Chickens Force-Fed Minerals to Boost Weight.

In the latest scandal to hit China’s food market, authorities have discovered heavy minerals were being fed to chickens to fatten them up and make them more valuable at market.

Chinese authorities seized more than 1,000 chickens who had been force-fed heavy minerals including Barite which is used for medical and industrial purposes. Barite is most commonly used to deflect x-rays and to weigh down drills for oil exploration.

China’s food sector is being hammered by case after case of bizarre and toxic materials turning up in their food. Reuters notes that in 2008, 300,000 people fell ill after melamine turned up in the country’s milk supply.

This latest case is under investigation but the blame needs to be place squarely on the shady practices of animal producers who continually put the people of China at risk to turn a few extra dollars profit.