Reply #26: The reply from Murray's Chickens:

[aquart]

We would like to take this opportunity to address recent concerns about the source of the grains used to feed our poultry. This in response to the contamination of certain grain-based feed imported from China.

The contaminated wheat gluten contained the chemical melamine which is used in fertilizers in Asia and forbidden in pet foods. The grains have made their way into chicken feed used on a number of farms in Indiana. FDA officials have confirmed that the melamine contaminated found in that chicken feed was imported from China. In a joint statement, the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration announced officials first learned of the link between the chicken feed and tainted pet food as part of the investigation into imported rice protein concentrate and wheat gluten that have been found to contain the industrial chemical melamine and related compounds.

Please rest assured that Murray’s Chickens receive a 100% antibiotic-free, vegetable diet comprised of corn and soybean meal. Both ingredients are grown in exclusively in the United States, namely, the grain in Eastern Ohio, South New York and Pennsylvania and the soybean meal in Iowa. We do not use imported feed or grains to feeds our chickens.

I am confident this information will take away any concerns you may have had. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Very truly yours,

Dean Koplik /s/

Dean Koplik
Vice President, Operations