Arsenic and chickens

Question: How does arsenic get into chickens?

Answer: Simple- its in their feed as an FDA approved and legal additive.

The more complex question may be- why? The answer? To shave a few pennies off the cost of the mass production and slaughter of chickens. According to labels on chicken feed with arsenic, the products claim “increased rate of weight gain, improved feed efficiency, and improved pigmentation.” In other words, feeding chickens arsenic allows them to grow faster so they may be slaughtered at a younger age; eat less, thus reducing production costs; and have an aesthetically appealing hue when slaughtered. (The European Union has ruled that arsenic may not be added to chicken feed.)

Perhaps the scariest thing about this excessive use of arsenic in animal feed is that all this arsenic does not just disappear- it stays in the environment. As such, even us vegetarians are not safe from the harmful effects of unsafe industrialized factory farming practices.

Previous: What is arsenic?

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What is arsenic?

Question: What is arsenic?

Answer: Arsenic is a poisonous chemical often used in herbicides and pesticides and is classified as a Class 1 carcinogen, meaning it is highly toxic to humans. Other Class 1 carcinogens include asbestos, formaldehyde and hepatitis B and C viruses. According to the EPA, "arsenic has been linked to cancer of the bladder, lungs, skin, kidney, nasal passages, liver, and prostate". Other side effects of consuming arsenic can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, partial paralysis and blindness.

How much is too much?

Arsenic exists not only in the bodies of animals used for foods, such as chicken, but also in the American water supply. Although some environmental exposure to arsenic may be unavoidable, as more and more Americans reduce their consumption of red meat, they are often replacing this with chicken and fish and thus exponentially increasing their consumption of arsenic at rates never before experienced.

More: How does arsenic get into chickens?

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