H. Karg, H. Meyer
1999
Citations
0
Influential Citations
3
Citations
Journal
Archiv Fur Lebensmittelhygiene
Abstract
Estrogens and androgens are efficient growth promoters in animal production. The improvement of protein anabolism and N-retention provide economic and ecologic advantages. Nevertheless there are scientific arguments to maintain the EU import ban of meat from animals treated with the approved compounds foreign to the body trenbolone acetate, zeranol and melengestrol acetate. There is demand for an updated and more strict risk assessment as performed at the first approvals by the Food and Drug Administration in the USA. The harmless and complete removal of pellet-rests from animal's body is not secured just by the instructions; the milligram order of magnitude of those residues represents the quantitatively most important risk potential. As a matter of fact there are missing controls and reliability tests of the application routine in practice. The risk resulting from improper manipulations and from possible introduction of residues of the implantation site into the route of food processing has not been defined. Further research is still demanded concerning the positive results of mutagenicity tests of trenbolone, concerning the potential of formation of long chain and long acting esters of trenbolone and zeranol stored in fatty tissue, and concerning the importance of the recently discovered additional receptors for related compounds. The covalent bound residues of trenbolone to DNA and proteins has to be reconsidered. Those properties hardly fulfill the consumers' expectations for genuine food. Residues in meat detectable even after proper applications diminish the chance of control of illegal and hence risky application practices of those compounds; this could increase the risk potential. Recently a scientific publication from an American export country informed about the increase of illegal treatments with trenbolone.