[Vision2020] Feed Ingredients RECALL: Tembec and Uniscope Voluntary Recall Feed Ingredients

[Saundra Lund]

From: Press releases about FDA Recalls [mailto:FDA-RECALLS-L at LIST.NIH.GOV]
On Behalf Of FDA Recalls
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 1:56 PM
To: FDA-RECALLS-L at LIST.NIH.GOV
Subject: Tembec and Uniscope Voluntary Recall Feed Ingredients

 

FDA Press Release

 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
P07-94 
May 30, 2007 

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301-827-6242
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Tembec and Uniscope Voluntary Recall Feed Ingredients 
FDA Asks Feed Manufacturers to Avoid Ingredients Containing Melamine 


The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting livestock and
fish/shrimp feed manufacturers about a voluntary recall of products used in
feed production because several have been found to contain melamine and
related compounds.

The feed ingredients were made by Tembec BTLSR Inc. of Toledo, Ohio and
Uniscope, Inc. of Johnstown, Colo.

Tembec, a contract manufacturer for Uniscope, makes AquaBond and Aqua-Tec
II, which it distributes for Uniscope. Uniscope makes Xtra-Bond using
ingredients supplied by Tembec. All of the products are binding agents that
are used to make pelleted feed for cattle, sheep, and goats, or fish and
shrimp.

The companies have confirmed that Tembec added melamine as part of the
formulation of the products to improve the binding properties of pelleted
feed. Melamine is not approved as an additive for animal or fish/shrimp
feed. 

The companies have stopped adding melamine to the feed products.

Based on the levels of melamine and related compounds in the initial
ingredients, FDA estimated the probable level of melamine and related
compounds in livestock feed as less than 50 parts per million (ppm) based on
the recommended mix rate of two to four pounds of binding agent per ton of
livestock feed. The estimated levels in fish and shrimp feed are less than
233 ppm and 465 ppm, respectively, of melamine and related compounds. The
estimated levels of melamine and related compounds vary in the livestock
feed and the fish and shrimp feed because of differing levels of melamine in
the binding agents used for each type of feed.

FDA advises feed manufacturers and others who mix their own feed not to use
these products, and to contact the manufacturers. FDA advises feed
manufacturers to recall finished feed that is made from AquaBond or Aqua-Tec
II due to the estimated levels of melamine and related compounds in the
finished products. FDA believes that no recall is warranted of the finished
feed made from Xtra-Bond based on the estimated levels of melamine and
related compounds in the finished product and based on currently available
data and information. 

The estimated melamine levels in feed made with these binding agents are
similar to the levels discussed in the interim safety/risk assessment of
melamine and related compounds made available by FDA earlier this month. In
that assessment, federal scientists determined that, based on currently
available data and information, the consumption of pork, chicken, domestic
fish, and eggs from animals inadvertently fed animal feed contaminated with
melamine and its analogues is very unlikely to pose a human health risk.

The interim safety/risk assessment concludes that in the most extreme risk
assessment scenario, when scientists assumed that all the solid food a
person consumes in an entire day contained melamine and the melamine
compound cyanuric acid in equal amounts, the potential exposure is about 250
times lower than the dose considered safe. This is a large safety margin.
Translated to consumption levels, this means that a person weighing 132
pounds would have to eat more than 800 pounds per day of food containing
melamine and its compounds to approach a level of consumption that would
cause a health concern. 

FDA is encouraging domestic feed suppliers to be vigilant in quality control
in their supply chain and to monitor for any improper additives, including
melamine and its analogs. 

The Tembec and Uniscope products also reportedly contain a urea formaldehyde
resin-type ingredient, a raw ingredient used to make the binding agent in
these products. FDA is investigating this use of the urea formaldehyde
resin-type ingredient in the Tembec and Uniscope products, and will take
appropriate regulatory action if warranted.

#### 

FDA's Recalls, Market Withdrawals and Safety Alerts Page:
http://www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html 

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