Soil Association (UK) says drug residues found in eggs

Reuters 18jan02

[ Soil Association Press Release below ]

LONDON - A leading organic group said this week that drug residues that could harm humans have been found in thousands of eggs on sale in Britain, potentially dealing another blow to intensive farming methods. The report, which could make consumers even more edgy about food following a series of scares, was criticised by egg associations, with the British Egg Industry Council calling it "irresponsible scaremongering".

Organic group the Soil Association said lasalocid - a drug it said was too toxic to be used in medicine and shown to have potent effects on animals - had been found in 2.6 percent of chicken eggs and 60 percent of quails' eggs. "Even low levels of lasalocid are dangerous to mammals and this raises concerns about how toxic the drug is to humans," Alison Craig, author of a Soil Association report, said in a statement.

"We know that this drug hangs around in the body, so we could be accumulating it every time we eat eggs or chicken. The government's testing programme for such residues is wholly inadequate - only one out of every 18 million eggs is analysed."

The Soil Association said the drug, which is put into animal feed, had been found to produce rapid contractions in a human heart muscle and was used widely in intensive farming.

But the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) said the drug was not fed to laying hens and only given to those which are bred for poultry meat.

"Egg-laying hens are reared differently and completely separately from chickens used for poultry meat," Andrew Joret, BEIC deputy chairman, said.

"Lasalocid is not part of a laying hen's diet."

British consumers have become increasingly wary over food, after a series of scares including mad cow disease affecting beef and salmonella in eggs.

Crack down on toxic drug found in 750,000 eggs eaten every day

PRESS RELEASE Soil Association (UK) 16jan02

Up to three-quarters of a million eggs eaten every day contain residues of a toxic drug that is widely used by intensive poultry farmers, according to a new report published today (16 January) by the Soil Association.

The UK's leading organic organisation is calling for an immediate ban on lasalocid (pronounced la-sal-o-sid) which is found in 2.6 per cent of chicken eggs and also in chicken meat. Lasalocid was present in 60 per cent of the quails eggs tested by the Government's Veterinary Medicines Directorate.

The report will be discussed at a meeting with the Food Standards Agency today, which will be attended by nearly 100 organisations and called as a result of a previous Soil Association publication "Too hard to swallow – the truth about drugs and poultry".

Lasalocid is too toxic to ever be used in medicine and has been shown to have potent effects on animals at low levels: rabbit hearts contract when exposed to the drug – a discovery which prompted an experiment in 1974 using human heart muscle. Rapid contractions were observed and were still evident an hour after the drug had been given.

Alison Craig, the report's author says, "Even low levels of lasalocid are dangerous to mammals and this raises concerns about how toxic the drug is to humans. We know that this drug hangs around in the body, so we could be accumulating it every time we eat eggs or chicken. The Government's testing programme for such residues is wholly inadequate –only one out of every 18 million eggs is analysed."

Consumers are theoretically protected from veterinary drugs residues by maximum residue limits set by the European Commission. However, as lasalocid is classified as a feed additive, no limit has been set.

Daily doses of lasalocid are routinely given to chickens and turkeys in their feed as a preventative treatment against coccidiosis - an infectious disease caused by a parasite which damages the birds' intestines and causes illness and sometimes death. When large numbers of animals are crowded together (up to 100,000 birds may be kept in one unit) in warm and moist conditions, outbreaks of coccidiosis are likely to occur. Lasalocid is not prescribed by vets but sold as a feed additive directly to producers by pharmaceutical companies and feed merchants.

Consumers who want to avoid poultry that may contain residues of this drug should look for Soil Association certified organic meat and eggs as lasalocid is not used by the organisation's licensed farmers.

For information, contact:
Alison Craig, Soil Association researcher, 07951 388567.
Mark Luetchford, Campaigns Manager, 0117 987 4561.
Sue Flook, Press & PR Manager, 0117 914 2448.
Soil Association

Notes

• Copies of the report are available from the Soil Association press office on 0117 914 2448 / sflook@soilassociation.org, or by going to http://www.soilassociation.org/sa/saweb.nsf/librarytitles/15012002.html

The truth about drugs and poultry

A supplementary briefing on lasalocid BRIEFING PAPER

In this briefing the Soil Association reveals the truth behind a commonly used ionophores, lasalocid (pronounced la-sal-o-sid). Ionophores have become indispensable in intensive poultry production, in which birds are kept inside in overcrowded conditions where disease flourishes. Lasalocid is, in fact, highly toxic and poses a serious food safety risk to consumers.

Current residue surveillance has detected lasalocid contamination in chicken and quail meat, and chicken and quail eggs. However, only a minuscule number of samples are analysed for residues of lasalocid (regulators typically test just 525 samples of egg – one test for every 18 million eggs consumed). Retailers of course do their own testing but do not necessarily publish their results.

We are especially concerned about imported poultry, because some countries permit the use of lasalocid right up until the day of slaughter. During 2000 only 20 samples of imported turkey were analysed. 35 698 tonnes of turkey meat was imported between January and December 2000. Lasalocid has been shown to have potent neurotoxic effects on animals at low levels and this obviously raises the question of how toxic the drug is for humans. Scientists have known about the powerful cardiovascular effects, at extremely low doses, of lasalocid since the early 1970s. These were clearly shown in a 1974 laboratory experiment using human heart muscle, confirmed by industry research in 19811.

As consumers, we should be legally protected by a system of European Commission Maximum Residue Limits (MRL), by which residues of veterinary drugs should not exceed a set amount. There is no EU set MRL for lasalocid as it is classified as a feed additive. Although a review of the 'feed additive' drugs, including lasalocid, is in progress, it will not be completed until 2003.

In the meantime safety decisions about acceptable residues of lasalocid are taken by toxicologists at the Food Standards Agency, and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, on the basis of the EU Scientific Committee for Animal Nutrition (SCAN) Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) figure, set in 1990. This is set at the equivalent of an acceptable daily intake of 0.3 milligrams a day for a 60 kg person. Thus, for a 5 kg (newborn) infant, the total intake should not exceed 25 micrograms. For a 10 kg toddler, the intake should not exceed 50 micrograms.

Data from a wide range of sources, including epidemiological studies, when available, are now usually drawn on in the setting of an ADI. In the case of lasalocid only laboratory animal studies are discussed in the evaluation. Even though plentiful information about the drug is available it is not cited. There is a curious silence throughout the SCAN reports about the drug's cardio-toxicity, observed and recorded by vets and farmers for many years. Crucial evidence of the drug's cardiovascular activity and neurotoxic effects was left out and appears to have been omitted in the assessment.