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© Michaela Rehle / ReutersFed to an estimated 60 to 80 percent of pigs in the United States, ractopamine has sickened or killed more of them than any other livestock drug on the market.
A drug used to keep pigs lean and boost their growth is jeopardizing the nation's exports of what once was known as "the other white meat."

The drug, ractopamine hydrochloride, is fed to pigs and other animals right up until slaughter and minute traces have been found in meat. The European Union, China, Taiwan and many others have banned its use, citing concerns about its effect on human health, limiting U.S. meat exports to key markets.

Although few Americans outside of the livestock industry have ever heard of ractopamine, the feed additive is controversial. Fed to an estimated 60 to 80 percent of pigs in the United States, it has sickened or killed more of them than any other livestock drug on the market, an investigation of Food and Drug Administration records shows. Cattle and turkeys have also suffered high numbers of illnesses from the drug.

Growing concern over sick animals in the nation's food supply sparked a California law banning the sale and slaughter of livestock unable to walk, but that law was struck down by the Supreme Court Monday. Meat producers had sued to overturn California's ban, arguing that the state could not supercede federal rules on meat production. The court agreed.

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