Oldtimer
Well-known member
CattleNetwork_Today 3/5/2007 2:28:00 PM
Canada Investigating Feed Mix-Up Following Farm Quarantines
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it is premature to speculate whether Canadian cattle and deer from nine farms that received shipments of tainted meat and bone meal will be destroyed or remain eligible for slaughter.
The animals, about 8,000 in all, may have been exposed to feed containing specified risk materials for bovine spongiform encephalopathy as a result of a mix-up at the supplier level. The mill supplying the farms purchased feather meal, a poultry product used in cattle feed, but instead received meat and bone meal.
The mill made the discovery within two to three days of receiving and shipping the feed, Dr. George Luterbach, chief veterinarian for CFIA, told Meatingplace.com. The nine farms, all located in the province of Saskatchewan, subsequently were quarantined due to concerns that animals at those locations may have consumed some of the feed, he said.
Seven of the farms are located in the Saskatoon area. The remaining two are in the Swift Current area in the southwest region of the province. Two of the farms are dairies, two deer farms and five beef cattle ranches.
Luterbach said that CFIA will need to perform a complete risk assessment of each of the nine farms before determining its next course of action. Among other variables, investigators will consider the age of the animals, their species and the original source of the meat and bone meal.
Luterbach pointed out that, starting in July, CFIA will ban specified risk materials from all animals, pet foods and fertilizers rather than just those products destined for cattle, the intent being to avoid the risk of inadvertent contamination of feed on farms and ranches, as apparently was the case here.
Canada Investigating Feed Mix-Up Following Farm Quarantines
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it is premature to speculate whether Canadian cattle and deer from nine farms that received shipments of tainted meat and bone meal will be destroyed or remain eligible for slaughter.
The animals, about 8,000 in all, may have been exposed to feed containing specified risk materials for bovine spongiform encephalopathy as a result of a mix-up at the supplier level. The mill supplying the farms purchased feather meal, a poultry product used in cattle feed, but instead received meat and bone meal.
The mill made the discovery within two to three days of receiving and shipping the feed, Dr. George Luterbach, chief veterinarian for CFIA, told Meatingplace.com. The nine farms, all located in the province of Saskatchewan, subsequently were quarantined due to concerns that animals at those locations may have consumed some of the feed, he said.
Seven of the farms are located in the Saskatoon area. The remaining two are in the Swift Current area in the southwest region of the province. Two of the farms are dairies, two deer farms and five beef cattle ranches.
Luterbach said that CFIA will need to perform a complete risk assessment of each of the nine farms before determining its next course of action. Among other variables, investigators will consider the age of the animals, their species and the original source of the meat and bone meal.
Luterbach pointed out that, starting in July, CFIA will ban specified risk materials from all animals, pet foods and fertilizers rather than just those products destined for cattle, the intent being to avoid the risk of inadvertent contamination of feed on farms and ranches, as apparently was the case here.