FDA charges dairy with selling contaminated cows

The U.S. Food and Drug administration is charging Scenic View Diary of Hamilton, Michigan with selling dairy cows that contain unsafe levels of illegally administered antibiotics.

In a Aug. 31 complaint filed in Grand Rapids federal court the U.S. Dept. of Justice charges that despite numerous warnings over the last eight years the dairy has continued to sell antibiotic-contaminated cows for human consumption.

According to FDA illegal tissue residues of neomycin, penicillin and sulfadimethoxine were found during eight inspections.

The sale of antibiotic contaminated animals as human food can lead to the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria and can harm people with drug allergies. For safety reasons FDA requires that animals be withdrawn from antibiotic treatment for a period before they are offered for sale.

In the complaint FDA said that the drugs were given without a valid veterinary prescription authorizing such use.

David Haverdink, chief operations officer at Scenic View, told the Holland Sentinel that the contaminated cows were not consumed because the animals were destroyed after slaughter house blood tests revealed antibiotic residues.