Most farmers are scornful of the human health arguments, noting that milk from cows injected with BST is chemically indistinguishable from milk produced by other cows.

This backlash has already prompted many supermarkets to refuse to stock milk from cows injected with bovine somatotropin, a product of genetic engineering that greatly increases milk production.

But nobody knows how much of the 8.1 million gallons drunk annually by children in the system comes from cows injected with the manufactured hormone.

For example, cows injected with scrapie, a sheep prion disease, get scrapie.

Most people are unhappy that dairy products come from cows injected with hormones and antibiotics, and become alarmed when they learn that sewage sludge is increasingly used as fertilizer for food crops.

As with cows injected with growth hormone, the Government seems to oppose clear labeling to inform us about the pedigree of the tomatoes.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had said milk products derived from cows injected with the hormone were safe, but consumer worries about potential cancer risks persisted.

Yet, the company carries many dairy products that may contain milk from cows injected with bovine growth hormone.

Despite consumer wariness about milk produced by cows injected with a genetically engineered hormone, thousands of dairy farmers across the country are adopting the new drug to increase production in their cows.

That raises the possibility that some food companies will label their products "clone free," just as some now label milk as not coming from cows injected with growth hormone.