3 Key Things You Should Know About Ractopamine.
Meat is one of the common components of dishes of most people in the world. Unfortunately most of the meat contains a lot of additives that are used to add its face value. Ractopamine is one of the common additives found in meat, which increases meat synthesis. Countries like China accept only ractopamine-free meat products from the USA.
Ractopamine helps in lean muscle growth weeks before slaughter.
Ractopamine is an animal feed additive that increases protein synthesis in the muscle tissue in pigs, turkeys, and cattle. It is administered a few weeks to the day of slaughtering the animal. Ractopamine also increases feed efficiency, making the animal grow without consuming many feeds. Most farmers find the additive as a cheap method of producing meat.
- Regulations and guidance on using ractopamine.
While the US has approved the use of ractopamine as an animal feed additive in animals, other countries like China, Asia, and Europe have banned the use of ractopamine as a food additive in animals due to its effects on human’s health upon consumption.
The banning of ractopamine meat in some countries has resulted in fewer meat market producers exporting meat from the USA to other countries. Several US packers have decided to produce ractopamine-free meat to avoid losing international markets. If your country does not allow the use of ractopamine in feeding animals, avoid using it.
- How to ensure your meat meets the required standards.
There is a high probability that the pork you buy in US supermarkets most of them contain ractopamine. If you are not sure if the farmers you are buying meat from are using ractopamine in their feed, you can quickly get the answer to your question. You can take samples to the laboratory for ractopamine testing. You should look for an animal food testing laboratory around your area for carrying out the ractopamine testing to get the results if the additive was used in the meat production cycle. The testing will help you to ensure your food meets the set requirements. In addition to ractopamine testing, you need to understand the proper livestock nutrition.
- Effects of ractopamine on human health.
The effects of ractopamine additives on animals are well known; they help to increase lean muscles. However, scientists have not yet found out how ractopamine affects human health. When the farmers use the additive correctly as per the manufacturer’s instructions, there can be minimal effects of the drug on human beings. The drug residuals found on the pigs and turkey are unlikely to cause any harm to humans. Countries like China and Japan only accept ractopamine-free meat as they fear the additive’s health effects upon consumption.
Bottom line.
When farmers use ractopamine feeds in feeding their pig, turkey and use the products according to the label, the meat has no harm to human health. Meat processors should correspond to the changing market demands and produce ractopamine-free meat. If your country has banned the consumption of ractopamine meat, you should avoid using the product as your animal feed additives and obey the state’s regulations.
