Hormones In Chicken

[leisurely]

A neighbour - farang woman, told me yesterday of a friend of hers who had taken one of her five year old twins to the doctor. It seems that the little girls breasts were developing. The first doctor told her to stop feeding the children chicken due to the level of hormones given to the birds. The mother saw a further three doctors who all gave the same advice. Now, my question is this. Does it sound feasible or is it an urban myth? Should I stop feeding my girls fowl or not? Apologies for the abysmal punctuation, parts of my keyboard aren't working.

Thank you.

[TAWP]

Not sure why it would affect the girls exclusivly, but hormones in chickens (and other meat) has been used in most countries. While some banned it long time ago (Canada banned them in the 60s and so on) we can probably assume that in most 3rd world countries, where food is more important, the practise still carries on since it guarantees higher yeld of meat per chicken.

[Farma]

About 10 years ago a male colleague was diagnosed with breast cancer. It came as a shock to all of us that men could get breast cancer and our doctor was asked a lot of questions on the subject.

At the time the doctor told us there was a risk of breast cancer from eating chickens that had been treated with growth hormones. He mentioned Egypt had a large percentage of male breast cancer due to chicken making up a large part of their diet.

The web site breastcancer.org has an interview with a Dr Davis from the University of Pittsburg Cancer Institute center for environmental oncology.

“There have also been case reports that we describe on our website, showing that young black baby girls who have developed premature breast growth between the ages of 1 and 3 had been exposed to hormones from personal hair products, which their parents had used on their daughters’ hair and scalps. When exposure stopped, the breasts went away in these baby girls. Unfortunately very few people know about this problem.”

One can only assume the hormones used in chickens may cause the same symptoms as the hormones mentioned by Dr Davis.

[Little Black Duck]

This must be the Ducks serious day...

Strange you tell the story of the little girl growing Breasts,

I find it logical, as I heard many years ago of a different thing happening..

There was a body exhumed for some reason or other and to the shock

of the Pathologists the state of decomposition was very slow..

they ran all kinds of tests and it seems the preservatives in foods

had stored in the body and was preserving it after death..

So in conclusion I think the same thing happened with the growth hormones

in the Chickens..

Sound logical to me, perhaps I'm wrong..

[londonthai]

The mother saw a further three doctors who all gave the same advice. Now, my question is this. Does it sound feasible or is it an urban myth?

no, it's not an urban legend - at least 4 independent doctors easily gave the same diagnosis.

hormones given to chicken do affect human hormones.

if you believe that your kids should eat meat (which is not an obligation, however vegetarian/vegan diet is healthier) try to buy a free range chicken or even wild poltry from the street markets rather than industrial farm ones from the supermarkets.

Avoid all other foods from the supermarkets (not only meat) as it will have much more hormones and preservatives than the street food.

[petedk]

Interesting. My friend has a daughter of 13 years. She loves fried chicken and eats at KFC several times a week. She has developed quite large breasts (larger than many 20 year olds). Her father said that it was because of all the hormones in the chicken that she ate. I just laughed and said "Rubbish". Maybe there is some truth in it.

On a lighter note ... another girl I know (aged about 21) started to develope large breasts and when questioned she laughed and said it was because of sex!! Urban myth or what?

[churchill]

In many supermarkets they sell products with CP , which I thought meant they were organic and safe but maybe this is incorrect , They sell chicken liver , chicken and some vegetables , tomatoes , cucumber etc

Otherwise how can you know what is free range and or organic , without the regulation there is in the west ?

What about vegetables from the Kings Project in Chaing Mai - Doi Kam ?

[churchill]

I thought about buying some oranges from Tesco yesterday but when I picked thm up I notice a white fungus on the ouside , plus a not very pleasant smell and the oranges were sticky - It seemed as if they had been sprayed with something , - Tesco are trying to launch a greener image in the UK and they should not think that they can increase there profits by sellling dodgy fruit , veg and meat ? in Thailand !

[TAWP]

New diet for bar-girls: chicken only.

[lannarebirth]

Mu girlfriend says the reason there are so many katoeys in Thailand is because of the hormones in the chicken here. She says it's common knowledge amongst all Thais.

[slackula]

Interesting. My friend has a daughter of 13 years. She loves fried chicken and eats at KFC several times a week.

Your friend deserves to be entered into the Darwin parent-of-the-year contest.

The daughter is going to end up as an obese diabetic pouring powder into the open sores on her lizard thighs at the age of 30

[bina]

chicken feed has hormones, antibiotics for prevention of coccidiosis and other things; when we wanted to order chicken feed for our chickens, we were given a zillion choices of addtitives to put in with the feed (this is xxx brand feed supllier in israel)....

i'll try to find their catalogue to see what the addtiives are.

so not an urban myth. supposedly u are supposed to stop feeding certain feeds to the chckens before they go to the market; but who follows rules in any country???

bina

israel

[farangsay]

Saw a documentary years ago about a weird thing

in Puerto Rico where young boys were growing breasts.

They tracked it back to hormones stuffed in the

product by chicken producers to make them grow

faster (the chickens that is).

Just remember 2 things.

What's good for business is good for business.

You are what you eat.

[Jamie]

It's not just the hormones etc in the meat, it's also the pharmaceuticals that get flushed down the toilet. Most medications that end up in the sewage system eventually end up in the water we drink since there are no methods that water treatment plants can use to filter them from the water.

[farangsay]

It's not just the hormones etc in the meat, it's also the pharmaceuticals that get flushed down the toilet. Most medications that end up in the sewage system eventually end up in the water we drink since there are no methods that water treatment plants can use to filter them from the water.

That's an interesting point Pluto.

You obviously have medical qualifications.

If you could fill me in on these I will happily

head for the balcony rather than the toilet

tomorrow am and it would help if I could

explain to whichever policeman arrested

me that I was acting on medical advice.

[londonthai]

male infertility and less of some fresh water fish is linked to hormone based pregnancy pills being flushed down the drain.

Drink your wee rather than water to boost your sperm quality

[GuestHouse]

With respect to food in Thailand the issue is far broader than hormones in chicken meat.

Lack of regulation and lax control over what regulation there is has lead to the Thai food industry disregarding swaithes of advice and exprerience avaialble from the international food industry and regulatory boddies.

Nor is hormone use in chicken production the only issue, chicken production relies on the use of anti biotics to enable chickens to be raised in factory farms - And yes, factory farming of chickens is the principal means of production, indeed Thailand is an exportor of chicken, not by means of free range.

Chemical usage in agriculture ranges from the semi educated use of hebisides and pesticides to the criminal use of banned chemicals.

Watch a Thai using cleaning products in the home and you'll get the idea. 1oz of cleaning fluid gets the bathroom clean, by Thai logic half a pint will get it spotless. Excatly the same reasoning is applied to the use of chemicals in food production.

If my wife's mother has to buy vegitibles at the market she does what many Thais do, she looks for the vegitibles with signs of insects having freasted. Her logic is simple, if the bugs won't eat it neither will she.

Thai food, let's rave about the taiste, but go easy when discussing food safety in Thailand. You'll be lucky to find someone who understands it, let alone understands the implications.

Edited January 26, 2007 by GuestHouse

[Pepe']

Department of Poultry Science, Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802.

With a continually expanding market for poultry meat products, increased production demands of as much as 50% by the Year 2000 have been predicted. Indications already exist that this magnitude of expansion is not likely to be met by increased production output and genetic selection alone, and that other methods of improving growth performance per bird via exogenous manipulation of the growth process are needed. Studies in mammalian species clearly demonstrate the importance of growth hormone (GH) and its potential for enhancing productivity in domestic mammals. However, the role of GH in growth of poultry appears to be much more complex. Taken collectively, studies to date indicate that significant, positive effects of GH on growth performance of normal, growing poultry are possible. Expression of such effects appear to be largely contingent on the period of posthatch development (late posthatch being more responsive than early), and the pattern of several key metabolic regulatory hormones resulting in response to GH. Such regulatory hormone responses are largely influenced by the pattern or magnitude of exposure (acute versus chronic) to GH in birds. At this time, the available information on the potential for insulin-like growth factors to enhance growth is limited, and further studies are needed before a definitive role for these peptides in growth and development of poultry can be assigned.

PMID: 1924095 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

[Jamie]

It's not just the hormones etc in the meat, it's also the pharmaceuticals that get flushed down the toilet. Most medications that end up in the sewage system eventually end up in the water we drink since there are no methods that water treatment plants can use to filter them from the water.

That's an interesting point Pluto.

You obviously have medical qualifications.

If you could fill me in on these I will happily

head for the balcony rather than the toilet

tomorrow am and it would help if I could

explain to whichever policeman arrested

me that I was acting on medical advice.

While I don't have medical qualifications, I have a biology/chemistry background and deal with water quality issues in my career. I am talking about taking expired pills and flushing them down the toilet or drain. I meant that hormones in food are just one worry we have. People dispose of everything down the drain. From birth control pills, to antibiotics as well as other medications that act as hormone mimics and endocrine disrupters. The waste treatment industry has no real way to get these chemicals out of the water. There has been an increase in the amount of fish that are either sexless or have both sets of sex organs. There has been an increase in "superbugs" as well because of the disposal issues with antibiotics not only by humans but the heavily drugged livestock where their waste ends up in the waterways or groundwater.

I know some people on here have expressed concerns about open burning of plastics etc. Some of the chemicals coming off of these fires also act as hormone mimics.

[Pepe']

Here in the USA, 65% of antibiotics are used by the livestock industry...

[Jet Gorgon]

Fascinating and scary, although we've probably all heard about this for awhile. No wonder KFC has started to taster weirder with the years. I could use a bit more cleavage tho...

I thought I was safe buying only from the wet markets, but as Bina pointed out, there are probably a zillion additives in the livestock feed. Ditto Guesthouse's note on market veg with insects; that started in my village about six years ago. I also heard of a pineapple grower who sprayed pesticides on products for sale, but not on ones sold in his local market.

If demand for chicken is higher because of culling for bird flu, it makes sense that farmers would increase hormone/antibiotic/whatever additives to raise productivity.

I'd go vegetarian, but I need that steak every week or so for energy. And who knows if the veg and fruit are safe? E-coli?

Oh la, if we start worrying about everything, we'll starve and die.

[JRinger]

Interesting. My friend has a daughter of 13 years. She loves fried chicken and eats at KFC several times a week. She has developed quite large breasts (larger than many 20 year olds). Her father said that it was because of all the hormones in the chicken that she ate. I just laughed and said "Rubbish". Maybe there is some truth in it.

On a lighter note ... another girl I know (aged about 21) started to develope large breasts and when questioned she laughed and said it was because of sex!! Urban myth or what?

Traditionally, Chinese girls/women have small breasts although in Singapore where KFC's and other fried chicken outlets are popular as well as other fast food places, makes one wonder why the local girls have large breasts.....

[roamer]

Until the export ban on Thai chicken due to bird flu Thailand was the worlds largest exporter of chicken.

The biggest customer for it was the EU.

THE EU bans the import of US beef reared on growth hormone which accounts for virtually all US beef. This accounts for the regular stand-offs between the two and threats of trade sanctions by the US.

Given the relative importance of trade/political relations between Thailand & the EU and the US & EU I am quite happy to believe the EU is not allowing the import of hormone laden chickens from LOS whilst refusing US beef.

Interesting to note that Thailand,hopeful of regaining its export markets, also made it illegal to vaccinate against bird flu in poultry.

I wouldn'tt eat the KFC but the rest of the scaremongers can go back to their plastic sandals and eating their birdseed.

[kmart]

During the relatively short time *chortle* that I've been eating the chicken from CP's new fast food outlets I have experienced vast gains in penis size. Up to 3" Inches!!!!!!!

My girlfriend is incredulous, and my new found confidence has seen me get a recent promotion at work!

Thank you CP!!!

[londonthai]

if you read my earlier post on this thread you would realise that you might be shooting empty

[petedk]

Your friend deserves to be entered into the Darwin parent-of-the-year contest.

The daughter is going to end up as an obese diabetic pouring powder into the open sores on her lizard thighs at the age of 30 whistling.gif

Yes, you are right. Her father is grosly overweight (100kg and Thai). She stopped eating KFC about 6 months ago and has lost some weight although she is still what I'd call obese.

[londonthai]

fast food phenomenon is yet another story - not only that this kind of food is packed with hormones/preservatives, it's a processed food with a lot of saturated fats.

punters going there tend to be too lazy to shop and prepare foods and cook by themselves

[bina]

remember that its not just hormones and antibiotics (against coccidiosis ) to raise chikcens for market manoevering with lighting to increase daylight exposure is also used.

i wont even tell u what disgusting chemicals are used to disinfect a chicken coop before the next batch of chicks comes in. during the flue scare i ordered disinfectant from the guys that run our coops; they brought me something BETTER AND STRONGER, and carcinogenic tetrogenic and is now still sitting in our zoo poisons' closet. i have 20 liters of the stuff and its enough to use for the next ten years. still looking for a way to dispose of it. and the coops are supposed to be thoroughly aired and hosed before re filling. but who really follows instructions when time is money and another pair of hands is missing. so there are residues.

we use stuff that is slightly 'greener' and use it very rarely; we read the label and measure exactly the amount needed etc. but most middle easterners and the majority of thai workers do not go according to instruction . more is better. blech.!!

believe me, when u work in agriculture, it doesnt neccessarily make u want to be a veggie (i eat my goat kids, delicious) but it does make u very aware of what potentially u are ingesting along with the chevre goat meat, or brie, or shnitzel. or very lackadaisical about it all.. what the heck, i been using this stuff for xx years and i'm still alive (and well preserved with formaldyhyde )

as for use of hormones; nowadays most goat and sheep dairies use hormones to instigate the heat cycle and produce more fetuses so the asaf awassi sheep will have 4 viable babies (to be fattened up for the lamb market, and goats to will produce 3-4 offspring and then u milk her and sell of the progeny... so more hormones. every where. and a difficult pregnanc for theanimal so needing more medical intervention ...

the chain reaction is endless...

bina

bina

[Farma]

Along the same lines

Oils 'make male breasts develop'

Using lavender and tea tree oil products can cause young boys to develop breast tissue, a study finds.

Gynaecomastia is rare, and there is often no obvious cause.

But US specialists report in the New England Journal of Medicine that three boys developed the condition after using the oils.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) team say doctors who see boys should ask about their use of such products.

Continued here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6318043.stm

[dave111223]

I hadn't heard this until i got here. But i still don't believe it. Because everything seems to be blamed on some kind of food here.

Anything that i like that my wife doesn't "causes cancer". According to her "Burnt toast causes Cancer".

As was talking to my Aunt in Law the other day and she said her son (10 years old) was having aching pains in his knees. She then proceeded to explain that it was because he eats too much KFC...

Then again i could just be on the safe side and restrict my diet to grass and tofu.