There is another
way factory farmers make animals grow faster besides antibiotics and hormones.
The asthma-like drug ractopamine is used in 45 percent of US pigs according to Bacon
Bits, the Canadian Pork Industry newsletter, in 30 percent of ration-fed cattle
and a growing number of turkeys. Unlike most livestock drugs, ractopamine is
not withdrawn before slaughter
though its warning
label says, "Individuals with cardiovascular disease should exercise
special caution to avoid exposure. Not for use in humans. Keep out of the reach
of children," and recommends protective clothing, gloves, eye wear and
masks. Cardiac stimulating drugs like ractopamine cause stress and
hyperactivity in animals and they are "not appropriate because of the
potential hazard for human and animal health," wrote researchers in the journal
Talanta. "Adding these drugs to waterways or
well water supplies via contaminated animal feed and manure runoff," is
also a concern, said David Wallinga, M.D. of the Institute for Agriculture and
Trade Policy in an interview, "because this class of drugs is so important
in treating children with asthma." Could ractopamine, added to the food
supply in 1997 with little public awareness, be contributing to skyrocketing
rates of obesity and hyperactivity in children?
Heavy Metals
The charge that
heavy metals lurk in US meat doesn't come from food activists and consumer
advocates--it comes from the USDA Office of the Inspector General. Its 2010 report found
high residues of copper, arsenic and other heavy metals and veterinary drugs in
beef released for public consumption including. Animals with violative levels of metals, anti-parasite
vaccines and medicines were knowingly released into the human food supply by
inspectors says the report. Pesticides are also a disturbing, gray area with
only one of 23 high risk pesticides tested for, the Inspector General's office
said. The presence of arsenic in
poultry made food news in 2011 when a government study found inorganic arsenic,
"at
higher levels in the livers of chickens treated" with arsenic-laced feed
than in untreated chickens. This prompted Pfizer
to stop marketing its arsenic
feed, 3-Nitro, since arsenic is a carcinogen in its inorganic form. Worries are
not over though. The FDA still allows arsenic in poultry feed for weight gain
and feed efficiency, to control parasites and to improve "pigmentation." Other
arsenic-laced feeds besides 3-Nitro remain on the market.
Carbon
Monoxide
Why is the meat
so red? A few years ago, consumer groups tried to stop the practice of "modified atmosphere
packaging" (MAP)--exposing meat to carbon monoxide to keep it looking
fresh. They weren't successful. Today as much as 70
percent of meat packages in stores are treated with carbon monoxide to keep
the meat's red color (oxymyoglobin) from turning to a brown or gray color
(metmyoglobin) through exposure to oxygen. While the meat industry
compares meat losing its red color to the harmless discoloration of apples
and says MAP keeps products affordable, both the European Commission's
Scientific Committee on Food and USDA's Food
Safety Inspection Service have expressed concerns that the artificially
hued food can appear fresher than it really is. Thanks to MAP meat can stay red
an
entire year! Consumers do not
need to worry about being deceived said Ann Boeckman, a lawyer with a firm
representing major meat companies. "When a product reaches the point
of spoilage, there will be other signs that will be evidenced--for example
odor, slime formation and a bulging package--so the product will not smell or
look right." That's a relief.
Nitrites and Nitrates
Did you ever
wonder why processed meats stay on store shelves for so long, retaining their
color, flavor and not spoiling? You have the preservatives nitrite and nitrate
to thank. Nitrite and nitrate may make money for food processors but they are
so linked to cancer (when they become "nitrosamines" in the human
body) the American
Cancer Society tells people not to eat them. After a 2008 report from the
American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund that
showed eating just one hot dog a day increased the risk of developing
colorectal cancer by as much as 21 percent, there were calls to ban
processed meat products, especially in schools. Nitrite and nitrate are found
in hot dogs, luncheon meats, bacon, Slim Jims and most processed and cured
meats. Colorectal cancer is not the only cancer associated with nitrosamines,
which have been carcinogenic suspects since the 1970s. They have also been
linked, in scientific articles, to lung cancer, kidney cancer, stroke,
coronary heart disease and diabetes
mellitu s. If processed meats sound a lot like cigarettes, you are right.
Cigarettes also contain nitrosamines.
An earlier
version of this report appeared on AlterNet.org
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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