European ban on hormone-treated cattle rejected by WTO An interim report by a World Trade Organization panel has rejected the European Union's nine-year import ban on cattle treated with growth hormones, because it is not based on scientific evidence. The United States requested the WTO review of the EU ban under the Uruguay Round Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, which requires that food safety rules must be based on sound scientific evidence. Codex Alimentarius aims to put safe meat on your plate Two years ago the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) - the joint FAO/WHO body responsible for international food standards - approved the use of three natural hormones used to promote growth - progesterone, testosterone and estradiol-17ß. They considered it unnecessary to establish Acceptable Daily Intakes and Maximum Residue Limits for the hormones, which are naturally produced by human beings. The CAC did impose Maximum Residue Limits for two synthetic hormones, zeranol and trenbolone actetate, to ensure the safe use of these substances. Other growth promoters, including diethylstilbesterol (DES) have not been approved. In 1987 an FAO/WHO Expert Committee compared the intake of estradiol-17ß from eating meat to the levels of the hormone produced by the human body. They found that the levels produced daily by the normal consumer were several million times the amount contained in a 500 g piece of meat from an animal treated with the hormone. The use of hormones improves the efficiency of beef cattle to convert feed into good quality beef. Improved and safe use of food and feed at all levels is required if the world is to meet the food security targets envisaged by the World Food Summit and expressed in the Rome Declaration. 6 June 1997 Related links: Codex Alimentarius Commission Animal Production and Health Division Code of Practice for Good Animal Feeding drafted Food Quality and Nutrition News and Highlights Archive

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