§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the United Kingdom is alone among European Union members excluded from the United States trade sanctions in the hormone-treated beef and cows dispute. [HL3869]
§ Lord DonoughueThe decision was taken by the United States on the basis of member states' voting records on the European Union ban on the import of meat and meat products derived from animals treated with hormonal growth promoters.
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§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the possibility that hormone-treated beef and milk from hormone-treated cows contributes to human obesity and to human milk production disorders has not been studied by the Department of Health. [HL3870]
§ Lord DonoughueThere is no evidence that the ingestion of small amounts of unmetabolised growth promoting hormones from cattle influences metabolism or growth in human beings. Even if there were some effect, one of the main reasons for treating animals with growth promoting hormones is to increase the muscle content of the carcass and decrease the fat content.
The European Commission has not included a study of obesity in its assessment of potential risks to human health from growth promoting hormones used in cattle. Furthermore, the recent report of the Scientific. Committee on Veterinary Measures relating to Public Health (SCVPH) made as part of that risk assessment has made a thorough review of the latest science in this area and makes no reference to growth promoting hormones in cattle leading to overweight in humans.
So far as bovine somatotropin is concerned, it occurs naturally in all cows' milk and is not biologically active in humans. There is a continuing moratorium on the use of the bovine milk enhancer, recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), in the European Union. The Veterinary Products Committee has been asked to review the latest scientific evidence on human and animal health effects of the use of rBST and is expected to offer advice shortly. It is our intention to put the VPC's report into the public domain.