Federal agencies are set to begin
a year-long testing program on U.S. beef, pork and poultry to measure the
levels of a highly toxic group of chemicals called dioxins, which are best
known for their use in Agent Orange and other herbicides.
The 2018 Dioxin Survey, headed by
the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS), will be done in
conjunction with the federal Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and the Red
River Valley Agricultural Research Center in Fargo, ND.
This is the fourth such survey in
a recurring five-year cycle. The FSIS collaborates with federal partners
including ARS, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug
Administration. The previous dioxin surveys were done in 2003, 2008 and 2013.
Dioxins are a group of compounds
that are of public health concern, according to the U.S. National Institutes of
Health, the EPA, the World Health Organization and other public health
agencies. The chemicals are widely found, but generally at very low levels,
throughout the natural environment.
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