!!! A C T I O N A L E R T !!!
Write the FDA and Ask Them to Immediately Close the Mad Cow Loopholes!
Six months after the discovery of a BSE-infected cow in the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally announced what they planned to do to improve their BSE-prevention program - and it's not much. The long-overdue announcement consisted of little more than the same old excuses - and made little progress towards tightening the restrictions on what cattle are fed, a crucial piece of the "firewall" to prevent the transmission of BSE through the consumption of infectious nervous system tissues.
For ingredients in the human food supply, the agency did take some actions that were effective immediately. But for animal feed, they put off making any changes, namely banning the use of cattle blood and poultry litter in feed, and put out a convoluted notice that put no new rules into effect and instead called for comments on the feed rule as well as measures by other agencies.
In a series of questions on animal feed rules (and other issues, including slaughterhouse practices regulated by USDA, animal identification, and disposal of carcasses) the FDA asked the public to comment on:
- removing specified risk materials (brain, spinal cord, eyes, major nerves) from all animal feed, including pet food, to control the risks of cross contamination in manufacture and distribution and on the farm due to misfeeding;
- prohibiting the use of all mammalian and poultry protein in ruminant feed, to prevent cross contamination;
- prohibiting materials from non-ambulatory disabled cattle and dead stock from use in all animal feed.
Rather than protect the meat and rendering industries, the FDA needs to take these actions immediately. The comment period for the proposed rules closes on August 13, 2004. Send your comments to:
Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305)
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane
Room 1061
Rockville, MD 20852
Be sure to include Docket No. 2004N-0264
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Sample Letter:
Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305)
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane
Room 1061
Rockville, MD 20852
Dear Secretary Thompson,
I am writing in response to Docket No. 2004N-0264 to urge you to take immediate action to close dangerous loopholes in your agency's regulation of animal feed.
Since 1997, regulators have promised the public that our "firewall" against BSE was adequate. But the most vital part of that firewall, the restrictions on animal feed, contain critical loopholes that allow the use of plate waste, poultry litter, cattle blood, and mammal and poultry remains in ruminant feed. It is unacceptable for the agency to delay action on this matter any longer.
Specifically, I urge you to:
1. Remove specified risk materials (SRM) from all animal feed, including pet food;
2. Prohibit the use of all mammalian and poultry protein in ruminant feed;
3. Prohibit the use of mammalian blood products in ruminant feed; and
4. Prohibit materials from non-ambulatory disabled cattle and dead stock from use in all animal feed.
These actions are necessary and long overdue. In fact, an international panel of experts convened to evaluate the our BSE program recommended several months ago that SRMs be removed from the animal feed stream and that mammal and poultry protein be prohibited for ruminant feed.
It is time for your agency to heed the warnings given by international experts and demanded by the public. A long drawn out rulemaking process protects no one except the feed and meat industry's bottom line.
Sincerely,
http://www.factoryfarm.org/
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