Food & Drink / Compounds / Clenbuterol

Clenbuterol in food: ingestion safety

High risk

(People-specific data is limited; this page draws from human adult context.) Not for human use in US. Mass food poisoning from contaminated meat.

What is clenbuterol?

CAS number
37148-27-9
Molecular formula
C12H18Cl2N2O
Molecular weight
277.19 g/mol
SMILES
CC(C)(C)NCC(C1=CC(=C(C=C1)N)Cl)O
PubChem CID
2783

Risk for people

High risk

Not for human use in US. Mass food poisoning from contaminated meat.

Regulatory consensus

3 regulatory and scientific bodies have classified Clenbuterol. The classifications differ — that's the data.

AgencyYearClassificationNotes
FDA1998Approved vet drug — horses only; banned in food animals
EU1996Banned as growth promotant
WADA2004Prohibited substance

Regulators apply different standards of evidence — animal-data weighting, exposure-pattern assumptions, epidemiological power thresholds — which is why two scientific bodies can review the same data and reach different conclusions. The disagreement is the data.

Where you encounter clenbuterol

  • Veterinary Medicine
  • Drug Of Abuse
  • Food Contaminant

Safer alternatives

Lower-risk approaches that achieve a similar outcome to Clenbuterol:

  • Albuterol
    Trade-offs: Removes 95-99% of dissolved contaminants including metals, PFAS, nitrates; wastes 2-4 gallons per gallon produced (improving with newer systems); removes beneficial minerals; $0.05-0.25/gallon; requires pre-treatment for longevity.
    Relative cost: 1.2-2×

Frequently asked questions

Why do regulators disagree about clenbuterol?

Clenbuterol has been classified by 3 agencies including FDA, EU, WADA, with differing conclusions. Regulators apply different standards of evidence (animal data weighting, exposure-pattern assumptions, epidemiological power thresholds), which is why two scientific bodies can review the same data and reach different conclusions. See the regulatory consensus table on this page for the full picture.

See Clenbuterol in the food app

Look up products containing clenbuterol, compare to alternatives, and explore the full data record.

Open in food View raw API data

Sources (1)
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Reference data, not professional advice. Aggregates publicly available regulatory and scientific data; not a substitute for veterinary, medical, legal, or regulatory advice. Why we built ALETHEIA →