IN A surprise move, the US has postponed long-awaited plans to ban material from animal feed that might be infected with BSE. It is the second time the US has backed away from tougher feed restrictions this year, and new rules are unlikely before the presidential election in November.
In January the US Food and Drug Administration announced that it would ban cattle blood and other potentially infected material from cattle feed, but postponed the move after an international scientific panel recommended more stringent measures. Now the FDA is considering banning all meat meal except fish from cattle feed and banning cattle brain and other high-risk 鈥淪RM鈥� tissues, and sick or 鈥渄owner鈥� cattle, from chicken and pig feed, because these could contaminate cattle feed.
But instead of implementing these measures as expected, the FDA announced on 9 July that it would wait, asking for 鈥渃omments and scientific information鈥� on the proposals, all of which are watered-down versions of the measures Europe needed to control BSE. 鈥淭he FDA does not need another round of comments,鈥� Jean Halloran of the US Consumer鈥檚 Union claimed. 鈥淭hey know what needs to be done.鈥� But the American Meat Institute, an industry group, greeted the news by repeating its opposition to banning SRM from feed.
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