Millions of chickens pulled over pet food recall

Millions of chickens in several states won't be hitting the food supply anytime soon because their feed was mixed with pet food containing an adulterated additive imported from China. Federal officials have put a hold on about 20 million chickens while three agencies try to determine if there's a risk to people from eating the birds. The Agriculture Department, the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency are overseeing the risk assessment, which could be finished as early as Monday. The birds are just a tiny fraction of the nine billion chickens raised each year in the United States. Meat from the birds can't go into commercial use without the USDA's inspection seal, which is being withheld for now. The chemical, melamine, was in byproducts from pet food manufactured with contaminated wheat gluten imported from China.