Is pork from a pig that was fed a diet containing ractopamine HCl safe for human consumption?
The use of ractopamine HCl as a feed additive in swine diets has been extensively studied for many years prior to its Food and Drug Administration approval in 1999. These studies20 have shown that pork from pigs fed diets containing ractopamine HCl is safe for human consumption. There is no withdrawal time required. A major limitation to the acceptance of β-agonists such as ractopamine HCl in animal production in other countries is the risk associated with drug residues in the meat products. This is especially true for clenbuterol, which has a rather long elimination time from the animal body (> 21 days),21 and thus may cause unsafe drug residues in meat and meat products.22 Consumption of pork containing clenbuterol residues can have adverse effects in humans.20 For this reason, clenbuterol and other related products have been banned for use as repartitioning agents in many parts of the world, including the United States.
