Since the close of the comment period on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposed animal feed rule, the agency has received many questions and comments about spent grains, which are byproducts of alcoholic beverage brewing and distilling that are used as animal feed.
The potential for any animal safety hazard to result from feeding spent grains is minimal, provided proper steps are utilized to minimize the possibility of glass, motor oil or other similar hazards being inadvertently introduced, according to FDA.
Confusion centered on language included in the proposed rule, which could lead to the misperception that the agency is proposing “to require human food manufacturers to establish separate animal feed safety plans and controls to cover their byproducts, but it was never our intent to do so,” said FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine Michael Taylor.
According to an agency blog post, FDA plans to clarify its intent in the rules to minimize confusion and will reissue revised proposals for comment this summer on several key Food Safety Modernization Act issues, according to Feedstuffs.