Chickens were fed arsenical drugs (roxarsone) that raise carcinogenic inorganic arsenic in chicken meat and in consumers.

Original statement

تتغذى على أعلاف مخلوطة بمضادات حيوية وقائية، وحتى وقت قريب جداً بعقار الزرنيخ روكسارسون ... الدجاج التقليدي يحوي ضعفي إلى ثلاثة أضعاف الزرنيخ غير العضوي السام مقارنة بالعضوي، وأن الطهي يرفع تركيزه

verbatim according to source. Translation by the project; the Arabic wording is authoritative.

Translation

Chickens were fed arsenical drugs (roxarsone) that raise carcinogenic inorganic arsenic in chicken meat and in consumers.

Origin

Source status

Archive editors

Attribution

Archive editors (not Elawady)

Origin

https://eltayebat.com/rule/industrial-chicken/

Attribution uncertainty

Narrative and study selection written by the archive operators; the archive states the forbidden section is documented independently of Dr. Diaa's words.

Claimed mechanism

Organoarsenical feed additives degrade to inorganic arsenic.

Claimed health effect

Bladder and lung cancer risk.

Population concerned

general population (not specified)

Geographic restriction by Elawady

none found

Scientific assessment

Mostly true – Correct at its core, but with limitations or minor inaccuracies.

Certainty of evidence: moderate – Further research may still affect the assessment.

1. What was claimed?

Arsenical drugs in feed raise inorganic arsenic in chicken; conventional chicken had 2-3 times the inorganic arsenic of organic chicken; cooking concentrated it.

2. What is demonstrably correct?

Nachman et al. 2013: inorganic arsenic GM 1.8 ug/kg in conventional vs 0.6 ug/kg in organic cooked chicken; roxarsone detected in 20/40 conventional samples; cooking increased inorganic arsenic. NHANES 2003-2010: highest poultry quartile had 1.12-fold urine total arsenic. FDA documents voluntary suspension of roxarsone (3-Nitro) and withdrawal of approvals (Federal Register 22 Nov 2013; Feb 2014) and of nitarsone by end of 2015.

3. What is wrong or exaggerated?

Absolute risk was small: estimated +0.11 ug/day inorganic arsenic per 82 g serving and 3.7 additional lifetime bladder/lung cancers per 100,000 exposed persons under lifetime exposure assumptions. The practice has ended in the US; the archive's general framing ('raised on arsenical drugs') does not apply to the EU.

4. What remains unclear?

Status in Egypt and other countries that may still allow arsenicals (the FDA notes some countries still allow their use in other contexts [secondary]).

5. Which studies support it?

A-CHK-04, A-CHK-16.

6. Which studies contradict it?

I-CHK-03 (withdrawal: current US exposure via this route ended).

7. What applies to Germany and Europe?

Roxarsone is not authorised as a feed additive in the EU (secondary sources date the exclusion to 1999; primary EU instrument not verified). Under Regulation 1831/2003 only authorised feed additives may be used.

8. What is known about Egypt?

Not verified.

9. What practical conclusion is appropriate?

Correct as a historical US issue; not relevant to current EU supply.

Assessment details

Rationale for certainty of evidence

The US market-basket study and NHANES analysis support higher inorganic arsenic exposure from roxarsone-treated chicken (historical). Regulatory facts: US approvals of roxarsone, carbarsone and arsanilic acid were withdrawn in 2013/2014 and nitarsone by end of 2015 (FDA). In the EU, roxarsone is reported not to be authorised; the 1999 date is from secondary sources only. Thus true historically for the US; largely outdated today.

Source quality

Archive editorial; numbers correct; the archive itself says 'until very recently', which is accurate for the US.

Regional transferability

Low for the EU (not authorised); low for the US today (withdrawn). Egypt: regulatory status of arsenical feed additives was not verified.

Individual exceptions

Not applicable.

Regional scope of the claim

depends on production conditions

Last reviewed

25 October 2026 provisional

In plain language

The archive says US chickens were fed arsenic-based drugs that raised cancer-causing arsenic in the meat. This was true: a US study found more inorganic arsenic in conventional than organic chicken, although the estimated extra cancer risk was small (about 4 extra cases per 100,000 people over a lifetime). The USA stopped these drugs between 2013 and 2015, and they are not authorised in the EU. Whether they are used in Egypt was not verified.

Studies on this claim

Regional context

Germany / EU

Roxarsone is not authorised as a feed additive in the EU (secondary sources date the exclusion to 1999; primary EU instrument not verified). Under Regulation 1831/2003 only authorised feed additives may be used.

Egypt

Not verified.

• Food-safety governance and official controls
• Pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables on the EU/German market (incl. imports from Egypt)
• Pesticide residues in produce sold on the Egyptian domestic market
• Antibiotic (veterinary drug) residues in poultry meat and eggs
• Antimicrobial use in food animals and antibiotic growth promoters
• Hormones in poultry, meat, milk and farmed fish
• Salmonella in laying hens, eggs and broiler chicken
• Dioxins, PCBs and PFAS in eggs and other animal foods
• Aflatoxin M1 in milk and dairy products
• Aflatoxins in groundnuts (peanuts)
• Heavy metals in fish
• Farmed fish (aquaculture): drugs, water source and controls
• Import controls and the meaning of RASFF notifications for Egyptian products

What applies in my country?

General scientific assessment

Mostly true Arsenical feed drugs did raise arsenic in US chicken, but they were withdrawn in the US and are not authorised in the EU.

The following areas of food safety are relevant to this statement:

• Pesticides and pesticide residues
• Veterinary medicines and antibiotics
• Hormonal growth promoters
• Contaminants (heavy metals, PFAS, PCBs, dioxins, nitrate)
• Pathogens (Salmonella, Campylobacter, etc.)
• Animal husbandry and feed
• Controls, imports, recalls, labelling

Eggs · Poultry · Dairy · Fish and seafood · Red meat · Fruit and vegetables

Limits: legal rules describe what is allowed, not what every single food contains. Measurement data come from samples and are meaningful only together with their method details.

Country of residence or purchase Compare with another country

References

1. Roxarsone, inorganic arsenic, and other arsenic species in chicken: a U.S.-based market basket sample.. Nachman KE et al.. Environ Health Perspect 2013 · PMID 23694900 · DOI 10.1289/ehp.1206245
2. Poultry Consumption and Arsenic Exposure in the U.S. Population.. Nigra AE et al.. Environ Health Perspect 2017 · PMID 27735790 · DOI 10.1289/EHP351
3. Arsenic-based Animal Drugs and Poultry (FDA web page, last updated 29 April 2022). US Food and Drug Administration. FDA 2022
4. Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 on additives for use in animal nutrition (original text, Article 11 and recitals 25-26). European Parliament and Council. Official Journal of the EU (copy at legislation.gov.uk) 2003