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Growth promotant
use and safety
1. Does
the use of growth promotants make our beef less safe or less
healthy?
The use of growth
promotants does not have a negative impact on the safety,
nutritional value or healthfulness of the beef we produce.
The safety of the use of growth promotants is assured by the
product approval procedures required by the Food and Drug
Administration as well as by the ongoing testing policies
and procedures administered by the Food Safety Inspection
Service, a division of the USDA. The FSIS regularly tests
for residues in meat that would indicate misuse. Violative
residues have not been found.
1.All growth-promoting products must be approved by the FDA
under the New Animal Drug Application (NADA) procedure.
Approval is granted only after rigorous and extensive
scientific tests, similar to the tests the FDA requires for
human drug approval.
2.Each NADA is evaluated for safety of use in the target
animal, safety to the environment and effectiveness of the
product in the target animal. Unlike human drug
applications, the NADA is also evaluated for human safety.
All meat products must be safe for human consumption.
3.Growth promoting products have been on the market for more
than 30 years and there has never been any negative impact
on human health.
4.Hormones, like those in growth promoting products, are
naturally occurring and are found in all plants and animals,
including humans. For example a serving of milk contains 9x
the level of hormones as a serving of beef from an implanted
steer—a serving of cabbage 710x and soybean oil 7466x. The
average man or woman produces 35,000x the hormones every
day!
5.Hormones are essential to the proper functioning of many
bodily functions including, reproduction, growth, immune
system response, as well as the functioning of the nervous
and digestive systems.
6.Some growth promotants act as a partitioning agent and
actually increase the amount of lean red meat and decrease
the amount of fat in the beef we consume.
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2. Does the
manufacture and use of growth promotants have a negative
impact on the environment?
The production and
use of growth promotants does not have a negative impact on
the environment, in fact, growth promotants are
environmentally friendly.
Impact on land use
Because the use of growth promotants improves the efficiency
of beef production, there is less stress placed on the
environment. The increased efficiency results in more beef
produced per cow unit and more efficient use of both
grasslands and grain-farm acres. As a result, more land is
made available for other uses and fewer acres need to be
treated with agricultural chemicals.
Example: Performance studies document that, overall, growth
promotants increase feed efficiency by 10 percent and rate
of growth by about 15 percent. These performance
improvements equate to a 21-bushel reduction in the amount
corn required to grow a steer or heifer to market weight.
The net result of growth promotant efficiencies is that each
year, 3 million fewer acres of corn are required to produce
the United States beef supply.
1.The world’s land mass is constant, yet a growing
population increases the need for more spared land as well
as for greater food production.
2.Growth promotants increase production efficiency, which
equates to fewer acres diverted from natural habitat to
production agriculture.
3.Growth promotants decrease the amount of Nitrogen,
Phosphorus, Potassium and other minerals required for corn
production, which in turn, reduces the amount of these
chemicals released into the environment.
Environmental impact studies
Production of growth promoting products is subject to
rigorous scientific examination prior to FDA approval. The
manufacturer must clearly demonstrate that the manufacturing
process does not introduce harmful substances into the air,
water or land. In addition, the manufacturer must measure
and prove that the product and its metabolized by products
do not harm the environment in any way.
1.Excretion of both product and metabolites are measured and
documented
2.Physical and chemical properties and partitioning into
water and soil as well as degradation in water and soil are
documented.
3.Degradation of the product and its metabolites by microbes
is also measured and documented.
4.Effects on both aquatic and terrestrial species are
documented.
5.Predicted concentrations of the product and its
metabolites in water and soil are computed.
6.No growth promotant products are licensed until the risk
assessment is completed satisfactorily.
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3. Do growth
promotants have a negative impact on an animal’s health or
well being?
The use of growth
promotants does not have a negative effect on an animal’s
well being or an animal’s welfare.
1.Beef producers continue to adopt scientifically based
production practices including the most elaborate and humane
handling equipment.
2.Beef producers follow science-based animal husbandry
practices.
3.Beef producers feed their animals science-based, healthy
and well-balanced rations. As a result cattle remain healthy
and efficient in their use of feedstuffs.
4.Beef producers and their veterinarians monitor the health
of individual animals on a daily basis.
5.Beef producers ensure that the “five freedoms” are
provided for every animal in their care including:
--The ability to turn around, groom themselves, lie down,
get up and stretch their limbs without difficulty.
6.Growth promotants increase the animal’s appetite ensuring
that the animal remains healthy and well fed.
7.It is in the producer’s best interest to provide an ideal
environment for the health and safety of their animals.
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4. Has the
use of growth promotants contributed to the reduction in the
number of smaller farms?
The use of growth
promotants does not provide an economic advantage to large,
corporate farms nor do they put smaller farmers at a
disadvantage.
Growth promoting products, including implants, can easily be
utilized by all cattle producers, whether they have a few
head of cattle or several thousand. The per head, economic
advantages that growth promotants provide are the same,
regardless of the size of the operation. There is no
additional economic advantage or benefit for large producers
and there is no “cause and effect” between growth promotants
and the trend to consolidation in the industry.
1.Growth promoting products can be effectively utilized and
are economically rewarding in any size operation.
2.Utilizing science and technology in beef production
results in lower beef prices and a continuous supply of top
quality beef for consumers.
3.Large-scale feeding operations are able to meet consumer
demands for a consistent, year-around supply of quality
beef.
4.There is a trend to fewer, larger feeding operations;
however, cattle feeding operations of all sizes continue to
utilize growth promotants as they successfully produce beef
for the market.
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5. Do growth
promotants really benefit the beef industry?
Improved production
efficiency benefits the entire beef industry as well as
consumers.
The use of growth promoting products improves both growth
and feed efficiency, which is of benefit to both beef
producers and consumers. For example, proper use of implants
improves both average daily gain and feed efficiency, which
results in an economic benefit of approximately $40 per beef
animal. This lower cost of production results in lower beef
prices to the consumer, and keeps beef more price
competitive compared to other protein sources.
1. Research by Gill and Trapp (1997) indicated that without
the efficiencies that implants provide, beef’s share of the
protein market would decrease from 31.9 percent to 29.8
percent. The decrease in market share would decrease beef
retail sales by $1.4 billion, eliminating the need for 1.2
million cows (the number of cows in the entire state of
Oklahoma).
2. The use of growth promotants
help produce a more consistent, better managed beef product,
without sacrificing taste or quality.
3. Growth promotants give
consumers the healthy, flavorful, nutrient dense beef they
demand at a price they can afford.
4. Eliminating
the use of growth promoting implants in the United States
would not increase beef exports to Europe. The European ban
on implanted beef is based on politics and agricultural
protectionist programs and would not be lifted if the United
States beef producers quit using hormones. The EU is
currently importing beef from South America where there is
widespread hormone use.
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6. If
there are any questions at all about growth promotants, why
take a chance?
The European
“Precautionary Principle” (action should be taken to correct
a problem if there is any evidence that harm may occur…the
foresight to protect against any possible harm) does not
recognize scientifically based risk assessment and analysis
as being adequate and, therefore, is very limiting for the
adoption of any new technology, not just animal health
products and technology. The precautionary principle that
guides our FDA is based on extensive, thorough, conservative
scientifically based research.
1. The USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval
process is very conservative in their approval of growth
promotant products.
2. Growth promotant products are
approved only after a thorough review of validated,
well-supervised, rigorous scientific studies.
3. This thorough, cautionary
product approval process assures that the products that are
approved for sale will not have any adverse effects on human
health, animal health or environmental safety.
4. Beef from cattle implanted
with growth promotants is now being eaten by a third
generation of consumers without any impact on their health.
5. “We inspect what we expect”…A
thorough, on going inspection process ensures that there are
no product misuses or violations and that all products are
used according to their labeled and intended use.
6. The scientific principles
that govern our approval process make new technologies and
new procedures possible.
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