Question

1. MLO5 What are the concerns about the use of each of the following in food production?
   1. Hormones
   2. Antibiotics
   3. Pesticides
   4. GMO’s

Answer 1

A) Hormones in food production

Certain hormones can make young animals gain weight faster. They help reduce the waiting time and the amount of feed eaten by an animal before slaughter in meat industries. In dairy cows, hormones can be used to increase milk production.But the amount of hormone that enters a person's bloodstream after eating hormone-treated meat is small compared with the amount of estrogen a person produces daily. However, even low levels of hormones can have strong effects on some body processes.It is reasonable that people are concerned with hormones we are adding to our food chain. For example, IGF-1 may stimulate growth in some tumors. This may affect the risk of cancer and aggressive cancers. Foods naturally have some hormones.

B) Antibiotics in food production

Antibiotics are used in food production to kill or stop the growth of harmful bacteria. Since the 1940s, antibiotics have been given to farm animals like cows, pigs and poultry in order to treat infections or prevent an illness from spreading.But overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics in the food- producing animals have also given rise to antibiotic resistance in animal pathogens. Antibiotic regimes no longer work on sick animals. Worse still, the resistant bacteria can spread from animals to humans through the food chain.Using antibiotics in animals may raise the risk of transmitting drug-resistant bacteria to humans either by direct infection or by transferring “resistance genes from agriculture into human pathogens,.

C) Pesticides in food production

Pesticides are used to keep food crops free from disease, bacteria and insects. Without the help of pesticides, food crops could not grow as easily making some fresh fruits and vegetables less available. Pesticides help to grow more food with less waste. This means food costs are lower because more food is available.Pesticides are among the leading causes of death by self-poisoning, in particular in low- and middle-income countries. As they are intrinsically toxic and deliberately spread in the environment, the production, distribution, and use of pesticides require strict regulation and control. Over use of Pesticides in food production will lead to various health problems in human being as well as other animals.

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D) GMO’s in food production

GMO crops could contribute to food production increases and higher food availability. There may also be impacts on food quality and nutrient composition. Finally, growing GM crops may influence farmers' income and thus their economic access to food.Crops do not damage the environment simply because they are GM. Some farming practices, such as the overuse of herbicides resulting in the excessive eradication of wild plants from farmland have been shown to harm the environment. But Risks Related to the Use of Genetically Modified Organisms Ecological Stability of the GMO are as follows

• Genetic Contamination/Interbreeding.
• Competition with Natural Species.
• Increased Selection Pressure on Target and Nontarget Organisms.
• Ecosystem Impacts.
• Impossibility of Followup.

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