Thursday, October 3, 2013

Arsenic pulled from chicken feed


The New York Times has caught up with the old news that the companies that supplied arsenic as feed additives for poultry and hog rations have pulled their products off the market in the United States.

They actually made the move early this year, but it has become national news now that the New York Times has written about the developments.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has withdrawn approval for roxarsone, carbarsone and arsanilic acid, all of them used in feed for chickens, turkeys and pigs to prevent disease and promote growth.

The companies, Pfizer spinoff Zoetis and Fleming Labs, have mostly withdrawn the drugs from the market following studies that showed levels of arsenic in chicken that exceeded amounts that occur naturally,  the Times reports.