topic background The recent referendum on the import of U.S. pork for "Ractopamine" has brought great attention and discussion to scientific issues related to human health. However, many news and Internet discussions have deviated from rational scientific evidence bases, and often reduced to two. The non-objective form of the Fang Debate hopes to clarify the public's doubts and return to the rational basis of scientific discussions through rational discussions between relevant scientific research scholars and experts. Based on the relevant research on ractopamine consumption of pork, the
Taiwan Science and Technology Media Center popular database specially invited relevant scholars and experts to analyze and comment on this topic. what the experts say Jiang Zhigang, professor at the Institute of Toxicology, National Taiwan University School of Medicine November 25, 2021 The discussion on the safety of ractopamine pork and human consumption focuses on "Is the pig safe" and "How can people feel at ease". The former is risk assessment at the natural science and objective level; the latter is risk perception at the social science and subjective level. In terms of safety, we often use the concepts of "acceptable daily intake (ADI)" and "maximal residue level" (MRL) to discuss the harm of chemical substances to human body.
Note that both are controlled doses calculated based on toxicological principles. The so-called ADI refers to the amount of a certain substance that the human body does not affect health even if it is ingested every day; this dose is the starting standard for administrative control by the competent authority, and the national standards are usually similar or even the same. The so-called MRL refers to the dose at which the food will not cause health problems even if the food is consumed for a lifetime under the allowable amount of food residues. In addition to referring to the aforementioned ADI dose, each country also considers its people's eating habits, crop types, cultivation and management purposes and International organization standards, etc., further formulate domestic administratively controlled doses as a law enforcement standard. This standard is not "excessive poisoning", but provides manufacturers with a "exceeding will be punished" standard.