A group of environmental activists including the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Food and Water Watch and Food Animal Concerns Trust have filed suit against the Food and Drug Administration. A lawsuit alleges that the November 7th 2018 approval of Experior™ marketed by Elanco Animal Health was based on insufficient data and represents a potential risk for food safety. Experior™ is a beta-agonist and is administered to feedlot cattle from 90 days before depletion with a 14-day withdrawal period.
Feedlot operators generally are not using the product for its intended purpose since a 15 percent reduction in ammonia release in urine and feces is not meaningful and the additive does not provide any financial return from the aspect of environmental mitigation.
Beta-agonists are no longer fed in most feedlots based on undesirable side effects including locomotory dysfunction. Packers are now refusing to buy livestock fed a beta agonist due to embargos on beef from animals receiving this class of compounds. The lawsuit illustrates the intent of animal rights activists and environmental groups to oppose all aspects of intensive livestock production at any point in the production chain using all legal means available.