Sun, Mar 04, 2012 page1

• No conclusion reached in talks on ractopamine

  SLOW GOING: Although the talks lasted four hours, no conclusions were reached. However, a few modifications were made to some points from the second meeting

  • By Lee I-chia / Staff Reporter
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  The government held its third technical advisory committee meeting yesterday afternoon to discuss whether ractopamine residue in beef or pork poses a risk to human health. Earlier in the day, civic groups protested outside the Council of Agriculture (COA) against the use of the leanness-enhancing additive in animal feed.

  Unlike the previous two closed-door meetings, yesterday’s meeting was broadcast in real-time for the media and the public. A few specialists recommended by civic groups were also invited to attend.

  Despite the heated four-hour talks, the committee did not reach any conclusions on the four topics scheduled to be discussed, including whether a report by Helena Bottemiller from the US-based Food and Environment Reporting Network that said that ractopamine had sickened or killed more than 218,000 pigs in the US since it was introduced in March last year was true, and whether the use of the additive in animal feed causes aggressiveness, stress or other changes in animals’ behavior.

  

  Protesters opposed to imports of US beef containing ractopamine residue demonstrate outside the Taipei venue where the Council of Agriculture hosted a cross-ministerial meeting to discuss the feed additive yesterday.

  Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

  A much-debated issue centered on one of the conclusions reached in the second committee meeting that a calculation based on a study conducted by a ractopamine manufacturer of six human subjects showed that the drug did not pose health concerns unless 500kg of meat containing residue of the substance was consumed.

  Specialists from civic groups said that there was not enough evidence to prove that ractopamine residue in pork or beef does not harm human health and that the manufacturer’s study could not be used to the calculate the “no -observed effect” level of ractopamine on human health, in part because of the small sample size.

  The specialists urged the government to define ractopamine as a drug rather than a safe food additive and evaluate the possible harm it might have on high-risk groups, such as the elderly, pregnant women, children and people with diabetics or cardiovascular disease.

  “The right to be healthy should not be used as a political bargaining chip,” Citizen’s Congress Watch executive director Chang Hung-lin (張宏林) said.

  “The use of ractopamine was banned in 2006, but recent tests have found ractopamine residue in many meat products, so how can we trust the government to secure the safety of our health if the government eases its restriction on ractopamine or if US beef is allowed to be imported?” Chang said.

  During the meeting, disputes over whether ractopamine should be considered a drug, a move which has been suggested by Hsu Li-min (許立民), a doctor at National Taiwan University Hospital’s Division of Traumatology, and the Homemakers’ Union and Foundation, lasted for more than an hour, while several other participants said it should be considered a drug-containing feed additive.

  In response to the credibility of Bottemiller’s report in relation to ractopamine and its effects on animals, the committee decided that the COA should ask for more epidemiology statistical data from the US to confirm the effects.

  The committee also agreed with a comment by Lin Chieh-liang (林杰樑), a toxicologist at Linkuo Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, that “we have not seen any research that shows that large doses of ractopamine harms human health, but there is also no evidence that it does not harm people either.”

  During the discussion on whether ractopamine residue causes harm to people in high-risk groups, Lin said Taiwanese in general are a higher-risk group because many people like to eat animal viscera, and some research results have showed that the concentration of chemical substances that accumulates in viscera were often 10 to 50 times higher than the level in other meat parts.

  The number of Taiwanese who suffer from liver or kidney diseases is also high, and they have more difficulty in metabolizing chemical substances, Lin said.

  Lin reiterated that a specialist at the meeting said that babies under the age of 18 months are barely able to metabolize ractopamine, but Taiwanese have the custom of eating animal viscera after giving birth, so these cultural differences should also be considered.

  Food and Drug Administration director-general Kang Jaw-jou (康照洲) said there were several reasons why and ways in which chemical substances could cause harm to the human body.

  He added that factors such as an individual’s health and the size of the dose of the substance could affect outcomes, but that the debate on the ractopamine issue should focus on the dosage and should refer to research results from other countries.

  COA Deputy Minister Hu Sing-hwa (胡興華) said as a result of the meeting, a few of the conclusions from the second meeting was modified.

  A fourth committee meeting will be held to discuss the unfinished questions, Hu added.
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