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.
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