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Sampling finds arsenic in most chicken
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Sampling finds arsenic in most chicken
By Matt McKinney / StarTribune
startribune.com
A study of chicken sold at supermarkets and fast-food counters found traces of arsenic in a majority of the samples, which the researchers said confirms that a decades-old farming practice of using arsenic in chicken feed leads to contaminated meat.A study of chicken sold at supermarkets and fast-food counters found traces of arsenic in a majority of the samples, which the researchers said confirms that a decades-old farming practice of using arsenic in chicken feed leads to contaminated meat.
The findings, prepared by the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), also showed that organic chicken and chicken sold under the Tyson label had very low levels of arsenic or none at all.
"This is definitely a bad news/good news story," said Dr. David Wallinga, the physician and IATP researcher who conducted the study.
The group sampled 90 orders of fried chicken from most major fast-food restaurants and 151 packages of raw chicken from supermarkets in Minnesota and California.
Nearly three-quarters of the chicken from conventional producers contained some arsenic, while a third of chickens from premium or organic producers contained arsenic.
Every sample from fast-food restaurants had at least some arsenic.
The research was funded with IATP funds and support from the Quixote Foundation, a Seattle nonprofit organization.
None of the samples contained enough arsenic to be deemed unsafe under federal guidelines. The government's findings allow as much arsenic as 500 parts per billion in uncooked muscle tissue and 2,000 parts per billion in chicken livers or kidneys.
(One part per billion would equal one drop of water out of a tanker truck full.)
The federal tolerances for arsenic were set in the 1960s.
At the time, people ate less chicken. Consumption of chicken has soared over the past 40 years, from an average of 32 pounds per person per year to 81 pounds, according to federal reports.
Views on arsenic shifting
The research comes as the established view concerning arsenic, an element found naturally in the Earth's crust, has been challenged by studies.
A 2004 government study showed that chicken contained higher levels of arsenic than previously thought. Tyson, one of the nation's largest producers of chickens, stopped using arsenic in its feed that year.
"We don't want there to be any question about the safety of the food we produce," Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson said, adding that the company believes the use of arsenic in feed is safe.
A 1999 federal study of arsenic in drinking water conducted by the National Research Council found evidence that even low doses increased the likelihood of bladder and lung cancer.
The finding led the Environmental Protection Agency to lower its acceptable limit for arsenic in drinking water.
"We already think arsenic is bad. We've known it's poisonous for eons, and the more we study the more we worry about it," the IATP's Wallinga said.
Still, industry experts say there might be little cause for alarm.
Farmers have long used arsenic to kill a protozoa that can flourish in chicken feed and sicken their flocks. An industry spokesman on Wednesday defended that practice as safe.
Arsenic found in rice, water
Richard Lobb, a spokesman for the National Chicken Council, said the IATP report was inaccurate because it looked only at chicken, when it's commonly known that arsenic can be found in rice, drinking water and seafood.
"If you're concerned about it, you better stop eating shrimp, because the levels there are 40 parts per million," he said.
"Seafood is by far the highest."
The arsenic used in chicken feed has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates animal feed and has a list of approved additives that includes the arsenic-containing drugs roxarsone, arsanilic acid, arsanilate sodium, carbarsone, and nitarsone.
Use approved in 1940s
The federal government approved the use of arsenic in chicken feed in the mid-1940s.
The FDA has no data that suggest that arsenic in animal feed is harmful to human health, according to agency spokesman Michael Herndon.
A spokesman for the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday that government inspectors plan to test chicken livers and muscle meat this year, taking 1,000 samples nationwide.
The study is available at http://www.iatp.org.
Matt McKinney . 612-673-7329
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12184077/
posted by
Deborah Elaine Barrie
4 Catherine Street
Smiths Falls, On
Canada
K7A 3Z8
(613)284-8259
deborahbarrie at hotmail.com
http://www.noccawood.ca
subscribe to list service at website
By Matt McKinney / StarTribune
startribune.com
A study of chicken sold at supermarkets and fast-food counters found traces of arsenic in a majority of the samples, which the researchers said confirms that a decades-old farming practice of using arsenic in chicken feed leads to contaminated meat.A study of chicken sold at supermarkets and fast-food counters found traces of arsenic in a majority of the samples, which the researchers said confirms that a decades-old farming practice of using arsenic in chicken feed leads to contaminated meat.
The findings, prepared by the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), also showed that organic chicken and chicken sold under the Tyson label had very low levels of arsenic or none at all.
"This is definitely a bad news/good news story," said Dr. David Wallinga, the physician and IATP researcher who conducted the study.
The group sampled 90 orders of fried chicken from most major fast-food restaurants and 151 packages of raw chicken from supermarkets in Minnesota and California.
Nearly three-quarters of the chicken from conventional producers contained some arsenic, while a third of chickens from premium or organic producers contained arsenic.
Every sample from fast-food restaurants had at least some arsenic.
The research was funded with IATP funds and support from the Quixote Foundation, a Seattle nonprofit organization.
None of the samples contained enough arsenic to be deemed unsafe under federal guidelines. The government's findings allow as much arsenic as 500 parts per billion in uncooked muscle tissue and 2,000 parts per billion in chicken livers or kidneys.
(One part per billion would equal one drop of water out of a tanker truck full.)
The federal tolerances for arsenic were set in the 1960s.
At the time, people ate less chicken. Consumption of chicken has soared over the past 40 years, from an average of 32 pounds per person per year to 81 pounds, according to federal reports.
Views on arsenic shifting
The research comes as the established view concerning arsenic, an element found naturally in the Earth's crust, has been challenged by studies.
A 2004 government study showed that chicken contained higher levels of arsenic than previously thought. Tyson, one of the nation's largest producers of chickens, stopped using arsenic in its feed that year.
"We don't want there to be any question about the safety of the food we produce," Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson said, adding that the company believes the use of arsenic in feed is safe.
A 1999 federal study of arsenic in drinking water conducted by the National Research Council found evidence that even low doses increased the likelihood of bladder and lung cancer.
The finding led the Environmental Protection Agency to lower its acceptable limit for arsenic in drinking water.
"We already think arsenic is bad. We've known it's poisonous for eons, and the more we study the more we worry about it," the IATP's Wallinga said.
Still, industry experts say there might be little cause for alarm.
Farmers have long used arsenic to kill a protozoa that can flourish in chicken feed and sicken their flocks. An industry spokesman on Wednesday defended that practice as safe.
Arsenic found in rice, water
Richard Lobb, a spokesman for the National Chicken Council, said the IATP report was inaccurate because it looked only at chicken, when it's commonly known that arsenic can be found in rice, drinking water and seafood.
"If you're concerned about it, you better stop eating shrimp, because the levels there are 40 parts per million," he said.
"Seafood is by far the highest."
The arsenic used in chicken feed has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates animal feed and has a list of approved additives that includes the arsenic-containing drugs roxarsone, arsanilic acid, arsanilate sodium, carbarsone, and nitarsone.
Use approved in 1940s
The federal government approved the use of arsenic in chicken feed in the mid-1940s.
The FDA has no data that suggest that arsenic in animal feed is harmful to human health, according to agency spokesman Michael Herndon.
A spokesman for the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday that government inspectors plan to test chicken livers and muscle meat this year, taking 1,000 samples nationwide.
The study is available at http://www.iatp.org.
Matt McKinney . 612-673-7329
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12184077/
posted by
Deborah Elaine Barrie
4 Catherine Street
Smiths Falls, On
Canada
K7A 3Z8
(613)284-8259
deborahbarrie at hotmail.com
http://www.noccawood.ca
subscribe to list service at website
Add Your Comments
§h
havent eaten chicken since a similar article appeared month ago. arsenic may be in shrimp , but at least it wasnt purposely fed. dont trust modern industrial people.
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