Renderers say industry not prepared for FDA feed ban rule

Help Support CattleToday:

flounder

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
1,051
Reaction score
5
Location
TEXAS
-------------------- [email protected] --------------------


Two recent articles caught my eye ;

Renderers say industry not prepared for FDA feed ban rule

Food Chemical News

February 2, 2009

and

BSE, rendering relate to human safety

Emma Struve 02/17/2009

To enhance protection of the human food supply, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will institute a new rule April 27, 2009. This rule prohibits brain and spinal corn material from cattle over 30 months of age from entering the animal food supply.

Ultimately, the goal is to further decrease the likelihood that cattle may become infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) thereby reducing the risk that infected animals will enter the human food chain.

An additional consequence stemming from implementation of the rule is that livestock producers will have a more difficult time disposing of carcasses.

Crawford County Supervisor John Lawler said of the disposal issue, "We've got a problem here, we all know about this, with these cattle."

At this point policy makers and livestock producers are examining available information to formulate a plan for how to adopt changes necessary to comply with the rule.

What is Bovine Spongiform

Encephalopathy (BSE)?

BSE is an infectious disease of cattle that causes physical deterioration of the brain and spinal tissues resulting in a "wasting" appearance of the animal, according to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) overview of BSE.

Through research, scientists have found that the most common manner of infection is when a healthy animal consumes feed that contains protein rendered from an infected ruminant animal.

A BSE related human prion disease called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) became scientifically known in 1996. Those afflicted with vCJD are assumed to have acquired the disease by consuming food containing protein from BSE infected cattle.

Some current regulations concerning BSE materials in the United States

In 1997 the FDA prohibited the use of mammalian protein in feeds given to ruminants (cattle, sheep, and goats).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) along with the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) instituted rules that removed from the human food supply risk materials where prions (infective proteins) might be found.

Since 1990 APHIS has conducted BSE surveillance and about 800,000 animals in the United States have been tested since the program started. Three cases of BSE have been identified.

What is the new regulation?

On April 25, 2008 the FDA published a rule to prohibit the use of some materials of cattle origin in animal food. The rule will take effect April 27, 2009 and can be found in its entirety at

www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKETS/98fr/08-1180.htm.

Who is affected by the new regulation?

Companies that render deceased cattle over 30 months of age will be required to modify their procedures in order to assure and prove the brain and spinal cord material of these animals did not enter the final product, typically meat and bone meal.

David Kirstein, representative for Darling International, a rendering company that serves Iowa livestock producers, stated that the company is not yet sure how to handle the issue.

"Darling has a lot of facilities across the United States...different plants with different capabilities," Kirstein continued.

Simply removing the material after collecting the whole animal is "not an easy task" for renderers. Customers of Darling can expect to be contacted in writing with changes planned for the very near future.

Livestock producers, especially those with beef producing cow herds or dairies, may have to find an alternative carcass disposal method if renderers cannot handle the banned materials.

Are there viable alternative methods of disposal?

Dr. David Schmitt, Iowa Department of Agriculture (IDA) and Land Stewardship State Veterinarian suggested four alternative carcass disposal methods: incineration, burial, landfill, and composting.

"Biosecurity is very important," Schmitt insisted. He stressed the need for proper disposal and people to be responsible.

What are the applicable local regulations regarding disposal?

Incineration, Schmitt said, can only be done by approved enclosed facilities. Open burning is prohibited.

Burial sites for livestock carcasses must be located specified distances from water sources and, in well drained soil, no deeper than six feet with at least 30 inches of cover, and with a maximum density of seven carcasses per acre. A full listing of rules is provided by the DNR at

www.iowadnr.gov/afo/disposal.html.

The rules for burials were designed to protect public and private water sources from the potentially harmful materials released during decomposition, explained Schmitt.

To accept carcasses is at the discretion of each individual landfill. Marry Wittry, director of the Carroll County Solid Waste Management Commission, said that the Carroll landfill board of directors that makes the final policy determinations has not "taken a position on whether or not they will accept cows."

Dr. Thomas Glanville, Iowa State University professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, conducted a three-year composting study and found that carcasses, except large bones, were decomposed in less than a year. An in-depth discussion of Glanville's research is available at www3.abe.iastate.edu/cattlecomposting/index.asp.

There is no permit required to compost livestock on the farm that owned them, although a solid waste disposal permit is required, and may be obtained through the DNR, to start a communal compost pile or business.

Additional assistance is available from local USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offices in planning to construct an animal mortality composting facility and determining its suitable site and size. Financial assistance may also be available through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

http://www.dbrnews.com/site/news.cfm?ne ... 5123&rfi=6

BOO-HOO-HOO pity them $$$ all they way too the bank.

they have flouted TSE regulations for too long.

Déjà-vu, the renderers have been fighting BSE/TSE regulations from day one $$$



snip...


same old song and dance, just different day. it will be interesting to know what the final decision of Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack will be on this same old song and dance $$$



see full text ;



Saturday, February 21, 2009 Renderers say industry not prepared for FDA feed ban rule ??? WHAT, IT'S 2009 FOR PETE'S SAKE $$$ Two recent articles caught my eye ;

Renderers say industry not prepared for FDA feed ban rule

Food Chemical News

February 2, 2009

and

BSE, rendering relate to human safety

Emma Struve 02/17/2009


http://madcowfeed.blogspot.com/2009/02/ ... d-for.html




-------------------- [email protected] --------------------
 

Latest posts

Top