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Animal feed and the food supply, what you can do
What you can do Any problems involving animal feed would most likely occur before beef, chicken, or fish reaches your refrigerator. But consumers can still take action. To start, you can visit www.notinmyfood.org, a public-policy Web site of Consumers Union. Click on Feed-Rule Action to urge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to act on issues raised in this report. To avoid meat from animals fed animal by-products, drugs, or grain grown with synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, look for beef or chicken certified organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. You might have to shop around: Organic beef and chicken account for less than 1 percent of U.S. sales, according to the Organic Trade Association. Don’t spend extra for fish labeled organic: The USDA has not established standards for fish. The claims “no antibiotics administered,” “no hormones administered,” and “no chemicals added” are unverified. So are claims by some beef brands that their cattle are raised on an all-grain or all-grass diet. For more about meat labels, visit the CU Web site at www.eco-labels.org. As of April 4, 2005, unprocessed fresh and frozen seafood sold in U.S. markets must be labeled “wild” or “farm-raised” and marked with its country of origin. Salmon from open waters is sold for as much as $15 per pound, three times as much as farmed, but it may be worth looking for in season: Studies show that wild salmon tend to have lower levels of some contaminants; and wild salmon (and shrimp) are likely to be free of antibiotics. Although the FDA stresses that salmon contains heart-healthy fatty acids and says that contaminant levels in farmed fish don’t warrant eating less, it’s sensible to limit exposure to any potential carcinogen if possible.
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