FDA Posts Q&A on Cattle-Origin Materials

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration has published a question-and-answer document about the agency’s amendments to regulations that prohibit the use of certain materials that originate from cattle in the food or feed of animals.

This document is in response to questions the agency has received about implementation of the rule, which goes into effect April 27, 2009.

Banned materials under the new rule include:

• the entire carcass of bovine spongiform encephalopathy-positive cattle;
• the brains and spinal cords from cattle 30 months of age and older;
• the entire carcass of cattle not inspected and passed for human consumption that are 30 months of age or older from which brains and spinal cords were not removed;
• tallow that is derived from B.S.E.-positive cattle;
• tallow that is derived from other materials  prohibited by this rule that contains more than 0.15 percent insoluble  impurities; and
• mechanically-separated beef that is derived from the materials prohibited by this rule.

Source: MeatPoultry.com