FDA recommends not feeding material from BSE-positive animals

In its latest guidance issued this week, the Food and Drug Administration said any animal feed that contains material from BSE-positive animals is contaminated, and should be pulled from the marketplace. The agency tells its current thinking about using material from BSE-positive cattle in all animal feed in an industry guidance FDA issued today. The agency invited comments any time on the document, which is entitled “Use of Material from BSE-Positive Cattle in Animal Feed.” The guidance is not legally enforceable, but describes the agency’s thinking on the topic and serves as a recommendation. “You can use an alternative approach if the approach satisfies the requirements of applicable statutes and regulations,” said FDA in the document. FDA said it will review public comments periodically and may amend its guidance, and will notify the public of any amendments. Under FDA’s BSE feed regulation, any protein-containing part of mammalian animals is prohibited from use in feed for ruminant animals, except for certain products. FDA adopted the rule in 1997 to minimize the potential for any undetected BSE infectivity to spread to ruminants through their feed.