Feed ban

The term Feed ban is usually a reference to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations that since 1997 have prohibited the feeding of most mammalian-derived proteins to cattle as a method of preventing the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Feeding of infected ruminant material back to ruminants is believed to be the most likely means of transmission of the disease. Exceptions to the FDA ban have existed for mammalian blood and blood products; gelatin; inspected cooked meat products for humans; milk products; and products containing pork and equine (and avian) proteins. On January 26, 2004, FDA officials said they would expand the feed ban by prohibiting, from ruminant feeds, ruminant blood and blood products, poultry litter, and restaurant plate waste. At issue are whether recommendations by some scientific experts to ban additional products from feed are necessary, as some foreign countries do where BSE is much more widespread.