WINSCONSIN, June 21, 2017 - A federal judge in Wisconsin has ordered international dairy conglomerate Arla Foods to halt its new $30 million ‘Live Unprocessed’ ad campaign.

Elanco had requested the order, arguing that the campaign makes false and misleading claims about recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST), dairy technology approved by FDA in 1993. The injunction prohibits Arla from claiming that dairy products using milk from cows supplemented with rbST are dangerous or unsafe; of lesser quality or less wholesome than, or substantially compositionally different from, other dairy products. As part of the campaign, the company animated a child’s interpretation of rbST, a supplement marketed under the brand name Posilac, as a six-eyed monster with “razor-sharp horns” and electrified fur.

“Elanco is very pleased with the court’s decision in this case,” said Eric Graves, president, Elanco North America. “As the court points out in its ruling, ‘fear-mongering’ does not ‘benefit the public.’” The judge noted that the FDA recently reaffirmed its scientific determination that milk from rbST-treated cows is safe, and that there is no significant difference between milk from cows treated with rbST and untreated cows.

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