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ARSENIC IN CHICKEN FEED. "It’s standard practice on factory chicken farms to dose those unfortunate birds with arsenic. The idea is that it makes them grow faster — fast growth being the supreme goal of factory animal farming — and helps control a common intestinal disease called coccidiosis." http://lnkd.in/dgKDrwk View in LinkedIn

EUROPEANS BANNED ARSENIC. "In the 80s, when the European Union did the first tests, they banned arsenic in chicken feed immediately. However, it is still being fed to chickens in the rest of the world." http://www.localharvest.org/blog/16356/entry/absolute_pastured_poultry_article_use View in LinkedIn

DETECTABLE ARSENIC IN POULTRY MEAT. "Then there’s the question of arsenic traces in industrial chicken meat. In 2006, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) tested chicken samples from supermarkets and fast-food joints — and found that 55 percent contained detectable arsenic." http://lnkd.in/dgKDrwk View in LinkedIn

ARSENIC IN CHICKEN MEAT. "A 2013 market basket study linked the use of roxarsone and other arsenical feed additives to increased levels of inorganic arsenic in chicken breast meat ... from conventionally produced chickens ... had three times more inorganic arsenic than did breast meat from chickens produced according to USDA Organic standards." http://lnkd.in/dcNxwCP View in LinkedIn

"ROXARSONE has attracted attention as a source of arsenic contamination of poultry and other foods. In July 2011, Pfizer suspended sale of roxarsone in the U.S. in response to a study by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); the FDA found that roxarsone use was associated with elevated levels of inorganic arsenic in chicken livers." http://lnkd.in/dcNxwCP View in LinkedIn

NICE PINK MEAT BY ARSENIC. "until recently, chicken producers would routinely supplement poultry feed with a growth-promoting arsenical drug called roxarsone, which also treats intestinal parasites in the birds and gives their meat an appealing pink color. A study in this issue of EHP shows that inorganic arsenic (iAs) accumulates in the breast meat of broiler chickens, potentially as a result of treatment with roxarsone." http://lnkd.in/d4EXyag 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

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

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

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