Growth promoting hormones pose risk to human health, says scientific committee
The EU's scientific committee has confirmed that giving growth promoting hormones to cattle poses a potential health risk to consumers. This is the third opinion published by the scientific committee on the risks to human health from hormone residues in beef products. Having reviewed 17 studies launched by the Commission as well as other recent scientific data, the committee found no reason to change its opinions of 1999 and 2000. The studies were requested by the Commission in order to answer questions on the scientific basis of the EU's import ban on meat and products treated with growth promoting hormones. Questions came from the USA and Canada, who contested the prohibition, and in 1997, the World trade organisation (WTO), which ruled that the measure was not in line with the Agreement on the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures. The WTO later reversed most of this ruling, finding only that the prohibition of imports of meat from hormone-treated animals to the EU did not comply with the requirement that such a measure should be based on a relevant assessment of the risks to human health.