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Pfizer has voluntarily halted the use of a poultry drug containing arsenic from the market. FDA data has shown that the drug, Roxarsone, which contains arsenic, increases amounts of the known carcinogen in the livers of chickens. The drug is used to increase size and fend off parasites in chickens and while Pfizer contends that it's totally safe, it recently pulled the drug.
According to Food Safety News:
"The levels that we've detected in the study FDA conducted are very low and even low with respect to other levels," said Dr. Bill Flynn, the deputy director for Science Policy at FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, noting that arsenic can be present in air, water, and the environment. The concern is over whether the organic arsenic present in Roxarsone could be transforming into the more-toxic inorganic arsenic.
The FDA says that the drug is widely used and though the levels maybe safe, it's completely avoidable exposure. I'm not sure that there is any safe level of arsenic as far as I'm concerned. But even still, at least it's on the FDA's radar and something is being done about it.
This still leaves Nitarsone, the only other arsenic-based product on the poultry market. Nitarsone is also marketed by Pfizer and unlike Roxarsone, which is used in turkey, swine, and chicken, Nitarsone is only approved for use in chickens. The FDA is currently in discussions with Pfizer regarding the product, according to Food Safety News.
"Inorganic arsenic is cancer-causing and action on this drug is long overdue," said Michael Hansen, a senior scientist at Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports. Consumers Union has long been opposed to the use of the drug in food animals. In 2005, Consumer Reports found that arsenic was present in grocery-store chicken livers from many conventionally raised chickens.
What other known poisons will they find next in conventional meats? It's all the more reason to go veg.
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