Does Wal-Mart milk contain a dangerous growth hormone?
The people at urban legends resource Snopes have tracked the veracity of a rumour that milk from the mega American supermarket chain Wal-Mart contains the growth hormone rBST.
E-mail rumours warn consumers of the potential danger with a scary story of a 3 year-old girl who developed gynaecological problem after drinking milk from Wal-Mart which cleared up when her parents switched brands.
But is it true? Like many urban legends it is largely untrue but contains a small kernel of truth.
Like most supermarkets Wal-Mart sells a variety of brands and some of these do contain rBST. As ever consumers are advised to check the labels of whatever brand they're buying.
But, rBST has not been shown to be dangerous to humans.
And the little girl? While she may exist there is no evidence that a particular brand of milk caused her problems.
rBST remains controversial. Find out more.
