Sunday, May 06, 2007

20 Million Chickens Held Out Of The Food Chain

The FDA has required that 20 million chickens be held from the food chain pending additional investigations into melamine tainted feed that was possibly fed to the chickens. The FDA will try to determine whether or not the chickens pose a threat to human health. Hogs that may have eaten tainted pet food are also being held from the human food chain.
Investigators found last week that about 5 percent of feed used at some smaller chicken production operations came from pet food tainted with the chemical melamine, Williams said. Larger manufacturers, because they usually use special feed for the chickens they raise or contract for raising, are unlikely to have exposed their animals to large amounts of the tainted pet products, he said.
The FDA needs full funding to insure that our food products are healthy. In the age of terrorism it is unconscionable that less than 1% of all foreign food products are inspected. The rate for food manufacturing plants within the United States is not much better. Additional resources for the Food and Drug Administration are needed immediately to keep our food supply safe.

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