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Friday, February 21, 2014

Harmful Chemicals Being Fed to Cattle

From NaturalNews (posted 27 Jan. 2014, accessed 21 Feb. 2014):

Unless you are seeking out meat that is certified organic, certified antibiotic- and hormone-free or raised by a local farmer you know and trust, chances are very good that you are eating plenty of pharmaceutical drugs with your cheeseburger.

The FDA has approved a long list of dozens and dozens of "safe" food additives for animal feed, including several classes of antibiotics for growth promotion and feed efficiency (such as monensin), natural steroid hormones (including progesterone, testosterone and estradiol), synthetic steroid hormones (such as trenbolone, melengestrol acetate and zeranol) and other chemicals - designed to keep densely packed factory farm animals healthy enough to make it to slaughter, while gaining as much weight as possible to boost profits.

Just a few of the FDA-approved feed additives used in beef cattle, including a number of antibiotics: bacitracin zinc, bambermycins, chlortetracycline, erythromycin thiocyanate, lincomycin, monensin, oleandomycin, oxytetracycline, tylosin, virginiamycin, lasalocid sodium, salinomycin sodium, melengestrol acetate, monensin sodium and ractopamine hydrochloride.

One of the most controversial drug additives are the beta-agonists (also known as beta blockers) which target beta-adrenoceptors in the heart, muscles, lungs and other tissues, and generally interfere with stress hormones. They also allow for an amazing amount of lean muscle weight to be added to livestock in the final period before slaughter - about 30 pounds on average for beef cattle.

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