July 20, 2007

EU scientists firm against use of growth hormones in cattle

The possible use of growth-promoting hormones anew to increase weight gain in beef cattle in Europe is still being strongly blocked by EU scientists.

Since the last risk assessment in 2002 by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), EFSA's Scientific Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) has concluded that there are no grounds to call for a revision of previous risk assessments.

The hormones are not permitted in Europe due to possible health risks from residues in meat and other edible parts of these animals.

The panel said analytical techniques developed to identify and quantify the presence of growth promoting hormones have not been widely used and proven, stating it still lacks the data on the type and amount of the hormones to assess the effects of the exposure.

The EFSA added it is not possible to gauge the importance of large scale use of hormones in relation to many epidemiological studies that indicate a correlation between eating red meat and certain hormone-dependent cancers.

EFSA's CONTAM Panel also concluded that new data published since 2002 confirms and extends the understanding of the effects of growth-promoting hormones.

The panel concluded that there are no grounds to call for revision of the previous risk assessments since new study on effects of growth-promoting hormones in meat and meat products did not provide solid information on possible human health risks. The panel also said large-scale beef cattle production using hormones is linked to undesirable effects in wild fish species in rivers which could further aggravate to waste water flowing off of these farms.

The scientists' report will be used by the European Commission and the European countries to reassess their stance on the use of growth promoting hormones in beef production.