Up the Arsenic

Chicken with arsenic a daily part of American diet

You may be getting a significant dose of poison with your Chick'n Stix. Arsenic is a U.S. government-sanctioned supplement to chicken feed -- it's used to kill parasites and promote growth -- despite being a known carcinogen and being implicated in other illnesses. Although the average American's chicken consumption has increased threefold since 1960, to about 87 pounds a year, the FDA-approved tolerance level of 500 parts per billion of arsenic in chicken has not been updated in decades. What's more, soils contaminated with arsenic from chicken manure fertilizer are used to grow other foods, and chicken litter containing arsenic is used as feed for other animals (ew!). Limit your exposure by buying organic or antibiotic-free chicken. Or, you know, stop eating meat.