Ractopamine at the Center of Decades-Long Scientific and Legal Disputes: A Lesson on Benefits, Safety Issues, and Conflicts

• Main Authors: Abbas, Kumail, Raza, Aqeel, Vasquez, Ross D, Roldan, Marri Jmelou M, Malhotra, Nemi, Huang, Jong-Chin, Buenafe, Olivia Erin M, Chen, Kelvin H. -C, Liang, Shin-Shin, Hsiao, Chung-Der
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2022
• Subjects: ractopamine; feed additive; toxicity; aquatic animals; Agriculture; Animal Sciences; Aquaculture and Fisheries; Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology; Life Sciences
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/chemistry-faculty-pubs/190; https://archium.ateneo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1190&context=chemistry-faculty-pubs
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Ractopamine (RAC) is a synthetic phenethanolamine, β–adrenergic agonist used as a feed additive to develop leanness and increase feed conversion efficiency in different farm animals. While RAC has been authorized as a feed additive for pigs and cattle in a limited number of countries, a great majority of jurisdictions, including the European Union (EU), China, Russia, and Taiwan, have banned its use on safety grounds. RAC has been under long scientific and political discussion as a controversial antibiotic as a feed additive. Here, we will present significant information on RAC regarding its application, detection methods, conflicts, and legal divisions that play a major role in controversial deadlock and why this issue warrants the attention of scientists, agriculturists, environmentalists, and health advocates. In this review, we highlight the potential toxicities of RAC on aquatic animals to emphasize scientific evidence and reports on the potentially harmful effects of RAC on the aquatic environment and human health.