In August 1997 the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) passed a new rule that prohibits feeding cattle and other ruminants (sheep, elk, deer, etc.) some commonly used protein feed ingredients made from certain ruminant tissues. These rules were intended to prevent the establishment and spread in the U.S. of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly referred to as "mad cow disease."
Cattle with BSE display behavioral, gait, and postural abnormalities. As the disease progresses the affected animals stumble, fall and eventually cannot stand up. There is no cure or treatment for this disease and it kills 100% of its victims. There is no blood or tissue test that can detect it. In research and testing done in the U.K. it was found that a normal animal fed one gram of BSE-infected tissue, one time developed BSE
In Colorado, staff from the FDA Denver District office and the Colorado Dept. of Agriculture, Division of Inspection and Consumer Services (Feed Program) under contract with the FDA, are currently conducting the inspections for compliance with the BSE rule.
The BSE rule prohibits feeding protein derived from ruminant body parts, such as muscle, organs, and bones to ruminants. Ruminants are defined as mammals whose stomachs have four chambers, such as cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, deer, elk and antelopes These proteins are commonly referred to as "prohibited materials." Examples of prohibited materials are meat and bone meal, meat meal, bone meal, animal by-product meal, hydrolyzed hair, and hydrolyzed leather meal that come from ruminant animals (cattle, sheep, goat, deer, elk, etc.).
“Non-prohibited materials," that may be fed to ruminants are blood and blood products, milk and milk proteins, protein derived from PURE pork or PURE horse sources, human plate waste, poultry, fish and vegetable proteins, grease, tallow, fats and oils, amino acids, and dicalcium phosphate..
The BSE rule applies to renderers, blenders, feed manufacturers, feeders, mixers, distributors and haulers. Please contact us should you have any questions about the FDA BSE rule or how to comply with it.