forward by local independent papers such as Voices of Central Pennsylvania and the Williamsport Guardian.

But the newspaper that has really dug into the subject has been the New York Times. So here in chronological order is the story as carried by the Times this past year. Interesting where it has been carried as opinion or as news.

The short answer is: "Yes, you do!" In fact, you cannot get the earth friendly, farm friendly seal of approval unless you use Monsanto's - soon to be Elanco's - Posilac / rBST / rBGH / recombinant bovine somatatrophin / recombinant bovine growth hormone.

This from a group that was so against labeling what goes into producing the food we know as milk.

It's not often that we get to combine snark, Monsanto, revolving door Washington, food safety, health, outing people, sloth, and recycling, but this is certainly one of them.

BizJournals reports that a revolving door Monsanto VP is now perched as adviser to the US Food and Drug Administration.

So who is Dennis Wolff besides the Pennsylvania Secretary of Labor This is a follow up to this post.

Why is he so interested in outlawing the public's right to know whether the milk they are buying is comes from cows laced with rBST? Is he a Wolff in Sheeps's Clothing? Is there a Monsanto connection - because rBST is a Monsanto product, and the public has made it clear that we are uncomfortable with adding rBST to our milk.

If you live in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or Ohio, you probably know about the milk labeling battle. There are a lot of issues that come to a head here. One is whether the public has a right to information we want so we can make choices about the milk we buy. Other issues involve questions about the safety of our food, the democratic process and its subversion by astroturf organizations. We've discussed these issues and will return to them. But let's take a look at how the press is reporting on these important issues.

Mary Bach, Consumer Advocate, one of the FLAC group set up to make decisions about milk labeling is so much of a consumer advocate that her email adress is "mbadvocate". But do you feel assured that the safety of the milk you and your family drinks is being protected by this "consumer advocate"?

You read it at unbossed months ago. Amidst the victory celebrations when the harshest form of milk labeling ban failed in Pennsylvania, I predicted that this was not the end. I predicted that Monsanto and its wholly owned subsidiary army of minions would continue to push in many and insidious ways to make the world safe for rBST. Here are some links you will find useful if you are new to this issue. link here and here and here and here

So, Pennsylvanians, get ready again. The newest attack on your right to drink milk produced by cows not injected with rBST is on.

At least two times, in public, Terry Etherton has claimed that there have been 3000 studies showing rBST is safe. Now, that is a heck of a lot of studies, and you would think this would be enough to put the matter at rest. So why is there still doubt?