Vaill Brothers – FDA Warning Letter, Apr 23, 2010

On April 19, 21, and 23, 2010, the FDA investigated Vaill Brothers dairy farm in Vernon, New York, and found violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The farm offered for sale adulterated animals for slaughter.

Specifically, on August 12, 2009, a dairy cow sold for slaughter contained penicillin at 0.12 ppm (tolerance 0.05 ppm) and sulfadimethoxine at 0.199 ppm (tolerance 0.1 ppm) in its tissues. On October 5, 2009, a bob veal calf sold for slaughter contained neomycin at 9.31 ppm in its kidney, exceeding the 7.2 ppm tolerance, and was from a prohibited extralabel use of medicated feed. These drug residues caused the food to be adulterated under 21 U.S.C. 342(a)(2)(C)(ii).

The investigation also revealed insanitary conditions, including a failure to maintain complete treatment records, indicating medicated animals with harmful residues were likely to enter the food supply, adulterating food under 21 U.S.C. 342(a)(4).

Furthermore, the farm illegally used new animal drugs (Pen-Aqueous, Di-Methox, Hetacin-K, ToDAY) and medicated feed (Advance