February, 2000
		Shocking News: Illegal Beef Hormone Found in U.S. Beef USDA Secretary Dan Glickman admitted before a group of European and American consumer advocates that traces of outlawed growth hormone diethylstilbestrol (DES) were detected in samples of exported U.S. beef. DES is a suspected carcinogen that was banned from the U.S. market in 1979; the U.S.D.A. tested meat for DES until 1991, when it was concluded that it was no longer in use and therefore posed no danger to consumers. In July, traces of DES were found in two of 26 samples tested in Switzerland. USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety Catherine Woteki said that testing for DES by the Food Safety and Inspection Service would resume in about one month. Obliquely, Undersecretary Woteki added that the decision to resume testing was based on "not only the Swiss findings, but other information that came to us." Bruce Silverglade, legal affairs director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), said that it was likely the DES discovery would further undermine European confidence in American food products, "adding insults to other injuries." CSPI initially brought this issue to public awareness earlier this month when a letter from Secretary Glickman to David Byrne, a top European Union official, was uncovered. In the letter, Glickman admitted to suspicions that DES, which is still legally available to treat companion animals, may be improperly diverted to farm animals. ©1998-2000 Vegan Street