Sure, this video might be funny but eating shit is no laughing matter.
Recent studies show that nearly half of all chicken purchased in supermarkets is contaminated with fecal matter (aka shit). In 2011, the USDA reported that 90 percent of defects the agency found in chicken carcasses at slaughter plants involved "visible fecal contamination that was missed by company employees."
Despite this, the U.S. government is planning to scale back slaughterhouse inspections while allowing the industry to dramatically increase the speed of its kill lines. Fewer inspectors and faster speeds will undoubtedly have serious consequences for food safety and animal welfare.
Tests performed on a variety of chicken products in 2009 and 2011 in cities across the country uncovered not just fecal contamination but the presence of E. coli—a dangerous bacteria commonly spread feces to mouth. Consuming meat tainted with E. coli causes most people to suffer cramps, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. Others experience severe blood and kidney problems, which can lead to death for those with compromised immune systems.
But E. coli isn't the only threat lurking in fecal matter. Chicken feces may also harbor roundworms, hair worms, tapeworms, insect larvae, excreted drugs and other chemicals, not to mention the usual bile and undigested food.
As if this weren't enough to flush chicken from one's diet, the torture and abuse endured by chickens raised for food is enough to make anyone shudder. Without a single federal law to protect them, chickens on today's factory farms are left to languish in filthy conditions, crammed by the tens of thousands into feces- and ammonia-laden warehouses.
After short lives often spent crippled under their unnaturally large bodies, chickens are mercilessly slaughtered. Many have their throats slit while still fully conscious and those who miss the blade are boiled alive in scalding defeathering tanks.
Ready to stop eating crap? Adopt a vegetarian diet today.