According to one 2000-2003 survey by the Food Marketing Institute (a supermarket trade association), one-fifth of American shoppers are not confident that food is safe, and of those, 40% are concerned about hormones in food. Still, American consumers are more confident than their European counterparts.
Hormonal additives are entirely illegal in the European Union (EU), as well as in Canada, simply based on the biologic plausibility of health implications, alongside some scant laboratory and animal research. The EU has gone so far as to ban the import of US beef and dairy from treated animals, spurring a small tariff war between them and the US.

So what’s this debate all about?



Why do some people suspect hormonal additives are unhealthy? Are their suspicions founded? Here’s the science behind the scare.
The Culprits: Hormone Additives

Hormones are powerful, naturally produced chemical messengers that control vital behaviors in all plants and animals. Ergo, they are present in all animal products whether or not the animals have been treated with hormone supplements.
Hormones Used in Livestock

Six steroid hormones are currently approved for use in US livestock to speed lean muscle growth. Both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a joint committee of the Food and Agricultural Organization and World Health Organization (FAO/WHO) deemed residues of these additives in meat safe for consumption in 1988. Three of the approved additives are synthetic versions of steroid hormones that occur naturally in both cows and humans: estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone; the other three are synthetic variations that closely mimic these.

More than 90% of US livestock are currently injected with these hormones, which can increase production of veal and beef by up to 15%.

Hormones Used in Dairy Cattle

In 1993, the FDA and a National Institutes of Health (NIH) panel of experts approved the use of recombinant (ie, genetically engineered) bovine growth hormone (rbGH). This protein hormone promotes increased milk production as opposed to muscle growth. Its approval came only after extensive review of available data by said organizations that showed the milk of treated dairy cattle to be safe.

Today, somewhere from 5%-30% of dairy cattle receive rbGH; those that do produce at least 10% more milk than other cows. As opposed to cattle raised as livestock, no steroid hormones are approved for use in dairy cattle.
Suspected Health Concerns

Too much or little of any hormone can be harmful to the body, and in severe cases can result in an endocrine disorder such as diabetes or hypothyroidism. Additionally, certain cancers are known to be responsive to some hormones in the steroid class. Estrogen is listed as a known carcinogen (most associated with uterine cancer, followed by breast cancer), and progesterone as “reasonably anticipated to be” a carcinogen, in an updated report by the National Toxicology Program at the Department of Health and Human Services.

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