Beef cattle have gotten bigger and bigger due to drugs including Zilmax, which is made by Intervet, a subsidiary of Merck. The average steer sent to a packing plant now weighs 1,300 pounds; in 1975, their average weight was 1,000 pounds. As an April 15th article in the Chronicle of Higher Education reports, a number of animal scientists at public universities help, and are paid by, pharmaceutical companies to advise and persuade farmers and ranches to use Zilmax, antibiotics, hormones and other drugs. The animal scientists and the companies have profited handsomely, even while the effects of these drugs on animals, and on humans, are unknown.
Read the full article here, on Care 2 Make a Difference.
so scary.