Hormones and Modern Livestock

From Science Online

Consumers express concern of growth hormones with this add.(Sense About Science)

Raising concerns about hormones in diary are not being expressed in books like this one.(Trafford)

What Hormones

The use of six natural and artificial growth hormones are used in livestock meat production that may cause serious health problems. These include the three natural hormones which are Oestradiol, Progesterone and Testosterone. The three artificially made hormones are Zeranol, Trenbolone, and Melengestrol. (Sustainable Table)

Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin, or rBGH for short, is the most common hormone used to increase milk production in cows. This hormone can increase milk production up to 15% per cow. (Frank, 2001)

What's the Beef About Hormones?

Annually, 80 million people in the United States fall ill due to food related sicknesses and 9,000 of these people end up dieing from these food related sicknesses. No one knows how much of the food related illness are caused by consuming meat and diary products that came in contact with growth hormones.(Silk, 2003)

Also, the side effects people have who have consumed both meet and diary products from livestock that have been treated with growth hormones is still uncertain. Having said that, new evidence suggests that growth hormones may cause humans who consume them to have hormonal imbalances, developmental problems, reproductive system complications, and cause breast, prostate or colon cancers. (Sustainable Table)

Many scientists also believe that growth hormones that are placed in animals may also have a negative environmental impact. Hormones pass through the cattle and are then found in manure. Hormones from this manure may seep into surface and groundwater. This process and can damage aquatic life by disrupting the natural cycle of fish and other aquatic organisms. (Sustainable Table)

rBGH syringe and bottle. rBGH is used to increase milk production in dairy cows. (Sierra Club)

How Hormones Are Placed In Animals

Hormones are either feed to livestock or injected into livestock. Growth promoting implants are time-release pellets of anabolic steroids (most commonly estrogen, but also progesterone and testosterone) that cause the animals to gain more weight in the form of lean mass. Almost all beef finished in feedlots in the United States are grown with these tiny pellets that are injected between the skin and cartilage of the ear that release added hormones into the animal. (Griekspoor, 2000)

Cattle in the crampt and dusty conditions of a feeding lot. (Science News)

Who Uses Hormones in Livestock Production

Some statistics suggest that 80% of all lot feed cattle are treated with growth hormones. This means that the vast majority of all of the beef in the United States supermarkets and restaurants has been grown with growth hormones. (Griekspoor, 2000)

Infected Udders of cow who was injected with rBGH. (Source Watch)

The History of Hormonal Therapy in livestock

Growth Hormones have been implanted in livestock for the past 40 years. (Griekspoor, 2000)

The Future of Hormones in Livestock

Growth hormones in livestock have gained more media attention in the past five years as more and more consumers are expressing concern. The United States has been slower to react to the possible threats of consuming these products that have been grown with growth hormones than other ares of the world such as Europe. As more studies emerge in the future, one will be able to better understand the effects of growth hormone treated meat and dairy products in humans. Change in how meat is produced ultimately must come from the consumers.

Side Effects of Hormones for livestock

A common form of inserting hormones in livestock is placing them into grain that the livestock eat. Grain feed livestock are more likely to live a high stress life. These feedlots are often stinky, dusty, and shadeless unlike the conditions that livestock have when allowed to graze in pasture. (Smith, 2005)

Cows that are injected with rBGH develop frequent udder infection that can leave pus and other discharge in milk and can cause infertility, internal bleeding, and other complications. (Turner, 2001)

Benefits of Growth Hormones

With 32.5 million cattle slaughtered a year (Sustainable Table), growth hormones are needed in order to meet the demand of beef from consumers while using limited land resources.

Laws Regarding Hormones In Animals

Changes in production and treatment of livestock will always be a result of consumer concerns and demands. Due to demand from European consumers, the European Union has taken a strict stand on hormones that are placed into beef and poultry production. This has resulted in a ban of all beef imports from the United States because the vast majority of beef in the United States has at one time been implanted with hormones. (Steinfeld, 2003)

Currently there is no labeling standard in the United States to alert consumers about an animal's growth hormone intake. (du Breton Farms)

Many foods can claim to be organic and growth hormone free. However, making sure that the food product is labeled "11 organic" will ensure that it came from animals that were not given hormones or antibiotics and were fed a vegetarian diet. (Turner, 2001)

References