Does Consumption of Beef from Cattle Administered Growth-Enhancing Technology Trigger Early Estrus in Pre-Pubertal Gilts?

The objective was to determine if pre-pubertal gilts supplemented ground beef obtained from steers implanted with growth enhancing technology caused precocious puberty. Twenty-four gilts were selected for the same birth date from common parentage. Upon reaching 61 days of age, daily delivery of the low-estrogenicity base diet was supplemented with: 114 g beef natural patty (NAT), 114 g beef patty from steers that had received growth promoting implants (100 mg trenbolone acetate and 14 mg estradiol benzoate; IMP), 198 g tofu patty (TOFU), or the negative control (base diet only; CON). The estradiol equivalents (ng/kg) of the TOFU were approximately 500 fold times the NAT and 350 fold the IMP supplement. No differences (P = 0.55) were observed in number of days to reach estrus, feed efficiency (P > 0.19), live weight gain (P = 0.89), loin muscle development (P = 0.45), or subcutaneous fat deposition (P = 0.71)