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Vendaval -> "Officials order 20 million chickens held from market" (5/5/2007 11:20:09 AM)
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"Officials order 20 million chickens held from market"
POSTED: 5:33 a.m. EDT, May 5, 2007
" WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal officials on Friday placed a hold on 20 million chickens raised for market in several states because their feed was mixed with pet food containing an industrial chemical.
Three government agencies -- the Agriculture Department, the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency -- are overseeing a risk assessment to determine whether the chickens would pose a threat to human health if eaten, USDA spokesman Keith Williams said. The assessment may be completed as early as Monday.
The 20 million chickens represent a tiny fraction of the 9 billion chickens raised each year in the United States. Meat from the birds can't go into commercial use without the USDA's inspection seal, which is being withheld until the risk assessment is completed, Williams said.
Which states have chicken producers affected by the hold will be announced later, Williams said. State agriculture officials as well as chicken manufacturers were being contacted as the agencies determine the extent of the problem, he said, adding that many farms in several states probably were involved.
(break)
100 brands of pet food recalled
Since March 16, more than 100 brands of pet food have been recalled because they were contaminated with melamine. An unknown number of dogs and cats have been sickened or died after eating pet food tainted with the chemical.
The Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service said Thursday that no evidence indicated any harm to humans from chicken or pork that had entered the market after having eaten melamine-contaminated feed.
Federal investigators have been trying to determine how much of the tainted pet food had been used in feed for hogs and chickens. Hog farms in at least six states may have received tainted pet food for use in feed. Those animals also have been barred from market.
The USDA and FDA said this week that chicken feed in some farms in Indiana contained byproducts from pet food manufactured with contaminated wheat gluten imported from China.
At the time, the agencies estimated that 30 broiler poultry farms and eight breeder poultry farms in Indiana had received contaminated feed in early February. More farms probably received contaminated feed, the agencies said. "
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/05/05/petfood.recall.ap/index.html
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