Growth
promoters – some Questions & Answers
The questions:
The Answers:
Q: Are animals given
antibiotics to boost growth?
A: No. At one time very small doses of some antibiotics
were allowed to be added to feed because they improved the growth rates of
some farm animals. But the EU phased out this practice, stopping the sale of
antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) on the 1st January 2006.
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Q: Why was this use stopped?
A: There was a change in policy in Europe towards the use
of antibiotics in this way, following concern expressed by some on the
potential hazard to human health, in particular in relation to antibiotic
resistance. In addition some consumers prefer to eat meat from animals that
have not been medicated with growth promoters. The group in which AGPs were
authorized has been removed from European legislation effectively banning
the products as from the beginning of 2006.
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Q: Is there scientific
evidence to support the ban of AGPs
A: No, that is why the use was able to be phased out
until a final stop at the end of December 2005. If there had been real
health concerns, the Commission would have insisted on use stopping
immediately.
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Q: Are animals given
hormones to boost growth?
A: No – hormonal growth promoters have been banned since
1988 in the UK and the rest of the European Union.
Some hormones are used as medicines to treat sick cattle
or to aid fertility control in cattle, pigs and sheep. They must only be
prescribed under the strict control of a veterinarian. These products have
been licensed as safe to use in food producing animals by the Veterinary
Medicines Directorate, with withdrawal periods imposed to ensure no harmful
residues can enter the food chain.
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Q: What is the position outside the EU?
A: Legislation has always been different, in different
countries. Use is permitted under regulation in some countries.
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Q: Why did companies
lobby in favour of continued AGP use?
A: Companies support science as a basis for decisions on
whether a product should or shouldn’t be placed on or remain on the market.
That said, companies do not support illegal use of antibiotics or hormones
and will co-operate in every way to ensure this does not happen.
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Updated June 2010 |
