Pet-food recall: The road back home
By Gina Spadafori
May 1, 2007
- If you have a sick pet or a question on your pet’s health, call your veterinarian.
- If you’re new to the site, please check out our general information page (includes information on recalled foods).
- If you want to report a sick or deceased pet, click here.
Christie’s latest column for the SF Chronicle’s Web site, SFGate.com, is now up and looks at what has happened so far and what should happen to get our pets’ food back where it we expect it to be.
She had to revise it late last night, when the deeply buried FDA import alert came to light, with the FDA’s acknowledgment that the agency had received more than ”17,000 consumer complaints relating to this outbreak, and those complaints included reports of approximately 1950 deaths of cats and 2200 deaths of dogs.”
From the piece:
Do we want to go back to the days of arguing over which pet food gave our pets shinier coats and brighter eyes, instead of worrying about whether they’ll destroy their kidneys or trigger an international food safety crisis? Do pet food companies want to regain consumer trust? If so, here are a few suggestions.
Government agencies must conduct rigorous and regular inspections of pet food manufacturing plants. At a recent congressional hearing on the recall, it was revealed that only one-third of all pet food manufacturing plants had been inspected in the last three years.
Regulation of pet food must be streamlined, effective and meaningful. Right now, there’s a complicated patchwork of federal, state and industry standards that no one is really coordinating, with loopholes big enough to drive a truck through.
Require industry transparency and accountability. Pet food labels need to be clear, honest and accurate. They should include country-of-origin labeling as well as listing the actual manufacturer of the food and an 800 number to contact them. And if something is present in the food, it needs to be listed on the label.
Veterinarians need to be brought more fully into the human public health system, including the tracking of animal illness on a national level.
The FDA was founded in 1938 with one clear mission: “protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation.”
If the organization wants to regain our trust, that’s a really good place to start.
I know some commenters are going to flay me alive for saying this, but I think the pet-food companies have been blown away by what happened. They’re stunned, and that’s why they’ve reacted with such shoot-the-messenger defensiveness. It’s a natural, and very human response.
But there is a huge opportunity for pet-food companies to lead the way to restoring consumer confidence in all food safety. Those companies that quit pointing fingers at everyone else and get back to the work of providing proven, safe and good food for our pets will be the ones that come out of this the best.
Start being honest with us, about what happened and why, and about how you’re taking steps so it doesn’t happen again. Get honest with your labeling, so we can make informed decisions. You know how to feed pets, nutrition backed by decades of real science. It’s time to get back to those basics. Lead us out of this mess, and quit making us drag you behind us kicking and screaming, you and the FDA both.
You know how do it, and you know what needs to be done. Now let’s see you step up.
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For those of you not visiting the Itchmo “Making A Difference” forums, I’m creating a Webshots online photo album of affected pets, to go along with the postcard blitz. I’m asking anyone whose pet was sick or died to email me a photo along with their pet’s name, the foods they ate, date of passing if they died, and contact info (email address, city and state).
Email to: AngelSimba61 at yahoo dot com. I’ll post a link to the website once there are photos in it (my pets weren’t affected).
Please spread the word. :)
Comment by Donna — May 1, 2007 @ 8:15 am
GINA,hOW IS Heather doing?
Comment by Mary Ann — May 1, 2007 @ 8:20 am
I won’t flay you Gina - or even filet you - but I will express my opinion.
“They’re stunned, and that’s why they’ve reacted with such shoot-the-messenger defensiveness.”
So stunned they sat on the info for 3 weeks while more pets died from their toxic food? So stunned they sold their company stocks before the bad news went public? So stunned they didn’t bother to TEST their products for melamine until AFTER they got reports of pets dying from their particular brand of food even though the melamine contanimation news had been out for WEEKS?
*I* am the one who’s stunned. The pet food industry is not going to lead me anywhere. Again.
If they want to do a complete about face and clean up their act, I’ll welcome it. But I’ll monitor their actions in future with a much more skeptical eye.
Comment by slt — May 1, 2007 @ 8:26 am
Re: Heather. Thanks for asking! I will get test results back today, but she seems 100 percent back to normal now. Pending test results, I’m figuring it was a UTI.
:) Gina
Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 1, 2007 @ 8:29 am
Gina ~ I just posted & sent you an email about various countries banning our meats/poultry. From a USDA FSIS Alert
PRETTY BAD ~ JUST GOT ALERT IN EMAIL!!!
THE U.S. IS BEING BANNED FOR MEATS/POULTRY
I KNEW THAT WOULD HAPPEN SINCE TYSON NOR THE FDA INITATED A RECALL.
THE COUNTY I LIVE IN IS BANNED - KARNES, TX!
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regul...../index.asp
Here’s the FSIS index: http://tinyurl.com/y887wo
This is VERY BAD!!!
I AM SHAKING — CALLING MY NEIGHBORS - WE LIVE IN A RURAL AREA WHERE THERE ARE MANY BREEDERS.
Tyson is about 40 mi up the road & a chicken processing plant is 20 miles. Bryant drives for the largest refrigerated trucking company & hauls to MX. This is ricocheting.
Comment by Kat — May 1, 2007 @ 8:36 am
I have YET to see any pet food company saying any of things that need to be said. Not on TV and not in press releases.
“These are the symptoms that indicate your pet has been poisoned and we want to get the news out to prevent more suffering.”
“Here is a nice fat fund, administered by a third party, to help pay for the staggering Vet bills that are being incurred by pet parents.”
“We want to apologize to every pet parent who has been constantly insulted and wounded by the continued use of the 16 “official” deaths phrase.”
And they had better get a time machine and hop in it because they needed to be doing this weeks ago. I have posted before that this is what it would take to even begin to forgive, and this blog , as well as others, is HEAVILY and constantly monitored by pet food company employees. Some of whom have posted without identifying themselves.
The pet food companies knew what they should do, they just did not want to do it.
Doing the right thing, much like making a product that would not kill or sicken our pets, just is not a priority.
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 1, 2007 @ 8:42 am
Gina said: But there is a huge opportunity for pet-food companies to lead the way to restoring consumer confidence in all food safety.
Start by being honest. Yes, that would be good. I think they should hire somebody to write letters that should go on every single danged front page of the pet food companies. Why hire someone? Because they don’t have the faintest idea how to say - we’re sorry, this is a horrible state of affairs, but rest assured, the ONE thing you can’t count on is the BUCK STOPS HERE. And we will do what you are asking for - keep labeling absolutely up to date to protect your pets.
That’s ONE, one thing they could do out of many, but is probably the single most important thing. I’ve seen so much sniveling, whining, one word non-informative answers and backpedaling it makes me ill. The ONLY good letter I’ve seen came from Waggin’ TAils.
And they should believe people when they say that there is nothing, absolutely nothing any more that will cause “blind panic” in the pet households any more……..except withholding information.
So let’s get with it, pet food companies. Don’t you have anyone on your staff that can actually write a credible letter? Oh, and it must be signed by the president or CEO of the company. Because THAT’s the desk where the buck stops.
And as an aside, this goes for the AVMA too. Time to get on the wagon with the rest of us and address this issue of labeling. Time to speak up.
Comment by CathyA — May 1, 2007 @ 8:43 am
Gina…..let us know when you get the results. I was going to ask about Heather but somebody beat me to it. Glad she’s feeling better. We were all praying for her……
Comment by JanC — May 1, 2007 @ 8:44 am
I recently read an article about how doctors never apologize because they were taught in medical school that an apology is the same thing as an admission of guilt and will increase their liability in a court of law. Oh, the tangled web our legal process weaves . . . . .
I’d love to see apologies, too. But I suspect they won’t be forthcoming due to the same kind of reasoning I’ve just described.was
Comment by Pat — May 1, 2007 @ 8:49 am
Ignore the word “was” at the end of that. “Cut and paste” snafu!
Comment by Pat — May 1, 2007 @ 8:50 am
Unless someone gets the pet food execs on tape having a dinner with live monkeys brains as the entree then I have to say I don’t know how they could make the liability issue any worse.
By the way, even Doctors are being “retaught” the manners they need to treat patients with respect.
It has been found that being polite works better than being a jerk.
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 1, 2007 @ 9:02 am
Oh - and a “step back and take a look” reminder: With how WIDESPREAD this whole thing has gotten, it’s easy for our initial anger at MenuFoods to get lost in the shuffle. And I just want to emphasize once again, that their wrongdoing must NOT be forgotten or minimized in comparisong to everything that followed.
Everything (the accomplishments that are just starting to trickle out in terms of changes for the better) would have happened WEEKS sooner had MenuFoods not sat on what they knew in some vain hope that it wasn’t really that bad and would blow over.
The changes that are coming still need to come, but a whole lot fewer pets would have died if MenuFoods hadn’t been so concerned with looking out for their corporate assets (and feel free to delete the “t” from that word!)
Comment by Pat — May 1, 2007 @ 9:03 am
Great article Gina! If there ever is another 911 (God forbid, something horrible that happens)we need people like petconnection to pull us through and get things done. They have thumbed their noses at the big guys and stomped their feet and told the truth.
It is sad that the CEO of Menu Foods, from the get go, hid his cowardly face. He could of helped … he could of saved a few pets.
Menu Foods… if you would like to continue in the Pet Food business - please, we implore you, look to petconnection for the proper way to handle a crisis of this magnitude.
MR. PAUL K. HENDERSON, CEO AND PRESIDENT OF MENU FOODS…. (and I know you are reading this) contact petconnection. We think they can give you some much needed advice.
And for all of you at the FDA - it wouldn’t hurt if you heeded this as well!
PS. Mr. Henderson, you can come out from underneath your bed now.
Comment by sue — May 1, 2007 @ 9:08 am
Our entire food supply is in question and these companies have fed the toxic waste to chickens, pigs, and business as usual with Corn Gluten fed to cows - and that too is probably spiked with Melamine and who knows what else.
This is a terrible scandal and I don’t understand why more citizens are not enraged and demanding changes?
What about our children? Evidently the government and corporations do not care that much about our pets, are our children disposable too?
Comment by Linda — May 1, 2007 @ 9:21 am
Seeing that Menu Foods plant made me ill. Just seeing the filth is enough to kill something.
Comment by Steve — May 1, 2007 @ 9:33 am
We need to step up inspections on food production facilities in this country also.
It’s no wonder people are getting freaking sick every other week.
That Menu Plant looks like a disease factory.
Comment by Steve — May 1, 2007 @ 9:41 am
Pet Connection Blog and Christie Keith have made the Google News:
“…Pet Connection Blog is all over the protein additive scandal”
http://tinyurl.com/35ww9r
Comment by Nadine Long — May 1, 2007 @ 9:43 am
Something’s wrong again. I just posted a message about the WDIV program last night and it showed up on Doggy Rentals. If you want me to repost it I will or please go to the item under Doggy Rentals.
I had emailed WDIV this morning and received a reply from Barbara Roethler, Managing Editor WDIV-TV. broethler@clickondetroit.com. The story last night on the news, WDIV did undercover reporting and it is like WOW, blow your mind. Sent Barbara another email thanking her and the WDIV staff for the report. Hope you guys can check it out.
Comment by VJ — May 1, 2007 @ 9:52 am
The media has been invited here. They are our friends!
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 9:55 am
Well VJ, I can’t find doggy rentals. I want to see your post!
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 9:57 am
I don’t know if anyone went to that USDA FSIS Alert for Mexico. It’s a long report & near the bottom they state there will be 100% batch testing.
Boy! What a concept! MX is ahead of us!
Comment by Kat — May 1, 2007 @ 9:59 am
http://www.spockosbrain.com/
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 10:05 am
Hey is CatLady here? I just read this:
http://www.wysong.net/menufoods.shtml
at the Wysong website. Wow. What condescension toward their customers!
Yes we are all crazy irrational bloggers who listen to wild rumors (that are based on actual information that the FDA finally acknowledges.)
CatLady wrote a brilliant response to their FAQ and I just wanted to acknowledge it.
I’m also not going to flay alive Gina about her suggestion (Hello? Flay someone alive? Gross.) I think that Gina believes, like I do, that people are basically good. There are plenty of people within companies that want to do the right thing, but frankly they are getting bad advice. (See my good advice below! Of course I’m just a blogger, not a highly paid consultant/lawyer who has given them the bad advice, so they won’t listen to me.)
Their instincts to do the right thing has been beaten out of them because they often are told that the right thing does NOT involve anything that would upset the status quo.
There are people who are truly guilty of bad performance and communications to customers. Those people need to be held accountable for their specific actions or inactions. Some acted through omission some through acts of commission. The crisis communications people and the lawyers, manufacturers and Wall Street all tell them, “Calm down, this is not that big. Don’t listen to a few hysterical pet owners.This is only 1% of the food. ” I also read how the people at Menu have the retailers and food manufacturers over a barrel because they have become one of the only games in town in the short term until they could find someone else with capacity.
We can all remember the H.L. Mencken quote: “Never argue with a man whose job depends on not being convinced.”
Because they have no incentive to open this up, look deeper and deal with some structural problems. So of course they won’t jump into, “Let’s fix the system!”
I’ve posted some things that they could have done
a Hey pet Food Companies. Here’s what to do!.
Comment by spocko — May 1, 2007 @ 10:06 am
It’s Looking for a Rental and your Dog Better be Small. Sorry. I just got so excited after viewing the story, I’m not thinking.
Comment by VJ — May 1, 2007 @ 10:08 am
Slaughter the hogs and chickens now “on hold”. Have a Bar-B-Q and insist that all FDA/USDA officials (starting at the very top) show up with wives, children/grandchildren in tow. Make it festive and invite the media. Only when I see them feeding their own families this garbage will I begin to believe their facile assurances that mela-meat is safe to eat.
Comment by Eva — May 1, 2007 @ 10:08 am
I saw that cat, and had the same thought.
We’re a real mess.
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 10:09 am
oops.
cat > Kat
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 10:10 am
The media is my friend when they start reporting something that does not include the dread 16 number and quit insulting pet parents as “hysterical and confused”.
The issue that the entire country has been eating poison for years, was it a mainstream journalist who dug that up?
It was the “hysterical and confused” pet parents.
Who have done investigative work that shames the professionals, done it while suffering staggering losses and illnesses of their pets, done it while paying Vet bills that are mind boggling, done it while doing research that could qualify for a university degree and by the way, mainstream journalists, no one, NO ONE would know about the poisoning of America if not for these “hysterical pet owners”.
So, yeah, I would really like the folks who did the work to get more credit and less insults.
Just a hint for “the press”.
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 1, 2007 @ 10:10 am
Comment by Kat — May 1, 2007 @ 9:59 am
Our beloved America has become a third-world country. We have lost the respect of the world. We are no longer that great power. ‘They’ (and I mean all of them) blew it but “we the people” can get it back.
Comment by Nadine Long — May 1, 2007 @ 10:10 am
Way back when the first recall came out , I thought I remembered that one large USA customer canceled their contract with Menu prior to the recall according to one of the earlier press releases. Anybody knows who that was? I apologize if my memory is failing me, or if I missed something, so much info has been put out since that time.
Comment by Serijna — May 1, 2007 @ 10:11 am
Go to http://www.clickondetroit.com/.....index.html for WDIV undercover story on recall.
Comment by VJ — May 1, 2007 @ 10:13 am
Gina, loved your post. I hope the pet food industry will step up and lead us all to restored food safety. But I think it will really be you, Christie, Itchmo and howl911 that lead us back.
Comment by kb — May 1, 2007 @ 10:13 am
See the full article at:
http://www.iht.com/articles/20.....ws/fda.php
However, you might hurry as the IHT pulled a critcal article of Chinese practices over the weekend and I haven’t seen it in full again.
NEW YORK: Early in the 20th century, the safeguarding of food at American ports often amounted to inspectors from the Food and Drug Administration prying open containers of molasses or sugar and examining them for mold or insect parts.
The FDA has come a way since then, but not much more.
Last year, inspectors sampled just 20,662 shipments out of the more than 8.9 million that arrived at American ports. China, which in one decade has become the third-largest exporter of food, by value, to the United States, sent 199,000 shipments, of which less than 2 percent were sampled, former officials with the agency said.
Now, as the agency’s inspectors travel to China to investigate the source of contaminated pet food that has killed at least 16 dogs and cats and sickened thousands of others, critics in Washington are warning that the agency is woefully understaffed and underfinanced to keep America’s food supply safe.
Another excerpt:
“Emulsifiers” or “stabilizers” found in chewing gums and candies, for example, increasingly come from sub-Saharan Africa and Pakistan, Hubbard, the former agency official, said.
Imports of milling industry products like wheat gluten, while still small, have more than doubled in value since 1996. Food processors use glutens to raise protein content and thicken everything from candy bars to pet food.
“In the same meal these days, we may be eating food from several regions of the world,” said Caroline Smith DeWaal, the director of food safety for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington lobbying group. “But you get what you pay for in terms of food safety. These food processors may be looking for a cheap new source, but they may pay for it down the line.”
I have e-mailed them regarding the updated numbers available from the FDA. Hopefully, this “urban legend” of so few deaths will go away at some point.
Comment by Jay — May 1, 2007 @ 10:16 am
I spoke with *** Barilla *** today, they returned my call 3 days from original call.
The wheat, for their pasta, comes from the US & Canada. I’ve been calling manufacturers directly from the store, holding there package/can/box, if the country-of-origin is not clearly listed.
I told her that they may want to start putting the source of their products on the packagin because people are very concerned about where their food comes from. I also stated that “Made in the U.S.A.” really has no meaning when we import ingredients with the click of a mouse, ie: internet world trade markets.
I told her that legislation was coming soon that will demand that products are clearly labeled & that they will be one step ahead of the competition.
I spoke to *** R & F Brand *** pasta yesterday. They import from the US & Canada, as well. They are in the durum grain belt.
*** Riceland *** Natural Brown Rice clearly states on the bag: Grown in the USA.
I’ve been buying that for quite awhile.
Comment by Kat — May 1, 2007 @ 10:18 am
Last year, I learned (the hard way) what I was filling my pets’ bowls with (known allergens: corn, wheat & soy). Fortunately, I got my pets on a holistic diet (made in an FDA & APHIS approved human-grade facility in the USA).
Did you know a LOT of the commercial foods in the USA that you get on a shelf MAY contain *D* animals ? Dead, diseased, disabled, dying, and/or drugged!!! And those same foods can be 6-18 months old and have sat on a semi thru a severe weather change. Appetizing, huh?
Tina in Florida
Comment by Tina Valant — May 1, 2007 @ 10:18 am
http://tinyurl.com/3xqfxw
Can I get feedback on this please? Maybe I’m being paranoid because of what we are currently going through.
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 10:21 am
My cat, Maggie, survived the first wave of damage from the poisoning (ARF) but is now battling pancreatitis. My vet doesn’t know if this is a second wave of damage from the melanine, or if it’s an unrelated condition related to her age (17). Is anyone else whose dog or cat went through ARF and survived now battling pancreatitis? Thanks.
Comment by Bernadette — May 1, 2007 @ 10:21 am
Comment by Nadine Long — May 1, 2007 @ 10:10 am
Were back to 1906 and Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.
Sinclair’s account of workers falling into meat processing tanks and being ground, along with animal parts, into “Durham’s Pure Leaf Lard”, gripped public attention.
http://tinyurl.com/gnyu8
Comment by Steve — May 1, 2007 @ 10:22 am
The food from the U.S. might not be safe either, the GM grains and foods are barred from many countries and I wish they were barred here!
We are in deep deep doodoo and it is time to start shoveling our way out.
Some better than being in the poop and just not knowing but still not pleasant.
Poison or frankenfood?
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 1, 2007 @ 10:25 am
http://www.crystalair.com/cont.....3200704020
Now this one I had never even heard of until now. We have so much crap in our dog food that people snort the stuff?
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 10:27 am
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 10:21 am
I tried to address this issue on itchmo and got nastygrams for doing so.
The FDA can’t do the job they have now, why should they be trying to do more?
Second, they have no business saying that I need a note to buy vitamins so they can just back off and I encourage everyone to use the feedback form to tell the FDA what you think and write those Senators and Representatives, we all know the address by heart now anyway.
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 1, 2007 @ 10:31 am
Bernadette,
We lost a cat to pancreatitis few weeks ago. Vet did not know either if it was the food or not. I feel for you.. I dont think we’ll ever know.
Comment by cat lover — May 1, 2007 @ 10:32 am
And keep in mind exactly who the sneaky politicians are who attached that bill and the way they did it in order to try to get it through. They’re mentioned right in the article. It’s just the rich trying to get richer, nothing more.
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 10:37 am
Gina,
I do believe the PFI manufacturers were stunned & hopefully stunned out of their complacency towards the concerns of its target market and the immensity of their betrayal of the brands reputations.
That complacency hinted at arrogance and their sense of control. Their own complacency is what is the hard pill for them to swallow and admit. The reputation of not only their business but the reputations of the brands has been negatively impacted.
The road back will be much more costly to them than the due diligence would have cost them.
They are avoiding responsibility by tossing rotten tomatoes of blame at each other and their repeated condescending treatement & patronizing attidue towards upset pet owners worsens the situation.
They apparently have not yet realized that they were the ones in control of what went in their products. They were responsible for knowing the state of Chinese imports. The brands, the manufacturers and the importers were in positions to protect their products.
If a reporter can take a quick look, then they should have too, it was their obligation to research the import market.
When they took control and pounded their chests with how well they self-regulated, they also crowned themselves with responsibility for this horrific tragedy.
It’s far too late for the to try to avoid that.
Ann H.
Comment by Ann H — May 1, 2007 @ 10:37 am
Comment by Ann H — May 1, 2007 @ 10:37 am
And painting themselves as “Victims”
Comment by Steve — May 1, 2007 @ 10:41 am
Steve,
The similarities of what was happening in 1906 are astounding.
And
“…Roosevelt was so concerned about the impact of Neill and Reynold’s report on westen stock growers and European meat importers that he did not release the findings for publication”..
But that won’t happen in 2007 because of Internet Blogs! Yessss.
Comment by Nadine Long — May 1, 2007 @ 10:45 am
Why did Menu Foods Income Fund plunge four times to ZERO between late August through Oct 6?
Really weird game they got going over there.
Comment by Steve — May 1, 2007 @ 10:47 am
Does howl911 have hacking or related problems???
They have not updated since 4/27 which is darned peculiar under the circumstances of the new numbers from the FDA and the dozens of other related stories.
Comment by Jay — May 1, 2007 @ 10:51 am
Gina,
glad to hear that Heather is better :)
I do believe that the pet food industry problem will resolve itself: I will never buy from any Menu Food-connected company again; I will actively search for companies who cook their stuff themselves, who label honestly and use good ingredients.
If enough other pet owners do the same, then the ‘regulation via wallet’ will be much more effective than some (incompetent) governmental agency, or the media (who lost the last shred of respect in ‘handling’ this scandal, IMO).
We don’t need a ‘They’ (‘They’ should do this, ‘they’ have to do that…) to move things, we are the ones who have it in our hands, errrrr, wallets to get exactly the changes that we want.
Comment by MaKo — May 1, 2007 @ 10:52 am
shelly, it’s hard to read such an overtly biased article with any kind of objectivity. But I’ll have a stab at it later in the day when work slows down.
Have you ever worked in any branch of the pharmaceuticals industry (such as in pharmaceutical development)?
I have, and the impact the existing regulatory controls have on just trying to get through your day-to-day work just boggles the mind.
Comment by Pat — May 1, 2007 @ 10:55 am
RE: Jay about Howl911 . com I was wondering about howl911, too.
********************
Does howl911 have hacking or related problems???
They have not updated since 4/27 which is darned peculiar under the circumstances of the new numbers from the FDA and the dozens of other related stories.
Comment by Jay — May 1, 2007 @ 10:51 am
Comment by petlover — May 1, 2007 @ 11:02 am
Comment by Steve — May 1, 2007 @ 10:47 am
Insider trading. They knew they had to get their money out somehow.
Comment by Nadine Long — May 1, 2007 @ 11:03 am
Who ARE the investors in Menu Foods?
Comment by Nadine Long — May 1, 2007 @ 11:05 am
As to GM foods, certain countries have (including the EU) have approved certain deemed safe varieties for import.( although most are not approved for cultivation). Big difference though vs USA. It has to be stated/disclosed on the label though(to the chagrin of the USA biotech/agribuss.). I believe that Sen. Barbara Boxer is working on legislation to have the same in this country. So comsumers have a choice.
Comment by Serijna — May 1, 2007 @ 11:05 am
CNN: Tainted wheat gluten in poultry feed on Indiana farms; no illnesses reported
NEW YORK (CNN) — U.S. federal health officials say recalled pet food containing tainted wheat gluten imported from China was found in chicken feed on some Indiana farms that grow poultry for human consumption.
In a joint statement, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture said Monday “the likelihood of illness after eating chicken fed the contaminated product is very low,” and therefore no chicken recall has been issued.
No human illnesses have been reported related to the minimally tainted poultry feed, according to the agencies.
The report is the latest development in the FDA’s investigation into the recall of more than 60 million cans of pet food after at least 17 cats and dogs died of kidney failure. (Posted 1:18 p.m.)
WOW, is it me or did they say minimally tainted?
WOW again, 17 cats and dogs.
Comment by sue — May 1, 2007 @ 11:09 am
This excerpt from the Washington Post explains why it is so difficult to detect tampering-spiking in these questionable Asian White Powders.
“Such products pose three problems: Their makeup is not obvious by mere visual inspection; they can be easily and invisibly contaminated or intentionally spiked with chemicals that are not on the FDA’s standard battery of tests; and their origins are often vague, because they have been through several stages of processing and trade..”
http://tinyurl.com/2du5bf
To my way of thinking this detection difficulty will be with us forever. And even more troublesome is what prevents the raw materials from being imported “pure” and then adulterated on our U.S. soil? Seems easy enough to by-pass FDA inspections.
The honor system doesn’t even work in high school, college, or kindergarten for that matter, how or why should it be expected to work where “greed” is the grand motivator?
Comment by Linda — May 1, 2007 @ 11:10 am
Jay-
I, too, was wondering about howl.911. Kept checking all weekend and not up-dated. I e-mailed the webmaster, but have not received a reply. Will post if I do.
Comment by Linda P. — May 1, 2007 @ 11:13 am
You know what bothers me about all of this? I was always proud to be American, I was proud of my country. As a child I was taught you do what is right, you don’t do someting you can’t be proud of. If you make a mistake, you own up to it and make it right. Before you put your name on something, make sure its the best it can be because reputation is what gets you thru life. What happened to these values in America? When did the almighty dollar become the only value that counted? The pet food companies forgot the important values but they’re not the only ones. It seems like most of America has forgotten the important values and something needs to change.
Comment by Sandy C — May 1, 2007 @ 11:21 am
This article in the N.Y. Times “Food Imports Often Escape Scrutiny” sums it all up nicely -
“The word is out,” he said. “If you send a problem shipment to the United States it is going to get in and you won’t get caught, and you won’t have your food returned to you, let alone get arrested or imprisoned.”
http://tinyurl.com/2tvfjc
We do not have a global watchdog agency to protect us or even the means to prosecute offenders across oceans, in China or elsewhere. I guess the joke’s on us – but no one is laughing.
Comment by Linda — May 1, 2007 @ 11:24 am
Our beloved America has become a third-world country. We have lost the respect of the world. We are no longer that great power. ‘They’ (and I mean all of them) blew it but “we the people” can get it back.
gezzzz…whatever!
Comment by Phil — May 1, 2007 @ 11:36 am
Shelly.. that bit from CAP about the snorting of pet food is just satire. It’s not for real. :)
Comment by Gwen — May 1, 2007 @ 11:36 am
Comment by Gwen — May 1, 2007 @ 11:36 am
You would THINK it is satire but the pet food execs and yeah I am looking at YOU wysong, have to be doing something that accounts for their actions, inactions, state of denial and weirdness that just screams for a straightjacket, antipsychotics in massive doses and a big smack upside the head with a cluestick.
I am more than willing to believe that they all just went crazy at the same time from trying to follow the FDA media releases.
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 1, 2007 @ 11:47 am
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 1, 2007 @ 11:47 am
“I am more than willing to believe that they all just went crazy at the same time from trying to follow the FDA media releases.”
………………………
Or perhaps *their* food was spiked with some hallucinogenic substance?
Comment by Ally — May 1, 2007 @ 11:50 am
I read about the China’s New Head of Foreign Ministry several days ago, but see it as more interesting. China has appointed Yang Jiechi, who was ambassador to the United States, to become the new foreign minister……This from the New York Times 4-28-07
“Mr. Yang assumes the helm at a time when China has greatly expanded its diplomatic activities around the world, especially in Asia and Africa, and as its economic growth and increased military spending have raised concerns in some quarters that it may begin to challenge Washington for leadership in world affairs.
http://tinyurl.com/3bacsc
And we buy toxic food ingredients from China? Ummmmm!
Comment by Linda — May 1, 2007 @ 11:51 am
*shakes head*
Honestly, I don’t know E.
There’s no sanity among the asylum inmates.
Comment by Ally — May 1, 2007 @ 11:52 am
Comment by Nadine Long — May 1, 2007 @ 11:05 am
I don’t have a clue who the players really are.
Comment by Steve — May 1, 2007 @ 11:56 am
Might be interesting to find out! I don’t have the means though. Anyone have access?
Comment by Nadine Long — May 1, 2007 @ 11:58 am
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 1, 2007 @ 11:47 am
“weirdness that just screams for a straightjacket, antipsychotics in massive doses and a big smack upside the head with a cluestick.”
I keep laughing at this one. Thanks E.
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 12:04 pm
A search on Yahoo with keywords in quotation marks “menu foods income fund” and “directors” or “management” or “trustees” will bring up cached pages of the players at Menu Foods. Menu Foods has removed all info from their website already about these individuals but certainly can’t get the cached pages off the search engines!
Comment by Nabiya — May 1, 2007 @ 12:06 pm
Menu Foods GenPar Limited (the general partner of Menu Foods Limited Partnership, a subsidiary of the Fund (“MFLP”))
Comment by Linda — May 1, 2007 @ 12:09 pm
“Is China Slowly Poisoning the World?”
Melamine is listed as causing skin, lung and eye irritation, but it is not particularly toxic. Indeed, even prolonged exposure is not known to aggravate existing medical conditions. With just a little bit of digging, the New York Times found that farmers in China have been using melamine for years to artificially boost protein ratings in low-quality plant protein products. One signature characteristic of protein, unlike fats and carbohydrates, is that it contains a significant amount of nitrogen. Melamine is a nitrogen-rich compound that fools the color test in laboratories to erroneously report high levels of protein when in fact little or no protein needs to be present.
Unless there is something important about melamine toxicity that is not known by scientists, then it is probable that melamine is not the major or only culprit in the pet food illnesses and deaths.
So then what exactly is causing the recent spate of pet illnesses and deaths? As a scientist I must initially conclude that there is not enough data to come to a firm conclusion. However, that does not mean that we cannot make well educated assumptions. Because melamine is not particularly toxic and is not known to cause kidney failure, it is logical to assume that there are other contaminants in pet food in addition to the melamine.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2s2mwm
Comment by Eva — May 1, 2007 @ 12:10 pm
Wysong’s Menu Recall page is now under construction.
Comment by Stephanie — May 1, 2007 @ 12:14 pm
Here’re some executives at Menu Foods, with email addresses to send your kind words to:
Robert W. Luba, Chairman of the Board of Trustees & Administration Board (rluba@menufoods.com)
Mark A. Wiens, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President, Secretary of Administrator (mwiens@menufoods.com)
Randall C. Copeland, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Administrator (rcopeland@menufoods.com)
William F. Grant, Executive Vice President - Corporate Purchasing & Logistics of Administrator (grant@menufoods.com)
Christopher J. Mifflin, Executive Vice President - Operations of Administrator (cmifflin@menufoods.com)
Richard G. Shields, Executive Vice President - Technical Services of Administrator (rshields@menufoods.com)
Serge Darkazanli, President and Chief Executive Officer (sdarkazanli@menufoods.com, adoremus@menufoods.com)
Comment by Nabiya — May 1, 2007 @ 12:14 pm
Comment by Stephanie — May 1, 2007 @ 12:14 pm
Wysong’s Menu Recall page is now under construction.
…………..
But their internet rebuttal link still works for me:
http://www.wysong.net/menufoods.shtml
Saved it as a pdf in case it disappears.
Comment by Ally — May 1, 2007 @ 12:16 pm
Wysong’s Menu Recall page is now under construction.
Actually, you can still link to the Menu page, but the link from the home page to recall info is now under construction.
Comment by Stephanie — May 1, 2007 @ 12:17 pm
Comment by Nadine Long — May 1, 2007 @ 11:58 am
All one has to do is watch that Detroit 4 News Video and compare their food plant with the execs McMansions and you pretty much get the idea what these cons are into.
Comment by Steve — May 1, 2007 @ 12:19 pm
Good news, that prozac seems to be kicking in for the wysong folks.
Threshold dose people,think threshold dose, jack it up til you stop acting crazy and place the tin foil shiny side OUT to improve the reception from the mothership.
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 1, 2007 @ 12:20 pm
To pet food companies and people food companies,
“Spin” no longer works. People have grown highly sensitive and are tired of having their “BS-detectors” go off every time they turn around. Spin, lying, making excuses and blaming others just doesn’t fly any more. Those who use such tactics will see their businesses shrink and disappear, and rightly so. Bad ethics is bad business.
Consumer laziness and unwillingness to think helped the situation get critical, but we are changing ourselves for the sake of our pets. Now you must change as well, or go extinct when other more ethical and responsive businesses replace you. If you don’t, I will cheer to see you go.
My pets are OK, but I grieve with those who lost companion animals. I am also raging mad at the administration who has strangled and politicized the FDA. They don’t care about pets or people. They have encouraged and abetted the state of affairs we have now.
Impeach Bush and Cheny and jail them. Then feed them the petfood and people food with melamine, rat poison, aflatoxin, e. coli etc.
Clare
Comment by Clare — May 1, 2007 @ 12:23 pm
Someone check the background of the head of the Menu foods that was on the News 4 Detroit Video - I’ll see what I can do tonight when I get home. He did not sound like a U.S. Native. What’s the scoop. There’s scoop there.
Sandy brought it back to my mind when she commented:”You know what bothers me about all of this? I was always proud to be American, I was proud of my country. As a child I was taught you do what is right, you don’t do someting you can’t be proud of. If you make a mistake, you own up to it and make it right. Before you put your name on something, make sure its the best it can be because reputation is what gets you thru life. What happened to these values in America?”
Clarification - not downing those that are not US Natives, etc., just downing Menu & everyone associated w/ this mess & if there’s dirt, we want to find all we can, that’s one of the many things we’re good at!
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 12:23 pm
Doggone it E!!! I’m in an office by myself laughing like a dork! Darn you!!!!!
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 12:24 pm
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 12:23 pm
Global Capitalists have no loyalty to any country.
Fact. They talk a good game and put up the big facade but thats about it.
Comment by Steve — May 1, 2007 @ 12:28 pm
Eva,
Check out Itchmo. Canadian researchers have worked out a mechanism for melamine to be toxic in an animal’s kidneys. Melamine reacts with one of its own breakdown products at the pH (acidity) of the kidney to form a crystalline plastic precipitate.
Comment by Clare — May 1, 2007 @ 12:28 pm
E. - I swear you’re gonna drive me to take out stock in Depends™.
Cripes almighty - give a gal some warning, eh?
Comment by Ally — May 1, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
Eva’s comment above is what I have been thinking for the last couple of weeks. There has to be more to this than just the melamine. Did greed take over even more (after China decided that they were getting away with the melamine) and they decided to add another fake chemical to up the price even more?
Does anyone know the exact answer yet as to why the deaths of so many of our pets?
Comment by sue — May 1, 2007 @ 12:31 pm
Comment by sue — May 1, 2007 @ 12:31 pm
“Does anyone know the exact answer yet as to why the deaths of so many of our pets?”
I don’t, but the AVMA posted a release today as to the combo/crystal theory between melamine and cyunaric acid:
http://www.avma.org/press/rele.....recall.asp
“Tests conducted on contaminated pet food and necropsies from affected animals have resulted in a new theory to explain how animals are being adversely affected by contaminated pet foods. A chemical reaction between melamine and cyanuric acid is suspected of forming crystals and blocking kidney function.”
IIRC, wasn’t there initially a study done about this in Canada?
Comment by Ally — May 1, 2007 @ 12:37 pm
I love how the AVMA in the article linked above states:
“the AVMA reminds pet owners and veterinarians that over 98 percent of pet foods are still deemed safe and haven’t been recalled.”
Sorry. I’m not buying that 98% are safe.
Not after the whirlwind of recalls last week that neither the FDA nor AVMA seemed to be aware of before bloggers.
Comment by Ally — May 1, 2007 @ 12:39 pm
I’ve read 4 chemicals confirmed in the food so far, of which 2 of them haven’t had their names released. Also still waiting on the name of an Importer!
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 12:39 pm
Comment by sue — May 1, 2007 @ 12:31 pm
That’s what worries me too. If we, our pets, and our foodstock have all been consuming melamine for a while now, as it appears we have been, then why did it suddenly get so much more toxic? Some have talked about melamine’s reaction with cyanuric acid and heat, but I’m still a little skeptical.
Comment by Laura — May 1, 2007 @ 12:40 pm
Comment by Ally — May 1, 2007 @ 12:37 pm
Okay, I’m taking back my professed skepticism. :)
Yes, I think you’re right - wasn’t it U of Guelph that initially did this?
Comment by Laura — May 1, 2007 @ 12:42 pm
Sorry, should have had quotation marks around the info. Not my words…but, instead, those of the author of the (longer) article.
Comment by Eva — May 1, 2007 @ 12:44 pm
Does anyone know what the contaminated products were shipped in? A friend of mine has a theory that additional melamine might have leeched into the food stuff from the actual containers. Think about it for a sec……shipping in plastic containers would be a heck of a lot cheaper considering the freight services charge by the weight. Her feeling is the melamine alone doesn’t seem to be enough to cause the levels of toxicity we’ve seen. Perhaps there was a double dose of melamine (or somesuch) in combination with the actual containers they were shipped in?
Comment by Ally — May 1, 2007 @ 12:44 pm
Doesn’t being a lab rat make you just feel all special and warm all over? Paying for the honor of being a rat in this experiment is just the cherry on the parfait.
Do I need to sing and dance during the experiment , massa, or will grinning and bowing be enough?
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 1, 2007 @ 12:49 pm
Comment by Shelly - 12:39 pm
The 4 chemicals found in the urine and kidneys of the animals were melamine, cyanuric acid, amilorine, and amiloride.
Comment by Linda P. — May 1, 2007 @ 12:52 pm
Comment by Ally — May 1, 2007 @ 12:44 pm
These grains and “vegetable proteins” are presumably exported from China in big mercantile sea-going vessels. These dock in US ports, all of which would presumably have a customs office where the captain has to deliver a ship’s manifest cargo.
Comment by Steve — May 1, 2007 @ 12:53 pm
Steve, ko, but what type of containers were used when placed on the sea-going vessels?
Comment by Ally — May 1, 2007 @ 12:55 pm
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 1, 2007 @ 11:47 am
“weirdness that just screams for a straightjacket, antipsychotics in massive doses and a big smack upside the head with a cluestick.”
Maybe they’ve all been snorting melamine…thought it was cocaine. There’s a new marketshare for China to exploit.
Seriously, I emailed the channel 4 video link to Wysong..do you think anyone will watch it?
Comment by Joyce — May 1, 2007 @ 12:56 pm
What ever happened to talk of Aminopterin being the cause of all the pet food problems? Talk of it disappeared rather quickly. This is confusing especially after now hearing that melamine has been being added to food for years.
Comment by kim — May 1, 2007 @ 12:59 pm
I don’t know if anyone else here is affected by this, but I called “Boca” about their “Boca Burgers” a while back. (For starters, Boca is a subsidiary of Oscar Mayer—which is a subsidary of Kraft—which, yes, does a great deal of business in Asia.)
Anyway, I asked about their “meat substitute” products (since they are a smorgasbord of “protein” and “gluten” ingredients). I was told that the FDA had “approved” all of their ingredients. I laughed and then asked “What, exactly, does that mean?”
After being put on hold several times; asked for my name, address and phone number (as I was being recorded); and left listening to questionable music while she went off to ask someone about my repeated follow-up inquiries, I was finally given to understand that their ingredients were fine because none had yet been targeted or impounded by the FDA.
Great.
Comment by Eva — May 1, 2007 @ 1:00 pm
“For a recap of our Nationwide Events and to view the Nationwide Memorial Events video, click”
http://www.pnv2.com/
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 1:01 pm
Someone called Kraft yesterday and they told her they don’t use china
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 1:01 pm
“Someone check the background of the head of the Menu foods that was on the News 4 Detroit Video - I’ll see what I can do tonight when I get home. He did not sound like a U.S. Native. What’s the scoop. There’s scoop there.”
Hello? He’s Canadian. Menu Foods is Canadian.
Comment by hornblower — May 1, 2007 @ 1:01 pm
http://www.newfarm.org/news/20.....ml#arsenic
Interesting article about arsenic in US rice being grown in former cotton growing fields..
Comment by Bee — May 1, 2007 @ 1:02 pm
Nationwide March is on You Tube -
Get your rating on it folks - Make it Count!!!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yJ-Xo0Q5N9M
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 1:04 pm
Off to join Christie while she liveblogs the FDA press conference.
Grab your seats kiddies - you never know what will turn up.
Comment by Ally — May 1, 2007 @ 1:07 pm
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Hcf.....mp;search=
Ratings for this one was disabled. What’s up with that.
Comment by shelly — May 1, 2007 @ 1:08 pm
Every food product and ingredient imported from China is suspect as being contaminated, poisoned, produced in substandard, not fit for humans or pets alike, conditions and most likely harmful to the health and welfare of anyone eating food said products - that includes all farmed ingredients, potatoes, fruits, nuts, etc. etc. etc.
And why are we consuming foods and food ingredients from China? We do have choices -
Comment by Linda — May 1, 2007 @ 1:09 pm
Comment by Shelly:
Even if it is true that they don’t (currently) use China, that doesn’t address my concerns about what they’ve done in the past (which would affect what I’m looking at in my freezer). Also, it seems clear that the stuff from China was exported to other countries and might well have found its way into our products via that route. I gave them plenty of chances to say that they had always, only, ever used US ingredients in their products and THAT was not something they would stiputlate to.
Comment by Eva — May 1, 2007 @ 1:12 pm
Could be wrong, but I’m doubting that there’s much risk from plastic shipping containers. Kids and pets alike have been eating off melamine resin dinnerware for ages with no ill effects. Melamine-based (melamine resin) plastics are made of a heat-cured melamine-formaldehyde polymer.. I don’t know that you’d necessarily even be able to extract any actual melamine from them at that point if you tried. (Any chemists in the house?)
My guess is (bearing in mind that I’ve no evidence to back it up), seeing as melamine spiking’s obviously commonplace over there- and has been for some time- that somebody got greedy. (Rather, greedier.) I’m thinking somebody figured, ‘hey, if we can up the price this much by adding this much melamine, if we add a little more..’ and, eventually, they reached a toxic level. Either that, or maybe these particular ingredients were of an unusually poor quality for whatever reason, and they were attempting to fudge them up to par by increasing the nitrogen a little more.
It’s always possible that the lethal increase may have been accidental.. but my feeling is (particularly given the fact that we’re dealing with two different products from two different suppliers) is that it was intentional.
If plasticizing is indeed the problem, perhaps at lower quantities, there wasn’t enough melamine present once the cyanuric acid metabolite began to accumulate for significant plasticizing to occur? I don’t know.. I’m not a chemist. (Again, any chemists in the house? :) )
Comment by Gwen — May 1, 2007 @ 1:14 pm
Bottom line was this:
At the end of our conversation I said, “So…if I understand what you’re telling me, even if Boca uses imported ingredients in their product, they are safe because the FDA has not declared them “unsafe”. She said, “Yes.”
Comment by Eva — May 1, 2007 @ 1:17 pm
Quote:
“the AVMA reminds pet owners and veterinarians that over 98 percent of pet foods are still deemed safe and haven’t been recalled.”
I was wondering how they come up with a number like this. Are they counting hay bales for horses, too?
All I see is that most foods that I would be willing to feed my cats are either recalled, or are manufactured in a plant that has produced recalled food, or are connected with the producer of tainted food, or contain suspect ingredients. (*)
And only 2% of pet food is affected? After 7 weeks of rolling recalls?
Yeah, right.
Comment by MaKo — May 1, 2007 @ 1:39 pm
A post I put up a few days ago — great minds (Gwen’s and others) intuit the possibility.
When the FDA postulates that melamine is not harmful to the human system, it is presumably doing so based on a single feeding. However, we may be looking at the consumption of this “additive” over a lengthy period and so a saturation of the systyem begins to take place and slowly begins to effect the organs even human ones. I suspect that many pets could have overcome a feeding or two (though we know some died within days), but may have been incapable of cleansing themselves after constant, chronic and became overrun by this chemical. We know now that tainted gluten, protein, and who knows what else entered our food circle from China in the Summer of 2006. But as posts here suggest, there is a strong probability that this poison was being added to most imported grains and powders from China at a far earlier date. One can only surmise that it became a matter of “if a little is good (for the price), more would be better.” And they simply crossed the edge through greed and now some of us know what no one wanted to be known.
I have not seen “Super Size Me” (the movie) but it does seem to be an example of this process where once a month is OK, but every day will eventually kill you.
Comment by Jay — April 29, 2007 @ 4:14 pm
Comment by Jay — May 1, 2007 @ 1:47 pm
“the AVMA reminds pet owners and veterinarians that over 98 percent of pet foods are still deemed safe and haven’t been recalled.”
I’m sure that is meant to sound reassuring. To me, it sounds alarming.
Comment by slt — May 1, 2007 @ 1:51 pm
Is 96% of that 98 that safe brand Purina??
Comment by Sandy C — May 1, 2007 @ 2:47 pm
As I recall reading, heat causes a chemical reaction in the melamine making it even more deadly.
All day, I’ve been thinking about how, until recently, I prepared the evening meal for my four dogs. I am sad to say, I added water to the kibble, microwaved it and while warm added Mighty Dog.
Now we learn the Chinese have been adding this chemical stew for years. A little here, a little there, no one noticed so let’s add more.
Our government tells us this toxic chemical stew has entered the human chain but we shouldn’t worry.
Then I remember September 11th or perhaps more specifically several days after that horrific event, the remnants of the buildings still spewing God knows what into the atmosphere.
Our government, in the guise of Christie Todd Whitman the head of the EPA said to us New Yorkers, not to worry, go back to work, the air is fine. We went back to work and now years later people are dying from the chemicals they inhaled.
I recall recently reading that the decision makers in the EPA were exonerated of any fault in issuing such a directive to the people. The reason was they could not be blamed as they did not have all the facts available when they made their fateful announcement. It was only years later that the full impact of inhaling such a toxic brew was understood.
Is this deja vu or what?
Comment by Lorraine T — May 1, 2007 @ 3:23 pm
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 1, 2007 @ 12:20 pm - “Good news, that prozac seems to be kicking in for the wysong folks.
Threshold dose people,think threshold dose, jack it up til you stop acting crazy and place the tin foil shiny side OUT to improve the reception from the mothership.”
Thanks for the good yuk, I needed that.
I’m still curious to know whether they got hacked into or not. If they were not hacked, then they need to be beamed up immediately! Hope that tinfoil works.
The page is currently “under construction”. Can’t wait to see what it says next.
Comment by catlover — May 1, 2007 @ 4:09 pm
It occurs to me that one reason the government may be telling us not to worry about melamine in human food is that they’ve known all along that it’s in there, and since it hasn’t (as far as they have bothered to check)caused the same problems in humans that it has in pets, then of course it must be safe! Me thinks we’ve all been part of some macabre science project for a long while now. Kinda makes one wonder if there are already established “safe” levels of melamine in the food of both humans & animals, and that by some accident of greed the “safe” levels in animal food were just exceeded. And, let’s not forget that since dogs & cats have a much shorter lifespan than do humans, health problems will manifest in them much quicker than they will in us.
Comment by Dee — May 1, 2007 @ 5:55 pm
“Kids and pets alike have been eating off melamine resin dinnerware for ages with no ill effects”
I don’t know what plastic pet bowls are made of.But it is not unusual for cats,and sometimes dogs to get little pimply thingamobobs under their chins.Usually they are eating from plastic bowls,and when the bowl is changed to glass or stainless the pimples go away.
Comment by Lorna — May 1, 2007 @ 6:36 pm
WOW-WEE!! Can we get some of the UK laws brought over HERE???
…”Supermarket chain Tesco has recalled thousands of frozen chicken steaks over fears they may have been made with meat unfit for human consumption.
The meat, which was due to be used as pet food, could have found its way into both Tesco and Farmfoods supermarkets.
The “Premier” breaded chicken steaks were not a Tesco branded product but came from a Stoke-on-Trent based company, Perkins Frozen Foods UK Ltd.
It is believed contaminated meat could have unwittingly been used to make the steaks.
The product recall comes as the Food Standards Agency probes allegations that tons of chicken unfit for human consumption made its way from a Derby pet food company back into the human food chain.
“…
Derbyshire police arrested 19 people in connection with the raid on the Denby plant, but so far no-one has been charged.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1295194.stm
Comment by katandbryant@yahoo.com — May 1, 2007 @ 6:38 pm
All 3 of my cats have been in varying degrees of kidney failure for the last month. This morning Harley had to be put to sleep. All of them were eating a food not on the recall list, but one that did contain rice gluten (Nutro max cat senior).
I have been desperate to find a safe food that is OK for renal deficient
cats. I chose the Hill’s Prescription G/D. Supposedly no gluten from China was includeed. I called the company to inquire about some of the
ingredients: corn gluten, said was from US made in factory in Kentucky.
OK good. Then I asked about the soy additives… their response: Sorry,
that is propietary information. What the hell! I asked: Can you tell me what country it is from? That is propietary information.
This unacceptable. We must lobby for transparency in these ingredients.
I am spitting mad about this.
Comment by Karen — May 1, 2007 @ 6:48 pm
Karen
You and Harley are in my prayers tonight. So sorry he had to pass away. Hugs to you.
Comment by VJ — May 1, 2007 @ 7:52 pm
The pet food industry has broken my trust, the FDA broke it years ago, the White House broke it years ago as did most of the legislative branch. My oldest son claims our government has known about the melamine et al for years, and is just letting it happen, so that when they come to pick us all up in their black helicopters 1. we won’t have our dogs to protect us, and 2. they won’t have to pick up nearly so many of us.
Comment by Kathy Thompson — May 1, 2007 @ 8:50 pm
Karen, I am so sorry for you and Harley and Harley’s friends. I hope you can find some good food.
Comment by Peggy — May 1, 2007 @ 8:58 pm
Comment by Karen — May 1, 2007 @ 6:48 pm
Karen, I’m so sorry about Harley. Sending kitty hugs your way.
I think the Nutro you mentioned was in fact recalled. You might want to check the list over at Petfoodtracker.com.
And re Lorna - you’re right about the chin acne in connection with plastic bowls. I can’t say if mine were melamine, though - I tossed them a few years back after I ran into the same thing. I switched to crockery and metal and haven’t had a pet acne problem since.
Comment by Laura — May 1, 2007 @ 9:01 pm
Karen,
Royal Canin has some for renal deficiency but they did have recalls on some of their other foods.
Hi-Tor by Triumph has one. I don’t think I’ve heard of any problems with them. http://www.triumphpet.com/hi-tor/cat_food.html
Comment by Peggy — May 1, 2007 @ 9:12 pm
Comment by catlover — May 1, 2007 @ 4:09 pm
Wysong’s recall page is STILL “under construction.” Dang, I’ve seen bathrooms remodeled faster than this.
I guess the emails worked. ;)
Comment by Laura — May 1, 2007 @ 10:24 pm