What are the harms of adding clenbuterol to pig feed?
The scientific name of "clenbuterol" is clenbuterol hydrochloride, originally a bronchodilator drug used to treat asthma, also known as ambuterol, spiropent, etc. If this drug is used in large doses in livestock farming for meat production, it can increase protein synthesis; added to feed, it can improve feed conversion rate, speed up growth, significantly reduce the fat of livestock, increase lean meat, and raise the carcass lean meat rate by more than 10%.
The reason farmers use "clenbuterol" is that "clenbuterol" can bring them greater profits. Generally speaking, raising a lean-type pig, from breeding stock to finished pig, costs much more than raising an ordinary-type pig; the cost of purchasing the two kinds of pigs alone, together with the relatively long raising period, is more than many farmers can bear. Using "clenbuterol" to turn an ordinary pig into a lean-type pig takes only about 10-20 days in total, and the cost is only a few yuan, and the medicated pig has a glossy coat and full, well-developed rump muscles, making the live pig very eye-catching; after slaughter, the pork, due to the accumulation of clenbuterol, has a bright red, attractive color and is very much in demand.
However, "clenbuterol" is neither a veterinary drug nor a feed additive, but an adrenal neurostimulant, in fact a hormone, and a "drug" that seriously harms the healthy development of the livestock industry and the safety of livestock products. After pigs eat "clenbuterol", its toxicity mainly accumulates in the pig liver, pig lungs and other parts. After people eat cooked pig liver or pig lungs, poisoning symptoms will appear, so care should be taken to eat less of the internal organs of pigs such as lungs, heart, liver and kidneys.
After "clenbuterol" enters the body, it has the characteristics of rapid distribution and slow elimination; its chemical properties are stable, and it is difficult to destroy its toxicity during cooking. "Clenbuterol" is highly toxic; excessive use or use without illness can cause adverse reactions such as muscle tremors, palpitations, shivering, headache, nausea, and vomiting, and the danger is even more serious especially for patients with hypertension, heart disease, hyperthyroidism, prostatic hypertrophy, etc. Long-term use may lead to chromosomal aberrations and induce malignant tumors. The harm of "clenbuterol" is enormous, and consumers must be doubly careful when buying pork. When buying, be sure to check clearly whether the pork has a health quarantine certificate. The simplest way to identify whether pork contains "clenbuterol" is to see whether the pork has fat (lard); if the lean meat is found directly under the skin of the pork, then such pork may contain "clenbuterol". If the pork is found to have a darker color, bright color quality, full and protruding rump muscles, and very thin fat, such pork may contain "clenbuterol".
In recent years, due to the strengthening of management of pig breeding and slaughter quarantine by various departments and the improvement of consumers' awareness of prevention, "clenbuterol" has been used less and less in pig breeding; however, "clenbuterol" has transformed itself and appeared in beef cattle breeding among some farmers! This should arouse great attention from the relevant management and quarantine departments, which should take effective measures to curb it in order to protect consumers' health.