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.