The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), in conjunction with an advisory group that includes the livestock industry, is unveiling a new bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) prevention plan for California. Although the United States has never had a case of BSE, recent detection of a case in Alberta, Canada, triggered a review of California’s preventive steps. As a result, several new safeguards are being introduced.
“Just one cow with BSE in Canada caused more than a billion dollars in losses to the cattle industry there, so we need to make sure we take the best steps possible to keep the disease out of California and the United States,” said CDFA Secretary William J. Lyons, Jr. “The advisory group was able to find ways to make an excellent program even better. Consumers and agriculture will benefit from this effort.”
The primary risk of BSE introduction is through ruminant animal feeds containing proteins from other ruminants. In 1997, the Food and Drug Administration implemented a final rule that prohibits the use of most mammalian protein in feed for ruminant animals. As of September 23, 2003, over 25,000 inspections have been conducted on renderers, feed mills, protein blenders, and other firms, with nearly 100 percent compliance with the feed ban.
California’s new measures include a 200 percent increase in ruminant feed testing and a new, more sensitive lab analysis technique that allows for a tenfold increase in testing capacity. In addition, there will be increased inspections of all licensed feed manufacturers and mixers, and on other facilities that handle certain kinds of feeds.
The prevention plan also includes an increase in general education on BSE, including conducting three workshops statewide targeting 75 percent of all dairies, placing two new inspectors in the San Joaquin Valley, the location of 70 percent of the state’s feed production, regulate movement of feed from sources outside California, and trace all suppliers, receivers, and transporters of ruminant materials.
“The measuring stick for continued prevention is straight-forward,” said Secretary Lyons. “If ruminant animals do not eat infected protein, we will stop the threat of BSE. These new measures signal that we remain on the right track.”
December 2003 Render