The Idea of Applying Porcine Somatotropin for Food Consumption - Coursework Example

Porcine Somatotropin: Safe for Human Consumption? Full Identification Term of Enrollment Particularly the pigs, the idea of applying porcine somatotropin in animals for food consumption remains a controversial topic for the reasons that the Food and Drug Administration has not yet approve the use of porcine somatotropin for commercial use. Although the administration of porcine somatotropin in food products is widely accepted in the United Kingdom, it remains a fact that the practice of biotechnology in food products is still unaccepted throughout the United States. For this reason, limited studies are available with regards to the health, social, economic and environmental impact of treating pigs with porcine somatotropin. There are some groups of individuals who are continuously promoting the use of porcine somatotropin on food products. In most cases, these groups of individuals are trying to persuade and encourage the people to support the legalization of pST in food supply because of the health, economic, social and environmental benefits of porcine somatotropin on food products. In line with this, their main argument is focused to the fact that leaner pork with less fat content is healthier than consuming pork full of saturated fatty acids. Therefore, consumption of leaner pork could result to lesser incidence of coronary heart diseases and high blood pressure among related chronic health diseases. Introduction Released from the anterior pituary gland, somatotropin (ST) is a kind of natural protein hormone that regulates the growth of animals, stimulates the milk production, and improves the overall productive efficiency in livestock 5. A type of somatotropin, the porcine somatotropin (pST) is a growth hormone that are commonly produced and secreted by the glands of pigs. Since pST is a hormone produced by the pigs’ body, it remains questionable whether or not pST is safe for human consumption. The application of pST in animals remains a controversial issue because of the people’s concern with regards to the health and safety of making the use of pST legally accepted for human consumption. As a common source of protein, pork is widely sold in the market for human consumption. In line with this, Etherton 5 explained that the supply and demand for food products in relation to the continuously increasing world population encourages a lot of people to test the health benefits and safety of treating pork with pST. The purpose of this paper is to identify the different angles of controversial issues behind the use of pST in medicine and the administration of pST in animals particularly the pigs. Based on the research findings of selected articles, a related literature review will be conducted to determine the point-of-views of different author(s) with regards to the health and social benefits of treating pigs with pST, the economic advantages of using pST on the part of the producers and the environmental benefits of using pST. Presentation of the Controversy Health Benefits and Safety of pST for Human Consumption Administration of pST in pork reduces the production of carcass fat content between 70% to 80% which contributes to the improvements in the production efficiency by 15% to 35% 7. As a result of treating young pigs with pST for 60 days, several studies confirmed that the 30% decrease in fat deposition rate is possible because of the increase in protein deposition and 50% increase in muscle deposition rate 4, 5, 11, 13. Considering that meat is one of the major sources of total fat as well as saturated fatty acids in the human diet, the administration of pST in pork could benefit the people by having more leaner and more nutritious pork products 7. In line with this, producing a leaner pork meat is more advantageous to people who prefers to consume lesser intake of total fat and saturated fatty acids (SFA)5. Since lesser consumption of total fats and SFA could lower the low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) in the human body, risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) and other chronic diseases is reduced 10. In the long run, the use of pST could eventually lead to a more healthy living for more people around the world. Social, Economic and Environmental Benefits of Using pST in Animals Since the use of pST will enable the producers sell lean pork meat out of using lesser feeds, the people will be able to purchase pork products and other processed meat at a cheaper price. In line with this, the study of Etherton 6 found out that treating pigs with pST could increase their milk production between the 12th to 29th day of lactation. The economic benefit out of using pST is equally beneficial on the part of the producers since this group of business people will have the competitive edge to sell pork and other meat products at a more competitive price. With regards to the environmental benefits of using pST in cattle and pigs, several studies revealed that cutting down the amount of feeds requirement to produce meat or milk will indirectly cut down the demand for the use of fertilizers 2,9. Since these animals will need lesser feeds, the volume of animal wastes will also decrease. Consumers’ Attitude towards pST in Pork After examining the consumers’ attitude with regards to the presence of recombinant pST in pork products, the research study of Sukant, Grotegut, & Clem 12 found out that the main reason why there are a lot of people who refrain from purchasing pork products is due to low level of awareness about pST in pork. Similar to the point-of-view of Etherton 5, Sukant, Grotegut, & Clem 12 explained that the lack of knowledge with regards to pST makes people more concerned about consuming pork products. Discussion Despite the health and social benefits of administering pST in growing pigs, the fact that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet approve pST for commercial use makes people concern about consuming pork products with pST 7. Related to misperception regarding the study of biotechnology, Etherton 5 argued that people are having difficult time accepting the fact that pST in pigs is safe for human consumption. With regards to the safety of treating animals with pST, several studies suggest that the fact that amino acid sequences of pST and bovine somatotropin (bST) is 90% identical means that the use of this hormone is safe for human consumption 5, 8. On the contrary, Davis 3 revealed that the use of bST could result to antibiotic resistant infection to people which could lead to the development of other unknown diseases similar to AIDS. Assessment Up to the present time, it is not clear whether or not the use of pST in treating animals is really safe for human consumption. The fact that FDA has not yet approved the use of pST for commercial use limits the available research studies with regards to the safety issues of using pST in animals. In the absence of research studies that directly tests the safety of pST for human consumption makes it difficult to justify or agree with Etherton’s claim that pST is safe for human beings 5. Aside from making pork meat leaner with less fat content, the social, economic, and environmental benefits of using pST does not really mean that the use of pST is safe. Even though the amino acid sequences of pST is 90% identical with the structure found in bST does not guarantee that the use of pST on animals is really safe for human consumption 5, 8. The 10% difference between the amino acid sequence of pST and bST could still be a window for serious health consequences to develop in the long-run. Aside from the fact that the commercial use of pST is not yet approved by the FDA, several studies revealed that the distribution of biotechnology in animal food will be very difficult to implement for the reasons that the use of pST in living tissues and life cycles can easily be a subject of controversy because of a lot of social and ethical concerns with regards to the application of biotechnology in animals 1. The only thing that is certain is that the use of pST will enable us to enjoy the health benefits of eating lean pork meat with 70% to 80% carcass fat content. Because of the past scientific-based research studies that focuses on determining the impact of treating pigs with pST, it is possible for producers to raise lean pigs since the presence of pST in pigs’ body contributes to the increase in protein and muscle deposition rather than the usual fat deposition. This argument can make pST treated pigs healthier in the sense that the human consumption of less SFA could minimize the risk that a person would develop coronary heart disease and other chronic diseases 10. Conclusion Although Etherton is very much convinced that the use of pST in animals is safe for human consumption, it is very difficult to agree with the author’s point-of-view due to the fact that there is limited recent studies with regards to the use of pST in pigs. On top of this, there is practically close to zero studies that has been conducted to test the safety of pST for human consumption. Although science-based researches show that the amino acids of bST and pST is almost similar, this will never be a guarantee that pST is safe for human consumption. In line with this, the 10% difference in the structure of amino acids of bST and pST may still be the reason for endangering the lives of the people. I am convinced that treating pigs with pST can lead to the production of lean pork with less saturated fat. Due to the fact that treated pigs contains a higher portion of recombinant pST as compared to untreated pigs, there is a strong need for FDA to require further research studies before finally giving approval for the commercial use of pST. Aside from enabling the livestock producers to increase their annual production output with the use of pST, making lean pork with less saturated fats available in the market is very promising. However, allowing the use of pST for commercial use without further studies could result to more serious health problems. Since there is a possibility for unknown diseases to manifest, the lives of the innocent people can be endangered. *** End *** References 1. American Dietetic Association (2009) “Biotechnology and the future of food,” http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/home_3793_ENU_HTML.htm 2. Bauman, D. (1992). “Bovine somatotropin: Review of an emerging animal technology,” J. Dairy. Sci., 75: 3432-3451. 3. Davis, B. (2000). “Commentary: The Scientists World,” Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, pp. 1-12. 4. Dunshea, F., Cox, M., Borg, M., Sillence, M., & Harris, D. (2002). “Porcine somatotropin (pST) administered using a commercial delivery system improves growth performance of rapidly-growing, group-housed finisher pigs,” Aust. J. Agric. Res., 53:287-293. 5. Etherton, T. (2009). “The Efficacy, Safety and Benefits of Bovine Somatotropin and Porcine Somatotropin”, http://blogs.das.psu.edu/tetherton/wp-content/uploads/somatotropin_safety.pdf 6. Etherton, T. (1991). “Porcine Somatotropin: Review of an Emerging Technology,” commissioned background paper prepared for the Office of Technology Assessment. 7. Etherton, T., Kris-Etherton, P., & Mills, E. (1993) “Recombinant bovine and porcine somatotropin: Safety and benefits of these biotechnologies,” J. Am. Diet. Ass., 93(2):177-180. 8. Etherton, T., Louveau, I., Sorensen, M., & Chaudhuri, S. (1993). “Mechanisms by which somatotropin decreases adipose tissue growth,” Am. J. Clin. Nutr., 58(suppl):287S-295S. 9. Johnson, D., Ward, G., & Torrent, J. (1992). “The Environmental Impact of Bovine Somatotropin Use in Dairy Cattle,” J. Environ. Quality, 21:157-162. 10. Knopp, R., & Retzlaff, B. (2004) “Saturated fat prevents coronary artery disease? An American paradox,” Am. J. of Clin. Nutr., 80(5):1102-1103. 11. Oliver, W., Touchette, K., Coalson, J., Whisnant, C., Brown, J., Matthews Oliver, S., et al. (2005) “Pigs weaned from the sow at 10 days of age respond to dietary energy source of manufactured liquid diets and exogenous porcine somatotropin,” J. Anim. Sci., 83:1002-1009. 12. Sukant, M., Grotegut, D., & Clem, K. (1998) “Consumer attitude toward Recombinant Porcine Somatotropin,” Agribusiness, 13(1):11-20. 13. Wilson, F., Orellana, R., Suryawan, A., Nguyen, H., Jeyapalan, A., Frank, J., et al. (2008) “Stimulation of muscle protein synthesis by somatotropin in pigs is independent of the somatotropin-induced increase in circulating insulin,” Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab., 295:E187–E194. Read More