BS: Poison pet food

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: beardedbruce
Date: 30 Mar 07 - 11:09 AM

FDA finds new chemical in tainted pet food, sick animals
POSTED: 10:56 a.m. EDT, March 30, 2007
Story Highlights• NEW: FDA says chemical used in plastics found in food, sick animals
• NEW: Scientists not sure melamine was cause of pets' deaths
• PETA to call Friday for recall of dry pet food it says has sickened dogs, cats
• Manufacturer recalled 100 brands of food after dogs, cats suffered kidney failure

Adjust font size:
RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- Recalled pet foods contained a chemical used to make plastics, but government tests failed to confirm the presence of rat poison, federal officials said Friday.

The Food and Drug Administration said it found melamine in samples of the Menu Foods pet food, as well as in wheat gluten used as an ingredient.

Cornell University scientists also have found the chemical, also used as a fertilizer, in the urine of sick cats, as well as in the kidney of one cat that died after eating the company's wet food.

Menu Foods recalled 60 million containers of cat and dog food earlier this month after animals died of kidney failure after eating the Canadian company's products.

It is not clear how many pets may have been poisoned by the apparently contaminated food, although anecdotal reports suggest hundreds if not thousands have died. The FDA alone has received more than 8,000 complaints.

The new finding comes a week after scientists at the New York State Food Laboratory identified a rat poison and cancer drug called aminopterin as the likely culprit. The FDA said it could not confirm that finding.

New York officials have detected melamine as well, though it's not clear how that chemical would have poisoned pets. It's typically used to produce plastic kitchen wares, though it's apparently used as a fertilizer in Asia, said Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine.

The recall involved nearly 100 brands of "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food made by Menu Foods. The recall covered products carrying names of major brand-name and private-label products sold throughout North America. (Menu Foods recall information)

The apparently melamine-contaminated wheat gluten also was shipped to an unnamed company that manufactures dry pet food. The FDA is attempting to determine if that product, imported from China, was used to make any pet food, Sundlof said.

Menu Foods used wheat gluten, a source of vegetable protein, to thicken the gravy of its pet foods, FDA officials have said.

Meanwhile, animal rights advocates called on federal food safety regulators and pet food companies to expand a nationwide recall of dog and cat food to include dry varieties, claiming they make pets sick.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals plans to make the appeal Friday in Washington after it said it received complaints from pet owners who claim their animals suffered kidney failure after eating dry pet food.

Norfolk, Virginia-based PETA wants the FDA and the companies to extend the recall to foods that have received complaints, chemically test it and perform necropsies on the animals involved. It also wants companies prosecuted if the FDA's probe turns up wrongdoing.

FDA spokeswoman Julie Zawisza said she did not know how many of the complaints the agency has received have concerned dry pet food. Officials at Ontario, Canada-based Menu Foods, which made the recalled pet food, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Veterinarians aren't seeing a trend of pets getting sick off dry food, said Paul Pion, founder of the Veterinarian Information Network. He said since so many people use dry food, you would expect to see many more ill pets if the food was tainted.

The Veterinary Information Network reported Tuesday that at least 471 cases of pet kidney failure have been reported since the recall, and more than 100 pets have died. (Full story) Menu Foods has confirmed 16 pet deaths.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Greg B
Date: 30 Mar 07 - 12:24 PM

PETA would claim the sky is pink if it would get them
some publicity. Likely they're using unsubstantiated and
unverified information to get their names in the paper,
again.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: dianavan
Date: 31 Mar 07 - 03:21 AM

Melamine???

It makes me wonder if they mixed it in with the wheat gluten to add weight and get a better price.

I took my cat to the vet for a routine check-up and she's fine. As I was leaving, I decided to buy some cat food to save a trip to the supermarket. First I grabbed a bag of Menu but then I switched to another bag of a different brand. What luck! I found out today that the very same Menu product has now been recalled.

I'm starting to worry though because now that dry food is involved, I wonder if any of it is safe.

I don't think its the manufacturers fault. I think the fault lies with whoever supplied the wheat gluten. If that is so, any manufacturer who bought the gluten from China could be contaminated.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Peace
Date: 31 Mar 07 - 04:58 AM

How fucked up IS this! I googled fda and got the following at the top of the page.

"FDA names cause of bad pet food
Seattle Times, WA - 1 hour ago
In a news conference, Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, said the FDA and independent laboratories have found a chemical ...
FDA: Pet food poison not yet identified Wilkes Barre Times-Leader
FDA finds chemical in pet food Boston Globe
FDA finds chemical, but no rat poison, in pet foods; some dry food ... Napa Valley Register"

We got it, we don't got it, we found a chemical, and we found a chemical but no rat poison. Thanks for making that clear. Remember these days when you are counting on the FDA to OK drugs for human use. It begins to look like they don't know what to do without the nod from pharmaceutical companies. And the media is a real help, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Peace
Date: 31 Mar 07 - 05:23 AM

"The melamine finding came a week after scientists at the New York State Food Laboratory identified a cancer drug and rat poison called aminopterin as the likely culprit in the pet food. But the FDA said it could not confirm that finding, nor have researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey when they looked at tissue samples taken from dead cats. And experts at the University of Guelph detected aminopterin in some samples of the recalled pet food, but only in the parts per billion or trillion range.

"Biologically, that means nothing. It wouldn't do anything," said Grant Maxie, a veterinary pathologist at the Canadian university. "This is a puzzle."

New York officials stuck to their aminopterin finding and pointed out that it was unlikely that melamine could have poisoned any of the animals thought to have died after eating the contaminated pet food. Melamine is used to make plastic kitchen ware and is used as a fertilizer in Asia.

An FDA official acknowledged that it wasn't immediately clear whether the melamine was the culprit. The agency's investigation continues, said Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine."

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Metchosin
Date: 31 Mar 07 - 11:28 AM

I heard a report on the news yesterday that another company, Hill's Science Diet has now done a recall of one of their products. They discovered that they were using the same wheat gluten supplier as Menu.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: GUEST
Date: 31 Mar 07 - 11:33 AM

Why are we buting any wheat products abroad ? Just another example of firms buying cheap and making a lot of money off unsuspecting consumers.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Metchosin
Date: 31 Mar 07 - 11:52 AM

Here is the link regarding the new Hill's recall. This one is a dry food.

Prescription Diet™ m/d™ Feline dry food

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Big Mick
Date: 31 Mar 07 - 11:53 AM

This really points out a much broader problem. That problem has to do with regulation of food supplies for people and animals. Folks that were raised in the 50's and 60's and 70's were used to having appropriate regulations on industry that regulated and tested what we put in our bodies and those of our pets. But along came the Great Republican lie of the Reagan/Gingrich era that seemed to take the approach that all government interference in business (including controls on air, water, and food supplies) somehow interfered with the God given right of business to make obscene profit without regard to safety. And I shouldn't let the Dems off the hook either. They were paying attention to opinion polls instead of doing the right thing.

Wake up, people. This all goes right back to someone convincing these damn fools that they could have something for nothing.

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Becca72
Date: 31 Mar 07 - 12:10 PM

Thanks for that link, Metchosin...
One of my cats is currently on Hill's Science Diet Prescription C/R for a UTI. Glad to hear this kind doesn't have any gluten in it, though. It's getting to the point where I don't feel safe feeding them anything!

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Peace
Date: 31 Mar 07 - 05:32 PM

"Why are we buting any wheat products abroad ? Just another example of firms buying cheap and making a lot of money off unsuspecting consumers. "

One of the sites I read--was I think Menu Foods--stated that they used wheat gluten from abroad because they could not purchase enough of it in North America. However, it wasn't clear to me that they then actually purchased ANY from North America.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Mickey191
Date: 31 Mar 07 - 09:38 PM

Just heard on local news that ALPO Canned Beef & gravy is verboten.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: dianavan
Date: 31 Mar 07 - 11:16 PM

I'm worried about products that are made for human consumption. What is on the shelf that use wheat gluten? At this point I suspect all of them.

I did read, though, that cats have a very low tolerance which means that if rats or dogs were used for testing, cats could still be susceptible to some toxins that were thought to be safe.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: katlaughing
Date: 01 Apr 07 - 01:08 PM

There are several of us who take rat poison everyday, i.e. warfarin/coumadin. NOT that that diminishes the concern.

As for the fact that melamine is used to make bowls to feed and water cats and dogs, the FDA's Herndon said: "We did say it has a lot of industrial uses, but this is the first I've heard of this. Certainly I'll be passing this information on."

Anyone else remember having "Melamine" dinnerware aka "Melmac?" My folks had some. It was the new miracle set as it didn't break. It is still being sold these days.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: bobad
Date: 01 Apr 07 - 04:26 PM

"There are several of us who take rat poison everyday, i.e. warfarin/coumadin"

Not at all comparable to aminopterin.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Nancy King
Date: 02 Apr 07 - 12:01 AM

Man, this recall just gets worse and worse, doesn't it? What CAN you feed your pet with confidence? I suppose making your own pet food makes more and more sense, but what a hassle! A friend of mine started making her own cat food out of chicken breasts and rice on the advice of a holistic vet, and it does seem to have cured her cats' chronic diarrhea, but it sure is a messy and time-consuming business.

I may have to resort to that myself. I haven't discussed it with my vet yet, so I don't know what would work best for Roscoe's current medical condition, but the cost of the prescription pet food available through their office is pretty daunting -- over $25 for an 8-pound bag of dry food, and $1.00 to 1.30 for a 5.5-ounce can. AND one of the products newly added to the recall list is one of the "prescription" diets. Not the kidney formula, but sheesh -- who can you trust?!

For those of you waiting with bated breath for an update on Roscoe's condition, he seems to be doing just a little bit better. I did take him in last Thursday, and have played phone tag with the vet ever since about the results of the blood work. I gather from the phone messages that it looks a bit better, but clearly not in the normal range. Meanwhile, I'm continuing to give him subcutaneous fluids and trying to find a kidney-formula food he'll eat. It irks me to pay that much for cat food and then have to throw a lot of it out because he doesn't eat it.

I did get a phone message from the Maryland FDA office, but of course haven't been able to talk to anyone in real time yet. They'll probably call back Monday while I'm at work.

And so it goes...

Nancy

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Bee
Date: 02 Apr 07 - 07:33 AM

Nancy, glad Roscoe is a little improved. About the (safe) foods he will not eat: If you are anywhere near a Food Bank or other charity that handles food, pass unused pet food on to them - poor people have pets too. I had two huge bags of dog food left last year when our dog died, and the local food bank divided them into smaller bags to give to people with pets.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Donuel
Date: 02 Apr 07 - 09:41 AM

Best to just boil a cheap chicken every couple days, debone, bag and feed as needed like my parents did for their dog and cat.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Nancy King
Date: 02 Apr 07 - 08:40 PM

Well, I'm not about to feed him anything homemade until I consult with the vet about his nutritional needs. Then we'll see. I'm not really anxious to undertake such a project, but maybe.

Bee, donating the unused food to a food bank is a good idea, but I really don't have that much on hand -- just about 4-5 cans, and I figure if he gets hungry enough...

Hope to talk to the vet tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 02:52 PM

Unfortunately, for human consumption, wheat gluten is in early everything on the inside perimeters of a supermarket. Why is it in pet food? For a filler, they say? Nah, because the carbs increase the appetite...wheat in the human world is a comfort food, releasing endorphins in the brain to "feel good" - and it craves more, not unlike the tobacco companies that put that extra little nicotene in cigarettes - to keep us coming back. As do the dogs and cats.

I would guess the pet food industry has opted to purchase wheat gluten overseas because here in the good old USA where commerce and enterprise takes precedence over well being. The majority of European nations will not import our transgenically and chemically modified wheat, therefore we upped the price since we cannot even give it away. Did you not see the bushels we dumped on the tsumani survivors?

So it is force fed to us in nearly every product on the grocery market shelves, including pet foods, since right now Monsanto and the lot of top-contributing political hand greasers have too much at stake and too much to lose with most nations refusing their pesticide-resistant (thereby allowing it to tolerate more, which we ingest) bioengineered grains which produce sterile seeds.

The FDA has yet to announce a centralized number for reporting these deaths, nor has it adequately listed exact symptoms a pet owner needs to look for. As of this weekend, major retailers still claimed ignorance of the Alpo recall and the products still remained on their shelves.

Once again, as in September 11 and Katrina, we have yet been caught with our pants down one ore time.

The FDA equates to the Keystone Cops once again, but the true villians are the ones who were aware of the deaths and did nothing, placing commerce and profit over our well being. And that is criminal.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 02:55 PM

Yes, and our local supermarket, along with giving coupons for Purina products at checkout, also gave a coupon for 80% off on vet bills if one purchases ASPCA Pet Insurance. These companies have no conscience even when it stoops to resorting to animal deaths to make yet another profit off it's marketing strategy. Disgraceful.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Jack Campin
Date: 04 Apr 07 - 05:28 AM

There was no reason except profitability for gluten ever to be used in catfood. Some cats are gluten-intolerant - one of ours has similar symptoms to a human with coeliac disease, and we haven't spotted it in time he would have died years ago.

Barley is no better.

For years now we haven't bought any catfood that lists wheat or "cereals" on the label.

Any Mudcatters near Edinburgh want a couple of kittens? Either Eccles and Siouxsie, or Gerald and Poppy, from the photos here:

http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/Cats/

Those pairs are very attached to each other and we don't want to split them up.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Nancy King
Date: 04 Apr 07 - 08:15 PM

Finally talked to the vet yesterday. Roscoe's blood work does look a little better, but still not normal. She suggested reducing the subcutaneous fluid injections to every other day, and then checking back in about a month to see how that works.

I did ask about making my own cat food, but she said she did not recommend it. It's very hard to get the proper balance, and there are a number of necessary elements (vitamins and other stuff) that it's very hard to deal with in homemade food. So I guess I'm off the hook on that score. She said if Roscoe doesn't like the prescription food, I should try a Fancy Feast variety with no more than 10% protein. So I went to the store today and squinted at the tiny print on each of 25 or 30 different flavors of Fancy Feast. One -- count 'em, one -- said it contained a minimum of 10% protein. Minimum, not maximum. So I bought a few cans of that, but I think the best deal is just to hope he gets used to the prescription stuff.

Haven't yet heard back from the class-action lawsuit people.

The MD FDA did leave a message once, but hasn't called back since.

To be continued, no doubt...

Nancy

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: GUEST,Milky Way
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 12:03 AM

What a downer. Sorry about the cat. I was just reading last week about how to make gluten at home. Seriously. Separate it out and all that as some kind of wonder food. But it's bad for you? That part must have been hidden under the Milky Way smear on my monitor. Is gluten really bad for you?

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Peace
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 01:16 AM

If you're allergic, yes!

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Bee
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 07:09 AM

Guest Milky Way, gluten is fine for most omnivorous humans, but we're talking about carnivorous cats, who don't normally consume any more vegetation than might be found in the stomach of a mouse.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 04:33 PM

News of the day. Posted without comment:

Apr 05, 2007 03:12 PM
Curtis Rush
Staff Reporter

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration admitted Thursday that the official number of pet deaths related to tainted food will climb much higher than the 16 reported so far.

"This (16) is a number we recognize is nowhere near the reality and that there are many more animals that have been affected," said Stephen Sundloff, director of the Center of Veterinary Medicine at the FDA.

The FDA said that in the past three weeks it has received more than 12,000 consumer complaints, more than twice the number of complaints it usually receives in a year for any product.

Sundloff was speaking Thursday in a teleconference call from the U.S. to update reporters on the investigation into the suspected melamine at the heart of the massive recall, one of the largest in the FDA's history.

"We're not saying we think that's an accurate number," Sundloff said. "Trying to put an estimate at this time is something we can't do. It's hard to get good clinical evidence. We have no good information what the final number will be or the extent of this tragedy."

Sundloff said the FDA doesn't have the resources necessary to confirm numbers at this time.

Meanwhile, the FDA identified another pet-food company in the U.S. that announced a food recall Thursday, adding to the massive recalled triggered last month by Mississauga-based Menu Foods after 16 animals died of kidney failure in tests.

The FDA said Sunshine Mills Inc. in Alabama is recalling dog biscuits made with imported Chinese wheat gluten, which is believed to have contained melamine.

Melamine is suspected of causing kidney failure in pets, but the FDA doesn't know how melamine, which is used in fertilizer and plastics, got into the pet food.

Also Thursday, Menu Foods expanded its original recall to include a broader range of dates, the FDA said.

Menu Foods spokesperson Sam Bornstein said the expanded recall now dates back to Nov. 8 and involves an additional 20 products, none of which are available in Canada.

Bornstein said this is a precautionary measure.

Menu Foods has being inundated with about 300,000 calls since the recall of 60 millions tins of wet food on March 16, but the company said on its website that its calling centres will be mostly silent this weekend to mark the Easter holiday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration told reporters Thursday that it believes the latest recall will be the last, although it can never be 100 per cent certain.

The FDA's Sundloff said pet owners can be assured that the food their pets are eating today will not likely be part of a recall at a later date.

"The public should feel secure about the products not subject to the recall," Sundloff said. "We don't know of any others that are potentially pending. My recommendation to consumers is that we should have (the recalls) all wrapped up."

Sunshine Mills is now among about six companies that have announced recalls of both wet and dry food. The others include Nestle Purina, Del Monte and Hills Pet Nutrition Inc.

"These recalled products represent less than 1 per cent of the pet food industry," said Sundloff. "There remains an ample supply of pet food through the United States."

The FDA is still identifying melamine, a largely non-toxic chemical normally found in fertilizer and plastics such as kitchenware, as the chief agent responsible for the pet deaths.

Officials said there is no reason to suspect any of the suspect chemical, melamine in the wheat gluten, has entered the human food chain.

A single U.S. supplier imported the wheat gluten from China, according to the FDA.

FDA officials are working with the Chinese authorities to investigate the wheat gluten from one particular company in that country.

Menu Foods said Thursday that ChemNutra Inc. was the former supplier of its wheat gluten. Based in Las Vegas, it no longer supplies Menu Foods. ChemNutra imported the wheat gluten from a company the FDA has identified as Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. in Wangdien, China. Records from Menu Foods show that products from ChemNutra were first used on Nov. 8 and last used on March 6.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Charley Noble
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 09:44 PM

Nancy-

Fancy Feast seems to have eluded any list of suspects that we have found. We're still using the Fancy Feast Medley which our two finicky cats seem to thrieve on.

However, we are not vets or FDA scientists

I bet someone saved a penny a can on the wheat gluten deal they got from China.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Nancy King
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 10:12 PM

I'm not concerned with any tainted food with Fancy Feast, but I'm trying to comply with the vet's instructions about Roscoe's nutritional needs. It ain't easy, but I doubt he'll starve.

Nancy

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: katlaughing
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 08:53 AM

More recalls:

Sunshine Mills, of Red Bay, Ala., manufactures branded and private label dry pet food and biscuits. The recalled biscuits include Nurture Chicken and Rice Biscuit, Ol' Roy Peanut Butter Biscuit and Pet Life Large Biscuit.

Conrad Pitts, a lawyer for Sunshine Mills, said 80 percent of the tainted biscuits were sold by Wal-Mart, under the Ol' Roy brand. Mr. Pitts said that the company had produced about 24 truckloads of biscuits with the contaminated gluten, and that the majority of the product was large biscuits. He said wheat gluten accounted for less than 1 percent of the total weight of the biscuits.

and,

Menu Foods, which last month recalled more than 90 brands of its "cuts and gravy" pet food, said yesterday that it had extended the period of time covered by its recall to include food made after Nov. 8, 2006. The company, based in Ontario, initially recalled only food made from Dec. 3, 2006, to March 6, 2007.

The company also added 20 additional varieties of those brands to the recall list yesterday. Information about the recalled pet food can be found at www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Sorcha
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 10:08 AM

A few weeks ago, some one gave us a bag of dog treats...I didn't give them out as I prefer Flavoured Milk Bones. I checked the brand etc last night....Sunshine Mills. Glad I didn't feed them. Just luck, I guess.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Metchosin
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 11:31 AM

This is the first time I've been really thankful that my dogs are allergic to wheat, beef and chicken. While bits of salmon jerky and goat cheese worked OK for training, our vet didn't even recommend a big ham bone for them to gnaw on, so finding commercially prepared hard dog treats, that were also good for their teeth, was particularly a pain in the ass.

Then we discovered "Lucky Dog" dog biscuits! I figure that any company that would use saskatoon berries in their product has a lot of jam. How's that as a commercial for them? I should own stock. LOL

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: beardedbruce
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 12:07 PM

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1607483,00.html?xid=site-cnn-partner

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: beardedbruce
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 12:41 PM

Thursday, April 05, 2007
On the toxic pet food story....
Our correspondent Joe Johns and his team are breaking some news on the pet food scandal:

Most of us had been assuming that somewhere along the supply-chain the wheat gluten that goes into pet food was accidentally contaminated by the chemical melamine. Testing is still underway, but toxicologists suspect that the crystals containing melamine and found in animals' kidneys is making them ill or killing them.

The phrase to focus on here is "accidentally contaminated." The FDA now tells us it's investigating whether or not the contamination was intentional -- and profit-motivated.

Here's why:

The FDA says it's possible that melamine can be used to raise protein levels in wheat gluten. Higher protein levels make the wheat gluten more valuable. So, based on his conversation with the FDA, here's what Joe is looking at tonight: Was this all about money?

All the companies -- including the Chinese company that the FDA says distributed the tainted gluten, the Xuzhou Anying Biologic Development Co. -- have denied adding melamine to the wheat gluten in the pet food.

Here's another thing:

The FDA has now received more than 12,000 complaints about contaminated pet food. That's more than the total number of complaints the FDA had received over the past two years.
Posted By David Doss, "360" Executive Producer: 7:39 PM ET

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: GUEST, Ebbie
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 04:56 PM

I don't understand WHY the US is buying ingestables at all from China. It is well documented that China has a deplorable record of contamination in numerous categories. Given that, I would think that export would be barred. Their claim that no tainted foods were sent or will be sent to the US is suspect in the extreme.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17980629/

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Charley Noble
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 08:56 PM

Guest Ebbie-

Please reread this thread. China is hardly unique in terms of producing contaminated grain and trying to cover up the contamination.

However, when contamination becomes evident, as it has in this case, it is important that everyone concerned become actively involved so that the source of the contamination is clearly identified by the scientific authorities who might prefer to ignore such "problems." We may yet be able to achieve international safeguards in the manufacturing process. Or maybe not!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Ebbie
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 12:09 PM

That fact, Charley, doesn't change the fact that China has a continuous battle versus contamination. Read the link I gave.

My point is that if things in China are as bad as that link says, no other country has any business trusting its quality control.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Becca72
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 12:25 PM

"I don't understand WHY the US is buying ingestables at all from China"

Maybe I'm being dense here, but Menu Foods is a Canadian company...

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Ebbie
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 02:17 PM

Yes, but reportedly the contaminent(s) came from China. Whether the ingredients were put together in Canada or in the US, my point remains.

Given China's record I don't - at all trust the safety of any food it can export, whether for pets or for humans.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Big Mick
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 03:16 PM

Menu Foods is a Canadian company. The plant causing all the fuss, however, is located in Pennsauken, New Jersey.

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Becca72
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 03:20 PM

Ok, thank you for clearing that up, Mick. I didn't hear anything about the NJ plant and thought the trouble was coming out of Ontario. Much appreciated.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Big Mick
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 03:39 PM

Up until last May, I represented these workers in their labor relations. They are a good bunch, and this company always took quality control and the welfare of the animals, very seriously. I represented numbers of workers (including the one mentioned in my earlier post) in discipline hearing over the issue of quality control. The point the company raised many times was that the health of peoples beloved pets was at stake.

As I said in the earlier post, as a Union Organizer I don't defend corporate interests often, but in every dealing I have had with this company they have been very concerned for the pets of their clients. I believe when this all shakes out, the company will have been blindsided by tainted ingredients.

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Metchosin
Date: 08 Apr 07 - 03:22 AM

The question has been raised as to why the US imported wheat gluten from China. Almost all of North America's wheat gluten, for both PET and HUMAN CONSUMPTION is imported. It is cheaper than home produced gluten. And we can, to a great extent, blame that on the use of CORN starch as a sweetener in North America. I believe that the corn industry in the US is heavily subsidized.

The largest exporter of wheat gluten to the US is Europe, because Europeans use their heavily subsizied wheat starch to produce their sweeteners and consequently in the manufacturing process, they have a lot of left over gluten, which they export.

More on the story here

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Metchosin
Date: 08 Apr 07 - 03:32 AM

If I had been a little clearer in my thinking, I would have suggested that subsidies, in general, appear to be the root cause, not corn specifially.....but its late and my brain hurts.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Ebbie
Date: 08 Apr 07 - 11:52 AM

This is the kind of problem I'm referring to:

"Chemical scares and mass poisonings are common in China, which has been struggling to improve a dismal food-safety record. Manufacturers often mislabel food products or add illegal substances to them. Cooks routinely disregard hygiene rules or mistakenly use industrial chemicals instead of salt and other ingredients.

"Last year, seven companies were punished for using banned Sudan I dye to color egg yolks red. The industrial dye, a possible carcinogen used for leather, floor polish and other household chemicals, has been found in various consumer products sold in China, such as roasted meat, chili powder and lipstick.

"In 2004, at least 12 infants died from malnutrition after drinking formula with little or no nutritional value in eastern China's Anhui province."

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Apr 07 - 12:15 AM

This is unfucking believable:

By Julianna Goldman

April 12 (Bloomberg) -- Pet food with contaminated wheat gluten from China is still being sold in stores, U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said.

``We know that there is not 100 percent of the product off the shelf,'' Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, said today at a Senate panel holding a hearing on last month's recall of contaminated pet food.

The FDA is examining tainted pet food that has been linked to the deaths of at least 16 cats and dogs. Canada's Menu Foods Ltd. has recalled more than 60 million cans and pouches of food sold under brand names such Procter & Gamble Co.'s Iams and Nestle SA's Mighty Dog.

The FDA discovered pet food tainted with melamine, a substance used to make plastic kitchen utensils and fertilizer, that was traced to a supply of wheat gluten obtained from China by ChemNutra Inc. of Las Vegas.

PetConnection.com, a Web site that has been tracking the recall, said 3,973 pets deaths from tainted food have been reported as of this morning. About 12,419 cats and dogs have been reported sick. The site says the tally shouldn't be considered official because the numbers are ``self reported.''

Sundlof also told the panel that less than one-third of pet-food processing facilities have been inspected in the last three years.

``Over the past 3 1/2 years, we've inspected approximately 30 percent of all the pet food manufacturers in the United States,'' he said.

Adequate Inspection?

``Do you think that's an adequate inspection to protect the quality and wholesomeness and safety of pet food products?'' asked Senator Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who called for the hearing. ``I think what's happened with pet food contamination is an indication that we are not dedicating the most basic resources to this endeavor, and we've seen the outcome.''

Durbin said he wanted to know why it took Menu Foods at least 22 days to recall the food after it first suspected potential problems.

Earlier this week, Menu Foods, which is based in the Toronto suburb of Streetsville, expanded its recall after finding additional tainted pet food at a plant in Canada.

Menu Foods Income Fund, which owns Menu Foods Ltd., rose 8 cents, or 1.9 percent, to C$4.20 on the Toronto Stock Exchange today. The stock has dropped 43 percent since the day before the recall.

To contact the reporter on this story: Julianna Goldman in Washington at [e-mail]

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: beardedbruce
Date: 17 Apr 07 - 11:10 AM

Natural Balance recalls venison dog, cat foods
POSTED: 9:22 a.m. EDT, April 17, 2007

Story Highlights• Natural Balance recalls types of dog, cat food
• Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food , Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Food recalled
• Last month, Menu food recalled 60,000 cans of pet food
• Large veterinary chain sees 30 percent increase in kidney failure

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Natural Balance Pet Foods recalled two kinds of pet food after receiving reports of animals vomiting and experiencing kidney problems, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday.

The recall includes all date codes of Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Food.

The company does not know the cause of the problem, but said it is focused on one particular lot.

Natural Balance Pet Foods is working with the FDA to investigate the matter and is urging consumers to not feed either pet food product to their animals.

Last month, Menu Foods recalled 60 million cans of dog and cat food after the deaths of 16 pets, mostly cats, that ate its products. (Details on recall)

The FDA said tests indicated the food was contaminated with an industrial chemical, melamine.

At least six pet food companies have recalled products made with imported Chinese wheat gluten tainted with the chemical. The recall involved about 1 percent of the U.S. pet food supply.

FDA spokeswoman Julie Zawisza said the agency had no indication that the Natural Balance case is related to the melamine problem.

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Nancy King
Date: 17 Apr 07 - 09:51 PM

Boy, this just doesn't stop, does it? What a miserable situation.

Roscoe seems to be doing OK at this point, but still needs his subcutaneous fluid injections every other day -- and probably will for the rest of his life. What a drag. BTW, I never have heard back from the class-action lawsuit people, or for that matter, the FDA. Someone from the Maryland FDA did leave a message on my answering machine at one point, saying they'd call back later, but they never did. Maybe I'll try leaving another message, though I doubt I'll ever get any compensation from anybody.

Nancy

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: GUEST,Dianne
Date: 19 Apr 07 - 09:44 AM

My dogs and cats have always eaten PHD foods. I can't believe how healthy they are! You can read more about their program at www.viandpet.com

Right now I have two Shiloh Shepheds and when this recall happened i am so glad I didn't have to worry about anything.

This is also not a plug but just want to let people know about this life-changing program and how much better your animals will be.

Dianne

Subject: RE: BS: Poison pet food
From: Metchosin
Date: 19 Apr 07 - 11:18 AM

Well its not just wheat gluten now. Its seems that Natural Balance's rice protein concentrate from China, also contains melamine.