beef raised >with hormones cannot be banned in Europe since there is no
scientific
>evidence that the FIVE hormones used are harmful to the consumer. They
>mention testosterone and progesterone.
>
>Anybody know what the other 3 hormones are?
>
>Why are the hormones not harmful to the consumer?
>
>Grant

There's a long list of hormones used  - bovine somatrotripin (BST),
dimethylstilbestrol (DES), estradiol (synthetic estrogen) etc. - I'm not
sure which ones are being used in Europe.  Even the FDA has approved some of
them as safe, but you know how much their approval is worth...The ban has
not proven effective in any case.  The chemical companies (Monsanto et.al)
have been fighting the ban legally and illegally by supplying Europe's
thriving black market in beef hormones.  Hormones are still in common use in
North America, in beef, pork, lamb and poultry.  They are injected, added to
feed and even implanted in livestock.  Hormones aren't just used to induce
growth - they're also used in current AI (artificial insemination) and
embryo transplant technology to induce estrus in livestock at the necessary
time.

I don't know how they reached the conclusion that there is "no scientific
evidence..."  There is lots of scientific evidence that hormones are linked
to cancers and other conditions.  Depends who you listen to. For example,
pharmaceutical companies and most doctors still insist that estrogen is safe
- in spite of numerous studies showing a definite link between estrogen and
breast cancer.

Chris