ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the findings of the several state and national studies that have attempted to assess consumer concerns and their possible reaction to milk from Bovine somatotropin (BST)-supplemented cows. Once the milk from BST-treated cows reaches the market, consumers will decide for or against such milk on the basis of their own notions of its intrinsic qualities. The arguments against BST that have surfaced so far include that it will have a deleterious effect on the cow's health, it will accelerate the loss of dairy farms, and it may have negative consequences for human health of presently unknown import or onset. Whether consumers were already aware of BST, or became aware only by virtue of their participation in one of the surveys, their feelings toward the use of BST were probably conditioned, at least in part, upon their beliefs about how the milk might be affected.
