The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

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    Risk from eggs of free-range chickens

    Paying a premium for free-range eggs might not buy you healthier eating, according to researchers at the National Cheng Kung University, in Tainan, Taiwan.

    First, the details.

    • 6 free-range eggs and 12 regular eggs from farms and markets in Taiwan were analyzed for their content of dioxins.
      • “Dioxins” is the term used for polychlorinated dibenzo-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-furans (PCDFs).

    And, the results.

    • The free-range eggs contained 6 times higher levels of PCDDs and PCDFs than the regular eggs.

    The bottom line?

    The authors concluded, “Differences of PCDD/F levels… between free range and caged egg samples give rise to the issues related to the safety of eating free range chicken eggs.”

    Taiwan is a heavily populated, industrialized island with many of the municipal incinerators that release PCDDs and PCDFs. How these findings relate to contaminants in eggs produced in the US or other industrialized countries isn’t known.

    The authors defined “free-range” chicken in this study as having continuous access to fresh air, sunshine, and exercise, in contrast to chickens that are confined to cages. However, the term means different things in different countries.

    6/19/10 19:29 JR

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