FDA regulating feed

[rambler]

FDA is planning to regulate - inspect feed coming from distillers, and others.

Why does that matter to you?

It will make feed cost more.

Some 'mash' used for feed now will end up going to the landfills, as it will cost too much to comply with the regulations to call it 'feed' under the new rules.

Good use of resources eh?

Anyhow, we go down the slippery slope some more.
Rule is here:
http://www.regulations.gov/#!documen...11-N-0922-0002

Analyses:

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AboutFD.../UCM369393.pdf

You can make comments here until March 31:

http://www.regulations.gov/#!documen...11-N-0922-0019


Paul

[haypoint]

I hear you. Those dern government regulators. Who do they think they are testing food for toxic molds, lead, mercury, salmonella and e Coli? If it's good enough for the slop bucket, it's good enough for the public's dinner table.

A couple years back, those meddling Michigan Department of Ag discovered a bunch of toxic chemicals in dog food from China. Then they couldn't leave well enough alone, they found salmonella in US made dog food and made them recall it. What a waste of contaminated food. Should just let then alone, they'll regulate themselves.

I heard tell of some nosey government workers that responded to a problem of dead cattle, made the farmer get those lead-acid batteries out of the pasture and wouldn't let him sell cattle until the lead in their blood stream went away.

Talk about feed regulation, 'member in the 1970s, Michigan had PBB in everyone's milk? Mixup at a feed plant that went on for a while. Might get some detail about it on Google. Ron Howard did a movie, Bitter Harvest.

Yea, sure wish the government would stop regulating stuff and let us buy all the cheap contaminated feed we want. Sposeta be a free country, right?

Now, from this report, they intend to insure food going to livestock is processed in safe ways that prevent chemicals, mold, bacteria and diseases from showing up in your feed bag. Shame on them. Don't they know that's the good part, make the livestock stronger, builds their immune systems, if it don't kill 'em first.

[MichaelK!]

You want to die of Mad Cow disease? What happened to England's beef industry when the rest of Europe banned English beef?

That's one of the things that the FDA checks for in feed, that cows aren't being fed the ground up brains of previously slaughtered cows.

If people could always be trusted to do the right thing, nothing would ever have to be regulated!

[arabian knight]

So true, as I think this is one of the better things that the FDA is about to do, it is a good thing for all concerned about the safety in what is being fed and what is in the feed going to the animals people eat, and or get their milk from.

[bja105]

Well the government has good intentions! Can anyone think of any regulations that started out with good intentions and common sense, but went astray with controlling regulators and special interest money?

These things always start out sounding good.

Personally, if this is enforced, I bet I will loose my local Amish feed mill and have to pay lots more for bagged feed shipped a long way.

[bja105]

Once again, regulations will put the small guy out of business, favoring the deep pocketed agribusiness. Our food supply will be in the control of the few.

Don't get me started about our apparent worship of our pets. A few dogs die, we have to do something! People all over the world die from unsafe food and water, but we have to save the pets.

[rambler]

Really haven't seen too many cases of unsafe feed/ food around here. There was/is an organic milk fella that made a lot of people sick a while back.

If it is what we want then bring it on tho.

No complaining about the high cost of food or your loss of freedoms tho...... The rules apply to everyone.

Often these types of regulations shut down the little guy, leaving the market leaders to have fun with price fixing and no small time people to fill the nitche.

Paul

[plowjockey]

LOL

Politics, sure seems to make for strange bedfellows.

Aflatoxins have received greater attention than any other mycotoxins because of their demonstrated potent carcinogenic effect in susceptible laboratory animals and their acute toxicological effects in humans. As it is realized that absolute safety is never achieved, many countries have attempted to limit exposure to aflatoxins by imposing regulatory limits on commodities intended for use as food and feed.

http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/...aflatoxin.html

Nebraska gets OK to mix tainted corn into animal feed

The Nebraska Department of Agriculture had joined Iowa and other major corn-producing states in seeking exceptions to federal rules regarding aflatoxins. Aflatoxins are a group of chemicals produced by certain mold fungi on corn. They can occur more frequently during hot, dry summers.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that almost 70 percent of nearly 2,000 samples from the early stages of the Nebraska corn harvest tested positive for aflatoxins.

http://www.kearneyhub.com/news/local...a4bcf887a.html

[geo in mi]

If the cost of cat food gets any higher by these regulations, what the heck will Aunt Lillian be able to eat?

geo

[Alice In TX/MO]

Mice?

[haypoint]

Originally Posted by bja105

Well the government has good intentions! Can anyone think of any regulations that started out with good intentions and common sense, but went astray with controlling regulators and special interest money?

These things always start out sounding good.

Personally, if this is enforced, I bet I will loose my local Amish feed mill and have to pay lots more for bagged feed shipped a long way.

Why do you think that?

[highlands]

If you get spent brewers grain from a local brew pub for your livestock then go read this:

http://brewers.informz.net/Brewers/a...e_3146038.html

[Drizler]

I worked for US Customs for a long time. Believe me you wouldn't believe how much Chinese stuff ends up mixed in with what we use here. When you consider how they manage to poison their own people with their cheap crap you might begin to appreciate some of the measures USDA imposes. When you look at most of the regulations closely you begin to see why they are needed in the first place. Most US companies will happily buy the cheapest products they can get to maximize profits and those overseas companies are more than happy to sell the cheapest to them.
If the government didn't get in the way you would see many of the food horrors in China happening right here. Think about the baby formula scandal a few years ago or the cat food poisoning mess. The poison cat food did make it over here and killed thousands of cats before they found out it was a Chinese production problem. A lot of people fly right to the conspiracy side of things whenever something like this happens and they are usually completely wrong.

[highlands]

There's no need for the FDA to get involved between us and the local beer brewer we get spent barley mash from nor the farmer we get apples from nor the cheese maker we get whey from. None of those things are coming in from China. We are working directly together and have for decades in many cases. No problems. This is too much government interference. They're creating problems.

[milkinpigs]

Where was the complaining in 2008? The price of feed tripled then thanks to the govt.'s bright idea to pay people to make ethanol from corn .

[haypoint]

Originally Posted by highlands

There's no need for the FDA to get involved between us and the local beer brewer we get spent barley mash from nor the farmer we get apples from nor the cheese maker we get whey from. None of those things are coming in from China. We are working directly together and have for decades in many cases. No problems. This is too much government interference. They're creating problems.

Read the link in the OP. Exempts small(under a half million dollars) feed dealers.

[PricklyThistle]

Assuming that the government ever has good intentions always seemed unduly naive to me. Exactly why would they? Are they better or more moral than the average layperson? I should think we have better evidence than to suggest that they are. If I wanted to run a scam on a whole nation, I doubt I would put my less than best intentions on total display. I would probably choose to appeal to the notion that I could benefit someone through my control of them.

[KIT.S]

Our group of families gets 3/4 to 1 ton of wet brewer's grain each week from a specialty brewer for our animals. We pick it up, pack it away and use it to feed 20-40 pigs. The brewer doesn't have to handle it or pay for it to be disposed of in a land fill.
They told us this week about this problem with FDA coming up. And yes, it's a problem. They're our local location of a parent group of bars/restaurants with an excellent reputation, so it's quite possible the parent group would exceed $500,000/year income (and now-a-days, $500,000/year isn't much money!). However, if this requirement applies to them, they will close at least the brewery portion of their business. They can't possibly stretch their resources to cover the additional cost of commercially disposing of this material from several locations, and we'll lose a primary source of feed.
And as far as it only affecting larger feed producers, their business doesn't have anything to do with animal feed, this is just a byproduct, and yet they've already been told it will affect their business. What happened to "recycle/reuse"?
Not only that, but we don't sell meat to the public, so we're not endangering anyone else.
Man, I just wish people would leave us alone to get on with what we can do for ourselves!
Kit

[highlands]

Originally Posted by haypoint

Read the link in the OP. Exempts small(under a half million dollars) feed dealers.

The exemption is meaningless. It is extremely easy to break the $500K mark and these are NOT feed dealers. These are breweries. The spent barley mash is a byproduct they need to get rid of. Putting it in the land fill is bad. Putting it in compost is not as good as feeding it to the animals as it is further down the chaos slope.

The government needs to keep their greedy noses out of things like this. They are not solving any problems. They are making problems.

[highlands]

Originally Posted by milkinpigs

Where was the complaining in 2008? The price of feed tripled then thanks to the govt.'s bright idea to pay people to make ethanol from corn .

There was lots of complaining that grain was being diverted from food and feed to fuel. That didn't stop the government from doing it and in the process they destroyed a lot of engines which couldn't handle the increased ethanol levels and they reduced fuel efficiency.

Classic example of the left hand of government not knowing what the right hand is doing.