Ban on Arsenic in Chicken Feed up for Senate Vote

[longnecker]

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - The state Senate is set to cast a final vote on a bill to ban a chicken feed additive containing arsenic.
The chamber is scheduled to vote Thursday on the measure, which would ban the sale of roxarsone, a chemical used to help the birds grow and fight parasites.
Opponents of the legislation say the bill threatens Maryland's eastern shore chicken industry and is not necessary because Pfizer Inc. has voluntarily suspended the sale of the chemical.
Perdue Farms, the country's third-largest chicken company, stopped using it in 2007.
Sponsors of the legislation say the arsenic additive contaminates chicken meat and waste, polluting soil and the Chesapeake Bay.
The legislation has been amended to terminate the ban should the U.S. Food and Drug Administration determine the chemical is safe.
http://www.wboc.com/story/17340277/b...or-senate-vote

[Tralee]

Any info on how high the concentrate is? I don't know, seems every day there is one more reason to maybe go organic or from a trusted local for meat anymore. I just bought some round steak to grind up for hamburgers tomorrow, red slime gave me the willies. Yuuck. I typically ONLY buy Allen's chicken, but picked up an organic one at Whole Foods, we'll see if there is any difference. I NEVER buy parts, that's where you get the cross contamination. Buy whole and cut it up yourself.

[max1]

I dont mind grinding my own meat, I have an old hand grinder that ya attach to the counter with a wing nut. In the fall and winter I can grind up to a 100 pounds of venison pretty easy. I like store bought chicken simply from a taste and economic standpoint. But, if you have never had a fresh piece of chicken your really missing out, my mom would get one dropped off every week in a gunny sack.

[Brainstorm]

It's amazing how we're learning that arsenic is in a lot of our food. Y'all may recall that we recently learned that arsenic is in a lot of our grains, especially rice, since it is readily taken up from the soil--- and some really depressing details were that much baby food includes rice and the much vaunted brown rice has a greater concentration since the arsenic is held in the outer layer which is retained whereas the white rice is processed to remove that layer.

Ya ever feel that we can't win?

p.s. I've been grinding my own meat for MANY years. There are precious few markets whom I trust to handle my food (and could never bring myself to buy those large pre-packed selections or even the "pre-seasoned" or "pre-stuffed" items). That sure made me feel a little better when I read all the "pink slime" stories.