The product recall was announced on Friday, reported the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The product collection applies to a single lot of ADM Animal Nutrition’s Rough-N-Ready 14 BT cattle feed. The medicated feed was intended for use to increase rate of weight gain with starting and growing beef cattle raised on pasture.
The bags carry the product number 54783BHB24, reported ADM. “There is one lot number involved in this recall: Lot # 2WS01717,” it added.
The lot number can be found at the bottom of the label on feed bags, the company said. “Customers who have purchased the recalled feed should immediately stop using it and return it to their distributor or directly to ADM Animal Nutrition for a full refund,” it added.
The product remaining in stores has already been removed from retail shelves, said ADM.
ADM contact
Any customers with questions about the recall are directed to call 800-217-2007 from 8 am to 4 pm central time during the working week.
Recall and monensin details
An examination of the lot of bagged feed started after ADM received complaints from two customers, the company said. Both reportedly claimed that the feed may have contributed to animal death and losses on their farms.
“The company immediately began investigating and initiated the recall upon receiving confirmation that the feed contained elevated levels of monensin,” said ADM.
The increased levels of the medicated feed additive have been attributed to a “temporary breakdown” that occurred during the packaging process, the company said. That production challenge has since been corrected.
Elevated levels of monensin can be harmful to cattle. At increased levels, the feed additive may be toxic for cattle and exposure could result in problems including “colic-like symptoms, hypokalemia, myoglobinuria, chronic cardiovascular issues” and potentially death.
The feed produced in that specific lot of Rough-N-Ready was distributed from January 19, 2017 through February 2, 2017, said the company. It could have been purchased directly from ADM Animal Nutrition, and it was sold by different distributers.
“ADM has been in direct contact with the distributors involved in this recall."
The company has also been “working directly with the customers involved."
The drug monensin has been approved for use in several production systems, said the FDA. These include that it can be used as part of a total mixed ration to increase milk production in dairy cows, and to hasten weight gain in cattle raised on pasture or in a feedlot.
Past recalls and monensin
In 2015, the Canadian company, Meunerie Sawyerville, faced a fined for reportedly importing and distributing feed that was considered to be “adulterated” with the feed additive.
Additionally, earlier this year, a company in California, Western Milling, agreed to a fine as part of a lawsuit settlement addressing a feed with monensin that was allegedly connected to the deaths of several horses and calves.
This also is not the first time that ADM has had challenges with the feed additive. A lawsuit was brought against ADM in July 2016 regarding the alleged presence of monensin in horse feed generated at a feed mill that also made cattle feed, according to court documents. The feed additive can also be poisonous to horses.
In that case, horse owners who brought the lawsuit claim that their animals were injured or died from eating contaminated feed.