Ninety percent of Americans support mandatory labeling of food with genetically modified ingredients. But Congress hasn’t gotten the message. In July, the House passed H.R. 1599 – the Deny Americans the Right to Know (DARK) Act – and the Senate could be taking the bill up any day now. To change the game on food labeling, we have to make our voices heard. We need to call our Senators offices and let them know that we demand labeling of GMO’s. Citizens in 64 nations around the world know what’s in the food they’re feeding their families. Let your Senators know that you and your family deserve the same right. Call their offices today.
Does your Thanksgiving Turkey come with a side of Ractopamine?
We must make our voices heard and tell the FDA to ban the use of the drug ractopamine as a growth-promoting feed additive for turkey, pork and cattle production. Ractopamine is linked with serious health and behavioral problems in animals, and while human health studies are limited, those that exist raise serious concerns. Ractopamine is banned or severely limited in dozens of countries. It is time for the U.S. to join the international community in banning this risky drug.
The FDA has allowed widespread use of ractopamine in turkey feed since its approval in 2008 without conducting scientific studies that document the risks of ractopamine to human and animal health.
That’s why the Center for Food Safety, the Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approving ractopamine for use in turkey feed without fully examining how the drug affects people, animals and the environment.
Ractopamine mimics stress hormones causing the turkeys, pigs and cattle that eat it to convert feed to muscle more quickly. That is bad news for consumers since both USDA and Consumer Reports have found residues of ractopamine in meat samples. That’s because there’s no mandatory withdrawal period for the drug – ractopamine can be fed to turkeys right up until the day they are slaughtered!
Unlike the U.S., dozens of countries, including the 27 members of the European Union, China, and Taiwan, ban or strictly limit the use of ractopamine. Yet the U.S. continues to approve ractopamine and drugs like it at break-neck pace.
Tell the FDA to protect human health and animal welfare by banning the use of ractopamine in turkey, beef and pork production!