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Ragwort and meat an expert opinion
The following is a quote taken from another website, the reference to which is below. It is by by Dr Peter Cheeke
of Animal Sciences Department Oregon State University a leading researcher
into Ragwort. In the USA ragwort has become a problem because like many species released into a foreign
ecology it is not controlled by its natural predators and diseases. This is not the case in the UK
where it is a native and natural part of the ecosystem.
The PA [ pyrroldizine alkaloids] are not accumulated in the tissues;
it is the damage that is cumulative. The damage is confined to the
liver, which in an animal with ragwort toxicity would be shrunken
and fibrotic. The carcass would likely be condemned because of the
liver damage. In sheep which had consumed ragwort but did not show
obvious liver damage, there would be no residues of PA in the meat.
The PA are metabolized in the liver, and excreted as conjugates
in the urine. Small amounts of pyrrole bound to DNA in the liver
would not be measurable. Thus in my judgement there is no concern
whatsoever about possible human toxicity from consumption of meat
from sheep which had consumed ragwort.
Reference
http://forages.oregonstate.edu/main.cfm?PageID=230&topic=Animals
See also Ragwort poisoning in Humans
For information on ragwort and the law. SeeThe Weeds Act 1959 and in the
Ragwort Control Act 2003.
Return to Ragwort Facts index
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