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The U.S. FDA has announced that Pfizer will stop the sale of the animal drug 3-Nitro. The drug is used in chicken feed, but an agency analysis detected inorganic arsenic in the livers of chickens treated with the drug.

3-Nitro is used to help control coccidiosis, a parasitic disease that affects the intestinal tracts of animals, and also so that the chickens will gain more weight.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

 “The agency said it recently conducted a study of 100 broiler chickens that detected inorganic arsenic at higher levels in the livers of chickens treated with 3-Nitro compared with untreated chickens … Pfizer said sale of 3-Nitro would be stopped by early July in order to allow animal producers to transition to other treatments.”

Sources:
Baltimore Sun June 8, 2011
Wall Street Journal June 8, 2011

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finally announced a “voluntary suspension” of the arsenic-laced drug Roxarsone, which has been widely used on chicken CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) to control an intestinal parasite that allows the chickens to feed more productively and grow faster. It also makes chicken appear pinker (i.e. “fresher”).