Arsenic found in chicken meat

[AlbionWood]

This has been somewhat controversial for a while, but now there is some official test data and it looks like this is the last straw for Roxarsone:

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=13793945

"The Food and Drug Administration says some chicken meat may contain small amounts of arsenic, though the agency is stressing that the amount is too tiny to be dangerous to people who eat it.

The FDA said Wednesday that a new study developed by the agency shows that an ingredient in chicken feed that contains arsenic, called Roxarsone, may make its way into parts of the bird that are eaten. Previous studies have indicated that the arsenic was eliminated with chicken waste.

Pfizer Inc., which makes the feed ingredient, said Wednesday that it will pull it off the market in the United States. Had the company not stopped sales, the FDA could have eventually banned the product since it contains a known carcinogen."

Good riddance. Now, what is the fate of all the arsenic that is already present in the millions of tons of chicken manure, much of which has already been spread on farmland? How much of it will convert to the inorganic form (carcinogenic)? How much of that will get taken up by food crops? What a mess.

 

[cubalaya]

just another reason that the FDA should be defunded along with the EPA, the NEA, the DEA, and several others that do nothing but spend our tax dollars.

 

[tlb796]

I whole hardedly agree!
Tamera

 

[matthewschickens]

I should start raising more meaties.... I'll certainly have the market.

 

[hudsonnascarfan]

Quote:
i compleatly agree and i can think of a few more government agencys that should go along with them ones

 

[BunsNChicks]

it would not surprise me if arsenic was in our chicken feed (unless you feed organic) fyi

 

[Chickens_in_a_nutshell]

Ugh, I don't know what the FDA is thinking but I have a suspicion. ( ka-ching!)

 

[HeatherFeather]

We've been really happy about this and are hoping it will boost our gate sales of organic chicken. I feel like everyone has been thinking we're nuts when we talk about this for years and am glad to finally see it get some more press!

 

[Dogfish]

Arsenic is a naturally occurring substance. It is already out there in farm fields, and things we eat. Granted some activities concentrate it, but as stated, the levels found are safe.

Di-hydrogen monoxide will also kill you if you take in too much, along with a number of other substances out there.

 

[AlbionWood]

Quote:
Not sure just what you are saying here.

Lots of poisons are naturally occurring, and for most of those, "dose makes poison." Nevertheless it is folly to feed arsenic to chickens and then just ignore what happens to it, which is (unbelievably) exactly what has been occurring for decades. The original USDA certification for Roxarsone was based on very little actual data, buttressed by very strong statements from the applicant. Since then there has been little study of the fate of arsenic after it is fed to the chickens; the USDA has almost entirely avoided looking into the matter. Only recently have there been investigations to determine what exactly happens to the arsenic. Meanwhile, a tremendous amount of the stuff has been concentrated into relatively small areas of land. What is happening there? Is the arsenic immobilized in the soil, or does it migrate? How much of it is taken up by plant crops? Nobody knows.

Last year there was a fairly well-publicized case of arsenic poisoning in children who were eating eggs from a backyard flock. The chicken feed came from a supplier that used no arsenic in any of their feeds. Last I looked, nobody had yet figured out how the arsenic got into the chicken feed, but there it was, and the eggs contained high enough levels to sicken kids. Still think adding it to broiler ration is a good idea?

(btw, dihydrogen monoxide - H2O - isn't an ingestion hazard, and has no chronic toxicity nor carcinogenicity. Not quite comparable to inorganic arsenic - wouldn't you agree?)