In a blog post, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Chief Food Safety Inspector Michael Taylor said that the agency will not disrupt the current practice of breweries and food manufacturers selling or donating spent grains to farmers for use as animal feed. The proposed rule would have required breweries to dry, package and inspect spent grain before it could be given to cattle, which could have cost the brewing industry an estimated $50 million per year, according to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). Additional details appear in Issue 519 of this Update. FDA will still issue revised proposals on spent grains this summer, but Taylor said they will not include requirements that human food manufacturers establish separate animal feed safety plans and controls to cover their by-products. “The recycling of human food by-products to animal feed contributes substantially to the efficiency and sustainability of our food system and thus is…
Tag Archives animal feeds
After reportedly receiving more than 2,000 comments criticizing its proposal to tighten regulations concerning the transaction of spent grain between brewers and farmers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has apparently decided to revise its original plan, stating that it will release an amended version of the proposal this summer. According to news sources, brewers, who for years have donated or sold their spent grain to farmers to use as animal feed, were outraged at the proposed regulation—part of FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act—claiming it would turn an ages-old practice into a heavy burden, requiring them to alter processes and testing requirements and add additional recordkeeping tasks. Brewers also note that under the currently proposed terms, they would either be required to dry and package spent grain before sending it off as animal feed or to discard it entirely, leaving it to sit in landfills. See VoiceofSanDiego. org, April 3, 2014;…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has secured the participation of all but one animal drug company in the agency’s plan to phase out the use of medically important antimicrobials in food animals for food production purposes, such as artificial weight gain. Each company has “committed in writing to seek withdrawal of approvals for any production uses of affected drug applications and change the remaining therapeutic uses of their products from over-the-counter (OTC) to use by Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) or prescription.” See FDA News Release, March 26, 2014.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has asked member states “to monitor the presence of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in food over the next two years.” In light of six scientific opinions published by the Scientific Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain between September 2010 and September 2012, EFSA has requested additional information on the following BFR classes and their presence in human food: (i) polybrominated diphenyl ethers; (ii) hexabromocyclododecanes; (iii) tetrabromobisphenol A and its derivatives; (iv) brominated phenols and their derivatives; and (v) emerging and novel brominated flame retardants. In addition, the agency noted that “levels of [BFRs] in food of animal origin could be related to the presence of these substances in animal feed, therefore, based on the first results of the monitoring of food in 2014, a recommendation as regards the monitoring of animal feed could follow in 2015.” Issue 517
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) has announced an April 29-May 2, 2014, public meeting in San Antonio, Texas, to discuss the work of its six subcommittees and receive input on proposed changes to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List), which governs what may be used in organic handling and production. Among other things, the meeting will address several petitions proposing the addition, extension or deletion of substances scheduled for reassessment under the National List’s sunset review rules. In particular, petitioners have requested (i) a National List extension for streptomycin—slated to expire October 14, 2014—to allow “adequate time for the transition from strep over to non-antibiotic, biological alternatives for fire blight control”; (ii) revisions to provisions governing the use of synthetic methionine in poultry feed; (iii) the addition of several synthetic substances used in aquaculture production; and (iv) the removal of synthetic…
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) has issued an opinion on formaldehyde, currently used as a feed additive and a preservative for skimmed milk intended for pigs. Concluding that “although there is no health risk for consumers exposed to the substance through the food chain,” FEEDAP cautions that inhalation of formaldehyde may cause cancer and appropriate measures should be taken to “ensure that the respiratory tract, skin and eyes of any person handling the product are not exposed to any dust, mist or vapour generated by the use of formaldehyde.” The panel also notes that formaldehyde will not accumulate in the environment and its use in animal nutrition is not expected to pose a risk for the environment. Issue 514
A recently released Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) report suggests that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed 30 potentially harmful antibiotic additives to remain approved for use in food animals (cows, pigs and chickens), even though the agency’s own scientists found that “none of these products would likely be approvable as new additives for nontherapeutic livestock use if submitted today, under current FDA guidelines.” Titled “Playing With Chicken,” and based on a review of previously undisclosed FDA documents, the report notes that (i) 18 of the 30 antibiotic feed additives reviewed were assessed as posing a “high risk” to human health; (ii) drug manufacturers did not submit sufficient information on 12 of the additives to establish safety; (iii) despite the fact that 29 of the additives are not proven to be safe, no action has been taken to withdraw approval; and (iv) 26 of the additives have never…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced plans to phase out the use of certain antibiotics in food animals as part of its effort to reserve medically important drugs for the treatment of human infection. Noting that voluntary participation “is the fastest, most efficient way to make these changes,” the agency will partner with industry to discontinue the practice of adding these drugs to animal feed and drinking water as a growth promoter. To this end, FDA has issued final guidance that urges animal pharmaceutical companies “to voluntarily revise the FDA-approved conditions on the labels of these products to remove production indications,” in addition to proposing an updated veterinary feed directive (VFD) “to facilitate expanded veterinary oversight by clarifying and increasing the flexibility of the administrative requirements for the distribution and use of VFD drugs.” “The plan also calls for changing the current over-the-counter (OTC) status to bring…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a request for comments on proposed revisions to its “Guidance for Industry: Studies to Evaluate the Utility of Anti-Salmonella Chemical Food Additives in Feeds.” With the aim of helping sponsors design efficacy studies to support the submission of food additive petitions (FAPs) related to preventing Salmonella in food for animals, FDA noted that a revision is necessary because science, technology and FDA policy have changed since the guidance was last revised. Because current guidance addresses only chemical food additives intended to maintain feeds or feed ingredients as Salmonella-negative, the agency intends to expand the scope to address other categories of food additives beyond chemical food additives and to cover all food for animals, including pet food. Among other things, FDA seeks comment on the following questions: (i) what intended technical effects will the agency see in FAPs for anti-Salmonella use of…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a proposed rule that would establish current good manufacturing practice (CGMP), hazard analysis and risk-based preventative controls for animal food. According to an October 29, 2013, Federal Register notice, FDA is taking this action to provide greater assurance that animal food is safe and will not cause illness or injury to animals or humans and is intended to build an animal food safety system for the future that makes modern, science and risk-based preventive controls the norm across all sectors of the animal food system.” Billed as “part of the Food Safety Modernization Act’s larger effort to modernize the food safety system for the 21st century,” the proposed rule would require domestic and foreign animal-food manufacturing facilities registered under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to develop a formal plan to prevent foodborne illness as well as respond to “any…
