Melamine for dinner...

[astra_nomer]

...plates is fine. But not so much in the food itself.

"FDA scientists" have decided that chickens fed melamine-tainted feed are fine for human consumption. As as scientist, I want to believe them. If they say that amounts of melamine detected in chickens were well below health safety limits, I'll take their word for it.

But my gut reaction is to be really, really skeptical, and seriously consider buying only organic chicken and other meat. Because really, scientists are only human and are therefore prone to error. For instance, I'm often skeptical of press releases regarding astronomy, because I often know the assumptions they make to justify their claims. Then again, maybe I'm falling for the "can't trust scientists" rhetoric that the Bush administration has been so good at spreading. That's a seriously scary thought.

My brain and my gut are at war with each other. What would you do? Would you eat chicken that had eaten melamine-tainted food (assuming you're not vegetarian, of course)?

Comments

[desireearmfeldt]

For those of us out of the science/news loop, what is melamine and why is it getting into chicken feed?

[nonnihil.livejournal.com]

I'm not 100% up on this, but...

Melamine is an industrial chemical produced from urea. It is cheap because it can be produced very easily and basically for free by dumping urea into the waste gas stream of a coal gasification plant. It is mostly used in the production of fireproof fake-wood paneling.

Last month's poison-pet-food hubbub was the result of melamine contamination (or, at least as likely, deliberate adulteration) at a major gluten producer in China. This may have been done because melamine fools a common test for the protein content of gluten, which would have allowed a cheaper product to sell for more. Gluten is used as a base for animal feeds -- China produces and uses huge amounts for its fish-farming industry, and re-sells a smaller quantity to (primarily Canadian) feed manufacturers.

Melamine, in substantial quantities, inhibits liver and kidney function; organ failure and death can follow and indeed did in the case of several pets (and, bizarrely, at least one pet owner who ate some of her cat's food to reassure the apparently much smarter cat who was unwilling to eat it).

Melamine in chicken feed is an interesting question. Humans are not particularly sensitive to melamine (LD50 is 3000 mg/kg) and the quantity in the chicken would presumably be low to begin with, so the danger of acute damage is probably very, very low. However I am not aware of any studies of the dangers of chronic low doses, so it's not a totally irrational worry.

On balance, I'd believe the FDA on this one, but keep an eye on the story as we probably haven't seen the last of it -- Gluten is ubiquitous in nutritional chemistry, and is stored for years, so even if the adulteration ended today (and it probably won't...) we may see melamine contamination stories cropping up for quite some time.

[nonnihil.livejournal.com]

Actually, "a widely-used industrial protein supplement was contaminated with fireproof wallboard" sounds like it should be part of some terribly silly book, perhaps by Carl Hiaasen.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

The reason anyone tested the chickens is that a bunch of pets died, it was traced to their food, it was traced to the gluten, it was traced to the melamine addition in China.

[ayekamn.livejournal.com]

I think if sensational didn't already insist that we buy organic meat, I might think about switching, but I am also typically skeptical of widespread government warnings like this.

I'm also *very* skeptical of a lot of high-profile scientific results, because I know what a factor spin can be. My graduate advisor was a huge fan of this and made most of his decisions based on "how can he spin this into something exciting" versus doing actual good science. It's clear from his work... he's a very successful grant writer, but doesn't publish much.

[astra-nomer.livejournal.com]

Yes, I share your skepticism! Epsecially since so many front-page news stories about astronomy are so vague as to be nonsensical.

[arcanology.livejournal.com]

Nope, wouldn't eat it if I knew, but that is mainly because I wish to punish the entire supply chain for inadequate food safety, and the chicken is the only accessible part for me.

If the chicken guys feel the hurt they'll demand better safety on their suppliers, and so on.

[astra-nomer.livejournal.com]

That's a reasonable way to see it. Certainly in a poorly regulated capitalist system, that's the only power we consumers have to ensure quality.

[remcat.livejournal.com]

I would probably decide that in the large scheme of things, that slightly tainted food is not a serious risk factor in my life -- and as such, is not worth worrying about.

[astra-nomer.livejournal.com]

I see that argument. There's only so much I can afford to worry about my food supply, after all. I regularly microwave food in plastic containers, after all.

[nuclearpolymer.livejournal.com]

There are many reasons to buy more expensive, higher quality food. The malamine thing wouldn't push me over the edge, but if it might make me feel a little more righteous if I were already shopping organic.

[astra-nomer.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's true. I'm also cheap. But I've been on the fence about buying organic food for a while now.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

I've been meaning to find a local source for chicken. This might get me to do so. But probably not.
It's yet another reminder that our food supply is a mess, but I suspect that the melamine won't be in the food for long, and

I don't view it as a conflict between brain and gut, honestly.

What the FDA means: "eating animals that have eaten melamine-tainted feed won't kill you or make you really sick anytime soon."

That still doesn't mean:
"We're sure that nothing bad will ever happen to you if you spike your body with some melamine for a while." There's no way it could mean that.

So my gut reaction to the food supply being fucked with and my brain's reaction to trust scientific results are aligned if you ask me.

Side rant -- perish the thought we should do something about bacteria contamination of food, which kills a lot of people (probably more than the number of pets that died from the melamine contamination.)

[astra-nomer.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there are a lot of issues about the safety of our food supply that I choose to ignore because it's convenient. I've been poking around to see if there are farmers' markets in my area that have organic meats. Haven't turned up a whole lot yet.

[fredrickegerman.livejournal.com]

Actually, I worry a lot more about your side rant than most of the other crap they tell us about food. I actually consider random food poisoning much more likely to kill me than most of the other things in what I eat.

On the other hand, I tried shopping organic and watched the grocery bill go from $60 to $110. So we may just have to stick with the farm share for now...

[capsicumanuum.livejournal.com]

Personally I'm holding off on all chicken until I see more information. I want to trust scientists, but I know all too well that when scientists are put under time pressure, it is easy to overlook things or make faulty assumptions. If the word in another two or three weeks is that the levels are still below the critical threshhold, then I will return to my default chicken-purchasing habits.