Of milk and mandarins: rBST, mandated science and the Canadian regulatory style

On 14 January 1999, the Health Protection Branch of Health Canada denied regulatory approval to the Monsanto Corporation's recombinant bovine growth hormone, Nutrilac. In doing so it rejected the first major product of genetic engineering proposed for regulatory approval in Canada that had been commercially targeted at the agriculture and food-production system. The decision ended a bitter and sometimes bizarre saga characterized by allegations of corporate bribery, whistle-blowing scientists and hostile parliamentary committee investigations. The rBST story is examined here as an example of contemporary technoscientific controversies, as a case study in the Canadian regulatory style and for its relevance to current debates over the reform of Canadian regulatory procedures.