Unable to prove that the meat had not been treated with banned hormones, Brazil stopped its exports to Europe. A revelation that bodes ill for the trade agreement between Mercosur and the EU is currently being negotiated. Estradiol 17-β! You don’t know what it is, but you certainly don’t want to find it in your lasagne, ravioli or burgers. This growth hormone is used in some livestock farms to make animals increase their muscle mass faster. Since 1998 it has been completely banned from the European market. It is forbidden to give it to Charolais cows grazing in France, for example. The import of ribs, chops and rump containing it is also banned. Brazil, the world’s largest exporter of beef, authorises these treatments. And we have just learned that it cannot guarantee that the red meat it sends to Europe has not been spiked with this hormone. This is what emerges from an audit by the European Union’s health directorate conducted between the end of May and mid-June and published discreetly on 8 October. Below: Brazilian zebu, used to make bresaola.
