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Compendium of Medicating Ingredient Brochures - Backgrounder

The use of feed as a carrier for drugs has been shown to be an economical procedure for the prevention and treatment of certain animal diseases and for improving animal productivity or the quality of the animal products.

The same principles apply to this method of drug administration as apply to other means of therapy and include the following points:

1. An accurate diagnosis is essential so that maximum benefit is obtained from drug use;
2. Recommended dosages must be strictly adhered to in order to obtain maximum efficacy without endangering animal safety or human health;
3. Management factors, including sanitation, must be included in the treatment regime;
4. Only drugs known to be compatible should be used in combination for treatment by any method of administration.

The Compendium of Medicating Ingredient Brochures (CMIB) is the document that lists those medicating ingredients permitted by Canadian regulation to be added to livestock feed. This document specifies the species of livestock, the level of medication, the directions for feeding and the purpose for which each medicating ingredient may legally be used, as well as the brand of each medicating ingredient that is approved for use in Canada. All medicated feed manufactured, used, or sold in Canada must be prepared in such a way as to adhere to the specifications of the Compendium of Medicating Ingredient Brochures, in order to comply with the Feeds Regulations. The sole exception is feeds prepared according to a veterinarian's prescription.

The Compendium is designed as a regulatory guide in the formulation and labelling of medicated feeds so that they will be efficacious and safe for the purpose intended under practical conditions of use. Individual Medicating Ingredient Brochures (MIB's) refer to a specific drug or specific combination of drugs used in feed medication. Three Appendices are included in this Edition, for easy location of medicating ingredients. One is by generic name, one is by brand name, and the other is by company name.

The information in each MIB is organized into three sections: an introductory profile of the medicating ingredient; the specifications to follow for each claim for which the medicating ingredient is permitted to be used; and the listing of accepted compatibilities for that particular medicating ingredient.

The profile of the medicating ingredient includes the drug's generic name, followed immediately by the approved brands of premix containing that medicating ingredient and their respective levels of the medicating ingredient. Please note that these are the only brands approved for use in Canada. Using other unapproved sources of the drug in feed is a contravention of the Feeds Act and Feeds Regulations and the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations.

Also specified in the introductory profile of the MIB is the physical form of feed (e.g. meal, pellet, etc.) in which the drug is approved for use. The species of livestock which may be fed the medicated feed, and the corresponding claim number(s) are also listed under "Approved Claims".

The next section of the MIB is the listing of specifications to follow for each claim that has been approved for the medicating ingredient. In this section, the approved claim statement is underlined. Directly below the claim is the level of drug to be mixed in the finished feed. This is stated both as a percentage and in the units "mg/kg".

The level of drug may be specified in some cases on a kg/head/day, and sometimes on the basis of the (100%) dry matter content of the feed.

Below the level of drug, the directions for feeding the medicated feed are specified. This indicates the length of time to feed the medicated feed. For each approved claim, the warnings and cautions which must be adhered to are listed in the MIB. In most cases, these warnings and cautions must appear on the label of the finished feed; exceptions are noted in the individual MIB's. It should be remembered that all WARNINGS (e.g. withdrawal times) must be strictly followed to ensure that the safety of the human consumer is safeguarded, while specified CAUTIONS must be adhered to in order to best protect the health of livestock.

The final section of an MIB is the "Accepted Compatibilities" section. This lists those drugs, if any, which may be used in combination with the medicating ingredient originally referred to in the MIB being consulted, but only for those species specified in the Accepted Compatibilities section.

The specifications listed in the compatible drug's MIB must be followed in addition to those given for the original drug referred to. In cases where there are differences in withdrawal time for the two compatible medicating ingredients, the longer withdrawal time is the one that must be used, and it must appear on the label of the finished feed.

CMIB Table of Contents