06/15/07 Beef and infertility

It's usually a good idea to check out news stories before taking them as the absolute truth. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to give you an example. Don't eat beef while you're pregnant or your male baby could have fertility problems. Now you know I'm not going to be telling expectant mothers that, but there are so called researchers who write articles exploiting that theme. Steven Milloy who publishes JunkSciences.com, also thinks environmental activist- researchers Shanna Swan of the University of Rochester and Danish researcher Niels Skakkebaek are way off the line of reason with the articles they write connecting hormones in beef with human male infertility. These articles appeared in the Los Angeles Times and the Edmonton Sun in Canada to name just two publications gullible enough to print this non-scientific research work. None of the men studied actually had fertility problems, they had just consulted their doctors about possible infertility at a higher rate than other men. In fact all the men had fathered children. Of the 387 subjects in the study only 51 had mothers who supposedly ate beef more than seven times per week. This was from data between the years 1949 to 1983; only trouble was the data wasn't collected until 1999 through 2005. What is that? Only 50 years after the fact? I need an aspirin! If this off-the-wall research had any validity, I doubt there would be many fourth and fifth generation cattle ranchers. I'm Jeff Keane. Beef Today, Late Spring 2007