Subsidized New York Dairy CAFO serves up adulterated meat

New York farmer Kenneth Corscadden from Corscadden Family Farm received a warning letter last month from the US Food and Drug Administration.


The FDA investigation of Corscadden's dairy farm in Richville, NY revealed that Corscadden offered up animlas for slaughter that were adulterated under federal law. It seems Corscadden sold bob veal (male calves from dairy farms, usually less than one month old) over a period of weeks and that those calves had Tetracycline residues in excess of federal tolerances in their liver, kidney and muscle tissues, sometimes as high as five times the legal limit.

The investigation also revealed that Corscadden also sold a dairy cow and that an analysis of the kidney tissue showed Penicillin residue almost forty times the legal limit.

Corscadden was also accused of holding animals under conditions where medicated animals bearing potentially harmful drug residues were likely to enter the food supply. Corscadden failed to maintain complete treatment records and used controlled drugs for improper extra-label purposes without proper veterinary supervision.

A review of the USDA farm subsidy database shows that Corscadden received $86,375 last year in federal farm subsidies and $511,833 in subsidies from 1995 through 2009. Coscadden also operates a New York State Registered CAFO with 647 mature dairy cattle and about 100 dairy heifers.

USDA/FSIS Tests Again Reveal Impermissible Levels Of Drugs In Slaughtered Farm Animals

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted an investigation of Red Arrow Dairy located at 69444 County Road 687 in Hartford, MI 49057, and found Red Arrow offered for sale an animal for slaughter as food that was adulterated.

United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA/FSIS) analysis of tissue samples collected from a bob veal calf identified the presence of flunixin at 0.151 parts per million (ppm) in liver tissue. Analysis of tissue samples also identified the presence of 0.13 ppm of penicillin in the kidney.

There is no FDA established tolerance for residues of flunixin or penicillin in the edible tissues of calves to be processed as veal. Flunixin is a FDA regulated veterinarian drug used to alleviate fevers and pain.

The investigation also found that Red Arrow held animals under conditions that are so inadequate that medicated animals bearing potentially harmful drug residues were likely to enter the food supply.

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USDA/FSIS Tests Reveal Impermissible Levels of Drugs In Slaughtered Farm Animals

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted an investigation of Paul Rothemel’s cattle operation located at 184 State Route 44, Hartville, OH 44632, and found Rothemel offered for sale an animal for slaughter as food that was adulterated.

United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA/FSIS) analysis of tissue samples collected from a bob veal calf identified the presence of flunixin at 0.425 parts per million (ppm) in liver tissue and 0.035 ppm in muscle tissue. There is no FDA established tolerance for residues of flunixin in the edible tissues of calves. Flunixin is a FDA regulated veterinarian drug used to alleviate fevers and pain.

The investigation also found that Rothemel held animals under conditions that are so inadequate that medicated animals bearing potentially harmful drug residues were likely to enter the food supply. Rothemel also lacked a system to ensure that animals he buys and then sells for slaughter as food have not been medicated or, if they have been medicated, he lacked a system to allow him to withhold the animals from slaughter for an appropriate period of time to deplete potentially hazardous residues of drugs from edible tissues.

Rothemel also fails to keep accurate records of animals he buys and sells to ensure that the animal can be traced back to the producer or other dealer.
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In a separate investigation, the FDA conducted at Andrew Miller’s dairy operation located at 7111 State Route 514, Big Prairie, OH 44611., the FDA found Miller offered for sale a bob veal calf for slaughter as food that was adulterated.

United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA/FSIS) analysis of tissue samples collected from this animal identified the presence of 26.27 ppm of Penicillin in the muscle tissue, 0.86 ppm of Penicillin in the liver tissue and 0.42 ppm in the kidney tissue. FDA has established a tolerance of 0.05 ppm for residues of Penicillin in the edible tissues of cattle. Tests revealed residues up to 500 times permitted tolerances.

The investigation also found that Miller held animals under conditions so inadequate that medicated animals bearing potentially harmful drug residues were likely to enter the food supply. Miller failed to maintain treatment records; failed to establish a system to control the administration of drug treatments to his animals; and failed to establish an adequate inventory system for determining the quantities of drugs used to medicate his cows and calves. Miller also fed milk from treated cows to calves intended for slaughter.
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This from the Kyoto News Service

Chinese food safety authorities said Tuesday that seasoned soy sauce imported from Japan contains arsenic six times the Chinese standard, while powered coffee imported from Japan contains copper three times the level permitted under Chinese regulations.

The seasoned soy sauce imported from the Japanese soy sauce maker Morita contains 3.15 milligrams of arsenic per kilogram, while copper was found in "Royal Blend" powdered coffee imported from Japan, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said. The Chinese standard is set at 0.5 mg per kg, according to Chinese officials. Officials at Morita, based in Nagoya, said sliced dried bonito used as seasoning in the company's soy sauce contains organic arsenic but the level of arsenic in the sauce does not affect human health.

Doutor Coffee, the Tokyo-based producer of the "Royal Blend" powdered coffee, said the company has launched an investigation into the Chinese claim. The coffee was imported from Tokyo-based office coffee service firm Unimat Life.