A study in the American Dietic Association Journal two years ago, pointed out that Insulin Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) levels are higher in women who drink a lot of milk and those who consume more calories.
Now a report by Reuters takes this a step further and links levels of IGF-1 with cancers of the lung, breast and colon. A 1997 Japanese study found that 9 per cent of IGF-1 from milk survived digestion in mice and that this increases to 67 per cent when added to casein, the milk protein. Despite this the FDA and Mosanto say there is no link between cancer and milk consumption although American dairy herds continue to be given Bovine Growth Hormone, which seems to exacerbate the IGF-1 situation. Fortunately this is not currently used on British herds.