Beijing has halted US beef imports from JBS SA’s meat processing plant in Greeley, Colorado, after detecting traces of ractopamine in the beef intended for China.

Brazil-based JBS, the world’s largest beef producer, wrote in a statement, “We’re working diligently with US and Chinese authorities to resolve the situation as soon as possible.”

Bloomberg said JBS’ Greeley location is the only US meat processing plant affected by the Beijing import suspension. The suspension notice was first posted on the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service website. 

In recent months, major food safety, environmental, and animal rights groups, including the Center for Food Safety, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and others, have filed a lawsuit in federal court. They claim that the Food & Drug Administration has been turning a blind eye to requests for a review for ractopamine. This controversial drug has been banned not only in the European Union, Russia, and China but also in over 160 countries worldwide. 

The lawsuit cites a study of ractopamine’s impacts on human health. The study was discontinued because low doses administered to patients increased heart rate significantly. Farmers use the drug to promote muscle growth in pigs, turkeys, and cows. 

In 1999, ractopamine for farm animals was approved by the FDA. By 2009, the EU banned the drug after finding data that did not support a conclusion that the drug was safe. 

“The move from China is a blow to JBS beef operations in the US at a time when scarce cattle supplies have sent costs surging and eroded beef producers’ profits,” Bloomberg added. 

It’s time more Americans understood the chemicals the food industry complex puts in food and how they can lead to diseases. But don’t worry—the pharmaceutical-industrial complex has a drug for that.