April 1, 2009
Canada launches tainted feed investigation
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has launched an investigation into potentially contaminated feed products from a rendering facility in Alberta.
CFIA did not identify the plant, but said the safety of the Canadian food supply is not affected.
The vast majority of the potentially contaminated feed has been identified, contained and will be disposed of. The rendering company is working closely with the CFIA to quickly identify and dispose of all potentially contaminated feed, the agency said.
Information to date indicates that a limited amount of poultry feed may have been inadvertently contaminated with specified risk material (SRM) earlier in March.
The feed potentially contaminated with SRM poses no health risk to poultry and does not affect the safety of poultry meat and eggs, CFIA said.
In cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), SRM are the tissues known to harbour the disease. These tissues are removed from all cattle slaughtered for human consumption, and are prohibited from use in animal feed, pet food and fertiliser.