ARSENIC FOUND IN FACTORY-FARMED CHICKEN

NEW STUDY FINDS TRACES
OF ARSENIC IN CHICKEN

www.abc4.com - If you thought “pink slime” was bad, here’s something else to consider - arsenic in your chicken.  Scientists from both Arizona State University and Johns Hopkins University examined ground chicken feathers from six states and China. Similar to human hair, feathers reveal traces of chemicals an animal has been exposed to. Arsenic, a known carcinogen, was found in every feather sample. “We were kind of floored.  It’s unbelievable what we found,” says Keeve E. Nachman, a scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Center for a Livable Future. In addition to the arsenic, the studies revealed a laundry list of other chemicals found in the feathers: antibiotics that were banned by the FDA for poultry production in 2005, acetaminophen, the antihistamine used in Benadryl which reduces their anxiety in order to speed up their growth and improve the taste of their meat, and caffeine which keeps chickens awake so they eat more.

The arsenic is used to give poultry meat a pleasant pink color. It also reduced infections in chickens. Odorless and tasteless, arsenic is a metalloid that is somewhat naturally occurring in drinking water supplies and can cause the thickening and discoloration of the skin, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, numbness in hands and feet, partial paralysis, and blindness (not to mention cancer) if consumed in high, or even moderate, quantities over time. The EPA has set a strict standard for arsenic levels in drinking water, but oddly no arsenic standard exists for food. The National Chicken Council is shooting down the findings, claiming the study only examined feathers, not meat. They also claim that arsenic is not used as an additive for US produced chickens. Scientists admit since more research is needed, they’re not sure if there’s an immediate danger in eating chicken right now.  A spokesperson for the FDA claims they haven’t had enough time to review the studies in-depth yet.

What’s in that chicken from factory farms you’re about to eat? Two new scientific studies found that along with a steady diet of arsenic, chickens and turkeys are routinely dosed up with active ingredients of Tylenol and Benadryl, many antibiotics banned from use in poultry since 2005, and also fed with caffeine and green tea powder to keep them awake so that they can spend more time eating. Don’t you think this is time to take out all kinds of meat from your plate?

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

As early as 1961, The AMA journal stated that 90+% of heart disease can be prevented with a Vegetarian diet.  There is a strong link between colon cancer and meat eating. Toxins in meat, do damage because they are not expelled as quickly they would be in carnivores.  Dioxin, one of the deadliest toxins, is concentrated in meat at levels 22 times what are safe, according to the EPA. More than 95% of all dioxin exposure comes in meat, dairy, and eggs. None comes in vegan foods (the other 5% is environmental).  Factory farming has made meat eating more dangerous. Because the animals are given tranquilizers, hormones and antibiotics, the latter often up to 30 times higher than humans consume in a lifetime. Preservatives in meat are dangerous to human health too.

Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
“Why Be a Vegan / Vegetarian?”
http://www.stephen-knapp.com  -  http://www.stephenknapp.info/
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/why_be_a_vegan_vegetarian.htm
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/vegetarian_recipes_and_resources.htm