U.S. deems chickens fed tainted feed safe

WASHINGTON — Chickens that ate bird feed made with a small amount of contaminated pet food are safe for human consumption and can be released for slaughter and sale, federal health officials said Monday.

That decision emerged from a government risk analysis completed over the weekend involving 20 million chickens that officials said Friday had inadvertently been fed the tainted feed in several states.

"There is very low risk to human health" from consuming the chickens, according to a synopsis of the findings released by the Agriculture Department (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Even if a person were to eat the chickens for breakfast, lunch and dinner, scientists concluded, the amount of melamine consumed in one day would be 1/2,500 of the minimum dose thought capable of posing a risk.

"In other words, it was well below any level of public health concern," the Agriculture Department said in a statement.

As a result, all 20 million chickens held since Friday are eligible for standard USDA inspection and sale.

An additional 100,000 breeder chickens, which have been held in Indiana for more than a week, remain on hold pending further analysis because they are thought to have eaten higher doses of melamine. Thousands of California hogs also remain on hold.

Melamine is an industrial chemical not intended for human consumption.

In March, Chinese wheat gluten and rice protein imported for use in pet food was found to have been spiked with the chemical, apparently to make the products appear to have more protein than they did.

Thousands of pets are suspected of having been sickened or killed by the toxin.