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From: TSS (wt-d6-190.wt.net)
Subject: CFIA NOT CONCERNED ABOUT MAD COW FEED REPORTS
Date: December 17, 2004 at 8:46 am PST

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: CFIA NOT CONCERNED ABOUT MAD COW FEED REPORTS
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2004 10:43:51 -0600
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."
Reply-To: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
To: BSE-L@LISTSERV.KALIV.UNI-KARLSRUHE.DE

##################### Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy #####################

CFIA not concerned about feed reports

Fri. Dec. 17 2004 9:39 AM ET

Canadian Press

OTTAWA  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency responded Thursday to tests
and reports that suggest some feed mills have not followed federal rules
set up to prevent mad cow disease.

One report said secret tests conducted earlier this year by the agency
show 20 of 28 test samples of vegetable feed had undeclared animal
protein in them.

The report also said some mills failed to prevent the contamination of
ruminant feeds with feed containing ruminant meat and bone meal - the
main way bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) can be spread.

While the test results were accurate, the way some people have
interpreted them are not, said CFIA spokesman Dr. Brian Evans.

"I think the public should not be worried about the reality that human
error can occur in any production system," said Evans, who noted the
tests were not secret.

"People are making the assumption here that this somehow constitutes or
represents a risk from the BSE perspective, and I don't believe that
this is what this information is telling us at all."

The rules established to deal with BSE are being complied with by the
feed industry at a very high level, he said.

The federal government banned the feeding of most mammal proteins to
ruminant animals such as cattle in 1997 as a precaution against BSE,
also known as mad cow disease.

Since last July the CFIA has also required that certain cattle tissues
at risk of spreading BSE must be removed from the human food supply.

Evans said it would be wrong to assume that any cross-contamination
mentioned in the reports involved material from cattle, or that the
vegetable feed was destined to be fed to cattle.

He said the tests don't show that there is an ongoing exposure of mad
cow disease in the feed industry. But he acknowledged the risk is still
there.

"We are not discounting that there are opportunities for
cross-contamination in the feed system. Those opportunities do exist."

To further mitigate that risk, federal regulators last week proposed
banning high-risk material from animal feed, pet food and fertilizers.

The tests and reports have prompted the Animal Nutrition Association of
Canada to demand a meeting with the CFIA to clear the air.

Kathleen Sullivan, the association's spokeswoman, said the industry is
concerned about how the media have interpreted the results.

"We are concerned that the conclusions are misleading," she said.
"Unidentified animal proteins don't equate to BSE infection."

Sullivan said the association and the mills were told by the CFIA that
the tests were done as a training exercise, not for rule compliance.

The association represents about 500 feed mills across Canada. The
industry employs 9,000 people and has annual sales of about $3.5 billion.

"It is very important for us to maintain our credibility and let the
public know how committed we are to food safety," she said.

Evans said the agency is working to develop better test methods and
better labelling rules.

He said some vegetable-based animal feeds are boosted with vitamins and
minerals that could include material from animals.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1103294394931_29/?hub=Health

>
> CFIA not concerned about feed reports
>

AMEN! exactly why they are in the situation they are in, and you have
to love the infamous NSCS (Non Species Coding System), I have been
warning about that threat and the very likelyhood of the TSE agent being
spread through yet again another USDA/APHIS/FSIS/FDA infamous
many BSE/TSE loopholes;

http://neuro-mancer.mgh.harvard.edu/ubb/Forum24/HTML/000234.html

TSS

############## BSE-L-subscribe-request@kaliv.uni-karlsruhe.de ##############

• INFAMOUS NON SPECIES CODING SYSTEM AND THE TSE AGENT...TSS

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