T97-28 Lawrence Bachorik (301) 827-6242 July 3, 1997 Consumer Hotline: (800) 532-4440 FDA STOPS DISTRIBUTION AND USE OF SOME ANIMAL FEED The Food and Drug Administration today told manufacturers of animal feeds known to be contaminated with dioxin to stop the further distribution and use of this feed, which the manufacturers have been voluntarily holding at the request of the FDA. The agency took this action as a precautionary measure to reduce the potential human exposure to dioxin. Federal health officials emphasize that the levels of dioxin found in the animal feed, and in foods produced by animals that consumed the feed, present no immediate public health hazard. Working with the Environmental Protection Agency, the USDA and state officials, FDA has been investigating the cause and extent of elevated levels of dioxin found in two of 80 poultry samples from a recently completed national survey. The investigation disclosed that the source of the dioxin was "ball clay," which is commonly added to soybean meal as a "flowing" or anti-caking agent. The soybean meals then added to some animal feeds. The ball clay was traced to a single clay mine in Mississippi, which at the request of the FDA has stopped mining and shipping clay. With today's action, FDA is stopping the animal feed source that caused elevated dioxin levels in the two samples in the national poultry survey. The survey was conducted jointly by FDA, USDA and EPA to review the occurrence and level of dioxin compounds, measured in parts per trillion, in food products. Surveys conducted on beef and pork from 1994 through 1996 produced data results consistent with those found worldwide. The term "dioxin" refers to a class of environmentally persistent chemical compounds that are inadvertently created through a number of activities, including certain types of chemical manufacturing, combustion, chlorine bleaching of pulp and paper and other industrial processes. Dioxins are found throughout the environment at low levels and are known to accumulate in the food chain. The FDA's and EPA's investigation of the source of dioxin at the clay mine is continuing. ####