At the request of the US Food and Drug Administration, US marshals have seized livestock and horse feeds stored under “filthy conditions” at the Bi-County Farm Bureau Cooperative Association, Inc., in Florence, Ky.
“The FDA will not tolerate a company’s failure to adequately control and prevent filth in its facility,” said Michael Chappell, the FDA’s acting associate commissioner for regulatory affairs. “The FDA is prepared to use whatever legal means necessary and appropriate to keep potentially contaminated products out of the marketplace.”
During a recent inspection of the Bi-County feed mill, FDA investigators discovered live and dead mice and evidence of bird activity throughout the facility. FDA laboratory analysis of samples collected during the inspection confirmed the presence of rodent urine, rodent faeces, rodent hairs, and rodent-gnawed holes in bags, in and around food products.
Acting on a warrant issued by the US District Court in the Eastern District of Kentucky, marshals seized all FDA-regulated food products exposed to rodent and bird contamination at the facility. The seized products violate the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act because they were kept in conditions in which they may have become contaminated with filth.
Bi-County manufactures feed and stores commercial feeds received through interstate commerce. The products are sold locally to farms and stables.
For a list of products sold by Bi-County, visit the FDA website.