In some lands hormones are also added to animal feed to speed up animal growth. Hormones and antibiotics are said to protect animals against infection and to make intensive farming more profitable, with benefit to the consumer in the form of lower prices.

What about hormone-treated meat? A professor in Munich, Germany, Dr. Heinrich Karg, comments: “All experts agree that meat from hormone-treated animals is not harmful to health, provided that the substances are administered in accordance with the guidelines.” However, the newspaper Die Woche reports that on the issue of the safety of meat from hormone-fed animals, “for the past 15 years, researchers have been unable to agree upon a common viewpoint.” And in France the question of hormones in meat has been answered with a resounding ‘No! Hormones should not be used!’ Clearly, the controversy is far from resolved.