MINNEAPOLIS – Cargill on May 25 announced that its animal nutrition business is expanding its voluntary recall of select Southern States feed due to aflatoxin levels that exceed FDA’s action levels. This is an expansion of the recall initiated May 6 and is the result of Cargill’s internal investigation that identified additional products containing an ingredient provided from the same supplier referenced in the May 6 recall announcement.
The expansion includes products manufactured between Oct. 31, 2018, and March 1, 2019.
Livestock, horses and poultry exposed to elevated levels of aflatoxin are at risk of exposure to several health effects. Aflatoxicosis has the same acute and chronic adverse effects and health consequences across all species and age classes (immature and mature). Immature animals are more sensitive to aflatoxins.
Acute aflatoxicosis may result in generalized hemorrhage, bloody diarrhea and death in one to three days. In addition, aflatoxin toxicity can cause reduced feed intake, reduced weight gain, liver damage, jaundice, and eventually, death.
Cargill said it has received a small number of adverse event reports. These reports are currently being investigated to determine if they are related to the recalled feed.
The affected products were manufactured at Cargill’s Cleveland, North Carolina, facility and are being recalled from retail outlets and distributors in the Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia markets.