Million Fed on Tainted Chickens

[Heibges]

Attack on the food supply by....accountants.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- People have eaten millions of chickens that were given feed
tainted with recalled pet food, federal officials said Tuesday, though they said the threat to human health is minimal.

The announcement came after an investigation of chicken farms in Indiana found that 38 of the facilities had given contaminated feed to poultry raised for human consumption, and that 2.5 million to 3 million people ate them.

The officials added that they expect to discover that chickens on possibly hundreds of farms in other states were also given tainted feed.


FDA officials said Tuesday that they have found no evidence that tainted wheat gluten was added directly to any food products sold in the United States.

Two FDA investigators are in China and a third was en route working with the Chinese government's General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine to investigate the sources of the contaminated products.

It was unclear how long tainted food additives from China have been entering the United States.

"Clearly that is a concern if that has been going on for a long period of time," said Dr. David Acheson, who had been appointed earlier in the day to the newly created position of FDA assistant commissioner for food protection.

Investigators suspect that melamine, in combination with a rice protein additive imported from China and found to contain cyanuric acid, may cause crystals to form in the kidneys, shutting them down. Cyanuric acid is used as a stabilizer in outdoor swimming pools and hot tubs.