FDA: Millions of Chickens Fed Contaminated Pet Food

[Shallah Kali]

Source: Health Day News via Yahoo

Up to 3 million broiler chickens were fed melamine-tainted pet food and then sold on the U.S. market beginning in early February, U.S. health officials said in a press conference held late Tuesday.

The contaminated pet product made its way into poultry feed at 38 Indiana farms, 30 of which produced broiler chickens destined for restaurants and supermarkets, said officials at the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration and the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.

Approximately 2.5 million to 3 million chickens fed contaminated pet food have already been sold, Kenneth Peterson, assistant administrator for field operations at the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, said during the teleconference. "That's out of a total of 9 billion broilers processed in the U.S. each year," he noted.

SNIP

In a joint statement issued late Saturday, the FDA and USDA stressed that, "We are not aware of any human illness that has occurred from exposure to melamine or its byproducts." They added that they have also identified no illnesses in swine fed the salvage food tainted by melamine, which was imported from China as an additive to wheat gluten used in dog and cat food.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20070501/hl_hsn/fdamillionsofchickensfedcontaminatedpetfood

---

The FDA and USDA say they don't know of any illness in humans from melamine yet I haven't found anything about they or the CDC testing humans who ate the contained chickens or pork. Is it really such a stretch to expect them to ask those people for a blood and urine sample to make sure they really did only get a tiny exposure that didn't harm their kidneys????

also possibly of interest:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2829464&mesg_id=2829464

Since the FDA started testing all wheat gluten and rice from China they have found the following (more at above link)-

According to the alert notice posted on the FDA website Friday, the agency has so far taken 750 samples of wheat gluten and products made with wheat gluten and found 330 positive for melamine or melamine combined with another substance. It also found 27 positives out of 85 samples of rice protein concentrate and products made with rice protein concentrate.

[msongs]

1. sorry, china, you can no longer sell this toxic waste to the USA nt

[Scairp]

50. I don't get this at all

Why do we need to buy chicken feed from China? Have we outsourced every single thing in the universe to some Third World country? This is ridiculous. If the terrorists want to take over our country, they need not bomb us or send us anthrax through the mail or set off dirty bombs, or even ordinary nukes, all they have to do is wait until we all die from the contaminated food we are buying abroad where things like standards are not a concern.

[Tellurian]

62. Perdue and Tyson Chicken are OK..

These two chicken companys do not buy their feed from China:

Lobb said it is industry practice for companies to own birds and contract growers to raise them, and that companies supply the feed to the growers as well.

"Nobody buys feed from China," Lobb told CNN.

"Feed is made from corn, soybean meal, minerals... about 70 percent of ration is corn and that's all locally grown in the United States. Soybeans are all grown in the United States," Lobb said.

"Melamine is not supposed to be in any animal feed, pet food... it's an industrial chemical and that problem goes back to China where they were deliberately spiking the product with melamine and before that with urea in order to boost its protein content," Lobb said.

Perdue and Tyson Foods -- two of the largest U.S. chicken producers -- do not import any protein ingredients from China used in their chicken feeds, company

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/01/recall.poultry/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

[Shallah Kali]

69. perdue does have another issue that might be of concern - arsenic feed chickens

tyson stopped after they were sued by people getting odd cancers who happened ot live near where tyson spread the chicken manure from their arsenic feed chickens. It seems most chicken producers use a form of arsenic called Roxarsone that is banned in Europe.

The Chicken You Buy May Contain Arsenic
http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_127173210.html

Playing Chicken: Avoiding Arsenic in Your Meat PDF
http://www.healthobservatory.org/library.cfm?refid=80529

More on arsenic in chicken here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2830631&mesg_id=2832143

[aquart]

2. AND WHAT DO THEY PLAN TO DO ABOUT IT?

I had chicken for dinner tonight.

[rudy23]

14. DO about it? Why, that's the old, FDR way of government. We're gonna let the market take care of

this. : )

[krkaufman]

32. That is literally what many Right Wingers and free marketeers would say.

The market will adjust. People will stop buying chicken, and the producers will make a better effort in the future.

All works out in the end.

p.s. Some "externalities" have not been factored into this position.

[barb162]

64. kick

This is an important story

[lovuian]

23. I think the FDA sees things have gotten out of control

if baby formula is contaminated I'll be so ticked off and I know its coming

[april]

3. I gave up beef 5 yrs ago so I ate chicken, fish, and my vegies

Now I don't eat tuna , cod, farmed Salmon because of the Mercury now I can't eat Chicken!!!Gave up spinach... so now I CAN'T EAT BREAD, PASTA, CERAL,this is like Katrina in my body. F the FDA & GW aka THE kING LETS CALL BETTY CROCKER or the P Dough Boy

They have waited because the Big Boys don't want their STOCKS to come tumbling Down somewhat like Humpty Dumpty the ASS all for profit ...he is and this administration it is all about the money and they are the Terrorists!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Thickasabrick]

54. I thought farmed salmon didn't have the mercury in it....only the wild?

[Shallah Kali]

61. wild is a bit safer than farmed salmon. less mercury, less pcbs, less dioxins

also farmed salmon is sometimes treated with stuff to make it pink. More info

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/08/health/main592163.shtml

http://www.ewg.org/reports/farmedPCBs/part2.php

[Thickasabrick]

79. Thanks for the info! You would think that being "farmed" they

could reduce the number of pollutants in the fish. Crazy.....I need to just go vegan.

[flvegan]

4. Though nobody really wants to hear it...

It's a great day to stop eating animals.

[parasim]

5. Yeah, it's also a great day to buy a farm...

...and grow your own vegetables, because apparently given recent outbreaks of contaminated spinach and other non-animal foods, nothing is really safe is it?

In fact, with acid rain and pollution, etc, even growing your own on a farm might not be the safest thing these days... unless maybe if you move to the Yukon or somewhere...

[flvegan]

6. Agreed, but

I don't have that kind of time nor money.

[Cobalt Violet]

39. I'd have to agree.

But I still feel even we aren't safe with this FDA.

[puffthemagicdragon]

85. Ive already done something about it

I went vegan awhile ago and only eat organic foods delivered to me in the city from outlying organic farmers.

[BadgerKid]

7. Corn gluten and soybean meal

I checked one Midwest company's web site and found this in their FAQ:

"We feed our chickens only the finest natural grain products, including yellow corn, corn gluten, marigolds, soybean meal, vitamins and mineral supplements to help maintain their natural yellow skin color."

Now just have to find out their supplier.

[Paulie]

27. yellow skin chickens are not their "natural" color

It's the marigolds and corn that make them yellow.

Love how they say they feed natural grain "products". Why not grass and bugs from a field instead?

Ah well, at least when I visited family in Poland, I was able to taste what real fresh eggs and chicken were like once in my life.

[DuaneBidoux]

8. I wish this were getting more activity here. I think this is absolutely huge.

Increasingly we have been importing food from countries that have no health and safety regulations or controls. It has happened quietly and very quickly (imports up 71% in five years according to NBC)and there has been no awareness.

I dare say that when all is said and done we will find out that the foods we have been importing from China and other countries are tainted extensively by chemicals.

We need a tax on imported food (since these imported foods are done mostly for cost to save some corporation money) to hire a large number of full time food inspectors whose job it is to do nothing but inspect imported food from third world countries.

Anybody that reads this please kick it. I am certain that this is the front edge of an issue that will come down on this country like a hurricane in the coming years.

[NYC]

11. I agree with you. I've been writing to companies

about their foreign ingredients. They reply with a song and dance about meeting regulations.

No more food from countries whose food safety regulations I don't know. (That's just about all of them.)

My "menu" has diminished drastically.

[CRH]

47. It is huge, but not to worry, ...

corporate agri-business, and their supporting 'caste' in the republican and democratic parties have already found the solution, if the food turns out to be a bit tainted. Upon your falling ill with gastritis, liver problems or perhaps other digestive maladies, you can now feel comfort that your parties corporate free trade politicians have thought of everything. It is really quite simple. It is being arranged that your health care can be easily out sourced to China, India, and Latin America. For the price of a plane ticket you can now visit exotic locations to attend to otherwise very costly procedures in the domestic health care mercado. Upon returning to health, you can even apply to your insurance carrier for a return ticket home.

[candice]

80. Don't count on it...my insurance company is being sued for not paying up...

Reason they say: The applications had problems so they aren't responsible, although the insurance company did take the payments, make a 20 plus percent profit, and buy lobbyists to oppose universal health care.

Save 1/3 of our health care costs immediately. Remove the insurance companies where low-paid" clerks are practicing insurance without a license" (as my doctor says...they are telling her what she can and cannot do with her patients) from the equation. Single payer is the first step in getting medicine back to its mission (and it isn't to have the highest profits at the lowest costs).

[CRH]

87. I agree 100% with your second paragraph, but I must confess, ...

my entire post was written tongue and cheek, after reading several articles referring to the off shoring of medical procedures, and that the service is sometimes used by insurance companies. There has been some speculation that in the future insurance companies will offer the off shore options to group policies, as a way to 'lower or freeze premiums'. It also removes the cost of law suits and tort reform legislation, with the proper unreadable and un intelligible fine print.

[DuaneBidoux]

9. Please kick and recommend. This is huge in my opinion.

[trudyco]

10. kick

[fed-up]

12. anybody remember the "dear auntiepinko" letter on DU about/lady that had food issues???

[nodehopper]

13. K&R

[politicat]

15. Locally bred meat is the logical alternative.

Finding local sources, where you can talk to the person who fed and raised the chicken, pig or cow, and learning to trust them...

http://www.eatwild.com/ has local resources for almost everyone who wants local meats.

While vegetarian or veganism is an option for some, we prefer to eat as locally as possible, and it's just not possible for us, in a high altitude, semi-arid climate to be vegetarian. We can't eat grass, and that is the plant that does best in the soil within 200 miles. So we have to go up the food chain. (Plus, soybeans are not a local crop, and while wheat and maize are, I have many strong ethical, environmental and social reservations about the wisdom of using corn as the backbone of a diet. And there aren't enough pinon pines to feed the number of people in the region.)

But am I the only one feeling rather... Du-uh? about this? Doesn't it seem really logical that, if food is killing pets, that food should not be then introduced into the human food chain? I really wonder who gets the "I failed my ridiculously easy spot check" award on this one...

[Sadie5]

16. Is corn a problem

I eat organic veggies when possible and swore off meat over 20 years ago. But until this scare I did eat chicken and some fish. No longer will I eat chicken laced with chemicals. This brings me to the corn question:Would corn possibly make you gain tons of weight because of the starch and sugars it contains. This can't be good for us to eat this much corn product. And isn't fructose obtained from corn?

[Paulie]

29. Almost everything is made of corn, even people :)

Pick up a copy of the The Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan. In the middle of this page is chapter one from his book: http://www.michaelpollan.com/omnivore.php

[19jet54]

36. Corn & Beans

Corn is made into "high fructose corn syrup" through an enzyme process (Japanese precess similar to rice to make Sake) but originally the American Tribes (whites call them Indians) had a complete protein diet by using beans & corn, which each provide about half of the needed chain in protein for the human diet. Basically a bean burrito in a corn shell provides the needed protein diet to survive. (Jeopardy was my original source of information here)

I do not know if the contaminate (melamine) is processed and passed up the food chain in damaging quantities through the meat of pigs, cows, chickens, lamb, or whatever? However, it is safe to say the Chinese business need some very negative feedback here!

[japple]

59. The culprit is high fructose corn syrup and it's in everything.

article from SFgate.
From an old article at sfgate.com:

Sugar coated
We're drowning in high fructose corn syrup. Do the risks go beyond our waistline?
Kim Severson, Chronicle Staff Writer


Wednesday, February 18, 2004
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2004/02/18/FDGS24VKMH1.DTL

Loading high fructose corn syrup into increasingly larger portions of soda and processed food has packed more calories into us and more money into food processing companies, say nutritionists and food activists. But some health experts argue that the issue is bigger than mere calories. The theory goes like this: The body processes the fructose in high fructose corn syrup differently than it does old-fashioned cane or beet sugar, which in turn alters the way metabolic-regulating hormones function. It also forces the liver to kick more fat out into the bloodstream.
The end result is that our bodies are essentially tricked into wanting to eat more and at the same time, we are storing more fat.

[19jet54]

73. I think the problem will fix itself...

That is only the case because "high fructose corn syrup" is currently so cheap. With the current interest in Corn for other uses (fuel & so on), that is going to change to a cheaper sweetener soon. Either that, or inflation is going to get really bad soon.

My original comment stands, for food you are better off just eating the corn; at least then you also get the fiber.

[Mojorabbit]

19. I feed my chickens

scraps, fresh greens, and laying feed from the feed store. Now I am worried about what is in the feed I purchase.

[FlaGranny]

70. When I was a kid

in the 1940s, my uncle had an egg farm. The stuff he fed his chickens was real grain. You could see each individual grain in the feed. There were no unidentifiable particles in it at all. It consisted mostly of oats, cracked corn, and, I think millet. There were probably others that I don't remember. The oats were my favorite. I would pick them out of the feed and chew on them.

[fortyfeetunder]

17. I am going to love me some local organic produce

It's time for a food revolution...

[kurth]

18. Your life and health is more important than any freakin' free trade

Ban ALL that shit. There is no room for error here.

[Warren DeMontague]

20. Somebody needs to tell the FDA that teens are using this stuff for premarital sex & birth control

that's the only way the glassy-eyed Jesus zombies Bush has put in charge of that place are even going to pay attention.

[arcane1]

26. indeed! Or better yet:

tell them that melamine has been shown to cause "the gay"

[Shallah Kali]

56. yah - tell 'em it is causing teens to adolescents to form sex-based cults centered around the use of

melamine.

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0515-32.htm

Janet Woodcock, who is the deputy operations commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, apparently told a group of agency employees, according to a memo written by one of them, that "we could not anticipate or prevent extreme promiscuous behaviors such as the medication taking on 'urban legend' status that would lead adolescents to form sex-based cults centered around the use of Plan B."

[Warren DeMontague]

58. EXACTLY. Next time you're wondering why our food supply isn't safe

it's because these crazy "left behind", Fundy, Pat Robertson University, moron mofos are running the show.

[daleo]

21. Only dogs and cats get sick from this stuff

After all, people are immune since we evolved on a different planet, and our biochemistry is entirely different from that of our pets.

(yes, that's sarcasm).

[Warren DeMontague]

22. No, no, we didn't EVOLVE at all. We were created as is, 6000 years ago.

Any biological resemblance between you and your cat or dog is a satan-sponsored illusion, just like dinosaur bones, plate tectonics, or the microwave residue from the Big Bang. :thumbsup:

[19jet54]

74. Funny...

... but they are right, Chocolate is a poison to dogs/cats/birds, but it is good for humans.

[Warren DeMontague]

75. I thought it was just dogs.

Still, I don't want any melamine in my wheat gluten. I'd just as soon rather be safe than sorry.

[TreasonousBastard]

24. Far more troubling than this minor bullshit...

are the other things in chicken-- like tetracyclene and arsenic.

And that we're yakking on about terrorist bombs in cargo containers while not bothering to do the inspections already required.

Melamine shouldn't be in any food, but it does have a very low risk for human toxicity and while it may have been in chicken feed, it's not a big deal in the meat.

Arsenic in chicken feed, however, is a big deal in the meat and chicken production from some of the biggest producers have seen rather nasty things happening in the business for years.

But, hey, why not just jump on the bandwagon for the latest hysteria and ignore all the other ongoing problems.

Or, insist on free-range or kosher chickens, and try to get the prices down. Go veggie, even.

[Shallah Kali]

52. Or instead of scolding people for being uninformed please educate us about legal ARSENIC in Chickens

With the truth dawning in people that the FDA/UDSA/etc aren't protecting America like it says in their job descritpion now is a very good time to bring this forward for all the folks who missed this nasty set of facts. I for one didn't know!!!

So please consider that not all people are being willfully ignorant. We simply don't know every accursed trick corporations have pulled on us that our dear government has let them get away with.

Consumers Beware: Dangerous Levels of Arsenic Found in Non-Organic Chicken
http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/arsenic060405.cfm

Chicken With Arsenic? Is That O.K.?
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/05/dining/05well.html?ex=1301889600&en=9e2e0f56af407166&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

More from Organic Consumers org:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGGL,GGGL:2006-23,GGGL:en&q=site:www.organicconsumers.org+arsenic+chicken

Arsenic In Chicken Feed May Pose Health Risks To Humans
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070409115746.htm

Roxarsone, the most common arsenic-based additive used in chicken feed, is used to promote growth, kill parasites and improve pigmentation of chicken meat. In its original form, roxarsone is relatively benign. But under certain anaerobic conditions, within live chickens and on farm land, the compound is converted into more toxic forms of inorganic arsenic. Arsenic has been linked to bladder, lung, skin, kidney and colon cancer, while low-level exposures can lead to partial paralysis and diabetes, the article notes.

Use of roxarsone has become a topic of increasing controversy. A growing number of food suppliers have stopped using the compound, including the nation's largest poultry producer, Tyson Foods, according to the article. Still, about 70 percent of the 9 billion broiler chickens produced annually in the U.S. are fed a diet containing roxarsone, the article points out.

Complicating the issue is the fact that no one knows the exact amount of arsenic found in chicken meat or ingested by consumers who frequently eat chicken. "Neither the Food and Drug Administration nor the Department of Agriculture has actually measured the level of arsenic in the poultry meat that most people consume," according to the article.

Humane Society: Study Has Many Clucking about Elevated Levels of Arsenic Found in Chicken (also fed to pigs)
http://www.hsus.org/farm/news/ournews/arsenic_in_chicken_meat.html

After reviewing 5,000 chicken samples, researchers from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service last year discovered alarmingly high levels of arsenic contamination in the flesh of broiler chickens, those chickens raised for meat.1 These government researchers found that the amount of arsenic in the chicken samples greatly exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency's upper safety limit of arsenic allowed in drinking water. In fact, the amount of arsenic found in the chicken was six to nine times that allowed by the EPA.

snip

The researchers, however, found not only elevated levels of organic arsenic in chicken meat, they found elevated levels of the highly toxic inorganic form typically used only in insecticides and weed killers.11 And cooking the muscles of these animals may create additional toxic arsenic by-products.12

Inorganic arsenic is considered one of the prominent environmental causes of cancer mortality in the world.13 Arsenic is a human carcinogen linked to liver, lung, skin, kidney, bladder, and prostate cancers. It can also cause neurological, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and immune system abnormalities. Diabetes has also been linked to arsenic exposure.14

The feeding of arsenic to chickens in the United States releases hundreds of tons of arsenic into the environment every year in the form of poultry manure which is spread on fields as fertilizer.15 In fact, a coalition of families suffering serious health conditions is suing chicken producers like Tyson after research showed cancer rates as much as 50 times above the national average in communities neighboring poultry factory farm operations.16

[MannyGoldstein]

25. I'd Just Like To Thank Bill Clinton

For pushing permanent 'free' trade status for China, which allows all of this uninspected crap to get in.

And I'd like to thank John Edwards for voting for it.

And I'd like to thank Hillary Clinton for strongly supporting it.

(Boy, are we dopes. Can we get a REAL Democrat in office, please?)

[anitar1]

35. Thanks, Manny, for passing the thanks to the Clintons ect. for me.

They should be reminded of this daily.

[appleannie1]

28. I have been cooking enough to feed my pets human food

to keep them healthy. We do not eat beef, so I cook a lot of chicken and pork. Now we are being told both of those are not safe. WTG. Nothing like globalization to warm the cockles of your kindeys.

[frankly_fedup2]

30. I have been doing exactly the same thing. I have been buying chicken

to feed my animals. Of course, it is cooked well done so wonder if that makes a difference? I don't eat chicken but mostly fish. My husband eats steak and hamburger and lunch meats. He has always said we should raise our own animals and our own garden but I've always told him I couldn't eat anything that I've raised from a baby. It seems cruel to me; however, my families survival comes first and we may have to do just that starting this summer.

[catgirl]

40. How about turkey?

That's what I've been cooking up for my cats. Now I'm
worried. Are chicken eggs safe? I buy organic-free range
eggs, but I wouldn't trust restaurants eggs.

[Pachamama]

31. I urge everyone to write letters/email any companies they buy products from and ask them where their

ingredients are coming from. I started doing that 3 weeks ago as the Melamine tainted Gluten in the Pet Food started coming out and I really started wondering whether it had entered into the Human food supply.

One company I buy from, "Hodgson Mills", makes Bread Mix and Pancake mix and they include Wheat Gluten. I sent them an email point blank asking them whether their wheat gluten was imported from China and if they tested their ingredients. They wrote me back and assured me that their supplies of Wheat Gluten were all domestic and had been tested.

I urge each of you to buying locally as much as you can and the products you don't, start writing and demanding to know from the companies where their ingredients are coming from. If they are, demand they stop and let them know you will not buy their product anymore.

I am so upset about this recent news and am absolutely convinced that the Melamine tainted Gluten and who knows what else from China has entered our food supply. And I don't know about you all, but I don't feel any reassurance about the Melamine not being a threat to our health. So it isn't killing us now....instead, does it affect us in a few years? I think that this is going to be the beginning of us all waking up and realizing that literally we are being poisoned.

I also think we all need to start demanding our elected officials investigate this and that tighter controls be placed on imports from China and also that "Country of Origin" labeling be mandatory, now!

[Kool Kitty]

33. This is very frightening. Call, write, find out

what the hell is in our food. Why are we buying this shit from around the world? We don't grow wheat or corn or rice here anymore? I know-it's because the foreign imports are cheaper. Goddamn it. Kick for the late night crowd.

[Shallah Kali]

57. I agree we need Country of Origin. I also think we need all chemcials proven safe before use

in anything from shampoo to pet food. The EU either has or is about to require all products to only be made with known safe chemicals unlike the US where if people aren't dropping like flies it stays legal.

the gov officals and 'food' companies always say thing have 'safe levels' of toxins like kids lunchboxes from China have 'safe level's of lead ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/18/AR2007021800528.html ) OK pretend for a moment you believe them after all the lies they tell to cover their behinds. What happens when you are exposed to 2 dozen chemicals every day or week in 'safe levels'. Even if they really ARE safe what happens if they interact? Look at viagra and heart meds! We have safe levels are arsenic in our chicken ( http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070409115746.htm & http://www.hsus.org/farm/news/ournews/arsenic_in_chicken_meat.html ) several times what is safe in water. we have safe levels of melamine in our chicken and pork. what the heck else should we know about?

[Pachamama]

63. The more I know and the more I learn, the more scared I become about our food supply and its safety

I just checked out the links and article you sent and I felt sick....

For the most part, I probably eat safer food than most because of the access to fresh grown local and organic foods and meats in Marin County, CA. But there are still lots of things I buy that who knows what is in them.

The reference to the various "safe levels" of chemicals and substances we are exposed to everyday should pose concern for all of us, especially long term. I remember about a year or so ago a series done in the Oakland Tribune Newspaper where they had 4 families/individuals that they followed what they ate etc. and then after several months were tested (blood etc.). What was fascinating is that one family, with a small child and a newborn, ate lots of fresh local food, organic (lots of it) and they led a very healthy lifestyle and yet even her breastmilk when tested contained lots of chemicals and things one would wonder how she got exposed too. It was very scary and I wondered that we are all being exposed to so many things unknowningly.

[Shallah Kali]

65. There is so much toxins in the air and water - lettuce and bottled water w/Perchlorate from RocketFu

Subject: There is so much toxins in the air and water - lettuce and bottled water w/Perchlorate from Rockets
Message:
Fuel that has seeped into the groundwater esp. in the south west - it's in milk too:

Toxic chemical found in California milk
Study: Rocket fuel Perchlorate more widespread than thought
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5268705 /

Why Organic Milk, Lettuce and Bottled Water Can Be A Danger to You!
http://thyroid.about.com/b/a/130004.htm

then there is all the 'safe levels' of arsenic in chicken cuz they legally add a special form of arsenic banned in Europe:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=799399&mesg_id=810283


The best one can do is eat as low on the food chain as possible to avoid things like mercury that build up in the body. Think of the fish that eat other fish have more mercury than those that eat plants. If you can afford organic buy it. If you have land grow your own even if it is just a patch of tomatoes or herbs. And fight like hell to get laws in place and ENFORCED against releasing more toxic crap into our world!

sorry to scare you but I figure it is better to know what is going on so we can fight back rather than wonder why so many people are sickly. some times I think of the themesong used on Monk 'if you paid attention you'd be worried too'. but don't be scared - be MAD!

[Pachamama]

66. Now I understand the saying "Ignorance is Bliss"...because with the knowledge I'm getting about what

we are being exposed to, I feel sick.

Funny you mentioned the show "Monk" and its theme song (love that show).

Yeah, I'm worried and actually we all should be worried and paying close attention.

Thanks for the links and the info...and yes, I'm Mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!!!! :hi:

[Pachamama]

67. Want to see something really creepy? I went to your link at about.com & there was a sponsored link

at the bottom of the page called "Organic Milk Labels - Learn the truth about organic labeling claims related to milk.www.milkismilk.com"

Well, I went to it, started reading it and what was really creepy is that it was basically saying that there is no point to buying organic milk. I then started digging deeper into who was behind this website. It's called the "CGFI" - Center for Global Food Issues. I started digging deeper and its a project of the "Hudson Institute" - a conservative think tank....and guess who sits on the board of trustees????

Richard Perle

Wow...these assholes really are out to poison and destroy us all, arent' they????

[Shallah Kali]

68. {{{{shudder}}}}

times like this I want to build a pyramid out of tinfoil and hide under it except that isn't the problem. who needs mind rays when they have rBGH and perchlorate in the milk, mercury in the fish, lead in kids lunch boxes and pc mouse cords (last one I bought had a warning label).

[JCMach1]

34. US food supply is bordering on insanely unsafe at this point...

:(


What the hell do I eat when I come back for vacation?

[Mendocino]

37. All about economics.

"Gee we've got all this contaminated pet food. Can't let it go to waste and disposing of it will cost big bucks. What to do?"

This reminds me of Reagan era laws that lets fertilizer companies mix toxic waste in their products and consumers get it spread on their lawns. Disposal problems solved.

[sam sarrha]

38. they fed "Saalvaged" food .. the recalled pet food was fed to them and up the food chain to us, this

is a good expmple of how the Bu$h administration works.. HOW MUCH WENT INTO BABY FOODs !!!!

got to make any dollar that causes suffering to others

[donkeyotay]

41. But regulation is baaaad. Free market good. I believe in the market.

Let's see, the Repo Revolution outsourced our jobs/economy to China and said we had to compete without saying how we could compete with virtual slave labor. They said it would be a net gain for everyone, but it only was for the class that skims the difference off those foreign imports. They were wrong.

The Repo Revolution said that privatization was the answer to bureaucratic inefficiency. They apparently didn't stop to think that privatized corruption would be a bigger factor. They were wrong.

The Repo Revolution said it was okay to let corporations run our media. Nothing bad would happen. They were wrong.

The Repo Revolution said it was okay to buy our representatives and have their owners write legislation. Nothing bad would happen. They were wrong.

The Repo Fools said that markets shouldn't be regulated. They were wrong. The only good capitalism is regulated capitalism. It was regulated capitalism that brought America its standard of living. That we now feel like we're playing Russian roulette when we eat is only one manifestation of the lack of regulation. The simmering economic mess of mortgages and hedge funds is another.

On the other hand, the Repo Revolution was so right when they said they'd restore dignity and honor to politics in Washington. Er, no... the 1994 Contract and Darwinian Experiment On America is officially a failure.

[The Stranger]

42. CAN WE STOP THE WAR AND USE THE FUNDS TO FEED PEOPLE SOMETHING OTHER THAN POISON?

[Kool Kitty]

43. After yesterday's veto, I'd have to say

I guess not. The bastards.

[qwlauren35]

44. "Search and DESTROY"

I have always wondered why companies "pull products", but we never hear anything further, like "destroyed, burned, etc."

Frankly, I have similar thoughts about whenever the government/police collect illegal weapons...

Someone along the power chain can't bring him or herself to just eat allllll those profits...

Vegetarianism is looking good... except for spinach.

[gulfcoastliberal]

45. We're back to Sincalir's "Jungle"

People actually used to get upset and demand meaningful chang when these practices were exposed. Now people just don't do shit unless it's constantly on the TV every day. We're doomed to repeat history, fuck we're doing it right now.

[Mendocino]

48. Blood, feces, organs, spinal cords, ground bone from downed livestock

all are fed back to animals. My animal consumption is almost down to zero, I eat some fish, have an egg or two once in a while but hope to make a complete break within weeks.

I read The Jungle years ago, but thought that couldn't happen today. I was wrong. Pass the beans and rice.

[Shallah Kali]

51. Have you visited NoDowners.org? They show that diseased meat is allowed for humans too

http://www.nodowners.org/usda.htm

Despite its responsibility for preventing adulterated and tainted meat from being used for human food, the United States Department of Agriculture explicitely allows diseased animals into the human food supply.


* A study of USDA slaughterhouse records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act shows that the Agency approves meat from animals with pneumonia, hepatitis, lymphona, gangrene and other ailments. Click here for report.

* When the USDA was petitioned to prevent the slaughter of diseased animals for human food, it responded with a letter explicitely stating that it is acceptable to use meat from diseased animals for human food. Click here to read letter.

* Members of Congress are speaking out against the irresponsible practice of marketing and slaughtering downed and diseased animals for human food. Click here to read a 2003 floor statement by Congressman Earl Blumenauer. Click here to read a letter to USDA signed by 59 legislators.

I too used to think stuff like this couldn't happen now, that companies wouldn't want to risk killing customers or merely making them very very ill. Now I know they can make a lot of money before the fit really hits the shan because people rarely instantly fall sick so the constant toxic sludge they call food doesn't get blamed.

[candice]

81. Even the so-called organic, free-range chickens live in sheds without sunlight...

and don't necessarily ever touch the ground. I've read that beaks are cut off so that chickens will just be laying machines until they can be eaten. I used to feed my great aunt's chickens and really liked the animals. I buy the organic/free-range ones hoping that they had a better life than most, but try not to eat them. Vegetarianism is more appealing every day.

[Eurobabe]

46. I always knew American chicken tasted like dog food

now I know why.

Buy & Eat Organic, PEOPLE! For your own health...

[StarryNite]

49. Sanderson Farms

I just called Sanderson Farms and asked if their chickens were fed any of the melamine-tainted pet food and the lady said no. She said they do not purchase any feed from abroad. All their feed comes from the United States.

I'm still worried. :(

[Cass]

53. OMG. What are they going to do about this??

Why are Chinese food imports still allowed??? Something must be done about this, damn it.

The last bit of information you posted makes my hair stand on end.

I would guess that the very young, the elderly and those with health problems might be affected by this more intensely than the rest of the population.

[StarryNite]

55. "What are they going to do about this??"

Probably not a damn thing.

[Shallah Kali]

60. Durbin makes a start- amendment adds fines for companies who don't report problems in 2 days

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/senators-vote-tighten-pet-food/story.aspx

Senators voted unanimously on Wednesday to include a food safety measure as part of a Food and Drug Administration funding bill that would impose uniform standards for pet food and fines for food companies that fail to report product problems.

The amendment, proposed by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is almost identical to a stand-alone food safety law he introduced earlier Wednesday. Both would tighten regulations on imported food and increase labeling responsibilities for pet food companies. The amendment also would create a single scientific system for states to determine which food should be recalled, a process

now handled differently in each state, and impose financial penalties on companies that do not report problems within two days.
When Menu Foods, producer of many pet food products recalled in March, learned of problems with their products, "three weeks passed while their products spread across Canada and North America," Durbin said. The contaminated pet food was blamed for the deaths of at least 16 pet dogs and cats, and the sickening thousands of others.

"(The amendment) deals with pet food. But it doesn't stop there because this contamination didn't stop with pet food. It ended up moving into feed lots" and into poultry and hog farms, Durbin said. "We are naïve to believe that any problem in the pet food population can't make it into the human process."

Nice start but we need more. We need Country of Origin Labeling. We need not just fines but also jail time. This one more thing the money wasted on Iraq would be well spent upon!

China Daily: More than 10% of arable land polluted heavy metals, solid waste, etc.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/23/content_856803.htm

As to why they don't drop a total ban- China owns the 2nd largest share of our National Debt. They have us by the you-know-whats.

Add to that the fact that so many US companies have factories over there where things like sweatshop labor, lack of environmental laws create a capitalist's dreamland.

Add to that Wal-Mart trades with China more than most countries businesses all together. WalMart has been fighting so their shipments won't be inspected in ports even for a few minutes to make sure somone isn't smuggling in a nuke. walmart seems to have alot of pull with the US government. remember a few years ago when they were nailed for child labor - having teens operating forklifts unlicensed? Our dear gov. decided to give em a fine but next time give 'em a 2 week notice before inspections.

[Odin2005]

71. Time to BAN food imports from China, IMMEDIATELY!

Fuck "free trade," if the WTO want to whine about it they can go fuck themselves.

[Tippy]

72. Totaly agree

We produce enough food, human and pet food, right here we don't need their imported products.....the worse part of all this is they knew...and have know all along there were dangers involved...but big business tried to keep it quiet....FDA and Bush are behind all of this....

[candice]

77. or at least have the origin of ingredients labeled so we can vote

with our pocket books. Meanwhile, why would our mugs from China have lead in them as someone indicated on DU? I guess it makes sense in baby bibs, but why mugs?

And lead in our vitamin/supplements that are mostly from China now? What a rip-off!

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660215681,00.html

[Shallah Kali]

83. Lead in mugs - probably it's in the glazing

Lead in baby bibs Made in China for Wal-Mart - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x811534

Lead in kids lunch boxes Made in China - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/18/AR2007021800528.html

Last year my Mother bought a new tap for her garden hose so she could water her tomatoes. Luckily I read the label before she used it because it said it had lead and to wash throughly after handling the danged thing. Since she didn't want to risk getting lead in her tomatoes or directly into herself from handling the blasted thing she returned it to walmart. btw the tag said it was made for walmart in China.

[candice]

82. I'd like to bring back some manufacturing here...it's not a good idea to

rely on another country for our manufactured products, esp. one that isn't able to guarantee product safety, worker conditions, and has extreme environmental issues that affect us directly--25 percent of the smog over L.A. is from China according to the E.P.A. so L.A. should not be considered the most polluted American city, just the one that with the pollutants from our manufacturing in China has the most aggregate pollution. Also, no country should not be carrying out debt for consumer goods. Americans need to stop buying stuff they don't absolutely need and to get rid of personal debt as well.

[JetCityLiberal]

76. We can't feed it to our pets but we can feed it to the chickens we eat??!!?

jeez, this is beyond stupid. I am lucky to grow my own fruit and vegetables and I save seeds but I am a meat and seafood and chicken eater, for now, anyway. I try to always buy local.

Time to hit the letters to the Reps....again.

Paul

[StarryNite]

78. But even if we buy local

we don't know where the feed came from. God we're screwed! :cry:

[Critters2]

86. Buy organic--but make sure it's certified organic by a third party--

not just the USDA. Look for NOFA or Oregon Tilth certification.

[Shallah Kali]

84. Not just letters to Gov officals - letters to stores and companies telling 'em we want Made In USA

no lead in our lunchboxes and baby bibs, no arsenic and melamine in our chickens, nothing from China period in human, pet or livestock feed! Ask them to guarantee that they won't buy anything but US ingredients and make their suppliers to sign an agreement that they will do the same.