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FDA Warning Letter Sent to PA Veal Calf Operation
The letter was sent to Eric J. Pearson on Jan. 21 to inform him that his veal calf operation in Springville, PA, had violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
In late March 2014, the producer sold a bob veal calf for slaughter for food that was found to have penicillin at 1.569 parts per million (ppm) and neomycin at 12.3 ppm in its kidney tissue, the letter stated.
FDA has established a tolerance of 0.05 ppm for residues of penicillin and 7.2 ppm for residues of neomycin in the uncooked edible kidney tissue of cattle, but there is no acceptable level of residue associated with the use of Neomycin Oral Solution in veal calves.
In June 2014, the agency stated that Pearson sold another bob veal calf for slaughter for food that was found to have neomycin at 33.98 ppm in its kidney tissue.
The levels of neomycin in both animals caused the food to be adulterated, FDA wrote.
“Our investigation also found that you hold animals under conditions that are so inadequate that medicated animals bearing potentially harmful drug residues are likely to enter the food supply,” the agency wrote. “For example, you failed to maintain treatment records.”
According to FDA, the producer did not use Neomycin Oral Solution as directed by its approved labeling, and this extralabel use was not under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian.
“In addition, you adulterated the medicated feed consisting of cow’s milk mixed with Neomycin Oral Solution,” the agency added, “when you fed this medicated feed to your bob veal calves.”
These uses of the drug caused it and the medicated feed to be “unsafe,” according to FDA.
The operation has 15 days to respond to the warning letter with steps taken to correct the violations and prevent their recurrence.
Source: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2015/02/fda-warning-letter-sent-to-veal-calf-operation/
