Kidron Auction Inc. – FDA Warning Letter, Aug 11, 2008

On August 7 and 11, 2008, the FDA inspected Kidron Auction, Inc. in Kidron, Ohio, and found violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The facility offered an adulterated animal for sale for slaughter as food. Specifically, a calf sold on February 14, 2008, and slaughtered on February 15, 2008, contained 99.30 ppm neomycin in the kidney, exceeding the 7.2 ppm tolerance for cattle, with no acceptable level for veal calves. Additionally, the calf's tissues contained sulfamethoxazole (0.22 ppm in liver, 0.27 ppm in muscle) and flunixin (0.075 ppm in liver, 0.021 ppm in muscle), for which no tolerances are established in veal calves.

These drug residues caused the food to be adulterated under section 402(a)(2)(C)(ii) of the Act. Furthermore, the facility held animals under insanitary conditions, lacking a system to ensure medicated animals were withheld from slaughter for appropriate withdrawal periods, leading to adulteration under section 402(a)(4) of the Act.

Kidron Auction, Inc. must take prompt action to correct these violations and establish procedures to prevent recurrence, including implementing a system to determine medication status and withdrawal periods for animals received,