Banned hormone use by Dutch farmers more widespread
Date: 05-Jul-02
Country: NETHERLANDS
The number of farms using medroxyprogesterone-acetate (MPA) now stood at 29, up from three when the Agriculture Ministry first announced the problem in late June.
"The investigation is continuing and we think the number will grow," said spokeswoman Martine de Haan at the Agriculture Ministry.
The exact source of the contamination has not been identified, but De Haan said it appeared that some farmers were seeking to boost profits by using the hormone to quickly fatten their animals.
"I find this a very alarming development," Agriculture Minister Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst said in a statement.
Stronger penalties against farmers who break safety regulations will soon go into force, he added.
The development was worrying for the Dutch who put in place strict regulations on food safety several years ago following a series of scandals in Europe.
In the latest scare, the potentially cancer-causing herbicide nitrofen was found in German animal feed.
German and European Union authorities have been informed that some 30-35 tonnes of MPA-contaminated feed was shipped by a Dutch farm to its sister farm in Germany, the ministry statement said.
MPA is permitted as a growth hormone for animals in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, but is banned in the European Union.
"MPA is banned in Europe because we are not convinced it is safe, but the very low amounts found in the meat pose no harm to humans," De Haan said.
The Dutch Health Ministry said the highest concentration of the hormone found in meat produced at farms using the hormone was around eight parts per billion (ppb), three percent of the 264 ppb daily amount that can be consumed without health risk.
In humans, MPA is used in birth control pills and in hormone replacement therapy for women going through menopause.