Dive Brief:
- The FDA announced that it expects to withdraw nitarsone, the last arsenic-based animal drug on the market "approved for use in food animals," by the end of 2015.
- Nitarsone, known as Histostat, is used primarily to prevent the seasonally-occuring blackhead disease, which affects chickens and turkeys, though turkeys primarily take the drug to prevent significant deaths. The Center for Food Safety said that arsenic is also "added to poultry feed to promote faster weight gain using less food and to create a 'healthy color' in chicken and turkey meat," Food Safety News reported.
- Arsenic is a known contaminant that is potentially dangerous to animals and humans, but the compound also occurs naturally in the environment. The arsenic-containing drugs used organic arsenic, which is a less toxic form of the substance, but the CFS noted research that showed organic arsenic could transform into inorganic arsenic, which is a carcinogen.
Dive Insight:
While this announcement may be beneficial to humans and the food supply, it could be a death sentence for many turkeys. In the process, this could also hurt turkey and other poultry farmers in certain areas of the country, where blackhead disease is more common seasonally, as well.