Growth hormones in your chicken? No way.

Never expect hormones in Cocorico poultry

What are hormones?
Hormones are molecules that are secreted from the endocrine glands in the body directly into the bloodstream so they can exert their effect on various organs and tissues. While hormones flow through the entire body, they only work on specific cells. You can think of hormones and hormone receptor sites as a lock and key set. Hormones are released from the pituitary gland, pineal gland, thymus, thyroid, adrenal glands, pancreas, testes and ovaries. Hormones are released in various quantities throughout the day, like when insulin is released after consuming a carbohydrate-rich meal or when melatonin is released at night to stimulate sleep. An imbalance of hormones, where there is an excess (hyper-function) or deficiency (hypo-function), can lead to illness and is often a result of nutrient insufficiency and synthetic hormones.

Synthetic hormones can be found in anything from fragrances and personal care products to dairy products and meat. With the development of intensive animal farming, cattle farmers found that the administration of hormones to animals lead to a marked increase in the output of meat production and milk. In the US and Canada, the administration of hormones to cattle is still permitted, while it is prohibited on all farm animals in Europe.

As for the poultry industry, the use of growth hormones to breed chickens has been strictly forbidden by law since 1982 in accordance with directive 81/602 EEC of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). According to article 8, section 3 of Ordinance 199/2006, meat or products from animals treated with oestrogenic, androgenic or gestagenic agents or beta agonists cannot be placed on the market for human consumption. The use of substances such as estradiol-17β, progesterone, testosterone, zeranol, trenbolone and melengestrol acetate (MGA) are strictly forbidden.

As part of the Romanian government’s strategic surveillance food safety program and Ordinance 35/2016, poultry producers must agree to audits performed by the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA). Product samples are collected for laboratory analysis to rule out the presence of hormones, toxic substances and medications.

At Cocorico, we have further implemented our own programme that monitors and verifies the presence of any such substances in our product range.