Monsanto House of Lords, stated that all information relating to the matter would be "kept secret". During the 24 months prior to the 1997 British election Monsanto representatives had 22 meetings at the departments of Agriculture and the Environment. Stanley Greenberg, an election advisor to Tony Blair, later worked as a Monsanto consultant. Former Labour spokesperson David Hill, became Monsanto's media adviser at the lobbying firm Bell Pottinger. The Labour government was challenged in Parliament about "trips, facilities, gifts and other offerings of financial value provided by Monsanto to civil servants", but only acknowledged that Department of Trade and Industry had
Monsanto by 11–16% when injected into cows. In October 2008, Monsanto sold this business to Eli Lilly for $300 million plus additional considerations. The use of rBST remains controversial with respect to its effects on cows and their milk. In some markets, milk from cows that are not treated with rBST is sold with labels indicating that it is rBST-free: this milk has proved popular with consumers. In reaction to this, in early 2008 a pro-rBST advocacy group called "American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology" (AFACT), made up of dairies and originally affiliated with Monsanto, formed and began