WE EAT CHICKEN EVERY DAY, WE EAT TOXINS EVERY DAY
Chicken is the most commonly
consumed poultry around the world. We love it because it’s cheap and it’s a
high source of protein, and of course you can make a variety of dishes using
chicken.
Chickens and turkeys
together represent 99% of land animals slaughtered for food in the United
States. 51.4 billion chickens are artificially hatched, fattened up and
slaughtered as 42-day-old babies every year globally. A chicken’s normal
lifespan is 10–15 years. Chickens bred for meat are arguably the most
genetically manipulated of all animals, forced to grow 65 times faster than
their bodies normally would, and the industry continually seeks to increase
their growth rate. 1
That is logical to believe
that the genetically modified chicken has been consuming genetically modified
fodder. Lack of concern on both the seller’s and consumer’s part is doing all
sorts of damage to our health. 2
Virtually all chicken in our
market come from the factory farms, or Confined Animal Feeding Operations
(CAFOs). THIS CHICKEN list of hazards consuming excessive chicken.
Most chicken consumers are
still not ware that well more than 90 percent of all chicken meat and eggs sold
in the United States come from Confined
Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). 3
 |
Their natural life span is
10-15 years, but modem chicken could be hatched and
ready for consumption with 45-60 days. Worldwide, roughly 52 billion
chickens are artificially hatched. They are slaughtered within 42 days Broiler
chicken grows at a fast rate due to its genetics manipulation with growth
hormones.
Arsenic, a powerful toxic is added to poultry
feed to promote faster weight gain using less food and to create a “healthy
color” in chicken and turkey. 4
‘’The USDA Food Safety and
Inspection Service (FSIS) attributes nearly 133,000 illnesses each year to
contaminated chicken parts. Frontline cites an even higher number, claiming
salmonella contaminated chicken sickens an estimated 200,000 Americans each
year,’’ writes Dr. Joseph Mercola on his article ''The Hidden Health Hazards of Eating CAFO
Chicken''.
Factory Farmed Process is profit motivated.
In the profit-driven world of industrialized agriculture, animals are
no longer viewed as living, feeling beings. They are treated as cogs in a
mechanized, heartless industry that does not allow them to express their
natural behaviors. The problem starts when you have no idea what is in the
chicken you are eating. Factory farmed chicken contains all sorts of things
that you would never want in the food you and your family eats. For example,
the broiler chicken that we generally get from any chicken shop, before the
technological advancements in the 2000 decade, used to weigh around 905 grams
(roughly a kilogram) alive. Today that same chicken weighs 4202 grams (more
than 4 kilograms) alive. That is logical to believe that the genetically
modified chicken has been consuming genetically modified fodder. Lack of
concern on both the seller’s and consumer’s part is doing all sorts of damage
to our health. All of a sudden we have weaker stomachs, our digestive immunity
is not as good as our rural peers, and we feel full even though we just took a
few bites of our meal.
Worldwide, roughly 52 billion chickens are artificially hatched. They
are slaughtered within 42 days. Their natural life span is 10-15 years. The
poultry industry is producing at a rate it can’t even control. This is because
we are consuming chicken excessively and the menu at fast food chains and
restaurants feature white meat greatly that the producers are forced to do
dirty tricks on the chicken and make them grow to a huge size within 40-50 days.
The hygiene inside their facilities is something that is so off-putting that
many of you will probably go vegetarian if you ever visit one. This makes the
chicken fully exposed to diseases which it easily carries from their pens to
the meat shops and from there straight into our kitchen. 5
Antibiotics and Chicken
According to Dr Weil, The unnatural methods used to raise farm animals
destined for the dinner plate are indeed worrisome. Here’s some background:
researchers from John’s Hopkins and Arizona State University set out to test
for antibiotics in chickens. But the investigators explained that since it cost
no more to check for other chemicals, they did that as well. The first surprise
was the discovery of fluoroquinolones, a class of antibiotics including Cipro,
in samples of feather meal, a product made from chicken feathers that is
routinely added to feed for chicken, swine, cattle and fish.
The FDA banned use
of these antibiotics in poultry production in 2005 principally because they can
accelerate the development of antibiotic-resistance in bacteria that could be
very harmful to human health and are already doing enormous damage. According
to the Infectious Disease Society of America, just one organism –
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) kills more Americans every
year than emphysema, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, and homicides combined.
The researchers found that all 12 samples of feather meal they tested
had residues of between two and 10 antibiotics. The meal also contained
acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol); an antihistamine that is the
active ingredient in Benadryl; fluoxetine, an antidepressant used in Prozac;
and caffeine.
Apparently, Benadryl is added to chicken feed to reduce stress and
anxiety in the birds, which can slow growth and make their meat tougher.
Caffeine is added to keep the birds awake so they can eat more.
In their 2013 Threat Report, the Centers
For Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that antibiotic overuse in food
animals contributes to antibiotic resistance in humans. The same report
documents that 23,000 people die each year in the U.S. due to
antibiotic-resistant infections.
 |
| ©asheepnomore.net |
Arsenic and Chicken: High Risk of Breast and
Prostate Cancer.
The arsenic found in chickens is from a drug called roxarsone, added
to feed to fight parasites and to make meat pinker and more plump. On April 9,
2012 The Washington Post reported that the Maryland legislature had voted to
ban use of additives containing arsenic in chicken feed, the first state to do
so. (Maryland is the 10th largest producer of broiler chickens in the U.S.) The
Post noted that Perdue stopped using the arsenic-laced additive years ago and
that McDonald’s doesn’t allow its suppliers to use it. The product is also
banned in Canada and the European Union. In 2011, the FDA tested 100 chickens
by giving them feed containing roxarsone. Half the birds later showed trace
amounts of inorganic arsenic, a known carcinogen, in their livers. 6
 |
©CanadaQBank |
Industry addiction to arsenic comes from the need to feed for rapid
weight growth and control intestinal parasites, coccidiosis (cocci). Although
both arsenic and cocci are naturally occurring in the environment in small
amounts, the excessive levels in this case are said to be a result of heavily
concentrated industrial chicken production.
The bodybuilder chicken that has suddenly become the standard is
actually fed Arsenic in order to grow so much. Arsenic is like a nightmare to
humans. It is literally as bad as it gets. Consuming chicken on a daily basis
or even after every 2 days results in build-up of arsenic in our body. The
results are catastrophic. In women it
causes breast cancer and men fall victim to prostate cancer.
 |
©NaturalNews.com
|
This is
getting alarmingly common in bodybuilders and fitness freaks who consume chicken
in very high quantities. Irrespective of gender, the compound causes dementia,
and many other neurological problems. http://htv.com.pk/nutrition/5-hidden-dangers-eating-chicken
The arsenical compounds added to chicken feed are consumed by the
chicken and passes through the animal into its waste. That waste is then spread
on farm fields as fertilizer for crops. Ironically, chicken manure has been
touted as an asset by some industry leaders because of its value as a fertilizer.
Arsenic is a heavy metal and doesn’t break down in the environment. Where is
the value in a continual build-up of arsenic in farm fields and the
environment? 7
CAFO Chicken and Salmonella Outbreaks
According to Dr. Mercola, Salmonella
is frequently associated with chicken, and Foster Farms, one of the largest
poultry companies on the US West Coast, has been the source of a couple of the
most severe salmonella outbreaks in the past decade.
The case of Foster Farms is
heavily featured in Frontline's documentary "The Trouble with Chicken,"
which reveals what makes CAFO chicken such a hazardous choice.
 |
| ©anh-usa.org |
Salmonella Heidelberg, a
particularly virulent strain of salmonella, has sickened several hundred people
between 2004 and 2014. The strain was traced to Foster Farms, yet no punitive
action has ever been taken against the CAFO—a fact that seems remarkable when
you consider how many people have been affected.
Chlorine-Washed Chicken Is another CAFO Hazard
The US is known for a number
of processing practices that other nations will not allow. One of them is
washing chicken in chlorine, which is done to reduce the presence of
potentially pathogenic bacteria like salmonella. We already have a problem with
antibiotics causing antibiotic-resistant "super germs" when used in
the animals' feed, and giving them an antimicrobial bath might just make the
problem worse.
Workers in the plants have
also reported health problems from the chemical washes, including asthma and
other respiratory problems. Not to mention it's unclear how much of the
chlorine residue remains on the chicken when you eat it.
In the European Union (EU),
the use of chlorine washes is not only banned, but they won't even accept US
poultry that's been treated with these antimicrobial sprays. Both the USDA and
the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claim that giving chickens a chlorine
bath is safe, but that's not enough to convince many Germans, who are among the
most vocal opponents to a free trade agreement between the US and EU. The
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) could generate an
estimated $100 billion a year in economic growth for both the US and the EU,
but many Germans believe a trade agreement with the US would compromise their
food safety and quality. According to Reuters: Read more.
How to
avoid CAFO chicken.
- Know your labels (and their shortcomings).
Food labels are helpful but imperfect. Knowing what they mean (and do
not mean) is important. For example, the term “free range” has one connotation
with eggs and another with poultry meat. Weird, huh? This is something you’d
never know just by looking at the labels in the store. Most labelling is
regulated by the Department of Agriculture (USDA), so they are fairly reliable
sources of some information. (More on labels shortly).
- Seek food from a known source.
The best way to ensure you’re getting food from non-industrial farms
is to buy from sources with full transparency, those where you can see how the
animals are raised, and what they were fed, as well as learn from what farm or
farms the food actually came. If I can’t get the basic information about how
the farm animals were raised, I just don’t buy it.
- Plan on reducing consumption.
A typical American eats more than 200 pounds of meat per year and our
consumption continues to rise. Meat and dairy products from traditional farms
currently cost more than factory farm products. A good way to make this work in
your budget is to cut back the quantities you buy (and the frequency and
portion sizes when you eat animal based foods).
- Local Harvest
This Web site will help you find farmers' markets, family farms, and
other sources of sustainably grown food in your area where you can buy produce,
grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.
- Eat Wild
With more than 1,400 pasture-based farms, Eat wild’s Directory of
Farms is one of the most comprehensive sources for grass-fed meat and dairy
products in the United States and Canada.
CONCLUSION
Most chickens who end up on
people’s dinner plates today grow so huge, so fast, that they can barely stand
up. Many collapse under their own weight and spend much of their lives lying in
their own waste, with open sores and wounds.
With better breeding and
better living conditions, slower-growing chickens are typically healthier,
suffer less, and may be less likely to transmit foodborne illnesses.
References
1. Freefromharm.Org, ''17 Chicken Facts the Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know''
Free From Harm Staff Writers, August 28, 2014.
http://freefromharm.org/animalagriculture/chicken-facts-industry-doesnt-want-know/
2. 5. Mahvish Khan. “5 Hidden Dangers of Eating Chicken." Htv.
Htv, 24 March 2016.
<http://htv.com.pk/nutrition/5-hidden-dangers-eating-chicken>.
3. Mercola, J. “The Hidden Health Hazards of Eating CAFO Chicken."
Retrieved January 02, 2017, from
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/05/30/cafo-chicken-hidden-health-hazards.aspx
4. Food Safety News, ''FDA to Withdraw Approval for Arsenic-Based Drug Used in Poultry''.
6. Andrew Weil, M.D. “Antibiotics and Arsenic in Chickens?’’. Drweil
Drweil.com, July 24, 2012.
<http://www.drweil.com/diet-nutrition/food-safety/antibiotics-and-arsenic-in-chickens/>.
7. Oldfarmerlady.wordpress.com. “A CAFO intends to be our new neighbor."
Accessed January 02, 2017.
<https://oldfarmerlady.wordpress.com/category/antibiotics-and-arsenic/>.
Peta.org. “Top 10 Reasons Not to Eat Chicken."
<http://www.peta.org/living/other/top-10-reasons-eat-chickens/>.
Accessed Jan. 02, 2017.
Nicolette Hahn Niman, ''Avoiding Factory Farm Foods: An Eater’s Guide'' The Huffington Post.
Accessed January 04, 2017 from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicolette-hahn-niman/avoiding-factory-farm-foo_b_353525.html
Lauren DeCuir. “Finally! The FDA Admits That Nearly Over 70% of U.S. Chickens Contain Cancer-Causing Arsenic." Msn.
Msn.com, January 15, 2015. <http://www.msn.com/en-ca/foodanddrink/foodnews/finally-the-fda-admits-that-nearly-over-70percent-of-us-chickens-contain-cancer-causing-arsenic/ar-AA8cWca>.
Free From Harm Staff Writers, August 28, 2014.
http://freefromharm.org/animalagriculture/chicken-facts-industry-doesnt-want-know/
2. 5. Mahvish Khan. “5 Hidden Dangers of Eating Chicken." Htv.
Htv, 24 March 2016.
<http://htv.com.pk/nutrition/5-hidden-dangers-eating-chicken>.
3. Mercola, J. “The Hidden Health Hazards of Eating CAFO Chicken."
Retrieved January 02, 2017, from
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/05/30/cafo-chicken-hidden-health-hazards.aspx
4. Food Safety News, ''FDA to Withdraw Approval for Arsenic-Based Drug Used in Poultry''.
6. Andrew Weil, M.D. “Antibiotics and Arsenic in Chickens?’’. Drweil
Drweil.com, July 24, 2012.
<http://www.drweil.com/diet-nutrition/food-safety/antibiotics-and-arsenic-in-chickens/>.
7. Oldfarmerlady.wordpress.com. “A CAFO intends to be our new neighbor."
Accessed January 02, 2017.
<https://oldfarmerlady.wordpress.com/category/antibiotics-and-arsenic/>.
Peta.org. “Top 10 Reasons Not to Eat Chicken."
<http://www.peta.org/living/other/top-10-reasons-eat-chickens/>.
Accessed Jan. 02, 2017.
Nicolette Hahn Niman, ''Avoiding Factory Farm Foods: An Eater’s Guide'' The Huffington Post.
Accessed January 04, 2017 from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicolette-hahn-niman/avoiding-factory-farm-foo_b_353525.html
Lauren DeCuir. “Finally! The FDA Admits That Nearly Over 70% of U.S. Chickens Contain Cancer-Causing Arsenic." Msn.
Msn.com, January 15, 2015. <http://www.msn.com/en-ca/foodanddrink/foodnews/finally-the-fda-admits-that-nearly-over-70percent-of-us-chickens-contain-cancer-causing-arsenic/ar-AA8cWca>.
