Chicken causing health problems

jenn1984

Are people aware of hormones being used in chicken available in supermarkets in Ireland? The reason I asked is that I recently went to the doctor with breast pain (nothing suspicious) and she told me to cut out chicken due to this reason and take evening primrose oil. It shocks me that chicken that is widely available in Irish supermarkets could affect people's health. Anyone else hear of this?

Thanks,
Jennifer

P.S. Not asking for health advice, just wondering if anyone else has heard if this?

The Hill Billy

You would be better directing your questions to Bord Bia or the Food Safety Authority to get a definitive answer on this.

I'll let the thread stay, but if it heads towards food safety or medical advice territory - it will be closed.

tHB

Chemical Byrne

Out of curiosity, what hormone(s) are we talking about? Steroids or growth hormones of some type?

jenn1984

Doctor didn't specify - she phrased it by asking how much chicken did I eat and when I told her maybe a couple of times a week, she told me to cut it out due to hormones in the meat or if I didn't want to- I should switch over to free range. A bit disturbing really.

Sam Kade

Hormone use in animals in the EU was banned back in the mid eighties.

jaykay74

This is all a bit vague really. Don't eat chicken unless its free range

NoCrackHaving

jenn1984 wrote: »

Are people aware of hormones being used in chicken available in supermarkets in Ireland? The reason I asked is that I recently went to the doctor with breast pain (nothing suspicious) and she told me to cut out chicken due to this reason and take evening primrose oil. It shocks me that chicken that is widely available in Irish supermarkets could affect people's health. Anyone else hear of this?

Thanks,
Jennifer

P.S. Not asking for health advice, just wondering if anyone else has heard if this?

I'm pretty sure there hasn't been hormones added to chicken within the EU since the 1980's when the practice was banned.

jenn1984

jaykay74 wrote: »

This is all a bit vague really. Don't eat chicken unless its free range

Not really vague - she said due to hormones in bog standard chicken that it was affecting me and I should either cut it out completely or switch to free range.

Chemical Byrne

Sam Kade wrote: »

Hormone use in animals in the EU was banned back in the mid eighties.

Hmm. That's odd. Maybe the doc was referring to imported chicken meat products?

jenn1984

Only chicken I eat would be chicken fillets or whole chickens from well known supermarkets that is described on the packaging as Irish. All very strange. Thanks anyway!

Jennifer

rubadub

Don't know much about the subject but I would have guessed the recommendation would have been for organic over free range, if there was a legitimate concern. Since if hormones are allowed to be used I would have guessed the rules for free range are just about housing, and would have thought "organic" would be about what they eat or how they are treated with drugs etc.

boodlesdoodles

The only hormones you should be worrying about are your own 😃 I take evening primrose oil, doctor recommended, and never once has she said anything about chicken to me. Don't bother googling it as you will just get up a load of bad nutritional advice from hacks. If worried ask your doctor what research she has based this opinion on so you can read up on it.

Dial Hard

boodlesdoodles wrote: »

If worried ask your doctor what research she has based this opinion on so you can read up on it.

This. I suspect the doc may have read some literature out of the US where meat is treated extremely differently to the EU and ran with it. You see it all the time here. People read something online and assume it applies across the board.

As BoodlesDoodles said, ask her how she came to this diagnosis. Doctors aren't immune to making mistakes, despite what we'd like to think.

UsedToWait

boodlesdoodles wrote: »

The only hormones you should be worrying about are your own ðŸ˜႒ I take evening primrose oil, doctor recommended, and never once has she said anything about chicken to me. Don't bother googling it as you will just get up a load of bad nutritional advice from hacks. If worried ask your doctor what research she has based this opinion on so you can read up on it.

As far as I'm aware there is a lot of chicken still coming to Ireland via Thailand and Brazil, where regulations governing meat production are not to the same standards as the EU..

In my old job, we had suppliers trying to pass off as 'Irish' chicken imported frozen from the above countries and cooked / processed in Ireland.

I wouldn't be surprised if this was still the case.
If I was a meat eater, I'd certainly be looking closely at the origin of the chicken I was purchasing.

geez

jenn1984 wrote:

Are people aware of hormones being used in chicken available in supermarkets in Ireland? The reason I asked is that I recently went to the doctor with breast pain (nothing suspicious) and she told me to cut out chicken due to this reason and take evening primrose oil. It shocks me that chicken that is widely available in Irish supermarkets could affect people's health. Anyone else hear of this?

Hi jenn1984 I have had a similar experience to you. Had breast pain was referred to the clinic they didnt find anything and told me the same as you no chicken and take evening primrose. I have been taking it and avoiding chicken but it still comes and goes and mine is only in my left breast! Are you finding the evening primrose helps?

The Hill Billy

Let's keep the discussion relevant to the forum please.

Thanks,

tHB

pwurple

I don't eat much chicken, not because of hormones, but because I have a penicillin allergy.. Which is sometimes triggered by chicken. A whole flock will be fed antibiotics if any bird has an infection.

You could try what your gp says for a while, but do return if it makes no difference. I assume the gp did a breast exam etc.