Ractopamine is a drug given to cows, pigs, and turkeys on factory farms to make them grow faster just before slaughter. What’s marketed as “increased efficiency” comes at a terrible cost to animals, people, and the planet.

Animals given ractopamine suffer from tremors, broken limbs, lesions, and stress-related injuries. Some collapse under their own weight. The drug has even been linked to death in pigs. Still, it remains legal in the United States, even though 168 other countries, including every nation in the European Union, as well as China and Russia, have banned or restricted it.

The FDA knows the risks. Its own records show that ractopamine raises heart and respiratory rates, endangers farm workers, and contaminates groundwater and surface water. Yet the agency continues to allow its use in the American food supply.

This is not just a public health issue. It is a moral one. No animal deserves to live in pain and fear just to be rushed through a profit-driven system.

We are urging Secretary Kennedy and President Trump to show leadership, not loyalty to agribusiness. Ban ractopamine and take a stand for animal welfare, food safety, and environmental health.

Sign this petition to demand compassion and responsibility in our food system.