HHS NEWS

T97-29                   Lawrence Bachorik:       (301) 827-6242

July 7, 1997             

                         Consumer Hotline:        (800) 532-4440





         FDA STOPS DISTRIBUTION OF SOME EGGS AND CATFISH

            BECAUSE OF DIOXIN-CONTAMINATED ANIMAL FEED





     The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today is telling

commercial catfish and egg producers not to ship human food

products produced from or by animals who may have eaten animal

feed contaminated with dioxin.  These producers of human food

will be able to resume shipping potentially affected products if

they can demonstrate through testing that the human food contains

only background levels of dioxin.  

     Today's action does not affect products already in

commercial distribution or in consumers' homes.  

     This action is designed to stop the flow into commerce of

catfish and eggs that might contain elevated (one part per

trillion or higher) levels of dioxin.  Federal health officials

continue to emphasize that the levels of dioxin found so far in

eggs and catfish present no immediate public health hazard.  

     FDA is taking this step as a prudent public health measure

to reduce human exposure to an avoidable contaminant.  The agency

emphasizes that consumers should not hesitate to consume eggs and

catfish they have at home or purchase on the retail market.    

     The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service is taking a

similar action with respect to poultry products, and the two

agencies are working together to identify appropriate analytical

methods and laboratories to test food samples for dioxin.  

     Dioxins are found throughout the environment at low levels

and are known to accumulate in the food chain.  Continued high

exposure to dioxin can cause increased risk of cancer and other

health effects.  Because dioxins accumulate, it is important to

eliminate avoidable exposure to these substances.

     Recent analytical results obtained by the Federal government

have shown that when food-producing animals are fed animal feed

contaminated with dioxin, the result can be human food with

levels of dioxin that are greater than background levels.  

     Last week, FDA announced that it had told manufacturers of

some animal feeds known to be contaminated with dioxin to stop

the further distribution and use of this feed.  An investigation

by EPA, USDA, FDA and state officials disclosed that the source

of dioxin in the animal feed was "ball clay," which is commonly

added to soybean meal as a "flowing" or anti-caking agent.  The

ball clay was traced to a single clay mine in Mississippi, which

at the request of the FDA has stopped shipping clay for feed use.

     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, incineration, chlorine bleaching of pulp

and paper and other industrial processes.



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