Mad Cow via Feeding Calves Blood and Fat from Cattle

Posted 7/15/05

The Japanese article below reports:

"Katsunosuke Mitani, Professor of Hiroshima University Graduate School,
Chairman of this society, reported the infection route of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) infection [in] cows that were born in Japan between 1995 and 1996 to be 'The milk replacer, milk substitute, that used the animal oil and fat from the Netherlands polluted by the anomalous prion protein for the raw material might be a cause'."

Below I've attached the article from Japan in full, and also a great deal of information from the North American companies turning cattle blood and fat into feed for cattle, defending that practice.

In the United States and Canada cattle and especially calves are legally fed massive quantities of cattle blood and fat. Dairy calves are routinely weaned on calf starter and calf milk replacer containing cattle blood products such as bovine plasma, bovine serum and bovine red blood cells.

The farcical "firewall feed ban" of 1997 is essentially a PR invention that specifically exempted the feeding of ruminant fat and blood to ruminants, allowing this dangerous practice to continue today. As I reported in Mad Cow USA, it was well established in the mid 1990s that infected blood could spread BSE and other TSE diseases in laboratories. Now, just in the past year and a half, the British government has announced that two humans dead or dying of mad cow disease probably contracted it from British blood products contaminated by donors with human mad cow disease.

The current head of the Food and Drug Administration, Lester Crawford, testified in early 2004 before a Congressional committee that the US should stop the feeding of cattle blood to cattle. Yet, the feeding continues and no meaningful action has been taken by the FDA, the agency in charge of animal feed regulations.

My sources tell me that the US mad cow policy is being handled strictly out of the White House and through the USDA, and that FDA is on the sidelines while the Bush administration tries to bully the Japanese and other trading partners into accepting USA beef. As long as USA domestic consumption of beef remains high, I doubt there will be any change in US regulations or policies until the year that people in the US are confirmed as dying of mad cow disease, if then.

The fact that massive quantities of cattle blood and fat are being fed back to calves and cattle is just one of the glaring loopholes that make a farce of the USA and Canada's ballyhooed "firewall feed ban" of 1997. We NEED a REAL firewall feed ban such as other countries have that bans ALL feeding of animal protein to livestock, but there is currently not one in North America.

Weaning calves on cattle blood and fat, as is done in both the USA and Canada, is in my opinion infecting new animals at an early age with North American strains of mad cow disease.

John Stauber, co-author Mad Cow USA <http://www.prwatch.org/books/madcow.html 608-279-4044

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http://www.jc-press.com/En/Latest%20News/200507/20060706BSE%20infection%20ro
ute%20of%20Japan.htm

Japan Consumer Press online Nippon Shouhisha Shinbun Last modified, Wed Jul 06 2005 03:55:44 BSE infection route of Japan seems to have been milk replacer that contained animal oil and fat from Netherlands Specialists demand cause investigation by fodder industry By JCPRESS "Stock Raising System Society" composed of the livestock industry specialist, the enterprise, the administration, and the citizens opened symposium "BSE and fodder problem" in Nippon Veterinary and Zootechnical College on June 11.

Katsunosuke Mitani, Professor of Hiroshima University Graduate School,
Chairman of this society, reported the infection route of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) infection cows that were born in Japan between 1995 and 1996 to be "The milk replacer, milk substitute, that used the animal oil and fat from the Netherlands polluted by the anomalous prion protein for the raw material might be a cause".

Prof. Mitani criticized the report of "BSE Epidemiology Examination Team" of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry that denied the milk substitute infection theory by an over and over again wrong statistical work again.

On the other hand, Prof. Mitani emphasized, "The fodder industry had to share the consumer with information, and to investigate the cause of BSE infection".

Prof. Mitani points out, "The cause of the BSE infection in Japan must be an import raw material of the fodder taken when the first infection group was a calf" by thesis "Problem of BSE report and in the future" announced on that day.

And, he is explaining, "The first mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) pollution cow's group was processed between 1999 and
2001. The possibility that those cows polluted the domestic production raw material for the first time cannot be denied".

As for the milk substitute that had been given to the first infection group, powdery oils and fats from the Netherlands were used as the raw material.

The thesis was published in "Stock raising system society report" (No.29) that had been published in June, 2005.

Japan Consumer Press July 1, 2005 No.713 , online published : July 6, 2005
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Meanwhile, massive feeding of cattle blood products and fat to US and Canadian cattle continues legally in both countries, despite the proven existence of mad cow disease.

Here's the US and Canadian animal feed industry's blood feeding lobby and its arguments as to why BSE can't be transmitted by blood products fed orally:

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http://www.rendermagazine.com/October2001/People,Places.html

Plasma Product Group Formed

Due to concern over transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a coalition has been formed to represent the North American spray-dried blood and plasma producers with regards to the safety of their products. Members of the North American Spray Dried
Blood and Plasma Producers Coalition are: APC Co., Inc, Ames, IA; California Spray Dry, Stockton, CA; DuCoa, Smithville, MO; Harimex, Inc., Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Land O¹Lakes, St. Paul, MN; Hemotech, Minnetonka, MN; Merrick¹s, Union City, WI; Proliant, Ames, IA; Sanimal, Inc., Montreal, Quebec, Canada; and Trouw Nutrition, Highland, IL.

The group¹s focus is the commitment to producing safe, high-quality blood products for use in feeds for commercial livestock and companion animals.

The products they develop are derived from porcine, bovine, or avian origin. Spray-dried blood and plasma products are used domestically and
internationally. Approximately 50 percent of the product is exported and impacts agriculture worldwide
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http://www.americanprotein.com/functional_prots/safety/safety_pop_press/safe
ty_concerns.html

Safety Concerns - Blood Safe from BSE: PETFOOD Industry Online

Safety Concerns - Blood Safe from BSE: PETFOOD Industry Online (pdf format) Due to public concern over transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) including bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a coalition was formed to represent the North American spray dried blood and plasma producers with regards to the safety of their products.

The members of the group include:

? APC, Inc., Ames, Iowa ? California Spray Dry, Stockton, California ? DuCoa, Smithville, Missouri ? Harimex, Inc., Calgary, Alberta
? Land O'Lakes, St. Paul, Minnesota ? Hemotech; Minnetonka, Minnesota
? Merrick's, Union City, Wisconsin ? Proliant, Inc., Ames, Iowa ? Sanimal, Inc., Montreal, Quebec ? Trouw Nutrition, Highland, Illinois

The group's focus is the commitment to producing safe, high quality blood products for use in feeds for commercial livestock and companion animals.

The products they develop are derived from porcine, bovine or avian origin. Spray dried blood and plasma products are used domestically and internationally. Approximately 50% of the product is exported and impacts agriculture worldwide.

To prove the safety of their products, the group cites studies of BSE infectivity in bovine tissues done by Dr. G.

Wells of the Central Veterinary Laboratory (CVL).

In these studies, tissues determined to be infective included brain, spinal cord and retina. No infectivity was found in 51 other tissues including blood and blood fractions.

GMPs for the collection and processing of blood and plasma products include blood collected only from bovine, porcine and avian species in facilities in the United States and Canada which are registered to ship interstate or inter-province and are continuously inspected by federal authorities.

Blood is collected only from animals inspected ante-mortem by federal authorities and passed fit for slaughter for human consumption.

Blood is transferred immediately from the collection area to a dedicated area for processing. At the abattoir, blood is stored in insulated dedicated storage tanks.

Spray drying facilities are isolated and remote from the slaughter facility or any facility that handles prohibited tissue.

All transfer lines, pumps and tankers used to transport liquid blood or plasma are dedicated to blood products or are thoroughly washed prior to use. Spray drying facilities do not co-process, store or utilize any prohibited tissues.

Packaging material is new. If not new, it will be certified to not have contained prohibited tissues. Bulk shipments will be in dedicated trailers or will be thoroughly cleaned prior to use. These guidelines are being regularly re-evaluated in light of new scientific evidence with regard to natural or experimental BSE.

The North American spray dried blood and plasma producers agree and support the FDA and USDA conclusion that blood and plasma products are safe products that will not transmit BSE and other naturally occurring TSE's when consumed orally.

Source: American Protein Corporation (APC) Inc.
©1996-2001 Watt Publishing Company

Safety Concerns - Blood Safe from BSE: PETFOOD Industry Online (pdf format)

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http://www.americanprotein.com/functional_prots/images/article-nasdbppablood
collectionguidelines0501.pdf

Check out this 6 page PDF document above from the North American Spray Dried Blood and Plasma Producers explaining in detail their argument that BSE cannot be trnasmitted via blood products.

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http://www.functionalproteins.com/functional_prots/images/thebasicscience.pdf

Above: "The Basic Science Behind Spray-Dried Plasma and Serum Proteins," from APC of Ames, Iowa

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