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Updated Sunday, February 5, 2012 0:02 am TWN, CNA

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Scholars back moderate levels of ractopamine

TAIPEI -- Small amounts of the livestock feed addictive ractopamine will not cause harm to the human body, but a standard for the level of residues in meat must be established, scholars said Saturday, amid concerns in some quarters that the government will soon lift the ban on U.S. beef containing the chemical.

The human body has the ability to tolerate and process moderate amounts of ractopamine residues in beef and pork, said Lai Shiow-suey, a professor at National Taiwan University's (NTU) School of Veterinary Medicine.

Lai said the use of ractopamine as a feed additive is allowed in 20-plus countries, including the U.S. where it was first approved in 1999 for pig rearing.

In the past 13 years, there has not been a reported case of anyone in the U.S. being poisoned by ractopamine residues,” Lai said.

He said many of the people who are opposed to ractopamine are not professionals and are therefore not qualified to make a judgment on the issue.

The public often confuses ractopamine with sports performance-enhancing drugs like albutamol and clenbuterol that are more toxic, the professor said.

He noted that advanced agricultural countries like Australia, South Korea, Malaysia and Japan have all adopted a Maximum Residue Level (MRL) for ractopamine.

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