The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said last week it found no evidence of chemically tainted meat meal at a Winnipeg-based rendering plant.
The agency issued an advisory last month after four dead cattle from a Manitoba farm were delivered to the plant. The dairy cattle died after being sprayed with a homemade mix of herbicide and insecticide.
The dead cattle were taken to the processing plant on July 26 for processing the following day, said George Luterbach, an agency spokesperson.
After learning that the chemically tainted animals might have been processed, the agency alerted the feed industry, asking that mills not distribute any livestock feed that might have contained meat meal produced July 27. Meal from the plant was shipped to 11 feed mills in Manitoba and two in the United States.
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Luterbach said there was a breakdown at the rendering plant on the day the four dairy cattle were to be processed. The majority of carcasses meant for processing that day were hauled to a landfill.
The agency could not confirm the poisoned dairy cattle had also been taken to the landfill. But testing of meat meal produced at the plant showed no signs of Diquat, the herbicide applied to the animals.
The rendering plant keeps samples from each lot of animals it processes.
Disvap IV, the insecticide applied to the cattle, is an approved fly control product, safe for use on animals when used properly.
Luterbach said there was good co-operation from the rendering company and others in the feed industry when it came to giving information about the distribution of potentially contaminated feed.
Meat meal is used in poultry and swine feed. The name of the company was not released.
