In the Sept. 16, '96 issue of The Scientist Magazine, Kathleen Mulinix,
former CEO of Synaptic Pharmaceutical Corporation, said Neuropeptide Y
(NPY) is "the most potent stimulant for feeding ever found".(1) Rats that
have eaten to their fill, are then injected with NPY. The animals return to
the feeding trough and, in 30 minutes, eat over 8 times the initial feeding.(2)
NPY is a naturally produced substance found in all animals and humans
that tells us we are hungry.

The FDA has not approved the substance for use in the human food supply,
but there is immense research being done on it by the Ag. community. I will
paste an article below (3) from the Agricultural Research Service website
of the United States Department of Agriculture that tells of a researcher
injecting Orexin (another potent neuropeptide) into the thigh muscles of
baby piglets and obtaining an 18% increase in feed intake. This research
project was given the National Pork Producers Council's "Innovation
Award" in 1999, which clearly shows the Ag. community's desire for the
use of neuropeptides. In fact, it is the veritable "tip of the ice berg" of
neuropeptide science that has been quietly honing knowledge, to the point
where they have found the Angus breed responds to Orexin with that much
sought after "marbling" of fat laced throughout the muscle rather than around
the edges.

Not surprisingly, there are a slew of recently formed pharmaceutical
corporations with the term "tide" or "pep" in their name:
Peptides Int'l., Novetide, Poly Peptide Labs, American Peptide,
New England Peptide, CRB Peptides, Pepta Syntha. There is an American
Peptide Society and there is an annual "Tides" Convention.

The US Patent Office has registered over 440 patent applications for NPY
alone. A simple google search will return 1,730,000 references for
"neuropeptide", although to be completely fair, there are researchers
working from the opposite side. Let's say half of these people are trying
to find a cure for obesity by understanding the role of neuropeptides in
food consumption, but in the nearly two years of my investigation, I would
put the figure at less than half.

"The scientists are researching another way to deliver orexin. They have
cloned the genetic material, or DNA, that directs orexin production...."(3)

After speaking to several University researchers, I told one that I have a
small hog operation and have heard of these substances and I asked him when
we would be able to use them. He opened up on the subject, telling me
that Monsanto was funding his research, and that research had turned towards
implanting neuropeptide pellets under the skin of the animals just as they
have been doing with steroids since the fifties.

After hearing this, I spoke with several researchers at veterinary
pharmaceutical companies, and one researcher spoke - off the record - saying
that there are dis-reputable pharmaceutical companies that are scooting
around the FDA by labeling neuropeptides as a "health supplement" since it is
a naturally occurring substance. Dr. William Knight, the Division Director of
Production Drugs at the (CVM) FDA, explains that that use is not allowed
and the FDA will prosecute and fine companies that are doing this, but he
wanted me to give him the proof. The FDA has no enforcement arm that will
investigate a situation like this; it is up to us to show the proof.

Howard Lyman, a former rancher who now writes ("No More Bull" and "Mad
Cowboy") and lectures against the consumption of beef, when asked if he
thought it possible that the beef industry could be using neuropeptides said:

"Oh sure. But don't expect the USDA
to do anything about it. Most
Americans don't have any idea of the
extraordinary lengths the Department of
Agriculture goes to in it's mission to
protect the grower at the expense of the
consumer".

In a 2001 interview he also stated:

"A USDA survey of 32 large feedlots revealed
nearly half the cattle had visible illegal
'misplaced implants' in muscle tissue rather
than in the ear."(4)

Remember, all of the chemicals given to beef and pigs and chickens
accumulates in the fat and the skin of the animals, and makes their way
into us. There is little doubt that the chemicals are still active in us
although, being a protein, neuropeptides are said to be destroyed by the
digestive system. But ask yourself - Does a two year old child's intestines
have the same effectiveness as an adult's? A small amount of NPY
in the blood stream of an 18 month old child would be enough to make
him take a few more bits of food than he normally would. Thus increasing
the size of his stomach a little bit at a time, and sending the child on
the way to becoming overweight or possibly obese.

Chickens used to grow for 8 to 10 months before reaching harvest size.
It now takes just one month ("Hormones in Food", Zeynep Atilgan and
Aydin Pinar). Cattle were harvested at the age of 3 to 4 years until
recently, as they now reach harvestable size at the ripe old age of
18 months.

One last question will sum this matter up quite effectively - Do you
think the beef industry could resist using a substance that makes
animals obese before adulthood? If the beef industry had a genie in
a bottle, neuropeptides would be their first wish.

Also remember that much of our beef comes from foreign producers in
Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and other countries that may not
have any restrictions on neuropeptides at all. And there is no testing
for neuropeptides done on the imported beef.

This is a subject that deserves investigating, for if there is a smoking
gun for the 3-fold increase in childhood obesity, it very likely is in the
hands of the Drug and Livestock Industries. And with obesity overtaking
smoking as the No. 1 cause of preventable death, there is no time to waste.

D. Beck

(1) A Full Plate: Researchers Attempt to Digest the Biochemistry of
Obesity, Kathryn S. Brown, The Scientist - 10[18]:12, Sep. 16, 1996
 http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/17167/

(2) Clinical Abstract, American Journal of Physiology - Vol 257, Issue 2
383-R387
 http://ajpregu.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/257/2/R383?
maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&author1=miner%2C+j.
+l.&fulltext=%22neuropeptide+y%22&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec
=relevance&volume=257&firstpage=383&resourcetype=HWCIT

(3) Helping Piglets Survive and Thrive, Ben Hardin Agicultural Research, Sept. 1999
 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3741/is_9_47/ai_56003044

(4) What's in the Beef?, Rose Marie Williams
 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_2001_Oct/ai_78900860