Arsenic in our Food Reflects our Values by Wiley Foxes

Recently FDA has reversed its policy of letting chicken farmers put arsenic in chicken feed.  Not surprisingly some stayed in the chicken meat, some went to the chicken poop.  The poop is sometimes put in cow feed, so some of this ended up in the cow meat and milk and some of it in the cow poop.

Why put arsenic in chicken feed?  Somehow it makes chickens put on more weight with less food.  Yea, the farmers make more money if they put arsenic in the chicken food.  So, FDA has told them to stop, except one article I read said it is okay in Turkey meat.

So, if we eat arsenic laced chicken, doesn't it follow that some of it will stay in our meat, perhaps our liver I would guess, and some will go to our poop.  And, whatever BENEFIT it has with chickens would be passed on to us.  In short, we can gain more weight with less food.  Doesn't that follow?

Of course antibiotics, growth hormones, etc. are given to chickens and cows to make them gain weight.  Remember the whole theory that girls were getting boobs faster because of hormones given to cows which got passed to the girls via the wholesome milk we drink?  Doesn't it follow that anything that makes the chickens, cows, and turkeys to gain weight might have the same affect on us when we eat their meat?

So, who do I trust to give me a scientific, unbiased answer on whether or not stuff given to chickens, like arsenic, to fat them up will not fatten me up.  Well, it is not FDA or our government.  They have zero credibility with me.  They are also not non-partial, a key requirement for good R&D.  Farmers have great lobbyists, look at their subsidies.  Farmers help get politicians elected via lobby's and contribution dollars, politicians hand out subsidies and pick people to run FDA, etc. who fund the research.  No bias there.  So, no thank you, I don't trust research so funded.

And, where is the research showing that it is safe to put arsenic in our food supply in the first place. And if such research exists, who funded it?  The same people that benefit from saying it is safe?

So, for me I will stick with the basics.  Arsenic makes chickens gain weight.  If I eat chickens with arsenic in it, I'm guessing it will help with my fat maintenance program.

 I've heard we have an obesity problem in this country, even with our young kids.  Imagine that.  It is hard to figure how that could happen.  Surely all our food is healthy and designed to keep us lean and mean, our serving sizes are reasonable, and we are still active, hard working Americans after all.  They say we are going to have a health crisis from obesity in a few decades that will bankrupt America.   That is pure nonsense, our American values would not let us do anything to the food supply to just make more money for rich farmers ... what a silly, stupid postulate.  Not here in America, we have values and principles that guide us.