Remember all those pet food recalls that happened a few months back? Well, melamine, the ingredient causing all the ruckus has made yet another cameo appearance — this time in chicken. And I’m not talking about chicken used to make dog treats. No, these chickens — all 3 million of them — were sold to restaurants and supermarkets all across the U.S.
The experts claim that the risk to humans is small because of “the dilution of the contamination.” Apparently, only 5 percent of the feed used at the farms that sold the chicken was actually contaminated, so the “FDA and the USDA believe the likelihood of illness after eating chicken fed the contaminated product is very low.”
Granted, there haven’t been any reports of people coming down the symptoms that could be traced back to the contaminant. But I’d rather not take my chances. Which is why I haven’t bought commercially raised chicken — or any other meat — in about six years.
The only way to be sure your meat won’t be fed contaminated feed is to buy it from suppliers who raise their animals in a free-range, organic environment. That means the animals are fed a diet of all-natural foods: cattle graze on (pesticide- and herbicide-free) grass and chickens are fed corn and other natural grains.
Yes, organic free-range meat is more expensive than what you’ll find in the supermarket. But the peace of mind and the health benefits (increased omega-3 fatty acids in grass-fed beef and the absence of antibiotics and steroids in free-range chicken) are well worth it.
Plus, there are a lot of sources that will ship organic meat right to your home. And I’m happy to pay a few dollars more for anything that saves me a trip to the grocery store.
Here are a few good sources for free-range meat:
Oaklyn Plantation, www.freerangechicken.com
Diamond Organics, (888)674-2642, www.diamondorganics.com
Grassland Beef, (877)383-0051, www.grasslandbeef.com
Nutrition & Healing Source:
“FDA: Millions of Chickens Fed Contaminated Pet Food,” HealthDay News (www.healthday.com), 5/1/07
