I love chicken. I love that it is affordable, easy to prepare and tastes great. What’s more, besides hamburgers, it is the only “meat” that my two-year-old will eat. We typically eat chicken five times a week. Which is why I just about choked when I heard that the chicken we eat could contain arsenic– a chemical known to cause cancer.
Before you eliminate every trace of chicken from your refrigerator, you should know that food companies say there’s a good reason to use arsenic– and it’s perfectly safe. But critics are concerned about food safety, which is why I was so interested with what they had to say. So how does the arsenic get there? According to food specialists, there’s arsenic in the groundwater the birds drink. And an organic version is also part of a government-approved additive, called roxarsone. According, to The National Chicken Council roxarsone is sometimes added to chicken feed to prevent the chickens from being colonized by a certain type of parasite. They say it’s done “in the interest of producing healthy chickens.”
But what I wanted to know is if it is healthy for people? The Food and Drug Administration, which sets standards for acceptable levels in food, maintains that they have no indication that products containing arsenic are unsafe. However, it is a recent report by leading toxicologists that has me concerned. Toxicologists say no level arsenic should be considered safe. According to the report: “Cancer rates aren’t up because of arsenic in chicken. However, there are enough questions and concerns that one needs to be very circumspect.”
The new report cites a 2004 Department of Agriculture study, which found that arsenic concentrations in chicken are “higher than previously recognized” and combined with increased consumption may “need to be considered when estimating overall exposure to arsenic.”
The report by the toxicologists also adds that putting arsenic in chicken feed is unnecessary. Industry leader Tyson says it stopped using arsenic because of public criticism. Still, experts say it’s found in many other brands.
“What we found was that arsenic is widely present in raw supermarket chicken,” says testers with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
The Institute tested more than 150 samples of chicken from 14 brands. Five brands had no detectable arsenic. Of the others… none surpassed government standards but the study revealed: “Some brands on average had about ten or even twenty times more arsenic than the lowest contaminated brands.”
According to the study, Gold’n Plump and Perdue tested among the highest. Though both brands later released statements that said the arsenic is organic and “has been used safely and effectively for decades.”
Another interesting finding from the study–in addition to testing raw meat, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy also looked at fast-food chicken. Every product they tested, from chicken sandwiches to nuggets, contained detectable arsenic.
I may be rethinking our dinner menus from now on.