FDA Admits to Approving Use of This Carcinogenic Poison in 70% of US-Produced Chickens
Did you know that chickens produced in the US have been fed arsenic on a regular basis? To be specific, 3-Nitro or Roxarsone is an approved animal drug that has been used widely in the poultry industry since the 1940’s. Used in concentrations of 5%, 20% or even 50%, it increases weight gain, improves pigmentation and feed efficiency in chickens, as well as offering protection against coccidiosis, a parasitic disease common in chickens.
To put the scale of this drug in perspective, it has been estimated that 1 million kilograms of roxarsone was manufactured in 2006. The arsenic it contains is organic, which renders it less toxic than inorganic arsenic. However, tests from the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine and the Center for Food Safety Applied Nutrition has released data detecting low levels of inorganic arsenic in the edible tissue of chickens. This could only mean one thing – organic arsenic can turn into inorganic arsenic, and all arsenic, regardless of whether it is organic or inorganic, is mutagenic as well as carcinogenic.
Although the FDA has now officially admitted to finding arsenic levels in our poultry supply, they have still not withdrawn approval to market Roxarsone, stating that…
Continuing to eat chicken as 3-Nitro® is suspended form the market does not pose a health risk. The levels of inorganic arsenic found in chicken livers were very low.
In 2011, main manufacturer Pfizer did a voluntary suspension of 3 out of 4 drugs it produces that contain arsenic, including Roxarsone. However, this means little, as the temporary suspension did not mean they could not continue to market and sell these drugs in the future. Roxarsone is currently banned in the European Union, but approved for use in 14 countries other than the US.
In 2013, a study showed that there was three times more inorganic arsenic in the breast meat from conventionally produced chickens than in the breast meat of organically produced chickens. Additionally, researchers found that that arsenic was 3 times more concentrated in the samples that contained detectable levels of roxarsone than in the samples that did not contain roxarsone.
If you are concerned about ingesting arsenic in your poultry products, here are a few tips to avoid it:
1. Stay away from chicken meat that looks unnaturally bright pink.
2. Buy organic chicken – USDA Organic standards prohibits use of arsenic in poultry.
3. The chicken fat should look white or yellow – not greyish.
Poster Comment:
Arsenic is also used as an insecticide, and to poison ants and roaches.