A Deadly Ingredient in a Chicken Dinner
Friday, June 26, 2009
“Most people don’t know that the chicken they eat is laced with arsenic. The ice water or coffee they enjoy with their chicken may also be infused with arsenic. If they live on or near a farm, the air they breathe may be infected with arsenic dust as well.
Why do our chicken, our water and our air contain arsenic? Because in the United States, most major poultry producers add an arsenic compound known as roxarsone to their chicken feed. Inorganic arsenic is a Class A carcinogen that has been linked to heart disease, diabetes and declines in brain function. Recent scientific findings show that most Americans are routinely exposed to between three and 11 times the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended safety limit.
The poultry industry has been using the feed additive roxarsone — purportedly to fight parasites and increase growth in chickens — since the Food and Drug Administration approved it in 1944. Turns out that the arsenic additive promotes the growth of blood vessels in chicken, which makes the meat appear pinker and more attractive in its plastic wrap at the grocery store, but does little else. The arsenic additive does the same in human cells, fueling a growth process known as angiogenesis, a critical first step in many human diseases such as cancer…”
GM Corn, Arsenic, Contaminated Chinese Wheat Gluten, Antibiotics. What's in your chicken?
elfimka said,
June 26, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Ayayay… And FDA is still deciding if they should ban it or not???
Ren said,
June 26, 2009 at 6:30 pm
No, it was approved years ago- there are no plans to ban it.
The FDA is responsible for promoting and protecting the public’s health by ensuring that the nation’s food supply is safe, sanitary, wholesome, and honestly labeled. Let them know how they’re doing!
U.S. Food and Drug Administration 10903 New Hampshire Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20993 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332)
elfimka said,
June 26, 2009 at 8:05 pm
They’ll be hearing from me soon.
Sustainable Eats said,
June 26, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Nice post – I had no idea. So glad I’m getting the organic chicken food and hoping to start making my own when it runs out. Yikes!
Ren said,
June 26, 2009 at 11:06 pm
Apparently most people trust that the food they buy is safe, sanitary, wholesome, and honestly labeled. Not sure which of those applies to arsenic..
Cara said,
June 27, 2009 at 7:25 am
You’ve convinced me to stop buying non-organic chicken. We can get local chicken too, I think I’ll start going with that so I can see where it comes from. I was still buying boneless skinless thighs half the time for convenience, but they are conventionally raised. Yuck. Thankfully the government hasn’t taken over the small farms yet, so we still can purchase from small healthy farmers!
Ren said,
June 27, 2009 at 12:30 pm
I’m happy to hear that, Cara!
The problem isn’t that a single serving of chicken contains a toxic amount of arsenic (as industry and government are quick to point out), the problem is that we’re being made sick by consuming a steady diet of chemicals, hormones and antibiotics in everything from Apples to Zucchini.
“One fourth of what you eat keeps you alive. The other three-fourths keep your doctor alive.”
Cage Free Family said,
June 27, 2009 at 11:42 pm
Great post!