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EU ag ministers let ractopamine ban stand
Story Date: 10/29/2012
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Source: MEATINGPLACE, 10/26/12
The European Union’s council of agriculture ministers has upheld a ban on the use of growth-promoting drugs including ractopamine and the import of meat from animals treated with them.
The council, in a press release, voiced its disappointment over a decision by the Codex Alimentarius Commission in July to approve, by a slim voting majority, the establishment of maximum residue levels for use of ractopamine in beef and pork. The Codex commission was created by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization to develop international food standards.
The EU council said it was confirming its decision to maintain the existing EU law banning beta-agonists such as ractopamine.
Brazil is scrambling to create a system to segregate cattle producers who use the artificial growth additives after the EU warned its beef could be banned following the country’s approval of beta-agonist use in June.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recognizes ractopamine as a safe food additive.
However, the EU council said its policy on ractopamine is based on “persisting scientific uncertainty” about the safety of products derived from animals treated with the substance and on concerns about animal health and welfare that are widely felt among its member states.
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