Heavy Metals, Drug Contaminants Commonly Found in US Meat

While the United States population has learned to deal with routine outbreaks of E. coli and other bacterial strains within the traditional US meat supply, many may be completely unaware that it is quite common for conventional meat products to contain even more concerning contaminants. Among these are heavy metals, drug residues, and pesticides. While bacteria can be killed off by cooking, these contaminants continue to stay in the meat.

Contaminated US Meat

Back in 2008, Mexico rejected a shipment of United States beef. Why? Because the US meat actually exceeded Mexico’s regulatory upper limit for copper. The meat, after being rejected by Mexico over serious health concerns due to the heavy metal content, was then sold in the United States, and eaten. The way in which much of the meat supply is contaminated has to do with how sick cows are treated and expedited off to consumers as quickly as possible. AlterNet explains:

“Sick dairy cows are given medications to help them recover, but if it appears an animal will die, it’s often sold to a slaughterhouse as quickly as possible, in time to kill it before it dies.”

US meat is some of the worst meat you can consume. Sick and dying dairy cows are dosed up with heavy amounts of antibiotics — not even counting antibiotics in animal feed — and sent off to be eaten. It was revealed in a 2010 report released by the  U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that the very organization responsible for monitoring the safety of U.S. meat for toxic residues was being called into question.  Producers who bring sick animals to slaughter may still have many toxins in their system such as veterinary drugs, which could be threatening to human health. Despite this fact, the major industry producers are much more concerned about getting a return on the investment into the animal.

This so called ‘waste milk’, produced by the heavily medicated and dying dairy cows, and also banned for human consumption, is then fed to veal calves. As a result, the medications and toxins pass through to the consumers who eat the subsequent products. The FSIS, the organization brought into the question by the USDA, is responsible for monitoring such toxic residues in the food. In the report, however, the USDA openly stated that their regulatory practices were determined to be ‘woefully inadequate’. This does not even include rBGH, Monsanto’s synthetic bovine hormone banned in 27 countries that is created using molecular cloning.

If you consume US meat, it is important to buy it from a high quality local source — preferably organic. Remember that many animals are fed a low quality diet full of toxic additives and genetically modified grain while simultaneously being pumped full of harsh medications.