The Cancer Prevention Coalition warns that American beef is heavily contaminated with sex hormones, which have been linked to an increase in reproductive and childhood cancers, says Dr. Samuel S. Epstein. According to Dr. Epstein, the increase in sex hormone levels has led to a 60% increase in prostate cancers, a 59% increase in testis cancers, and a 10% increase in breast cancers in the United States since 1975.
There are several hormones used in the past and present, including estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, as well as zeranol, trenbolone, and melengesterol, among others. During their 100-day pre-slaughter fattening period, beef cattle are implanted with pellets of these hormones under their ears. Dr. Epstein explains that the process is repeated at the midpoint of their 100-day fattening period. They increase carcass weight, which adds over $80 in extra profit for each animal.
In addition, Dr. Epstein says, “As a result, residues of these hormones in meat are up to 20 times higher than normal, in contrast to longstanding claims by the Food and Drug Administration and USDA.” As a result of the illegal practice of implanting directly into muscles, residues are still elevated. Dr. Epstein also stresses that meat residues are still not monitored despite misleading assurances.
Although the FDA and USDA assert that hormone residues in meat are within “normal levels,” they waive requirements to test for residues. It was found that residues of estrogen and progesterone were up to 20-fold higher than normal after a single ear implant in steers of Synovex-S.
An 8-year-old boy can increase his total hormone levels by as much as 10% if he consumes two hamburgers in one day, especially since young children have low levels of natural hormones. Childhood cancer incidence has increased by 38% since 1975, Dr. Epstein explains. These concerns are not new, he says. USDA and FDA residue-tolerance programs are in near total disarray, as evidenced by an array of investigations by the General Accountability Office and congressional hearings.
Despite the House Committee on Government Operations unanimously adopting the report “Human Food Safety and the Regulation of Animal Drugs” in January 1986, the FDA consistently acted in disregard of its duties – it has repeatedly put what it perceives to be the interests of veterinarians and the livestock industry ahead of its legal obligation to protect consumers, thereby risking the health and safety of meat, milk and poultry consumers.
There was a ban on meat imports from animals treated with growth-inducing hormones in the European Community on January 1, 1989. Approximately half of all cattle sent to market each year are treated with growth-inducing hormones, so this directly impacted the U.S. beef industry. The EU and the United States settled the long-running dispute over hormone-treated beef twenty years later, on May 6, 2009. The deal allows the EU to keep its ban on hormone-fed beef for a period of four years. EU members have agreed to increase the amount of hormone-free beef they can import without paying duties in exchange. American women have a five-fold greater risk of breast cancer than women in countries that do not permit the sale of hormonal beef.
It has been confirmed recently, however, that the low risk of cancer in Japanese women in Japan increases sharply among Japanese immigrants to the United States after one to two generations, as demonstrated by studies of cancer rates in Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populated, ethnically diverse county. Among other things, this study and a number of other migrant populations indicate that adopting Western dietary habits, including hormone-laced beef, is an avoidable cause of breast cancer.
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