02/08/07 Hormone non-worry

Hormone Non-Worry Sometimes it's easy to see an issue or worry is actually a non-issue. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back in one minute to give you an example. I was just reading in Beef magazine about Switzerland contemplating banning hormone-treated beef in 2007. It seems the main reason for this decision was to be more in line with all their European Union neighbor countries. Switzerland is not part of the EU, but has many ties to it through trade agreements and the ability of Swiss citizens to work in EU countries. The ban on hormone-treated beef has been a legal soap opera since the 1990's between the European Union, the United States, Canada and Argentina. The EU claims hormones are bad for human health; the other three countries say the EU has no scientific information to back up its claim. The World Trade Organization has been called in to settle the debate but nothing has been truly settled. The funny thing to me is what amount of the hormone, estrogen, the fuss is all about. Estrogen levels are measured in nanograms. A nanogram is one billionth of a gram, yes that's with a "b." Or, as a speaker once told me one nanogram is one blade of grass compared to all the grass on a football field. Now three ounces of nonimplanted steer beef has 1.2 nanograms of estrogen, three ounces of implanted steer beef records 1.9 nanograms. Four ounces of cabbage has 2,7000 nanograms of estrogen. Could this be a politically motivated trade issue and a health non-issue? I think so. I'm Jeff Keane. Beef, January 2007 Ketch Pen, January 2007