Texas Feed Safety and BSE/Ruminant Feed Ban Support Project

<p>Project Summary: The long-term goal of this project is to reduce animal and human exposure to chemical and biological hazards in feed through implementation of a 'Texas Feed Safety and BSE/Ruminant Feed Ban Support Project' Cooperative Agreement Program (CAP) with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The proposed CAP will augment existing state activities by conducting inspections under FDA authority, developing new capability to evaluate feed samples for chemical hazards, and collecting/evaluating samples for biological hazards using capabilities developed under the previous CAP. In particular, this proposal seeks to increase oversight of feed manufacturers not covered under state authority including 200 inspections per year of on-farm feed manufacturers, transporters, and food salvage operations. The inspections will include a BSE audit and a process control audit to identify gaps in feed safety practices identified under current regulations and pending Animal Feed Safety System regulations. Samples collected during these inspections will be analyzed for biological hazards including the presence of prohibited mammalian protein and Salmonella. This proposal seeks to increase oversight of chemical hazards including dioxin, heavy metals, and drug residues in targeted feed ingredients. Approximately 50% of these samples will target imported products identified with the assistance of the FDA Southwest Import District (SWID) using reportable registry data. Results of these activities will assist in building an educational outreach program to feed manufacturers, distributors and transporters. As an outcome of this project, greater oversight of feed establishments not covered understate authority will occur. This project will improve the Office of the Texas State Chemist capability to analyze chemical hazards identified by the FDA Animal Feed Safety System team including dioxin, heavy metals and drug residues. Increased surveillance by the Office of the Texas State Chemist will enable state and federal agency personnel to help prevent future food borne outbreaks associated with feed, as well as respond more rapidly to incidents that require the enhanced investigation and laboratory capabilities developed during this project.</p>.