Document Neom0m0ZJrXdMGwpXRjVXXJLy

Monsanto Washington, D. C. February 2, 1971 MCrittENCC t TO : W. B. Pappageorge St. Louis Missouri WPAPP ce E. P. Wheeler, St. Louis S. Pickard, Washington Dear Bill: A meeting was held here in Washinglon yesterday with repre sentatives from Campbell Soup, Agway, U. S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration for the purpose of discussing the recent problem of polychlorinated biphenyl, contamination in chickens. Apparently Campbell, as of now, has 180,000 lbs. of chicken on hand that is contaminated with PCB. In addition, a number of poultry farmers within several counties of up-state New York, also have a large number of chickens that are also contaminated with PCB. In fact, one farmer alone has 30,000 chickens that are significantly contaminated. PCB residues have been found in the chickens, eggs and, to some extent, in feeds. One batch of feed analyzed contained 12 p.p.m. Several individual chickens analyzed were found to contain as much as 40 p.p.m. PCB. After apparently much discussion among these 4 parties, FDA agreed to allow all chickens containing 5 p.p.m. or less in their fat to be processed through normal commercial channels. Those chickens with greater than 5 p.p.m. in their fat would have to go through a salvaging procedure whereby the skin and fat of the chickens must be removed and discarded. Also, those chickens being salvaged must not exceed 5 p.p.m. of PCB in the total edible portions of the chicken. While FDA agreed to these provisions for this particular incident, FDA was very careful to point out that they are by no means establishing a level of 5 p.p.m. of PCB as an allowable residue. As of now, no one is sure exactly how PCB is getting into these chickens and Campbell's and Agway along with FDA will continue their efforts to determine the source of contamination. PCB-ARCH0743979 W. Pappageorge -2 February 2, 1971 I will continue to inquire into the developments of t+iis situation and keep you informed on anything significant I may turn up. Regards, U ` 0JacJO-D. Ear] y JDE:fdd PCB-ARCH0743980