The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has unlawfully ignored a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records about drugs added to poultry feed, a lawsuit filed today by consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch alleges. The group, along with Center for a Livable Future (CLF), submitted the FOIA request about arsenic-based drugs added to poultry feed last year. The groups say this type of poultry feed could pose a public health risk. Last week, CLF announced results of a new study that found that if chickens are raised with arsenic-based drugs, it raises the level of inorganic arsenic, which causes cancer, in their meat. In June 2011, Pfizer announced it was voluntarily suspending sales of the animal drug 3-Nitro (Roxarsone) after FDA scientists found that feeding the … [Read more...]
Government Action on Arsenical Pesticides Delayed
Consumers Union, an arm of Consumer Reports, has called on the EPA to ban arsenic-containing pesticides. A National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council (NAS/NRC) meeting being held today "will be the start of a process that could delay government action for at least three years on the risks of arsenic," according to the press release. Exposure to inorganic arsenic is linked to cancer. The National Toxicology Program has classified inorganic arsenic compounds as "known to be a human carcinogen." The government is reviewing the cancer and non-cancer risks from inorganic arsenic after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was directed by Congress to stop work on its prior cancer risk assessment after several years of research. Dr. Michael Hansen, Senior Scientist at … [Read more...]
Maryland Bans Arsenic in Chicken Feed
Last May, Food Poisoning Bulletin reported on the state of Maryland banning the use of arsenic in chicken feed. That bill became law on January 1, 2013. Poultry farmers have used arsenic in chicken feed since the 1940s. It treats the disease coccidiosis, which can cause anemia and diarrhea and restricts growth. The FDA approved roxarsone (3-Nitro-W), an arsenic-based drug, for use in chicken feed in 1944. Chicks gain weight faster when fed that product, and chicken flesh was pinker. The FDA approved the use of roxarsone to promote growth and improve chicken flesh pigmentation in 1951. But new scientific research has found that arsenic in poultry feed poses a risk to people that is much higher than originally thought. Chronic arsenic exposure is associated with increased bladder, … [Read more...]
Three Members of Congress Introduce Bill to Limit Arsenic in Rice
Three members of Congress have introduced a bill to limit the levels of arsenic in rice. Consumer Reports released a report that will appear in the November 2012 issue of their magazine stating that their tests have found rice and foods made from rice, including infant rice cereals, have the most toxic form of arsenic. No federal limits exist for arsenic in most foods. Make sure to look at the Consumer Reports story carefully; at the end they have a chart that lists the rice and rice products they tested and arsenic levels found. Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and Nita Lowey (D-NY) have introduced the R.I.C.E. Act (Reducing food based Inorganic and organic Compounds Exposure Act). It requires the FDA to set a "maximum permissible level of arsenic in rice and … [Read more...]
FDA Report on Arsenic in Rice
The FDA has just released a report on its investigation into arsenic in rice. We told you about this issue this past spring, when questions surfaced about brown rice syrup used in some baby formulas and in products such as granola bars. Nature's One, a baby food manufacturer, has announced a goal for zero arsenic in baby formula. Brown rice syrup is often used as a substitute for high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener in processed foods. Rice naturally contains arsenic because it absorbs it as it grows. Most rice is grown on former cotton fields, where arsenic was used as a pesticide before government regulations banned it. Arsenic is a heavy metal that stays in soil for decades. Inorganic arsenic is the dangerous form of the metal, classified as a Group A human carcinogen. The EPA … [Read more...]
Nature’s One Announces Goal for Zero Arsenic in Baby Formula
Nature's One, the baby food manufacturer that was at the center of the controversy over arsenic in brown rice syrup, has announced a goal for zero arsenic in baby formula. Brown rice syrup is used as a substitute for high fructose corn syrup and other sugars in many products. In February, researchers at Dartmouth College found that some baby formula brands that are sweetened with organic brown rice syrup exceeded the government standards for arsenic in bottled water. That standard is used because the government has not set a standard for arsenic in foods, but is conducting a study about the toxin in rice. Arsenic is found in rice because much of that crop is grown in former cotton fields in the South, where arsenic was used as a pesticide to kill boll weevils. The rice plant absorbs … [Read more...]
Maryland’s Governor Signs Bill Banning Arsenic in Poultry Feed
Martin O'Malley, Maryland's governor, signed a bill on May 22, 2012 banning arsenic in poultry feed. Maryland is the first state in the country to ban this practice. The law takes effect January 1, 2013. HB 167 prohibits a person from "using, selling, or distributing specified commercial feed intended for use as poultry feed that contains roxarsone or any other additive that contains arsenic." Roxarsone is also known as 3-Nitro®. It was sold by a subsidiary of Pfizer called Alpharma and was used to prevent coccidiosis, a parasite poultry disease. The drug was also used for weight gain, feed efficiency, and improved pigmentation. Roxarsone was first approved for use in 1944. At that time, scientists believed that organic arsenic would be excreted as organic arsenic. But new … [Read more...]
Nature’s One CEO: Our Baby Formula Is Safe, Arsenic Study Was Flawed
Nature’s One baby formula is safe and does not contain dangerous levels of arsenic as a recent Dartmouth study suggested, Jay Highman, CEO of the pediatric nutrition company based in Lewis Center, Ohio said in a statement. Last month, researchers at Dartmouth College released the results of a study about arsenic levels in baby formula and cereal bars sweetened with organic brown rice syrup. There are no U.S. laws regulating arsenic content in food, but there is standard for bottled water of 10 parts per billion (ppb). Dartmouth researchers said results of their study showed that one of the two baby formulas tested that used organic brown rice syrup as a sweetener had arsenic levels at six times the federal limit for bottled water. Although the formula manufacturers were not … [Read more...]
FDA Urged to Set Standards for Maximum Allowable Levels of Arsenic
Two members of Congress are urging FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to set standards for the maximum allowable levels of arsenic and other dangerous heavy metals in foods and beverages. Representatives Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the ranking Democrat on the Labor, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, and Frank Pallone, Jr., D-New Jersey, said in a letter to the commissioner late last week that something needs to be done to protect children and adults from juice beverages that contain unsafe levels of arsenic and lead. DeLauro and Pallone cited recent research on the threat that arsenic in fruit juices and other food products, such as brown rice, pose. They want the FDA to implement maximum standards for all food products, including infant formula. "Currently, the … [Read more...]
FDA Increases Scrutiny of Arsenic in Rice
The FDA has "expanded" the surveillance of arsenic levels in organic brown rice syrup after a report last week about alarming amounts of the compound in baby formula and cereal bars. The brands were not named in the study. That report, titled Arsenic, Organic Foods, and Brown Rice Syrup, detailed high levels of inorganic arsenic in several products: Baby's Only Organic® Dairy Toddler Formula and Baby's Only Organic® Soy Toddler Formula, both produced by Nature's One®, use organic brown rice syrup. Nature's One® has released a prepared response: "An independent, third party testing laboratory completed testing on organic brown rice syrup used in formulas produced in 2011. The testing proved there are no safety concerns using the organic brown rice syrup ingredient. Nature's One® … [Read more...]
