Just like the financial industry,  I strongly feel that the food industry will implode one of these days. The first signs of our financial meltdown came slowly. With whispered concerns, snippets of research data and the urber rich who cleverly managed to avoid much of the trouble that followed.

So when someone like Pfizer voluntarily stops making Roxarsone, an inorganic arsenic that was used in chicken feed I worry. The FDA website says it’s safe at the levels they found. But the fact of the matter is Roxarsone is a known carcinogen. Maybe they are right because Roxarsone apparantly accumulates in the liver and most people don’t eat chicken liver in sufficient quantity to it make a difference. Except me that is. You see I love chicken liver and I am one of those few people who get one of those plastic containers filled with chicken livers from the supermarket. It’s not available regularly and not easy to find, but when I see it I buy it. That means I have overdosed on Roxarsone. Did the FDA account for someone eating so much chicken liver? Probably not. Do they pay for my funeral expenses and look after my kids if they got it wrong. No they do not. A few government officials will get a slap on the wrist and that will be the end of that. So really it is up to us to make our own decisions.

So how bad is Roxarsone and what does it do you? According to the FDA  “The inorganic form is more harmful than the organic form, and has been found to be a human carcinogen. Organic arsenic is not known to be carcinogenic. Organic arsenic is the form of arsenic that is the active ingredient in approved arsenic-based animal drugs, including 3-Nitro® (Roxarsone) “. Well  what does carcinogenic mean? It means it causes cancer. Damn it! I am really worried now. I did eat a lot of chicken liver over the last few years. And not the organic variety either, simply because you can’t buy organic chicken liver.

The fact Maryland passed legislation to ban Roxarsone is telling I think. And according to the LA times Pfizer has discontinued making Rozarsone, at least for the moment. So why do they use this shit you ask. To prevent disease and make the chickens plump.  All these years I thought if they don’t use growth hormones, the chicken were probably safe to eat. Looks like that is the least of my worries. Looks like we need to look at the whole chicken production system. What they are fed, what medication they are given and even how poultry manure is used.  Poultry manure made with this inorganic arsenic maybe poisoning all the vegetables we eat too. Oh my goodness! Right now I am scared to eat anything, except maybe imported cashew nuts from Sri Lanka, red lentils from India and then wash it down with some Ceylon Cinnamon Tea. I wonder if New Zealand lamb is ok to eat.