In Aajonus Vonderplanitz's framework, raw meat, encompassing liver, chicken, beef, and pork, constitutes one of the most essential categories of food in the Primal Diet. Whenever Aajonus used the word "meat," he explicitly clarified that he was not referring only to beef, but to any flesh food whatsoever: fish, fowl, beef, lamb, venison, buffalo, pork, seafood, and wild meat. This distinction was fundamental to his teaching and he repeated it consistently across workshops, books, and correspondence.

Raw meat in its unheated state is, according to Aajonus, the primary driver of cellular reproduction and regeneration. He stated directly: "You won't generate quick division, cellular division, unless you're eating raw meat." The body's ability to reconstruct already-living cells and to divide cells that need reproducing depends critically on the nutrients, enzymes, and bacterial co-factors present in raw flesh, all of which are destroyed or denatured by cooking.

Aajonus grouped all flesh foods into two broad dietary categories for the purpose of individual constitution matching: red meat (large animals, beef, buffalo, venison, bison, goat, sheep) and what he called "white meat", a term he himself admitted was a misnomer, covering all poultry, fish, seafood, rabbit, and small animals. Pork occupies a special hybrid position: "Pig is in between. Pork is in between." Liver from any animal falls into the white meat category if it comes from a bird, and is treated as a glandular organ food with its own protocols.

The entire category of raw meat was described by Aajonus as safe to digest for nearly all people, with a reaction rate of only approximately 2% in people on the raw diet, compared to a 12% reaction rate for cooked meat consumers.

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Aajonus explained that the human digestive system is "very concentrated in enzymes and bacteria for digesting meat. Too good as a matter of fact." If a person eats only raw meat with no fat, he stated they will become very thin and digest all of it. A person could eat five to ten pounds of meat per day and not gain weight, and digest every bit of it. Meat of any type is described as "very easy to digest."

He consistently emphasized that raw meat is the primary substrate for cellular regeneration: "Most people cannot regenerate cells to either reverse or prevent the aging process of deterioration without eating plenty of raw meat in combination with raw fats." Cooking destroys this capacity entirely.

When meat is cooked, Aajonus described that all the bonds the animal's body had already formed to neutralize toxins are fractured and set free. The result: "you've separated everything, you've broken the bonds... everything becomes free, becomes a radical." In its raw state, any toxins present in the meat remain bound and largely pass through without accumulating.

Raw meat also produces what Aajonus described as an elevated, happy state: "It makes you high and happy. And it does. Anybody who eats it, if they're depressed, they're happy within 10, 20 minutes of eating it." He contrasted this with the 12% vomit/diarrhea reaction seen in cooked meat eaters, attributing much of that reaction to hormones and antibiotics being released in greater quantities through cooking.

Raw liver is described as one of the most powerful healing foods in the entire Primal Diet framework, with particular application to liver disease, hepatitis of all types, and any condition requiring rapid restoration of liver function. Aajonus stated: "With the liver I can do it [repair hepatitis] in a lot less time. With the liver it speeds it up by almost two-thirds."

The organic raw liver works on the diseased liver through what Aajonus described as a direct-repair mechanism: liver tissue and its unique enzymatic and nutritional profile feed and reconstruct the corresponding organ in the human body. Without liver, he said, "I have used raw fish and raw meats and so on in working with hepatitis and it has taken me up to a couple of years to get to a point where the liver is rebuilt and not affected. But with the liver I can do it in a lot less time."

Liver was also described as providing the protein the body needs "to get rid of the contamination in the liver." A liver detoxification sometimes accompanies the early introduction of any raw meat, affecting about 2% of people new to the diet.

Chicken, and all poultry, meaning any bird, falls into Aajonus's white meat category. Despite color (ostrich is as red as liver, yet still white meat by his classification), the metabolic and therapeutic effect of poultry is distinct from red meat.

Chicken is specifically described as "very good for rebuilding the intestinal tract, the lymphatic system, the brain nervous system, cartilage, bone, anything but the red glands and muscles." Its tissue composition is "most like skin" in its structural properties, making it particularly useful for rebuilding damaged skin and subcutaneous tissues where adrenalin acids and sugar acids have stored in pockets.

For intestinal, neurological, or lymphatic cancer, Aajonus stated that high raw chicken is "more favorable" than other meats. For nerve tissue damage specifically, both poultry and fish help "reconstitute the myelin and the nervous system and help regenerate brain cells and nerve cells."

Chicken also generates more white blood cells than red blood cells in its metabolic effect, making it better for immune-related conditions. Aajonus said chicken and turkey "stimulate more white blood cells than they will red because they are much more like" white-blood-cell-building substrates.

Beef and other large-animal red meats are described as producing a strongly acidic effect in the body. They are acid-forming, generate high adrenaline, and build red blood cells and muscle mass more aggressively than white meats. Aajonus described red meat as the most powerful for restoring the blood in cases of severe anemia or pallor: "I need to strengthen the blood first, because I can see he's jaundiced. He's pallid and jaundiced."

However, red meat's acid-forming nature means it must be balanced with white meat for most people. Too much red meat causes irritability, excessive energy, and over-acidity: "if you have too much red meat you're likely to get too much energy, build too much adrenaline and get irritable, especially if you're already a hyperactive person."

A sign that a person is too toxic to eat beef is "severe itching and irritability, accompanied with nausea after eating beef." In such cases, the person must first detoxify enough before beef is tolerable.

Marinating red meat from large animals in lemon juice is explicitly prohibited: doing so "converts them into fuel or for detoxification. And you won't have it as a healer to help rebuild yourself." Honey marination is permitted for red meat.

Pork is described by Aajonus as a hybrid food, "pig is in between" red and white meat. He was personally enthusiastic about pork and repeatedly defended it against historical taboos and modern health fears.

He ate pork himself roughly four to six times per year, sometimes two to three times per week when he had access to high-quality sources, and on one occasion in southern China ate three pounds in a single sitting, stayed in the town an extra day just to continue eating, and described the fat as extraordinary.

The concerns about pork he identified were not parasitological (trichinosis) but historical and environmental: "Not because of those [parasites]. Because the pork, the pig, has been a garbage collector for thousands of years. In Egypt and in Jerusalem, you know, all of that area. And all over the world, pigs ran, roamed the streets." The implication is that the concern about pork derived from its historical role as a scavenger of waste, not from any intrinsic property of the animal. When raised organically on appropriate food, pork is "wonderful."

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The cardinal rule across all meats, liver, chicken, beef, and pork, is that they must be consumed raw and unheated. Cooking destroys enzymes, fractures molecular bonds that the animal formed to neutralize toxins, and releases free radicals. Raw state preserves all bioactive nutrients and keeps any toxins present bound and non-bioavailable.

For raw liver specifically, Aajonus provided explicit visual quality criteria:

• Good liver: Dark, deep red in color, firm in texture
• Bad liver: White and spongy, "white and spongy means it's not a healthy liver. It's just like yours already."
• He had seen white and spongy liver even from Coleman brand beef
• Rocky Junior chicken liver was his preferred brand at the time of these recordings, but quality varied even within that brand

Aajonus said liver must be dark: "It should be dark... Well, deep red." This visual inspection was mandatory before consuming any liver.

For regular therapeutic use, liver and all other raw meats should be fresh. However, Aajonus also described aged ("high") raw meat as a separate preparation with distinct therapeutic uses (for depression, chronic constipation, and immune function). High meat is deliberately fermented over weeks to months in a refrigerator, with the jar aired every three to four days. He personally ate high raw meat aged up to one year and described "excellent benefits."

Aajonus conducted a laboratory experiment with animals to test frozen versus unfrozen raw meat. All animals given frozen raw meat developed a skin disorder; those given fresh unfrozen raw meat did not. He therefore recommended unfrozen raw meats and noted that some suppliers, when told a customer was on the Primal Diet, would make unfrozen meats available and vacuum pack them for refrigerator storage up to six months.

Aajonus noted that even pork, vacuum packed, can keep for six months in refrigeration. When opening a package of any meat stored this way, he described scraping the surface with a straight-edge knife before eating it.

When poultry is processed commercially, birds are dipped in boiling water for one to two seconds to ease feather removal. This boils the skin, not even the fat underneath, but the skin itself is damaged. Aajonus therefore said: "I don't suggest you eat it." He did not suggest feeding it to animals either, noting only that rats at dumps eating it would still get minor benefit from even that damaged fat.

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For anyone with hepatitis or severe liver damage, Aajonus was unequivocal: the liver must be organic. Non-organic liver from conventionally raised animals risks concentrating pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics specifically in glandular tissue. He said: "If there is some pesticide in it, it will mostly store in the glandular tissue."

He named specific acceptable brands: - Coleman (beef liver), the standard for beef liver; however, he had seen even Coleman liver be white and spongy, so visual inspection was still required - Rocky Junior (chicken liver), his preferred chicken liver brand - Shelton's (chicken), acceptable; "they raise them pretty much veg[etarian]"

For general muscle meat (non-glandular), Aajonus said regular market meat was acceptable even if not organic: "Fresh muscle meat, steaks and ground, are okay even if you buy them at regular markets as long as they don't add coloring and you don't cook them." However, organically grown is always more nutritious and preferable.

This is an absolute rule across all species: "Do not eating any glands or bone marrow from fish, fowl or animals unless they are organically grown, because most toxins store in the glands and bones." This applies to liver, pancreas, thyroid, adrenals, testes, ovaries, kidney, brain, and bone marrow. He stated: "But never the glands. That's where the toxins are stored."

He recounted a personal cautionary experience: "A friend and I had had a very bad experience with raw liver and sweet breads that weren't organically grown. She vomited and I had terrible hallucinations." It was this experience that led him to the realization that non-organic glandular tissue is genuinely dangerous. The discovery that animals store most toxins in glands and bones came to him after a separate poisonous mushroom experience. Before that insight, he had avoided raw beef entirely.

Aajonus sourced his pork from an Amish farmer he visited while doing lobbying work in D.C., describing the farm as two hours away. He emphasized the importance of knowing how the pig was raised: organic, fed appropriate food. When pork is "plastered with hormones, you're taking some risks." As long as it's organic, it's fine.

He stored vacuum-packed pork and noted it could last six months. Even at that age, he described scraping the outer surface of the cut with a straight-edge knife before eating.

The primary preparation Aajonus described for liver is food-processor pâté: - Cut liver into small chunks - Place in food processor with red onion (optional) - Blend for 20-30 seconds

For flavoring liver pâté, he used: - Ginger (fresh, sliced paper-thin so it grinds finely without leaving large burning chunks) - Horseradish (fresh, sliced very thin for same reason) - He described these as "hormone stimulators" and said horseradish is also good because it is hot - If the person doesn't like ginger: just horseradish - If the person doesn't like horseradish: just the other - Either can be used alone or together

He also developed a new recipe using salsa alongside liver/lung combinations: five chili tomatoes, one small sliver of red onion (about one inch by a quarter inch), one quarter teaspoon of vinegar, blend together. Take one teaspoon of that salsa and put it with half a cup each of milk and gland (liver or lungs). This can be taken as a drink.

When feeding dogs, Aajonus noted that chicken was preferred because dogs could eat the bones. This implies that whole raw chicken with bones is appropriate for animals on a raw diet.

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Aajonus was emphatic that raw fat must always accompany raw meat: "Always eat fat with your meat meals." The biochemical reason is that fat binds with proteins and ensures full absorption without the released protein triggering excessive metabolic demands on the body. Without fat, proteins can over-stimulate the system.

He stated: "For example, I have a lot of clients who only like lean cuts. They will not eat the fat from the beef. So I tell them to have butter with it." Alternatives to butter include avocado, or a raw egg mixed into ground beef.

Fat options for pairing with meat, in order of his preferences: 1. Fat within the meat itself, the fat intrinsic to poultry, seafood, fish, beef, or any red meat is described as the best fat 2. Butter, described as "the easiest, most easily digestible besides the meat fat" and recommended as the primary added fat when people first adopt the diet 3. Cream, the most soothing for nerves but the most difficult for the liver to process; causes bloating and slowed digestion if overused; not recommended in large amounts with meat specifically 4. Avocado, acceptable fat to pair with lean meat 5. Raw egg, can be mixed directly into ground beef to supply the needed fat fraction

He recommended that for most therapeutic meat meals, the primary fat added should be butter, not cream: "I'm going to suggest that, most of the time, it's butter. People first get on this diet, after they've been on it for a while, they eat a lot of cream with their meat. It has a tendency to coat the meat, and you don't digest as well."

For people who experience nausea when introducing red meat, particularly those with glycotoxin accumulation, Aajonus said: "I suggest you always eat cheese with your meat." This specifically applies to those with liver damage from advanced glycogen products, where meat may initially cause nausea. Cheese acts as an absorption buffer.

Eating unheated honey with every food, including meat, supplies the liver with enzymes to make its work easier. Honey was described as a marination option for red meat (overnight honey marination is permissible and helps with digestion) and as a general enzymatic support taken alongside any meat meal.

Aajonus consistently recommended that most people not eat red meat alone but combine it with white meat (chicken, fish, seafood) in the same meal to prevent over-acidification and irritability: "if you're eating red meat without white meat", his solution was to "do the white fish with your chicken." Alternatively: "you could always add a couple of eggs, one or two eggs, to make up for the white meat. So it doesn't make you irritable."

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No topical applications for liver, chicken, beef, or pork were documented in the provided source passages. The referenced topical use of fresh meat slices (inserted every 24 hours for infection/wound treatment) appeared only in general form in the sources without specific species assignment.

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The ratio of red to white meat is determined by individual biochemistry. Aajonus's guidelines:

• Acidic bloodstream person (holds color a long time, gets color easily): eat less red meat, more poultry or fish
• Alkaline bloodstream person: needs more red meat

General population recommendation: "meat should be about sixty-five percent red and thirty-five percent white. And almost always eat them together."

But many individual consultations showed different ratios: - One patient: "I recommend that you have 40% red meat, 40% chicken, and 20% fish" - Another patient: 50% red meat, 50% white meat for a couple of years, then lean more toward white after that - Another: 90% red meat, 10% other, for someone who needed aggressive blood rebuilding - Another: 60% red meat, 40% fish, for an over-alkaline patient who got over-acidic with too much beef alone - For a patient where chicken was inappropriate: "I don't perceive any chicken for you for maybe a couple of years" - After the liver is rebuilt (approximately two years and three months on the 40/40/20 protocol): reassess to different ratios

One consultation specified: "about four cups of meat a day, which is about a pound and a third. A pound and a third to a pound and a half."

• For hepatitis: at least once a day (initial intensive protocol)
• For severe hepatitis/liver damage: at least two times a week (ongoing)
• General maintenance: as desired

Aajonus's own pork consumption: - Generally: four to six times per year - When access to quality pork was available (Amish farm): two to three times per week - Described eating three pounds in a single sitting in China; stayed an extra day to continue eating

Must be dark (deep red). White and spongy = do not eat. This inspection applies even to preferred brands.

Aajonus explicitly warned: "Do NOT eat large amounts of high" meat. The recommended amount for therapeutic use is a portion (not quantified exactly beyond "one cup each day" as the maximum described for the enthusiastic daily user), and the standard protocol is twice per week for depression or constipation.

For people transitioning to raw meat who find it "nearly impossible" due to conditioned taste preferences: - Use flavored recipes to increase appetite - Cook eggs minimally if necessary as a transitional step (putting eggs in a milkshake if they won't eat raw meat initially) - Work toward it: "do what you have to do" - Cheese with every meat meal to buffer nausea

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Version 1: - 5 to 8 ounces organic raw liver - 1 to 3 tablespoons red onions (optional) - Cut liver into small chunks; put liver and onion in food processor and blend for 20-30 seconds

Version 2 (with sunflower seeds): - 2 to 4 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds - 5 to 8 ounces organic raw liver - 1 to 3 tablespoons red onions (optional) - Blenderize sunflower seeds in a 4-ounce jar on medium speed for 10 seconds - Cut liver into small chunks; put all ingredients in food processor and blend for 20-30 seconds

Aajonus's personal pâté flavor additions (not in recipe book, from workshop): - Paper-thin slices of fresh ginger - Paper-thin slices of fresh horseradish - Blend with liver in food processor; the thin slices ensure full grinding without leaving large burning chunks

Salsa variant (developed at workshop): - 5 chili tomatoes - One sliver of red onion (approximately 1 inch by ¼ inch) - ¼ teaspoon vinegar - Blend together - Take 1 teaspoon of salsa with ½ cup milk and ½ cup liver (or lungs or any gland) - Consume as a drink

Version 1: - 4 to 8 ounces organic raw liver - 4 to 8 ounces raw milk - 1 tablespoon unheated honey (optional) - Cut liver into small chunks; blenderize all ingredients together in a 12- or 16-ounce jar on high speed for 20 seconds

Version 2: - 4 to 8 ounces organic raw liver - 4 to 8 ounces raw milk - 1 to 2 tablespoons red onions (optional) - Cut liver into small chunks; blenderize all in 12- or 16-ounce jar on high speed for 20 seconds

• 2 tablespoons organic raw liver
• 1 tablespoon organic raw thyroid gland
• 1 tablespoon organic raw testis or ovary
• 2 tablespoons organic raw lung
• 1 tablespoon organic raw brain
• 1 tablespoon adrenal gland
• 4 ounces raw milk
• 1 to 2 tablespoons red onions
• Blenderize all ingredients in a 12-ounce jar on high speed

• Place 1 volume-pint of raw meat, chopped into bite-sized pieces, into a glass quart (32-ounce) jar; equal air- and meat-space
• Place Ball jar lid on jar tightly and place in refrigerator
• Aajonus suggested preparing three jars simultaneously: one with raw red meat, one with natural raw fowl, one with ocean wild-caught raw fish
• Every 3 to 4 days: take jars outdoors, completely remove lids, wave jars in the air to exchange air
• Continue until desired stage of fermentation is reached
• Aajonus ate high raw meat aged up to one year with excellent benefits when he needed it

Consumption method: Take outside (or home will stink for up to 36 hours). Close nostrils with fingers or swimmer's nose clip. Eat. Can swallow without chewing, but chewing makes it more effective for lifting spirits. Odor is terrible; texture is palatable. If you don't like the aftertaste, rinse mouth with lemon or lime but do not swallow, lemon and lime are antibacterial (especially lime) and will kill the bacteria you need.

Aajonus listed beef, lamb, venison, buffalo, pork, and wild meat as interchangeable in red meat recipes. Key recipes documented:

Himalayan Meat: - 5 to 8 ounces raw meat (beef, lamb, fowl, or seafood) - 2 to 3 ounces Cheesy Spiced Paste - Chop meat into bite-sized pieces; spread paste on plate and cover with chopped meat - Alternative: cut meat into strips and spread paste on strips

Meat au Gratin: - 4 tablespoons unsalted raw butter (may substitute stone-pressed olive oil) - 1 slice fresh garlic - ¼ red bell pepper - 1½-inch cube no-salt-added raw cheddar cheese - 5 to 8 ounces raw meat (beef, lamb, fowl, or seafood) - Grate portion of room-temperature cheese; set aside. Slice remaining cheese thinly. Warm cheese slices, garlic, and room-temperature butter in a 4-ounce jar (capped with blender washer/blades/base), immersed in bowl of mildly hot water for 5 minutes. When butter has melted, blenderize for 5 seconds at medium speed. Slice lamb into strips; dice asparagus; marinate in sauce in covered bowl at room temperature for 1-3 hours. Spread on plate and top with cheese, onion, and parsley.

Beef Pâté (Aajonus's personal approach, from early training): - For beef: he did not use ginger and horseradish (those are for liver) - He described making beef preparations differently but did not give a complete alternative formula in the available sources

Steak Tartare: Listed in recipe index but not detailed in the provided passages.

Cajun Chicken: - 2 tablespoons refrigerated unsalted raw butter - 1 tablespoon refrigerated raw cream - 1 chilled raw egg (refrigerated for 2 hours) - 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg - 1 pinch fresh ground mixed peppercorns - 5 to 8 ounces raw chicken - ½ diced tomato - Blenderize egg, nutmeg, pepper, chilled butter and cream in 4-ounce jar on low speed for 4-6 seconds; dice chicken; fold sauce with chicken; top with diced tomato

Additional chicken recipes listed in the recipe index (detailed formulas not fully transcribed in provided passages): Cheesy Chicken, Chicken/Beef Mustard, Chicken Salad, French Chicken, Macaroni & Cheese-Tasting Chicken, Orange-Glazed Duck, Parmesan Chicken, Salsa Chicken, Sexy Chicken, Tahitian Chicken.

Turkey Pâté: - 5 to 8 ounces turkey - 1 to 2 raw eggs - 1 to 2 tablespoons mustard and/or horseradish - 1 tablespoon diced red onions - ½ diced tomato - Place turkey in food processor; blend 20 seconds; mash down; add eggs and mustard/horseradish; blend 10 seconds more; put in bowl or on plate; cover with tomato and onion - Alternative: add tomato and onion to food processor with egg and mustard/horseradish; blend 10 seconds

• Spread honey over raw red meat
• Leave overnight
• "And you'll see it. You'll think it's very soft." (The text implies textural change)
• This is the permitted marinade for large-animal red meats; lemon juice is explicitly prohibited for red meat

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Liver pâté, made in the food processor, was Aajonus's primary recommended form for consuming liver therapeutically. The mechanical processing of liver into pâté was also aligned with his general guidance that for leaky gut and intestinal damage, meats should be pâté'd in a food processor: "For meats to be nearly 100% digested, meats must be cut into 1-inch cubes and then pate'd in a food-processor." This principle applies to all meats but was specifically developed in the context of liver.

High meat derived from any flesh, beef, chicken/fowl, seafood/fish, functions as a distinct therapeutic product rather than simply "old meat." Aajonus described the entire bacterial and enzymatic transformation process that occurs during fermentation as producing compounds specifically effective for mood elevation, depression, chronic constipation, and cancer support. He called this the "bacterial stages" and described them as progressively more potent.

A reader asked Aajonus where to find raw organic liverwurst (Braunschweiger). His response: "It is illegal for any prepared meats to be ra[w]", the text cuts off but clearly indicates that commercially prepared raw liverwurst cannot legally be sold, making it unavailable as a commercial product. This means liver pâté made at home is the only viable alternative.

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Aajonus directly addressed why pork had been historically prohibited in many cultures: "Not because of those [trichinosis and parasites]. Because the pork, the pig, has been a garbage collector for thousands of years. In Egypt and in Jerusalem, you know, all of that area. And all over the world, pigs ran, roamed the streets." The historical taboo reflected the reality of pigs eating sewage and waste in ancient urban environments, not any intrinsic property of pork itself. When raised organically on appropriate food, pork is described as "wonderful."

He stated emphatically: "The bad info about health-giving pork is myth. As long as an animal eats what is natural in its natural state, the animal, as long as it is not a poisonous toad, is good to eat."

Before understanding the gland-toxin relationship, Aajonus and a friend ate raw liver and sweet breads that were not organically grown. His friend vomited severely; Aajonus had "terrible hallucinations." This experience preceded his understanding and caused him to initially avoid raw red meat. It was only after a separate poisonous mushroom experience, which taught him that animals store most toxins in glands and bones, that he realized organic muscle meat is safe to eat even from non-organic animals, while glandular tissue (including liver) is only safe when organic.

In a passing reference, Aajonus mentioned having been in Paris during a period when England was selling what was described as "mad cow meat." He stated: "I don't have a problem. Your body can handle it depending upon the toxicity in the system. When it's raw you have to understand, when something is raw you've got lots of live nutrients that aren't destroyed and very few poisons." He distinguished between raw and cooked meat's toxicity management, asserting that raw meat's intact structure allows the body to handle contamination that cooked meat would release as free radicals.

Commercial sale of raw prepared meat products (including liverwurst/Braunschweiger) is illegal. This was confirmed by Aajonus directly in response to a reader inquiry, making home-prepared raw liver pâté the only available option for people seeking the therapeutic benefits of liver in a prepared form.

Aajonus documented that many commercial poultry operations feed arsenic to their chickens, and that simply selecting a brand not using arsenic does not resolve all toxin issues because soy toxicity in poultry feed also contaminates the meat and eggs. Brand phone numbers were provided in newsletter form for consumers to contact companies and request feeding changes (raw meat scraps, corn and other grains, Terramin clay for mineral supplementation).

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