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Chicken and Arsenic- Even though the amounts of arsenic found in retail chicken is below federal health limits, the findings pose a problem for the industry. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) says that arsenic in chicken meat appears closely linked to the decades-old practice of intentionally putting arsenic into feed to speed up growth. At least 70 per cent of US broiler chickens have been fed arsenic, according to IATP estimates. Minneapolis-based IATP tested 155 samples from uncooked supermarket chicken products and found 55 per cent carried detectable arsenic. Arsenic was more than twice as prevalent in conventional brands of supermarket chicken as in certified organic and other "premium" brands. All 90 fast food chicken products tested by IATP also contained detectable arsenic. Plenty of the raw chicken tested had no or nearly no detectable arsenic, including that from some organic companies and most chicken tested from the world's largest chicken producer, Tyson Foods. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not test for arsenic in the chicken meat that Americans commonly eat. USDA typically tests for arsenic only in chicken livers. However scientists have published scientific articles warning that average arsenic levels in chicken meat may be higher than previously thought, the IATP stated. Before the report, there had been little if any actual data on how much arsenic is in chicken meat, besides liver,in the US. "Adding arsenic to chicken feed is a needless and ultimately avoidable practice that only exposes more people to more of this ancient poison," stated David Wallinga, a physician, and the director of IATP's food and health program. He is also the author of "Playing Chicken: Avoiding Arsenic in Your Meat". Why Put Arsenic In Chicken? Chicken producers can use any particular feed additive according to restrictions that the Food and Drug Administration mandates on the product label. FDA-approved labels for most of the arsenic products added to chicken feed allow them to be used "for increased rate of weight gain, improved feed efficiency, and improved pigmentation." Many of the same products are also labeled for use in preventing a parasitic infection, called coccidiosis, in flocks. Broad and non-specific labeling like this means there really is no way to discern whether arsenic is being used to color chicken meat, to make birds grow The IATP says the intentional uses of poisons like arsenic is not necessary. Many chicken producers raise birds without arsenic, including European chicken producers and USDA-certified organic producers . Roxarsone- Arsenic feed additives, like roxarsone, are in an organic form. Conventional wisdom had it that organic arsenics were not very toxic at all. Strong scientific evidence now suggests that within the chicken roxarsone is converted into the inorganic forms of arsenic thought to date to pose the greatest health risks to humans. How Dangerous Are These Arsenics? Inorganic arsenic is considered one of the prominent environmental causes of cancer mortality in the world. Arsenic is a human carcinogen linked to liver, lung, skin, kidney, bladder, and prostate cancers. It can also cause neurological, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and< |
