Warning: it’s quite shocking…
Bon appétit!
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Not Kidding => 15 Horrifying Facts About Processed Meat
Banned in 160 Nations, Why is Ractopamine in U.S. Pork?
If you care about the drugs that make it into the United States’ food supply — or only about what happens to the animals that supply us with meat — you should care about ractopamine. Because of safety concerns, about 160 nations ban or restrict the use of this drug during pig production, including all countries in the European Union, Russia and China. But that hasn’t stopped the U.S. pork industry from feeding it to an estimated 60 percent to 80 percent of American pigs to rapidly boost growth rates. If you buy pork at your local supermarket, chances are that it came from a ractopamine-treated pig.
The Food and Drug Administration first approved it 15 years ago, claiming the drug was safe to use. The nonprofit Center for Food Safety cited information from the European Food Safety Authority showing ractopamine can cause increased heart rates in humans. The Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy has reported that studies show pigs fed ractopamine can have trouble walking, become more aggressive, and experience other abnormal behavior.
The sixth round of negotiations between the United States and the European Union on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) took place July 14-18 in Brussels, Belgium. While the EU is willing to eliminate tariffs on nearly all goods, it announced publicly it was unwilling to eliminate them on beef, poultry and pork. The EU will not change its legislation on beef hormones and the feed additive ractopamine used in beef and pork production.
Ractopamine: The Meat Additive on Your Plate That’s Banned Almost Everywhere But America
Ractopamine – marketed as Paylean for pigs, Optaflexx for cattle and Topmax for turkeys – is used in 80 percent of US pig and cattle operations. The asthma drug-like growth additive, called a beta-agonist, has enjoyed stealth use in the US food supply for a decade despite being widely banned overseas.
This month, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) have sued the FDA for withholding records pertaining to ractopamine’s safety.
Read Ractopamine: The Meat Additive on Your Plate That’s Banned Almost Everywhere But America
by Martha Rosenberg, 30 Oct 2013
Chinese officials claim they have found traces of the banned drugs in shipments
” … China has been making noise about trace residue of ractopamine hydrochloride in pork imported from here. This is a drug to improve the ratio of lean meat to fat and is approved as a feed additive in our country but banned in China, the European Union and some other countries. It is sold by Elanco, the ag division of Eli Lilly, under the brand name Paylean ... ”
” … The United States has long been more tolerant of drugs and hormones as feed additives than most other countries, especially those in Europe. The current dispute mimics a long one we had with the European Union about residues of diethylstilbestrol and other growth-promoting hormones in U.S. beef exports … ”
Read about two current agricultural trade disputes which mimic a long dispute between the U.S. and the EU about DES in beef exports … Eli Lilly is once again involved …!!!!
Read Real World Economics: Players in trade disputes often play both sides
via twincities, 02/20/2013 .
The Drug Store in American Meat, by Martha Rosenberg
Thanks to the black hand of Big Meat on USDA and FDA policies, the drugstore in U.S. meat is largely hidden from food consumers. So are the health effects of the cheap, ubiquitous and unwholesome meat.
Read the full article The Drug Store in American Meat
by Martha Rosenberg, CounterPunch, 28 Nov 2012