The Real Dope on Beef Hormones

A recent audit of Canada's food inspection system by the European Commission (EC) raises serious questions about the safety of Canadian meat. The audit revealed "very serious deficiencies" in the regulatory framework and documents widespread use of cancer-causing hormones, antibiotics and other endocrine-disrupting substances in our meat supply.

Canadian and European scientists believe that hormone-laced Canadian meat poses a serious threat to the public, particularly vulnerable groups like pregnant women and prepubertal children. Growing scientific evidence highlights the dangers of exposing people to hormones. Hormone residues in meat and meat products can disrupt the natural endocrine equilibrium (hormone balance) which exists within everyone's body.

Any disruption of this equilibrium can result in multiple biological effects with potentially harmful consequences for human health. The EC audit concluded that in view of the intrinsic properties of hormones and recent scientific findings, Canadian meat consumers are exposed to unnecessary risk from the intake of hormone residues.

Not enough data is available to allow a quantitative estimate of risk for any of the hormones in question. Therefore, because we can't establish safety thresholds, there is no means to ascertain what the acceptable daily intake is. In the case of the common growth hormone estradiol, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that it is a "complete carcinogen" in that it exerts both tumour-initiating and promoting effects.

Children Most Vulnerable

Consumption of hormone-treated beef may cause girls to reach puberty earlier, thus making them more susceptible to breast and other cancers.

According to Carlos Sonnenschein, from Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, the early onset of puberty with its raging hormones translates into higher risk of breast cancer. He says that it's "very likely" that hormone residues in North American beef are a contributing factor in the early onset of puberty among girls observed in recent decades.

"There is no other reason to explain it," says Sonnenschein.

According to Annie Sasco, from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, it makes sense that hormone- treated beef could trigger an earlier onset of puberty. "Even if the risk is small it would be prudent to stop the use of hormones in the cattle industry because there is no offsetting benefit for consumers," she says.

Ban Unsafe Hormone Drugs

When Europe finally banned imports of Canadian beef, our federal government challenged the decision at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO beef hormone ruling, which allows the Canadian government to apply retaliatory trade sanctions against the European Commission, did not take new scientific understanding of growth hormones into consideration when it made its decision. The WTO panel, made up of "trade experts" with no scientific credentials, based its decision on inadequate, non-peer reviewed data dating in some cases back to the 1960s. The studies are viewed by experts as being conducted under questionable procedures lacking transparency and scientific credibility. Much of the original work done on hormones was done long before anything was known about possible adverse effects, most of which only became apparent in the 1990s.

The precautionary principal means that, in the face of scientific uncertainty, one should proceed with caution. In the case of beef hormones the precautionary principle should dictate that, in light of worrisome scientific information, these hormone drugs should not be used until further research has ascertained their safety to humans. This is precisely why Europe banned the use of these potentially dangerous hormones and we feel Canada should do the same. It was profoundly unscientific and imprudent for the Canadian government to authorize the use of these hormones based on a non-scientific "assumption of safety."

Simply put, the Canadian government threw the precautionary principle out the window. Despite the scathing European audit, the Canadian government maintains it can provide European consumers with hormone-free beef. It's an outrage that the same precautionary measures won't be afforded to Canadians.

Beef hormones are used by industry to increase weight gain in cattle. The use of such powerful hormones for non-therapeutic, non-essential purposes is irresponsible and offers no benefits to the consumer or society, only risk. Public health should come before beef industry profits. Let's do the right thing and ban the use of beef hormones.