PART 500-GENERAL

Subpart A-[Reserved]

Subpart A-[Reserved]

Subpart B-Specific Administrative
Rulings and Decisions

§ 500.25 Anthelmintic drugs for use in animals.

(a) The Commissioner of Food and Drugs has determined that, in order to assure that anthelmintic drugs, including animal feeds bearing or containing such drugs, which do not carry the prescription statement are labeled to provide adequate directions for their effective use, labeling of these anthelmintic drugs shall bear, in addition to other required information, a statement that a veterinarian should be consulted for assistance in the diagnosis, treatment, and control of parasitism.

(b) The label and any labeling furnishing or purporting to furnish directions for use, shall bear conspicuously the following statement: "Consult your veterinarian for assistance in the diagnosis, treatment, and control of parasitism."

(c) For drugs covered by approved new animal drug applications, the labeling revisions required for compliance with this section may be placed into effect without prior approval as provided for in § 514.8 (d) and (e) of this chapter. For animal feeds bearing or containing anthelmintic drugs covered by approved applications, the labeling revisions required for compliance with this section may be placed into effect without the submission of supplemental applications as provided for in § 514.9 of this chapter.

(d) Labeling revisions required for compliance with this section shall be placed into effect by February 25, 1975, following which, any such drugs that are introduced into interstate commerce and not in compliance with this section will be subject to regulatory proceedings.

§ 500.26 Timed-release dosage form drugs. (a) Drugs are being offered in dosage forms that are designed to release the

active ingredients over a prolonged period of time. There is a possibility of unsafe overdosage or ineffective dosage if such products are improperly made and the active ingredients are released at one time, over too short or too long a period of time, or not released at all. Drugs marketed in this form, which are referred to by such terms as timed-release, controlled-release, prolonged-release, sustained-release, or delayed-release drugs, are regarded as new animal drugs within the meaning of section 201(w) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

(b) Timed-release dosage form animal drugs that are introduced into interstate commerce are deemed to be adulterated within the meaning of section 501(a)(5) of the act and subject to regulatory action unless such animal drug is the subject of an approved new animal drug application as required by paragraph (a) of this section.

(c) The fact that the labeling of this kind of drug may claim delayed, prolonged, controlled, or sustained-release of all or only some of the active ingredients does not affect the new animal drug status of such articles. A new animal drug application is required in any such case.

new

(d) New animal drug applications for timed-release dosage form animal drugs must contain, among other things, data to demonstrate safety and effectiveness by establishing that the article is manufactured using procedures and controls to ensure release of the total dosage at a safe and effective rate. Data submitted in the animal drug application must demonstrate that the formulation of the drug and the procedures used in its manufacture will ensure release of the active ingredient(s) of the drug at a safe and effective rate and that these release characteristics will be maintained until the expiration date of the drug. When the drug is intended for use in food-producing animals, data submitted must also demonstrate that, with respect to possible residues of the drug, food derived from treated animals is safe for consumption.

[42 FR 8635, Feb. 11, 1977]

§ 500.27 Methylene blue-containing drugs for use in animals.

(a) New information requires a reevaluation of the status of drugs containing methylene blue (tetramethylthionine chloride) for oral use in cats or dogs.

(1)(i) It has been demonstrated that two orally administered urinary antiseptic-antispasmodic preparations that contained methylene blue cause Heinz body hemolytic anemia in cats when used according to label directions. The specific cause of the reaction was determined to be the methylene blue contained in the preparations. The reaction can be severe enough to cause death of treated animals.

(ii) The Heinz body hemolytic anemia reaction to methylene blue has also been demonstrated in dogs under laboratory conditions. The precise mechanism by which methylene blue produces the characteristic erythrocytic inclusion bodies (Heinz bodies) and associated hemolytic anemia is unclear.

(2) The effectiveness of orally administered methylene blue as a urinary antiseptic is open to question. It appears that following oral administration, methylene blue is poorly and erratically absorbed and also slowly and erratically excreted in the urine. Studies in the dog indicate it is excreted in the urine essentially as leukomethylene blue stabilized in some manner. Methylene blue itself is stepwise demethylated in alkaline solutions (alkaline urine being a frequent consequence of urinary infection) to Azure B, Azure A, and Azure C. The antiseptic efficacy of all of these excretion products is unsubstantiated.

(3) In view of the foregoing, the Commissioner has concluded that animal drugs containing methylene blue for oral use in cats or dogs are neither safe nor generally recognized as effective within the meaning of section 201(w) of the act and are therefore considered new animal drugs. Accordingly, all prior formal and informal opinions expressed by the Food and Drug Administration that such drugs are "not new drugs" or "no longer new drugs" are hereby revoked.

(b) Animal drugs that contain methylene blue for oral use in cats or dogs and not the subject of an approved new animal drug application (NADA) are deemed to be adulterated under the provisions of section 501(a) (5) and/or (6) and/or misbranded under section 502(a) of the act and subject to regulatory action as of April 10, 1978.

(c) Sponsors of animal drugs that contain methylene blue for oral use in cats or dogs and not the subject of an approved new animal drug application (NADA) may submit an application in conformity with § 514.1 of this chapter. Such applications will be processed in accordance with section 512 of the act. Submission of an NADA will not constitute grounds for continued marketing of this drug substance until such application is approved.

(d) New animal drug applications required by this regulation pursuant to section 512 of the act shall be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration. Bureau of Veterinary Medicine, Office of Scientific Evaluation (HFV100), 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.

[43 FR 9803, Mar. 10, 1978; 43 FR 12310, Mar. 24, 1978]

§ 500.35 Animal feeds contaminated with Salmonella microorganisms.

(a) Investigations by the Food and Drug Administration, the Center for Disease Control of the U.S. Public Health Service, the Animal Health Division of the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and by various State public health agencies have revealed that processed fish meal, poultry meal, meat meal, tankage, and other animal byproducts intended for use in animal feed may be contaminated with Salmonella bacteria, an organism pathogenic to man and animals. Contamination of these products may occur through inadequate heat treatment of the product during its processing or through recontamination of the heattreated product during a time of improper storage or handling subsequent to processing.

(b) Articles used in food for animals are included within the definition of "food" in section 201(f) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Fur

ther, Salmonella contamination of such animal feeds having the potentiality for producing infection and disease in animals must be regarded as an adulterant within the meaning of section 402(a) of the act. Therefore, the Food and Drug Administration will regard as adulterated within the meaning of section 402(a) of the act shipments of the following when intended for animal feed and encountered in interstate commerce and found upon examination to be contaminated with Salmonella microorganisms: Bone meal, blood meal, crab meal, feather meal, fish meal, fish solubles, meat scraps, poultry meat meal, tankage, or other similar animal byproducts, or blended mixtures of these.

§ 500.45 Use of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) in the production, handling, and storage of animal feed.

(a) Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) represent a class of toxic industrial chemicals manufactured and sold under a variety of trade names, including: Aroclor (United States); Phenoclor (France); Colphen (Germany); and Kanaclor (Japan). PCB's are highly stable, heat resistant, and nonflammable chemicals. Industrial uses of PCB's include, or did include in the past, their use as electrical transformer and capacitor fluids, heat transfer fluids, hydraulic fluids, plasticizers, and in formulations of lubricants, coatings, and inks. Their unique physical and chemical properties and widespread, uncontrolled industrial applications have caused PCB's to be a persistent and ubiquitous contaminant in the environment, causing the contamination of certain foods. In addition, incidents have occurred in which PCB's have directly contaminated animal feeds as a result of industrial accidents (leakage or spillage of PCB fluids from plant equipment). These accidents in turn cause the contamination of food intended for human consumption (meat, milk, and eggs). Investigations by the Food and Drug Administration have revealed that heat exchange fluids for certain pasteurization equipment used in processing animal feed contain PCB's. Although heat ex