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Merck makes game-changing announcement on Zilmax
Story Date: 8/19/2013
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Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 8/16/13
Merck Animal Health announced it would temporarily suspend sales of the food animal growth promotant Zilmax in a surprise move a week after Tyson Foods announced it would stop accepting cattle raised using the beta-agonist.
Industry experts believe the decision will have industry-wide implications and reduce beef production in the United States.
“In support of our customers and to ensure effective implementation of our five-step plan, Merck Animal Health has made the decision to temporarily suspend sales of Zilmax in the United States and Canada,” the Merck news release reads. “This will allow sufficient time for the establishment of valid study protocols, identification of feeders and packers to participate in the audit, and creation of a third-party team to oversee this process and validate its results.”
Earlier this week, Merck defended the product, but also announced a five-step program that includes re-certifying every individual that feeds Zilmax to cattle.
Today, Merck reiterated that commitment, which also included working with independent experts to conduct a scientific audit, monitoring the process of feeding of Zilmax, and following identified cattle from the feedyard to the packing plant to determine potential causes of lameness and other mobility issues during feeding, transportation, offloading and staging at the processing facility.
“We also will do a thorough review of potential compounding factors—such as nutrition, transportation and receiving facilities,” the news release stated.
This could be a problem
“This most recent announcement of Merck suspending sales of Zilmax will lead to a larger reduction in beef production than was being suggested by media announcements and my own attempt to provide context over the past seven days,” Glynn Tonsor, assistant professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University, told Meatingplace. He was referring to his own statements during a webinar earlier this week.
While Tonsor was quick to note that the magnitude of beef production reduction remains uncertain, the fact remains that Zilmax use can add roughly 26 pounds of weight gain to beef cattle. Tonsor estimates that about 60 percent to 80 percent of U.S. fed cattle are raised with either Zilmax or Optaflexx (an Elanco Animal Health product) in their rations to promote growth. Optaflexx, while also effective, is believed to create gains somewhat lower than Zilmax.
"These kinds of things don’t happen in a silo, as additional adjustments are bound to develop. The effect will be industry wide and we’ll learn a lot more on this in the next 20 days," predicted Tonsor.
“We sincerely regret that this situation creates business challenges for our customers,” KJ Varma, senior vice president global R&D, Merck Animal Health, said in the news release. “But it is critical to ensure that this process is conducted appropriately and with rigorous scientific measures. After the five-step plan is completed, the results will be shared publicly.”
Zilmax sales in the United States and Canada were $159 million in 2012.
“We remain confident in the safety of the product, based on our own extensive research and that of regulators and academic institutions and are committed to the well-being of the animals that receive it,” Varma added.
For more stories, go to http://www.meatingplace.com/.
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