Why is there so much gross stuff in my food?! In swear, every time I check the internet, someone’s found another thing in my food that will make me sick.Look at what I read today. It’s a drug called ractopamine, which is sold under several different trade names, and given to animals in the days and weeks before they are slaughtered. It is an extremely dangerous poison to humans, and is banned in 160 countries, including the U.S. And yet, the FDA approved ractopamine for pigs (with the trade name Paylean), cattle (Optaflexx) and turkeys (Tomax), and all after the manufacturer, Elanco, sent the FDA a contradictory and incomplete report on Good Laboratory practices during the production of the drug.
Here’s the scoop: as mentioned in the article, the drug is administered right before the animal is slaughtered, so large amounts of it stay in the meat. Animals who are given the drug are subject to such creepy symptoms as being “down and shaking” (maybe it’s just me, but seeing an animal with the shakes makes my skin crawl like few other things do) and vomiting directly after eating their ractopamine-laced feed.
That’s messed up! That’s completely disgusting and wrong! What could possibly motivate someone to allow such a drug to be used in any animal?! Let alone allow its use on animals that will be slaughtered, and administered in such a way that the drug will remain in the meat and eaten by humans. Am I missing something here? Is there a reason why a drug marked “not for use in humans” should make its way into meat eaten by humans? This does not seem like a difficult decision for the FDA. It’s not even a question of responsibility so much as simple logic. Why is there poison in my food?
