Contraceptive and Harmful Antibiotics
Found in Top Ten Fast Food Samples

Moms Across America
Press Release

Asheville, NC October 9, 2023- Moms Across America, a national nonprofit, today announced the first results of a Fast Food Testing Program initiated to test for potential toxins in one of our nation’s most iconic, go-to nutritional sources- the fast food restaurant. Today’s announcement concerns the alarming concentrations of veterinary drugs and hormones found in meals served at the top 10 most frequented fast food restaurants.

Fast food is consumed by eight-five million Americans each day. Furthermore, many chains are suppliers for school lunches, thirty million of which are served daily to our children. For millions of underprivileged children, these lunches are their only access to a complete meal, yet previous testing has shown that America’s school lunches are toxic.

To further investigate the status of a major source of food and nutrition for children as well as adults in America, Moms Across America and its supporters, including Children’s Health Defense and the Centner Academy, have commissioned extensive testing on 21 of the country’s most popular fast food brands (The 21 brands include the top 20, as rated by the QSR50, as well as In-N-Out Burger, which came in as #33 but was included in the testing because of its frequent claims to be a “healthier” version of fast food). In all, forty-two samples of fast food meals gathered from 21 locations nationwide were tested by the Health Research Institute.

All 21 brands were tested for the most widely used herbicide in the world, glyphosate, 236 agrochemicals, 4 heavy metals, PFAS, phthalates, and mineral content. The top ten brands were additionally tested for 104 commonly used veterinary drugs and hormones, Vitamin B’s and calories. The findings of the veterinary drugs and hormones are summarized here:

• Three veterinary drugs and hormones were found in ten fast food samples tested.
• One sample from Chick-fil-A contained Nicarbazin, a contraceptive and antiparasitic that has been prohibited from use.
• Six out of ten, or 60% of the fast food samples contained the antibiotic Monensin, which is not approved by the FDA for human use and has been shown to cause severe harm when consumed by humans.
• Four out of ten, or 40% of the samples, contained the antibiotic Narasin, which has been shown in animal studies to cause anorexia, diarrhea, dyspnea, depression, ataxia, recumbency, and death and pathologically by degeneration, necrosis, and repair of heart and skeletal muscles.
• Monensin and Narasin are ionophores, strong antibiotics which are toxic to horses and dogs at extremely low levels but are widely used as feed additives to increase weight gain in beef and dairy cattle and to control coccidiosis, a parasitic disease of the intestinal tract, in poultry.
• Misuse of ionophores can cause toxicity with significant clinical symptoms. Studies show that ionophore toxicity mainly affects myocardial and skeletal muscle cells, heart and respiratory distress, colic and sudden death in horses.
• While not used in humans due to toxicity, ionophores still carry a risk due to contamination and cross-resistance.

“In this study on America’s most popular fast food chains, Moms Across America is specifically focused on exploring the potential contamination of our food supply and its effect on our physical and mental health,” said Moms Across America Founder Zen Honeycutt. “On a per capita basis, the United States spends nearly double the average of similarly wealthy countries on healthcare. Nonetheless, health outcomes are generally worse than other countries, including in areas like life expectancy, infant mortality, and diabetes. Mental health issues are also on the rise in the US, and many decade old studies have shown a link between our food and this behavior. It is time for public health officials to learn about and take action regarding the connection between American food and our physical and mental health.”

The lab report of the veterinary drugs and hormone results can be found here.

MAA Full report here.

Senator Corey Booker’s office will be hosting a School Lunch Congressional Briefing on Oct 17, 2023 SH 902. Zen Honeycutt, Founder of Moms Across America, will present on the invited panel along with a pediatrician, toxicologist, farmer and researcher.

Moms Across America is a 501c3 non profit organization.
For press inquiries, contact Mara Quigley, Steve Allen Media at [email protected] or 661.255.8283.