Arsenic in Most Supermarket Chickens and All Fast-food Chickens

On Wednesday April 5, the New York Times had another story questioning the safety, for humans, of the American meat supply, this one headed, "Chicken With Arsenic? Is That O.K.?" (Pg F6) The Thursday, April 6, Star Tribune from Minneapolis had a similar story, on the cover of the business section (pg 1D) headed, "Sampling finds arsenic in most chicken; A locally produced study of chicken found that most sold at supermarkets and all sold at fast-food restaurants contained arsenic."

The New York Times piece opens:

"Arsenic may be called the king of poisons, but it is everywhere: in the environment, in the water we drink and sometimes in the food we eat.

"The amount is not enough to kill anyone in one fell swoop, but arsenic is a recognized cancer-causing agent and many experts say that no level should be considered safe. Arsenic may also contribute to other life-threatening illnesses, including heart disease and diabetes, and to a decline in mental functioning.

"Yet it is deliberately being added to chicken in this country, with many scientists saying it is unnecessary. Until recently there was a very high chance that if you ate chicken some arsenic would be present because it has been a government-approved additive in poultry feed for decades. It is used to kill parasites and to promote growth."

We read:
"Human exposure to it has been compounded because the consumption of chicken has exploded. In 1960, each American ate 28 pounds of chicken a year. For 2005, the figure is estimated at about 87 pounds per person. In spite of this threefold rise, the F.D.A. tolerance level for arsenic in chicken of 500 parts per billion, set decades ago, has not been revised."

The article recommends, "Because there are still many more arsenic-fed than arsenic-free chickens for sale, consumers can reduce their exposure by buying from companies that have stopped using arsenic, or by choosing chickens labeled organic or antibiotic-free."

But it also tells us, "McDonald's, the country's largest fast-food chain, said it does not use chicken with arsenic but the test revealed the presence of more than incidental amounts. Perhaps the chickens were purchased before the company started demanding arsenic-free chickens a couple of years ago."

You can read the whole piece on line at
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/05/dining/05well.html?ex=1144987200&en=6e63654260d78c2c&ei=5070&emc=eta1
OR
http://tinyurl.com/omsoa

Thursday's (April 6) Star Tribune piece opens:
"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 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.

We read that "industry experts say there might be little cause for alarm."

Richard Lobb, a spokesman for the National Chicken Council is quoted:
"If you're concerned about it, you better stop eating shrimp, because the levels there are 40 parts per million. Seafood is by far the highest."

You can read the whole article on line at http://www.startribune.com/535/story/353889.html and the study quoted is available at http://www.iatp.org.

It was nice timing for me to come across these articles (thank you Douglass) as I head to Columbus Ohio to speak at the United Poultry Concerns conference. That group focuses on the plight of birds used for food -- a terrible plight as their consumption skyrockets, while their living conditions deteriorate and they remain uncovered by federal humane slaughter laws. The United Poultry Concerns website is a good source of information on those issues. It is at http://www.upc-online.org. And PETA has a strong one page fact sheet on chicken farming and slaughter at http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=99 Check them out and then you might like to send a letter to the editor noting reasons other than arsenic for staying away from chicken.

The New York Times takes letters at letters [at] nytimes.com The Star Tribune takes letters at http://mpls.startribune.com/dynamic/feedback/form.php?opinion=1

Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published.


(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. If you forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts, please do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this tag line.)