A couple of weeks ago I began posting about the problems with Whole Foods chicken and happy farm chicken in general. See Chicken about Chicken, where I make a reference to arsenic in chicken. The focus of this update is the arsenic in chicken, and hopefully it alleviates some concerns.
During the discussion of a couple of weeks ago, my friend Niti stated that arsenic is used in feed (it promotes growth) and for pest control. In the case of pest control, rodents eat the arsenic, die and chickens eat the rodents. Such is the circle of life for unhappy, never go outside chickens. The chatter among my Holistic Moms Network friends amped up with concern about the occasional rotisserie chicken or boneless, skinless pieces many of us were buying from Whole Foods. My friend Claire took the chicken by the tail feathers and asked Whole Foods about arsenic exposure and the chickens they sell. Here is what she learned:
This information comes from leaders at Coleman Natural, the supplier of our BC Natural chicken brand.
BC Natural Chicken does not allow the use of arsenic in feeds or pest control applications. Each grower receives instruction on growing processes. These processes include pest control. We follow GAP (Global Animal Partnership) standards and we are audited on these standards by GAP certified auditors. The GAP standards state that exclusion is the most desirable practice. We believe that too. Farm cleanliness must meet our requirements and be performed at a level as to deter pests from entering. Our grower manuals state that arsenic is restricted from use in any pest control applications if applications are needed. Farms are monitored by company management personnel to ensure compliance to our standards and to the standards of organic production, antibiotic production, animal welfare standards, and GAP standards. Third parties (outside auditors) often audit our farms to ensure we are following proper practices.
Additionally, you may read that some chickens are given medication with trace amounts of arsenic. Here is a comment from the same group regarding that possibility:
Our team advised that the only arsenic which could get into chicken would be from a medication used in Feed – Roxarsone is the name of it. We do not use any medication in our program so there would be no Arsenic in our birds.
I hope you find this information thorough and helpful. We appreciate your interest in our products and look forward to your continued patronage.
Then Claire writes: “I asked WF if the info they gave me applies to all, or just some, of their chickens. This is the reply I got:”
This information applies to all of our chicken. The Rocky Junior rotisserie chickens are one of Coleman’s brands. Check out this link (http://www.colemannatural.com/brands).
As far as arsenic goes, hopefully that alleviates some of the concerns around purchasing Whole Foods Chicken.
I still stick to the “crunchy hippy Chapel Hill organic farm lovingly raised but grain fed” chicken with the omega 6:3 ratio imbalance problem, but when I do “need” the occasional boneless skinless from Whole Foods, at least there is one less problem with it.
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