FAT-CUTTING MEAT DRUGS DEVELOPED

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 11, 1992                   TAG: 9202110232
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHICAGO                                LENGTH: Short
FAT-CUTTING MEAT DRUGS DEVELOPED
Drugs that mimic the action of adrenalin can boost protein and cut fat in lamb, beef and pork, a researcher said Monday.
"We can markedly improve the composition of the carcass from which retail cuts are taken," said Donald Beermann of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.
The drugs also increase the efficiency of meat production, raising yields while decreasing the amount of feed required, Beermann said at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
David Meeker, a scientist with the National Pork Producers Council, said farmers generally favor such drugs but are concerned about becoming dependent upon the large biotechnology companies that produce them.
Meeker said that because many low-fat cuts of meat are already on the market, the most important effect of the drugs would be to increase farmers' efficiency.
Beermann found that the adrenalin-like drugs increased muscle mass in the hind legs of lambs by as much as 40 percent and boosted total protein content by 20 percent to 25 percent.
At the same time, the drugs cut fat content by 10 percent to 20 percent, Beermann said.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB