Codex Alimentarius Commission Has Placed Zilpaterol on the JECFA Priority Assessment List

BOXMEER (The Netherlands), July 17, 2012 — Early in 2012, Merck Animal Health (known as MSD Animal Health outside the USA and Canada) proposed zilpaterol hydrochloride, the active ingredient of ZILMAX®, to the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) to establish an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) and Maximum Residue Levels (MRL) for cattle tissues (muscle, fat, liver, and kidney).

Merck Animal Health welcomes the decision taken at the 35th session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) in Rome in July, to put zilpaterol hydrochloride forward for JEFCA assessment. The review, based on internationally recognized food safety standards, would ensure cattle farmers and consumers worldwide about the safety of this technology and facilitate the import and export of beef from animals supplemented with ZILMAX (zilpaterol hydrochloride).

Barbara Freischem, Executive Director of the International Federation for Animal Health (IFAH) said, “The CAC has provided much needed assurance to our industry that it will follow its rules of procedure in the setting of global food safety standards for the benefit of consumers around the world.”

With an increasing global demand for beef and decreasing worldwide cattle population, it is more important than ever that cattle farmers have access to safe technologies for efficient, sustainable beef production.

ZILMAX is a feed supplement that helps the beef animal’s natural metabolism to more efficiently produce meat. ZILMAX has been approved as safe and efficacious by multiple country regulatory bodies around the World, including the United States and Canada.

Merck Animal Health continues to register ZILMAX in many countries and continents, including a recent registration for Brazil. ZILMAX has been fed to millions of beef cattle during the 17 years that it has been utilized by cattle farmers. And for every million beef steers fed ZILMAX, 15 million additional kilos of beef is provided, with no additional resources of feed, water, land, energy or animals.