Are Brazil’s Veterinary Drugs in Your Canned Meat?
Washington, D.C. – Yesterday national consumer group Food & Water Watch called for an investigation into the failure of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take action to protect U.S. consumers from imported beef products that could be adulterated with residues of the veterinary drug Ivermectin.
In a letter to the Inspector General of the USDA, the group detailed the discovery of residue contamination problems in processed beef products from Brazil—problems so severe that in late May, the USDA suspended processed beef imports from Brazil entirely. But the agency has failed to call for a recall of the products that entered the United States before the imports were halted. Because the products in question are canned meats, they are likely still on store shelves.
“We believe the current situation continues to show a very confusing agency policy on recalls associated with excessive residue levels in products it regulates,” wrote Hauter.
This specific case comes just months after an investigation by the agency’s Inspector General revealed severe flaws in the agency’s program for screening meat products for chemical or drug residues.
When Food & Water Watch recently asked the USDA why they have not asked for voluntary recalls of potentially Ivermectin-tainted meat products that they admitted may be present in the U.S. food supply, they responded that the products in question posed a low public health risk. However, the recent Inspector General report critiquing the residue testing program noted that a potential health effect of Ivermectin exposure is neurotoxicity.
Currently, the U.S. is in a very delicate trade situation with Brazil as the government tries to avoid the imposition of retaliatory tariffs emanating from the cotton subsidy case the Brazil won against the U.S. at the World Trade Organization. “We sincerely hope that sacrificing the wellbeing of U.S. consumers in not being used as a bargaining chip in that trade dispute,” wrote Hauter.
Contact: Darcey Rakestraw, Food & Water Watch: 202-683-2467, drakestraw(at)fwwatch.org