Here's the youtube original video
Well, I made a short research about this issue, and here is what I discovered.
Oxytocin is naturally-occurring and acts primarily as a neurotransmitter in the brain and figures largely in female reproduction, sexual and emotional behaviour. Known also as the "hormone of love" or "cuddle drug", oxytocin is released during labour to facilitate delivery and breastfeeding and other maternal instincts. In the United States, it's artificially administered as Pitocin, which induces labour in women.Cheaper than fertilizer
Well, I made a short research about this issue, and here is what I discovered.
Oxytocin is naturally-occurring and acts primarily as a neurotransmitter in the brain and figures largely in female reproduction, sexual and emotional behaviour. Known also as the "hormone of love" or "cuddle drug", oxytocin is released during labour to facilitate delivery and breastfeeding and other maternal instincts. In the United States, it's artificially administered as Pitocin, which induces labour in women.Cheaper than fertilizer
Apparently, the hormone is cheap in India -- fractions of a penny for each injection -- and can be easily obtained in drugstores.
In a Channel News Asia interview, farmer Chanchal Singh explains:
"The fertilizers are expensive. So we use hormone injections instead. This way, the vegetables swell up quickly. We cannot afford to buy fertilizers, so we have to use these injections to prepare the vegetables."
No way to tell; long-term effects unknown
Unfortunately, there is no way to visually distinguish between a normal vegetable and one that's been pumped with oxytocin. Though it's not clear how the hormone affects plant growth , According to the Indian Ministry of Agriculture, it intends to forbid the use of the hormone in farming. Currently the practice is very popular in the Uttar Pradesh and Punjab regions, located in northern India. The ministry warns that "indiscriminate use of oxytocin may cause health hazards if taken through vegetables over a period of time". Nutritionist Dr Preeti Vijay of Max Healthcare India, cautions:"The fertilizers are expensive. So we use hormone injections instead. This way, the vegetables swell up quickly. We cannot afford to buy fertilizers, so we have to use these injections to prepare the vegetables."
No way to tell; long-term effects unknown
"Fruits and vegetables that have been grown with the help of chemicals or hormones will not show its adverse effect on human health immediately after consumption. But it can have an effect later."
Dairy cows also injected with these hormones
Faced with rising fertilizer costs, sucide-inducing crop failures and compounded by poor food safety regulations and lackadaisical enforcement, India's food adulteration problem (not to mention the spectre of genetically-modified crops) seems to be widespread. It's not just for vegetables alone, either: in recent raids, police in the state of Uttar Pradesh seized 13,000 hormone injections destined for dairies to boost milk production.
Besides oxytocin, there's other documented chemicals used to dress up produce in India, such as copper sulfate to artificially enhance the colors of fruits and vegetables, and calcium carbide for quick ripening. Both are known to have negative human health impacts.
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