Should ractopamine be lifted? Doctors call for supporting measures

The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) voted to approve the permissible residue standard for ractopamine. The Council of Agriculture said it will follow the Executive Yuan version to ensure the implementation of the 16-word policy motto of "safety allowance, separation of cattle and pigs, mandatory labeling, and exclusion of offal." Doctors suggest that the government should have supporting measures to require clear labeling of information, including the place of origin, pasture, amount of clenbuterol, etc., so that people can choose whether to eat it. Failure to comply with mandatory labeling should result in heavy penalties.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission voted in Rome to set the maximum allowable residue level of ractopamine, which is 10 ppb (ppb: 1 part per billion) for pork and beef muscle and fat, 40 ppb for pork and beef liver, and 90 ppb for pork and beef kidneys; there is no limit set for turkey.

Chen Baoji, chairman of the Council of Agriculture, pointed out that domestic experts recently went to the United States to investigate the safety of beef imported to Taiwan for 23 days. The experts and scholars who visited 9 slaughterhouses held meetings every day to discuss the results of the investigation. They believed that the US government has rigorous management and that American beef imported to Taiwan is all under 30 months old, so they concluded that it is safe. Therefore, the Council of Agriculture respects the opinions of experts and believes that there is no problem with the safety of American beef.

The Council of Agriculture guarantees the implementation of the 16-character policy motto of "safety permits, separation of cattle and pigs, mandatory labeling, and exclusion of offal." I have no preconceived position on the US beef case and will try my best to collect information.

Lin Jieliang, director of the Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital's clinical toxicology department, believes that the government should have supporting measures to enforce clear labeling. The amount of drug residues in animal viscera is often 10 to 20 times that of muscles. Even if Taiwan follows the international trend and allows ractopamine-containing American beef, it should at least insist on keeping viscera out.

Because ractopamine still poses health risks to the human body, the elderly, children, patients with cardiovascular disease, and pregnant and breastfeeding women should avoid taking it. He stressed that if the government expands the scope of opening up to pork, it will definitely have an impact on the country's vulnerable pig farmers, and it will be necessary to set up a relevant compensation fund at that time.