I would love to ask the owners and workers at food manufacturing plants and farms,

"Do you eat the food produced by this facility? Do your children eat it?"

I'm so afraid that the answer is no, they don't eat it or won't feed it to their children.

(I worked for a short time at a beverage company. There was no quality control. I know I won't drink any of those products!)

Sheesh. And I thought it was just China trying to kill us.

Another thing to panic about...not. Stop spreading fear, corporate media!!

The only acceptable and sustainable way to raise chickens and other farm animals is free range. When agriculture becomes localized again, which it will as soon as the oil runs out, the quality of food in America will come up again. 

Just another affirmation that supports my own decision to boycott meat - vegetarian for years and this makes me so glad. I know no eating plan is perfect, but I reduce my risk.

This story is ridiculous fear-mongering. For the facts, check out:

This story is ridiculous fear-mongering. For the facts, check out the web site of the National Chicken Council.

I always wash chicken before I cook it, and I test the temperature before serving it. I rinse vegetables and fruits in water with a drop or two of bleach in it (mostly because I've seen what people do to them at the store ---- who knows if that carrot rolled across the floor), and scrub root vegetables well. However, there's only so much we can do, and bacteria are a fact of life. Just use common sense. If we don't want to ingest any bacteria, then the only choice is to stop eating and drinking, period.

Sounds like alarmist vegetarian libs trying to SAVE THE CHICKENS. Say, I'm getting hungry!

cflor -

bad idea, to wash chicken, good microbiologists know better...tiny droplets of potentially bacteria containing water can splatter all around your sink and on nearby counter surfaces. That is what good cooking will do.. kill all bacteria if present. the meat should go straight into the cooking container.

if you need to remove skin, or pound the chicken, be sure to wipe down and wash everything well.

another important factor is just keeping a strong digestive system...consuming probiotics and avoiding an inflamatory diet - too much sugar, processed grains, etc. our systems should be able to handle the occasional "bad bug"

the chemicals added are a different story..only buy organic raised chickens and eggs. demand local restaurants serve it, if not, cook more meals at home.

It doesn`t hurt to rinse of all the meat and veggies that you are going to cook.I even rinse off my ground beef a little too.

I will risk it, rather then give up real food, ie meat.

I think its rediculous not to wash you meat. You have to wash the blood and remove the blood clots from inside your chicken other wise that chicken and the water you cook it in will be yucky.

Ahh the U.S.A land of fear media. It's all crap.

Nice article, some of it might even be factual.  My wife has been in this industry as a food microbiologist for over 28 years and we both eat chicken, all of it produced at the plant she works for.  The testing that is done by her lab covers Salmonella, listeria, and campy as well as anything else that might compromise the finished product.  Seriously, do you think a major company wants to put out a dangerous product which could result in their being ruined in the market place?  Not likely.  Cook your meat, poultry, lamb, pork, or whatever animal you might consume to the proper temp and enjoy a safe meal.

More terrorism from within. What will they dream up tomorrow?

Is ther ANYTHING we CAN eat anymore?

I can see extreme personalities quit eating chicken because of this article. The same people probably will continue to smoke.

Here is the NCC's response to the 'supposed truth' put out by SELF magazine:

"The January 2009 issue of SELF Magazine presents a picture of the safety of chicken that would be alarming if it were true. Fortunately it is not. Consumers can continue to enjoy chicken with confidence that it is safe and wholesome when it is handled and prepared in the customary and recommended manner.

The article is written with an obviously alarmist slant. The writer took all the criticisms that are occasionally lodged against chicken and jammed them together in one piece with six sidebars. Let’s try to set the record straight on some of the main errors, omissions, misstatements and exaggerations:

ARSENIC: Some chickens are given animal health products that contain the organic form of arsenic as one of their chemical building blocks. These products are used to control coccidia, which are microscopic parasites that can otherwise colonize the chickens. They are used at extremely low concentrations in the feed, in keeping with label directions and U.S. Food & Drug Administration regulations. A withdrawal period of at least five days before harvest is also required. The U.S. Department of Agriculture operates a sampling program to monitor food animals for arsenic and many other products, and chicken consistently has an excellent record in this program. FDA says the presence of arsenic at very low levels is not harmful to human health.

The article misstates a study that attempted to quantify exposure to arsenic from chicken. The author uses the outside estimate based on an “extreme assumption” as stated in the study – an assumption that is incorrect anyway. The estimate she gives is simply wrong.
There is not one iota of evidence that the use of these products in live chickens is any threat to human health. Arsenic-containing compounds in the feed are used in a safe and responsible manner.

SALMONELLA: It must be remembered that chicken is a fresh, natural agricultural product. Chickens are raised on a farm, not stamped out in a factory like microchips. Raw poultry can
carry a variety of bacteria, and some of them can potentially cause foodborne illness. Fortunately, the heat of normal cooking (not high heat) will destroy any bacteria that may be on the chicken. A minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit is recommended for cooked poultry. At that temperature, dark meat will not even be cooked yet – but bacteria will be destroyed. So there is no need to overcook chicken. Just make sure it is cooked through. Since no one eats raw or undercooked chicken, it is difficult to understand why simply cooking chicken is considered an extraordinary precaution. It’s also important to follow common-sense handling practices. These are stated on the label of every package of fresh poultry and meat sold in the United States.

REGULATION, INSPECTION AND TESTING: USDA’s regulatory standard is that no more than twenty percent of chickens being processed in a plant should test positive for Salmonella at any level, no matter how low that level may be. Nationwide, the industry’s average is about ten percent of raw chickens positive for Salmonella, which means that ninety percent have no detectable level of Salmonella at all. For all practical purposes, USDA has moved the performance standard to ten percent, a standard that is by no means easy to reach. But, as noted, normal cooking destroys any bacteria that may be present. To suggest that consumers should print out and carry the results of USDA’s testing program is to carry things to a preposterous extreme.

The article gets facts mixed up. For example, a consumer advocate is quoted as saying there are “6,000 processing plants in the United States,” and in context, the reader might assume this figure applies to chicken processing plants. In fact, there are fewer than two hundred chicken processing plants in the country. All of them operate under inspection by USDA or an equivalent state agency. If you can’t get a simple fact like that straight, why should the reader believe anything else in the article?

CONSUMPTION: The article’s recommended limits on consumption of “conventionally raised” chicken are pure fiction and are based on . . . nothing. The article is billed as an “investigative” piece. The “investigation” seems to have consisted of a collection of negative commentary on the industry, some far-fetched speculation, and misunderstanding of some simple facts. The article is misleading and paints a false picture of an industry that produces safe and wholesome food for consumers in America and around the world."

Does anyone think it is an outrage to feed our main food sources arsenic? A known carcinogenic? How in the hell do these people get away with this stuff? Like we don't have enough chaos to deal with already. Makes you wonder what is really going on here, doesn't it. Intentionally putting arsenic into the food source. Is that like feeding people rat poison (Cumadin) pharmaceuticals to thin the blood? Or maybe its like using aluminum on everything that leeches into your brain. Or putting mercury fillings in your mouth and calling them silver amalgam, then your gums shrink and the mercury leeches out into your body. How about DDT from foreign foods which settles in the thyroid. I could go on and on.......but whats the use. Pay attention people or you will pay with pain and pain is a reminder that you are not paying attention.

There's another article blocking my view of reading this full article.

WAKE UP AMERICA.We freeked on irradating our food some Idiot thought the proscess turned our food nuclear and we would die. Well guess what I have been drinking and eating Irratated food sence 1979. I didint die and all of you are still getting sick. Suck it up or kill the bactiera rethink irratateing your food it just kills bacteria and gives food a superlong shelf life.

I work at a poultry farm and we harvest/package eggs.  Would I eat them?  Absolutely, and I do frequently.  Make sure that your food is USDA regulated.  Our USDA grader has to be on the premises whenever we package eggs and watches very closely.  Never got sick from it.  Media likes to put fear into people.  You can eat chicken and live!

I don't know who to believe anymore... Is there anything safe to eat out there? When you research this kind of stuff, one source contradicts the other. Maybe it is time to start patronizing the small mom and pop shops (ie: local butcher, farmer's market) again to eliminate the risk of being poisoned by eating dinner. Crazy... Way to scare people MSNBC! Like we already don't have enough to fear.

This is yet another example of sensationalism at it's best and downright stupidity at it's worst. I'm far more comfortable eating chicken that I've cooked to proper temperature than I am eating raw vegetables that have seen how many hands from how many fields rinsed with cold water (not a great Bacteria killer) by we don't know whom or in what part of the world. I have a question to ask - If the poultry industry was required to test every piece of chicken or turkey before shipping it (an impossibility), who could afford it but the recipients of Merrill Lynch bonuses? One other thought, if the slaughter plants, did, for example, irradiate (Uh Oh - another dirty word) and kill all the bacteria, what's to prevent it from recontamination by distributing, shipping, retailing, scanning, and even by our own two hands? The answer is a four letter word--- COOK!