Arsenic in Chicken
by Michael Greger, MD
http://www.DrGreger.orgAfter reviewing 5000 chicken samples, researchers from the National Institutes of Health and the USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service recently reported alarmingly high levels of arsenic contamination in the flesh of broiler chickens[1] These government researchers found that the amount of arsenic in chicken greatly exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency's new upper safety limit of arsenic allowed in drinking water. In fact, the amount of arsenic found in chicken was 6 to 9 times that allowed by the EPA. A "bucket" of Kentucky Fried Chicken would be expected to have up to almost fifty times the amount of arsenic allowed in a glass of water.[2]
How did the arsenic get into the chickens? The poultry industry fed it to them. Most broiler chickens (which constitute 99% of the chicken meat that people eat) are fed arsenic in the United States[3,4] Although fish and shellfish also present significant dietary sources of arsenic,[6] according to the Food and Drug Administration arsenic compounds are extensively added to the feed of animals--particularly chickens and pigs--to make them grow faster.[5] The animals Americans eat are so heavily infested with internal parasites that adding arsenic to the feed can result in a "stunning" increase in growth rates.[7]