Ractopamine

[bjre]

China destroyed huge amount of meat that contains Ractopamine:

Link

Don't know how many Ractopamine in meat in Canadian stores.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ractopamine

Ractopamine is a drug that is used as a feed additive to promote leanness in pigs raised for their meat. The feed additive Paylean, produced by the U.S. company Elanco Animal Health, owned previously by Eli Lilly and Company, contains ractopamine hydrochloride. Paylean was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration on December 22, 1999, and has also been approved in more than 20 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and Thailand.[1] However it is banned in 150 other countries, including the European Union[2], China, and Malaysia, which prohibited its use in 2002.[3]

Ractopamine in feed for animals is responsible for dramatic muscle growth, yet it is not a steroid or hormone, but rather a compound known as a beta agonist. Only a trace amount of ractopamine need be added for a marked increase in protein and decrease in fat accretion in animals, in particular swine. For the last 90 pounds of live weight gain, a mere 18.5 grams of ractopamine added to a ton of feed (20 ppm) will increase protein by 24% and decrease fat by 34%.[4]

In July 2007 Chinese officials seized U.S.-produced pork for containing ractopamine residues.[5] Further shipments of ractopamine fed pork were seized in September, though this time they were Canadian in origin.

[Moonlight Graham]

The question is WHY did China ban it? Health? Economics/trade?

Also, i can't read your link its all in ching-chang letters.

[bjre]

The question is WHY did China ban it? Health? Economics/trade?

http://winnipeganimals.blogspot.com/2010/05/ractopaminepaylean-used-in-canada-too.html

This drug, manufactured by Elanco Animal Health, increases protein synthesis. In other words, it makes animals more muscular … and this increases food growers’ bottom line.

Adding insult to injury, up to 20 percent of ractopamine remains in the meat you buy from the supermarket, according to veterinarian Michael W. Fox. Yet this drug is marked “Not for use in humans,” and is known to increase death and disability in livestock.

“How does a drug marked, “Not for use in humans. Individuals with cardiovascular disease should exercise special caution to avoid exposure. Use protective clothing, impervious gloves, protective eye wear, and a NIOSH-approved dust mask” become “safe” in human food? With no washout period?” asks columnist Martha Rosenberg.

She answers:

“The same way Elanco’s other two blockbusters, Stilbosol (diethylstilbestrol or DES), now withdrawn, and Posilac or bovine growth hormone (rBST), bought from Monsanto in 2008, became part of the nation’s food supply: shameless corporate lobbying.