Cadmium - It's What's For Dinner For French Livestock - Reuters

[hatrack]

PARIS - The French farm ministry said on Thursday it had found abnormal levels of the highly toxic element cadmium in animal feed manufactured in June last year.

It said the cadmium, which can cause serious liver and kidney damage, had been sourced to a 120-tonne batch of imports of the feed ingredient zinc sulphate from China.

"Tests confirmed the presence of varying levels of cadmium in feed already manufactured," the ministry said in a statement.

It said the feed ingredient had been traced to 10 companies in France, and any supplies still on their premises had been confiscated and were undergoing further analysis. The ministry said it had traced feed deliveries from the companies to farms, and veterinary authorities were taking steps to ensure those animal parts susceptible of retaining cadmium - the liver and the kidneys - were removed from the food chain.

EDIT

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/35008/story.htm

[sui generis]

1. oh wow

"animal feed manufactured in June last year" . . . from China.

Betcha BSE from American beef is the last damn thing they're worrying about right now if it ships with what they're feeding their cattle.

[Pooka Fey]

2. American beef is banned in France

And their beef is monitored and registered down to the cow - meaning a restaurant owner needs to be able to tell you the origin of that steak on your plate down through the region, the farm, and on to the cow. Oui, monsieur - that steak came from cow number 5447895 from the Farm Saint Jean 3 kilometres outside Brest, in Brittany. Every cow is examined by a veterinarian before it is slaughtered.

You can walk into any MacDonald's in Paris, and demand that the management tell you exactly where the meat in your Big Mac came from. If they cannot show you the proper paperwork and verifications - you can make one phone call and the government authorities will come and shut the restaurant down that very afternoon.

The French don't play games with their food.

[rfkrfk]

3. every egg needs a datecode

likewise, every grain of wheat

[Nihil]

4. Hey, just because *you* don't give a shit about what you eat ...

... doesn't mean that the French have to follow suit.

You go chomp that BSE burger on a GM bun while you trust in
the "Statement of Origin" bullshit poster on the wall.