Link to article in Taipei Times: Quibbling over beef
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/11/06/2003457740
The general fear concerning beef imported from the US seems to be bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease. According to the director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) in Taipei, Taiwan, there have not been any cases of BSE recorded among U.S. Cattle since 1997, in a cattle population nearly 10 million strong. So, it is pretty safe to say we shouldn’t be overly worried about that particular aspect of US beef.
What we should absolutely be concerned about is the level of growth hormones (to increase weight) which leaves hormone residue in meat from hormone-treated cattle up to 20-fold higher than in hormone-free meat. These dangerously high levels of hormones greatly increase the risk of cancer. It is well documented that American women have about a five-fold greater risk for breast cancer than women from countries where hormone-free meat is consumed.
In May, 2009, the European Union and the United States have agreed to maintain the ban on hormone-treated beef and to permit hormone-free beef once again into the EU without duty. Why is our government not acting like other developed and advanced countries by looking at the real threat and dangers in US beef? Should we be concerned about the extremely unlikely chance of contracting BSE or the irrefutably confirmed risks associated with daily doses of hormones?
Don’t we get enough chemicals, pesticides, herbicides and other toxins from seafood harvested from the heavily polluted water around this gorgeous island? Do we also need to import hormone-treated beef and chicken from the US and soon quite likely China?
No meat of any animal treated with hormones from any country should be allowed into Taiwan!
