August 25, 2006

New BSE sample collection instructions distributed

USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service inspection personnel received new instructions for the collection of brain samples for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy ongoing surveillance plan. FSnet Link

Creekstone Farms wants to test all their cattle for mad cow but the USDA is vehemently opposed to these strict testing protocols.

USDA requests extension to respond to Creekstone motion

The Agriculture Department on Thursday asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for a four-week extension to respond to a motion for summary judgment that would clear the way for Arkansas City, Kan.-based processor Creekstone Farms to test slaughtered cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. FSnet Link

Canada-Mad Cow

An Alberta, Canada, dairy cow that was diagnosed last month with mad cow disease probably contracted the disease from contaminated feed, federal regulators said.
The finding by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency came after an enforcement investigation was launched because the 50-month-old animal from an Edmonton-area farm was exposed to bovine spongiform encephalopathy after a 1997 feed ban was imposed.
"A particular incident was documented in one commercial feed facility that may have permitted the contamination of a single batch of cattle feed with prohibited material," the CFIA said in a release Thursday night, without naming the facility. cbc.ca Link



August 2006 update on feed enforcement activities to limit the spread of BSE

To help prevent the establishment and amplification of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) through feed in the United States, FDA implemented a final rule that prohibits the use of most mammalian protein in feeds for ruminant animals. This rule, Title 21 Part 589.2000 of the Code of Federal Regulations, here called the Ruminant Feed Ban, became effective on August 4, 1997.
This is an update on FDA enforcement activities regarding the ruminant feed ban. FDA's CVM has assembled data from the inspections that have been conducted AND whose final inspection report has been recorded in the FDA's inspection database as of August 5, 2006. As of August 5, 2006, FDA had received over 47,000 inspection reports. The majority of these inspections (around 68%) were conducted by State feed safety officials, with the remainder conducted by FDA officials. US FDA Link