IS OUR MEAT SAFE?

When you hear that most men in the US and Europe could be infertile by 2060, you have to wonder what’s going on. There are myriad factors at play (stress, diet, alcohol, smoking…) but another multi-faceted issue is the increased environmental pollution of water, air and food. The Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology journal says many chemicals used everywhere in the world are endocrine disruptors, which means they mimic natural hormones and stop them acting normally. (Of course this applies to women, too.) In Europe, the use of hormones is prohibited. Our local, independent Food Advisory Consumer Service says almost all abbatoir meat in SA is produced with the aid of hormones (which speeds up the rate at which cattle reach slaughter weight) but that these levels are highly regulated. Check their website (foodfacts.org.za) for comparisons of hormone levels in 500g of food, but we’ve picked out one or two: raw cabbage has 12ug; eggs, 7.5ug; beer, 0.078ug; and beef, 0.007ug. Obviously you need to consider the quantities you’re likely to consume, but if you’re worried about beef, you’d do well to worry about the beer too… And they say birth control pills contain between 30 and 350ug, btw.