Hormones
Hormones in our Food Supply
Since the early 1970s, hormones have been used extensively in the production of beef and milk in the United States. The hormones increase the amount of meat and milk the cattle produce without requiring extra feed. It is estimated that 80% of cattle raised in the U.S are treated with these hormones.
Although growing numbers of consumers and scientists have expressed concerns about potential human health risks of this practice, the USDA and FDA have approved the use of six hormone growth promotants (HGPs) in the production of beef cattle, and one more hormone used to increase milk productivity. Only a few other countries have approved the use of HGPs, while many others have banned their use.
Cows are given six hormones, including estradiol-17 (a powerful estrogen), progesterone, and testosterone, as well as additional synthetic hormones that mimic testosterone and estrogen. These hormones are very stable and are not broken down at high temperatures, meaning that they are still in their complete form when we eat the meat. All HGPs are either implanted or injected into the cows except melengestrol acetate which is a feed additive.
Hormones and Cancer
The European Union has banned the importation of American and Canadian beef grown with the use any growth hormone, including estradiol-17 because studies have shown that it is a "complete carcinogen", meaning it shows both tumor initiating and tumor promoting effects! Zeranol, another progesterone-imitator, has also been linked to cancer in a recent study done at Ohio State University . Scientists exposed breast cancer cells to zeranol-treated beef. The results indicated significant increases in cancer growth - some showed an increase even with zeranol levels 30 times below the level the FDA considers safe. It should also be noted that the FDA does not permit any residual MGA to show up in beef residue testing. It is considered a suspected carcinogen by the USDA
Premature Sexual Development
The dangers of hormone additives were signaled by an epidemic of premature sexual development and ovarian cysts in 3,000 Puerto Rican infants and children from 1979 to 1981. These effects were traced to contamination of meat and were reversed by dietary changes. Using research techniques, meat products were found highly contaminated with estrogens, and Zeranol. Excess estrogens were found in the blood of afflicted children. This epidemic also was associated with increased uterine and ovarian cancers in adults. Girls in the US are reaching puberty at younger and younger ages, often menstruating as early as age 8. Breast size in young adolescent girls, and even some boys, is increasing. It is widely suspected that this is due to estrogen dominance created by the hormones we eat unknowingly in our meat and diary products.
Why we produce our Beef without Hormones
Although there are differing views on the safety of hormones in meat, what it really comes down to is whether we want to risk introducing synthetic hormones into our bodies given the potential of growth hormones to act as carcinogens and as reproductive toxins. For us the risk is too great and therefore the choice quite simple.