Since deciding to go vegan, we started to learn about the horrific process by which animals are raised and killed for human consumption. If you are a new vegan or vegetarian and have not really dissected industrial meat production or factory farming, go have a look here. But be warned, it’s disturbing and frankly, completely indefensible. Ever hear of poop foam explosions on hog “farms?” How about zilpaterol or ractopamine? Zilpaterol is given to beef cattle to make them gain muscle weight (it’s a steroid), but when fed to horses, there were adverse effects. So, apparently not okay for horses, but a-okay for cows since they’re headed for slaughter—and then consumed by humans? One study found a variety of issues with the reproductive health of both male and female rats exposed to these endocrine disrupting chemicals. Ractopamine is another drug given to pigs, cattle and turkeys, and more disturbingly it is fed to them right before slaughter so that the drug remains in the animals’ systems at death, and then consumed by humans. It was first tested for asthma in humans but failed, and it is now sold under a variety of brand names for animal use, including Paylean and Topmax. The link below takes you to an article from Nutrition Facts dot org, we urge you to read the entire article: Studies over the last decade have shown that pigs on ractopamine may have chronically elevated heart rates, increased stress reactions, and difficulty walking. In fact the warning label reads: ‘‘Caution: Pigs fed PAYLEAN are at an increased risk for exhibiting the downer pig syndrome,” a condition in which pigs are too sick, injured, or exhausted to stand and may be dragged to slaughter. It’s not just bacon you are eating, or turkey or beef anymore. It’s all the drugs, chemicals and antibiotics pumped into those miserable animals during the short course of their lives that wind up not only in your body, but in the water supply, air, earth and possibly passed onto your children while in utero. Banned in many other countries but not the United StatesChina is the largest consumer of pork products in the world with an ever-growing appetite for more. The thing is, China is very protectionist when it comes to importing foreign goods and with the potential buyout of Smithfield by a company with Chinese ties, for the sole purpose of importing U.S. pork into China, Smithfield has begun eliminating the use of ractopamine in some of its livestock. Why? Because China has banned ractopamine for safety reasons, along with 159 other countries including Russia, the European Union, Malaysia and Taiwan. But why would Smithfield still use it here in the United States but stop its use for Chinese exports? All we can say is follow the money trail or the lobbying trail, which are really one and the same. You are what you eat. http://www.vegtosterone.com/2013/06/25/whats-in-your-bacon-ractopamine-thats-what-banned-in-160-countries-except-the-u-s/