Month: September 2022

ROXARSONE VOLUNTARY SUSPENSION. "In July 2011, Pfizer suspended sale of roxarsone in the U.S. in response to a study by the ... (FDA); the FDA found that roxarsone use was associated with elevated levels of inorganic arsenic in chicken livers. An FDA press release stated that the findings raised "concerns of a very low but completely avoidable exposure to a carcinogen." The voluntary suspension ..." http://lnkd.in/dcNxwCP View in LinkedIn

DRUG DUMPING. "A spokeswoman for the company that sells the drug, Zoetis, said sales in the United States “remain suspended pending the ongoing evaluation of relevant scientific data regarding the use of this product in poultry.” She said that the company no longer manufactures the drug, and that it is selling down remaining stock in markets that still permit it, all of them in Latin America." http://lnkd.in/dHt3ydp View in LinkedIn

MORE VOLUNTARY WITHDRAWALS. "In September 2013, the FDA announced that Zoetis and Fleming Laboratories would voluntarily withdraw current roxarsone, arsanilic acid, and carbarsone approvals, leaving only nitarsone approvals in place." Too little, too late. An illustrative story of our food regulation. And the story is not over yet. http://lnkd.in/d_Ee38c View in LinkedIn

"NITARSONE is an organoarsenic compound that is used in poultry production as a feed additive to increase weight gain, improve feed efficiency, and prevent blackhead disease. It is marketed as Histostat by Zoetis, a publicly traded subsidiary of Pfizer." This is the remaining poultry arsenical growth promotor allowed on the US market today. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitarsone View in LinkedIn

"NITARSONE SAFETY DATA IS INADEQUATE" was the assessment of European food evaluators, citing that the studies were over 40 years old, with too few samples, and there were other methodological flaws, including no evaluation of the drug metabolism in turkeys, the intended subject. The 2004 study concluded that the safety data was insufficient for use in turkey food. http://lnkd.in/dYVUCKC View in LinkedIn

NITARSONE CLAIMED SAFEBY MANUFACTURERS. "Dr. Nachman said that Zoetis currently sells a similar arsenic-based drug, nitarsone, which is approved for use in chickens and turkeys. The company’s spokeswoman, Elinore White, said nitarsone was not a substitute for roxarsone, and that scientific data supported its safety." http://lnkd.in/dHt3ydp View in LinkedIn

NITARSONE STILL ON US MARKET. Despite the fact that Nitarsine is chemically similar to Carbasone, which was voluntarily withdrawn, the FDA has taken no action on this arsenical poultry feed additive. The Center for Food Safety is doing the work that the government should do, namely, keeping an eye on food safety. http://lnkd.in/dpYwRMd View in LinkedIn

FDA DRUG WITHDRAWAL. "In resolving a longstanding dispute, the Food and Drug Administration has announced that it will rescind approval for three of the four arsenic drugs that had been used in animal feeds ... The compounds — roxarsone, carbarsone and arsanilic acid ... added to feed for chickens, turkeys and pigs to prevent disease, increase feed efficiency and promote growth." http://lnkd.in/dKhrFPz View in LinkedIn

WITHDRAWN APPROVALS. "On September 30, 2013, FDA denied a petition from the Center for Food Safety and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy that asked the agency to take steps to revoke the approvals of four arsenic-based animal drugs. The petitioners’ requests ... became moot after the sponsors of those drugs requested that FDA withdraw the approvals for those products." http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/ProductSafetyInformation/ucm370568.htm View in LinkedIn

DESPITE THE DRUG WITHDRAWALS, it is instructive to review what had been permitted in US poultry meat for decades, despite accumulating evidence showing increased arsenic in poultry meat. The history is an indicator of the lax oversight and sluggish response to these issues of public health. View in LinkedIn