Pet-food recall: Inspections, diplomatic messes and open thread
By Gina Spadafori
May 2, 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.
Sorry to get to this so late … deadlines and more deadlines.
We’ll add as needed to this post. Starting with the New York Times via the International Herald Tribune:
SHANGHAI: A Chinese company accused of selling contaminated wheat gluten to pet food suppliers in the United States failed to disclose to China’s export authorities that it was shipping food or feed to the United States, thereby avoiding having its goods inspected, according to U.S. regulators.
Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development, one of two Chinese companies at the center of the massive pet food recall after thousands of animals were killed and sickened, had shipped more than 700 tons of wheat gluten labeled as “nonfood” products earlier this year through a third party, a Chinese textile company.
The “nonfood” designation meant the company’s shipments were not subject to mandatory inspection by the Chinese government.
The details of the case, some of which were disclosed Friday in a circular released by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States, are just the latest clues that Chinese feed suppliers may have been intentionally disguising the contents of their goods.
[...]
The pet food recall is threatening to turn into a major trade issue because of mounting worries in the U.S. Congress about the safety of China’s agricultural exports to the United States, the ability of American regulators to protect the country’s food supply and the slow pace of efforts by the Chinese government to aid the investigation.
Here’s the rest.
The Washington Post looks at some of the fallout:
While the Food and Drug Administration pursues what is sure to be a long investigation into how pet food became contaminated with an ingredient for making plastics, and while Congress begins the months-long process of haggling over food-safety amendments, pet food companies, their suppliers and their customers do not have the luxury of waiting.
They have to cope with the crisis immediately, and for most, that is already proving expensive.
Here’s the rest. The Post also reports about those chickens we’re not supposed to worry about. The same piece reveals that Dr. David Acheson’s new FDA position comes with a nickname: He’s the “food czar.”
Regarding the IE6 problem on the live-blogging post: There’s some kind of glitch in the html coding in one of the comments. We don’t have hours and hours to find it, so we’re going to have to dump the comments on that post. Sorry about that.
Got a good article we ought to know about? Let us know.
Usual warnings: Please play nice or play somewhere else. We won’t tolerate racism or hate speech on this blog, or death threats. And if your post doesn’t show up right away, it got caught in our moderation or spam filters. Don’t re-post it. Just be patient.
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And it ended up in the pet and human food supply because big business didn’t want to spend the money to inspect, check and double check these imports to insure they were safe to introduce into the food chain.
Comment by Steve — May 2, 2007 @ 10:11 am
Hey gang help me out, I have to decide between Pork Chops Melamine, the Kidney Failure Roast Chicken or the Kervorkian Casserole this evening for our guests.
What side dishes would you recommend?
Comment by Steve — May 2, 2007 @ 10:22 am
LOL Steve… first laugh all day, thanks.
Comment by Kim — May 2, 2007 @ 10:28 am
Since the other thread on live blogging is being dumped I will ask again.
That tripe about the dilution effect, that the FDA kept harping about.
That cannot apply to babies or toddlers because babies suck the formula down all day, it IS all they eat and then they move to baby food and it is full of the crap too.
If you dilute any poison and take it daily doesn’t it build up?
Are any autopsies being done on newly dead people to check? Autopsy is required in a lot of cases and a the crystals are not hard to see.
A dipstick with melamine, available cheap I hear, and some pool chemicals, insert into fresh pee and Bobs your uncle. Almost as much fun as sea monkeys.
I have bad pet food, pool chemicals, I know how to pee, I think I will do a little experimenting this week.
It won’t be FDA “official” but since I figure the FDA is a lying bunch of drug company paid off who are certainly not helping me out, what do I care?
I think all of us should try , see what results we get.
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 2, 2007 @ 10:30 am
Sorry, hit the enter instead of the shift.
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 2, 2007 @ 10:32 am
How about a nice spinich salad with Xuzhou AnyTHing Dressing on the side. Oh, and don’t forget to toss on some Gluttons Gluten Croutons!
Comment by Patricia Hill — May 2, 2007 @ 10:33 am
Comment by Patricia Hill — May 2, 2007 @ 10:33 am
Fresh E-coli Spinach with Creamy Melamine Dressing there you go! Delicious.
Comment by Steve — May 2, 2007 @ 10:36 am
Steve, I think noodles a la pool chemicals and little fako soy sauce made of human hair, frsh of the boat from exotic China would impress any guest.
Serve this after dinner Kopi Luwak Coffee and your guests will never forget your hospitality.
No matter how hard they try.
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 2, 2007 @ 10:37 am
Moose has a new 4 letter word.
It’s GLOB with a short O.
Everything global.
I need to get the AP stuff up for yall from Dr. Missing Links. Won’t take long. Cut and Paste I love you!
Comment by Pat — May 2, 2007 @ 10:39 am
Ymmy! What’s for dessert?
Comment by Patricia Hill — May 2, 2007 @ 10:40 am
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 2, 2007 @ 10:37 am
I could just get some Chinese takeout for six. Topped off with two Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development ibuprophen at the end of the night.
Comment by Steve — May 2, 2007 @ 10:47 am
Yes big changes are happening. And we mean it!
http://tinyurl.com/erj8f
Comment by Steve — May 2, 2007 @ 10:48 am
How ‘bout
Road Kill Kake….for dessert.
Probably the purest thing on your menu……
Comment by Peg — May 2, 2007 @ 10:50 am
Congress needs to force the FDA to tell us the entire truth or go to jail.
Comment by Terry — May 2, 2007 @ 10:51 am
I was looking thru the China Daily’s Community Boards last night. On there was a posted “sticky” thread asking what they thought other countries thought about China. or, something to that effect. No one knew why other countries didn’t like China. They thought it was sad. WHY? CENSORSHIP! Very few know what’s going on in the world. sad… kinda like us & our news media…
We heard rarely a word until Sen. Durbin stepped in, then the Senate Appropriations Committee & the Congressional Oversight Hearing.
By-the-way — WHEN DOES THE FDA GET TO SIT IN THE “HOT SEAT”??? I thought it was this week?
Comment by Kat — May 2, 2007 @ 10:53 am
Apparently the PFI figures the American public will continue to respond viscerally to superficial visual cues than to qualities like, integrity, substance, and safety judging from all the new image campaigns popping up on their websites.
Obviously, they’ve learning NOTHING.
http://tinyurl.com/2yzzmv
Comment by Steve — May 2, 2007 @ 10:55 am
Good to see you all have retained your sense of humor.
“Mr. Henderson, when was the first time you heard the word Melamine?”
“Well it was March 14th, I was in a park walking my dog with my wife and our buddy Melvin Pervous, who happens to be our attorney. As we were walking by the park square we saw a performer. My wife turned to me and our attorney and said, Hey Mel, a Mime!”
Comment by spocko — May 2, 2007 @ 10:58 am
Comment by Steve — May 2, 2007 @ 10:47 am
http://tinyurl.com/2s2u2s
The only appropriate coffee to serve.
Probably the most healthy thing you will
eat all day.
Dessert
http://bertc.com/kitty.htm
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 2, 2007 @ 11:01 am
Comment by Kat — May 2, 2007 @ 10:53 am
I’d like to know when the FDA is going to eat some of this so-called “safe” food. Live. On public television.
Comment by Ally — May 2, 2007 @ 11:01 am
Comment by spocko — May 2, 2007 @ 10:58 am
“And then we continued discussing how we can maintain our little Empire, exterminating everything in its way. . . har har har.”
Comment by Steve — May 2, 2007 @ 11:02 am
HAHAHHAHA! Thanks Spocko!
Comment by Kat — May 2, 2007 @ 11:03 am
Comment by Ally — May 2, 2007 @ 11:01 am
When hell freezes over.
Comment by Steve — May 2, 2007 @ 11:03 am
Does anyone here know of a site or blog that has serious discussions of the ramifcations and nuances of this crisis? Other than the major newsmedia resources that seem to be lacking appropriate coverage?
Comment by Terry — May 2, 2007 @ 11:07 am
Here’s Red Orbits Breaking News — most we know already:
Posted on: Wednesday, 2 May 2007, 06:00 CDT
Chickens Join List That Ate Tainted Feed
First pets. Then hogs. Now chickens — lots of them.
Federal officials on Tuesday said as many as 3 million Indiana broiler chickens that ate Chinese wheat gluten contaminated with melamine went to market this spring.
An additional 100,000 Indiana “breeder” chickens that ate contaminated feed in February will be euthanized and their owners financially compensated by the federal government. ….
….The news about the poultry began trickling out late Monday, when the FDA announced that chicken farms in Indiana had been sold feed containing tainted wheat gluten. On Tuesday, officials further described the reach of the problem:
A single feed mill had provided tainted feed to at least 38 poultry farms in February, and between 2.5 million and 3 million broilers that ate the feed were processed. (About 9 billion young chickens are slaughtered in the nation each year.)
A broiler’s life span is about 42 days, so they were likely slaughtered by March, when the country first began hearing about the pets dying and pet foods being recalled.
Source: The Sacramento Bee
more: http://tinyurl.com/367v58
Comment by Kat — May 2, 2007 @ 11:07 am
Dr. Marion Nestle, from NYU’s Nutrition Dept., was on a popular NY public broadcasting talk show this morning. I see she’s quoted in today’s Intl. Herald Tribune article, so she’s positioned herself to be on the circuit for commenting on all this. She’s writing a book too, so she’ll be around. I write this in the event you see or hear her as an expert on pet/human food chain and the FDA. Be attentive to what she says and write letters if she continues her misstatements. (She did make some good points about the “structure” of the FDA, USDA, etc.)
I wrote to the host, Brian Lehrer, pointing out these inaccuracies:
“I was appalled at the casual way that Dr. Nestle responded to questions with misinformation on the topic of pet and human food contamination and her views on the FDA’s “transparency”. This is a subject that needs serious unwrapping as to what we pet owners and consumers have learned in the past weeks, what we need to know and don’t, and what consumers should realize about what the FDA is so they don’t make false assumptions about their own food safety.
She misstated that the presence of cyanuric acid in crystals in animals’ urine has been known all along. Actually the discovery of the interaction of melamine and cyanuric acid when combined in a test tube containing a medium with the cat’s natural acidity is new information (as reported in recent stories by the scientists at Guelph Univ. in Canada). She also was incorrect in likening the reason for the inclusion of urea/melamine in ruminant animal feed and in domestic pet food. They may be used as a protein supplement in ruminants but are NOT approved for pet or human food. It’s only used in the latter circumstances to spike the protein level of certain products (in this case wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate) by greedy manufacturers who reap more profits when passing off these products which test higher in protein than they are.
She fortunately knew enough to correct Brian’s misstatement that only 16 pets have died. And since the FDA has been saying 16 to 18 deaths for weeks, how would Brian have known differently! That IS part of the FDA story: trivialize the magnitude of this in pets and humans. At last Friday’s (Apr. 27) FDA press conference that was webcast, FDA officials said “17 or 18” pets died, but then qualified that statement by saying that tallying the numbers hasn’t been their focus. That same day they buried an import alert on their website saying that they have a report of more than 4,000 dead pets in their database, among the 17,000 calls they’ve gotten from consumers. And they’re adding an incredible number of imports to their alert that they didn’t discuss at their press conference.
Dr. Nestle’s most bizarre statement was that the FDA is much more transparent! (The question that immediately came to my mind when she said that but would have been too rude to ask, I suppose, is “Do you or your dept. at NYU receive grants from the FDA?”) This current pet/human food fiasco is a textbook example of how secretive the FDA is! That’s the next show you should prepare for and schedule.
Pet owners like me were shocked to learn that the FDA doesn’t have the authority to order recalls! Yesterday’s Washington Post reiterated that amazing fact, “…which means it must rely on the cooperation of companies when products need to be pulled off shelves.”
The FDA has told us that contaminated rice protein concentrate has been sent to additional pet food manufacturers that they will not identify — and the companies have not gone public and recalled their own products! As you know from the news yesterday, the FDA and the USDA will not identify the companies that fed hogs and chickens contaminated feed and pet food discards that they acknowledge have gotten into the human food chain. They don’t know what these ingredients do to humans, but they say it won’t harm anyone.
The FDA story needs to be told by someone other than Dr. Nestle who did a disservice to concerned consumers.
I just saw another misstatement by Dr. Nestle from today’s International Herald Tribune: “This was standard stuff after World War II, when animal feed was adulterated with urea (melamine is produced from urea),” said Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food and public health at New York University. “This is simple greed. It’s like they’re adding water to the wheat gluten.”
Dr. Nestle is right about one thing, protein spiking in pet/human food ingredients with melamine is based on greed. But the analogy that urea or melamine supplements are harmless, like “adding water to the wheat gluten” trivializes this danger.”
Comment by Maureen — May 2, 2007 @ 11:08 am
Just speaking for myself:
—————————————-
Does anyone here know of a site or blog that has serious discussions of the ramifcations and nuances of this crisis? Other than the major newsmedia resources that seem to be lacking appropriate coverage?
Comment by Terry — May 2, 2007 @ 11:07 am
—————————————
Maybe you should go find one….
Comment by Kat — May 2, 2007 @ 11:10 am
Comment by Kat — May 2, 2007 @ 11:07 am
9 billion chickens a year. I’m sure they are all raised in a humane manner. No rush or anything.
Quality first.
Comment by Steve — May 2, 2007 @ 11:11 am
Open it and save it to your hard drive before it’s taken off - don’t think this should be available. You’ll need to be able to open a .xls document.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/.....s/part.xls
Comment by shelly — May 2, 2007 @ 11:13 am
Comment by Terry — May 2, 2007 @ 11:07 am
Terry, I’d say between here and Itchmo, it does get pretty serious. The snarky comments you see at both places from time to time may be misleading. Many of us has been following this for weeks and those types of comments, are folk’s way of stress relief & hanging on to sanity, often by a thread.
Comment by Ally — May 2, 2007 @ 11:14 am
Hello … civility, please? I did not take Terry’s request to mean that the discussion here wasn’t serious. I took it to mean that we have someone looking for more information.
Would it be possible for the snarkfest to pause long enough to help someone who asks for it?
Terry, I apologize, and I’m sure we can suggest some sites.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 2, 2007 @ 11:18 am
Well Steve I think that melamine wine would be a nice compliment to the melamine pork chops. But if you are serving the kidney failure chicken you might consider some crackers with salmonella peanut butter. Some nice wheat gluten kidney crystal forming biscuits on the side would go with almost any dish.
Now here is my question. Who took the non-food label off the box of wheat gluten. The Chinese say they didn’t inspect the box because it said non-food. Did they remove the label before shipping, en route or did the box with the non food label get shipped to the buyer who knew full well that this is how we get it out of China without getting caught.
As to the dilution effect, what does that mean. How many days of GM cancer spaghetti or rice must I have between each melamine pork chop or kidney failure chicken. Like I will ever eat pork or chicken again anytime soon.
Sick!!
As a PS there are food products out there that are simple. Smuckers natural peanut butter is peanuts and salt. Nothing else. Most of the others have soy protein. Cheap cottege cheese has whey protein. Pay a few cents more and that garbage is not in the product.
Comment by Garyn — May 2, 2007 @ 11:20 am
To further exacerbate the problems at the FDA, following is a link to a feature video from KTVU news in the San Francisco bay area. While the emphasis is on baby bottles, they state that all products canned in this country are lined with the plastic materials. Just a thought that perhaps this in combination with the melamine is the catalyst causing the problems. http://tinyurl.com/2dvhys
Comment by Moira — May 2, 2007 @ 11:20 am
Comment by Terry — May 2, 2007 @ 11:07 am
Yes go here and scroll down to
Pet food recall: Check your cupboards now
March 16, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/2b857r
Comment by Steve — May 2, 2007 @ 11:20 am
Of course this happens on Bush’s watch!! He could care less about people and pets!! He’s all about big business!!!
Comment by ann gates — May 2, 2007 @ 11:22 am
How nice that Dr. Gupta is right on top of things. Not.
http://tinyurl.com/2uc4gs
Comment by The OTHER Pat — May 2, 2007 @ 11:23 am
Terry, Gina - apologies if my reply sounded like I was giving Terry a bad time. That was never my intention. I only meant to explain why the attempt at humor (snark, whatever) sometimes appears in our replies.
Comment by Ally — May 2, 2007 @ 11:24 am
Ditto what Ally said. Speaking for myself (and my blog) - my hold on sanity at this point is getting very, very tenuous.
In other words, we’ve been covering this for almost 7 weeks and we are losing it. We are in constant shock that this isn’t being better covered, and we are appalled hourly (if not by the minute) at the new things we keep finding out.
And we can’t believe people aren’t taking this seiously.
So, we take our laughs (and our jokes) where we can get them. Because they are few and far between. And in the middle is a ton of tears.
Comment by Kim — May 2, 2007 @ 11:24 am
Okay, some sites for Terry. Here. Spend a few hours reading and you will be stunned by the quality of the comments.
itchmo.com has been mentioned. There’s lots more.
Comment by Kim — May 2, 2007 @ 11:28 am
Like adding water? I wonder what sort of water she drinks. You can serve it at the dinner party you’re planning, goes with the other nice things on the menu. (BTW, I’ve eaten roadkill - moose, fresh, gift of friends - and it’s a whole lot more wholesome than some of the stuff on the grocery shelves).
I’m upset at the whole new crowd of self-identified business victims that are coming forward. Poor corporations. But since Skeeter’s grave isn’t grassy yet my sympathy is terribly hard to summon. Next thing we’ll read is how much the whole “episode” has contributed to the GNP.
Comment by Nancy Nielsen — May 2, 2007 @ 11:29 am
Terry,
Good question. Here’s a link for some of the diaries and responses on dailykos.com:
http://tinyurl.com/2xzyta
Christie from petconnection.com often posts great diaries on dailykos.
David Goldstein writes on huffingtonpost.com and for his own website (you can get the link on huffingtonpost.com).
I like petconnection a lot but it takes frequent trips to read it or new facts or news don’t get lost amidst the many postings. Not criticizing that as I know this site is a great comfort to people.
Comment by Maureen — May 2, 2007 @ 11:29 am
Kinda of along the lines of what Terry is looking for…
A while back someone mentioned the CDC tracking renal failure or kidney disease and putting out some sort of alert. I may be remembering that wrong though.
I’ve been to the CDC site and they have some pretty neat data on death that is available by the month but I couldn’t track down anything kidney related. Anyone else want to take a stab at finding some data that may be valuable for tracking human illness related to this??
Comment by Angelique — May 2, 2007 @ 11:30 am
The forums over at thepetfoodlist.com. (forums also at itchmo)
David Goldsteins blog: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-goldstein/
Christie’s blog at dailykos http://christiekeith.dailykos.com/
Comment by Kim — May 2, 2007 @ 11:31 am
Terry -
I don’t know whether you have a cat or a dog or both. But a Yahoo group I just joined and recommend is K9 Nutrition:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/K9Nutrition/
There’s some very informed voices among that group & the list owners do keep things ordered along the lines of what you may be looking for. If you don’t have a dog, perhaps someone here will have a suggestion for a feline group.
Comment by Ally — May 2, 2007 @ 11:31 am
Oops, Maureen posted the same thing while I was posting. Oh well.
Comment by Kim — May 2, 2007 @ 11:32 am
“the company’s shipments were not subject to mandatory inspection by the Chinese government”
Let me fast forward here and announce the findings of THE FINAL REPORT ON THE PET FOOD RECALL 2007:
Turns out, it was nobody’s fault. Everybody was doing the best they could. Nobody knew anything. 16 pets confirmed dead. All the foods on the shelves are perfectly safe.
Comment by slt — May 2, 2007 @ 11:33 am
I apologize:
Comment by Terry — May 2, 2007 @ 11:07 am
I at first was going to make a defensive statement like Ally did, which I think was pretty good!
I sat here for about 30 seconds & remembered another snide remark about this site, over the weekend on another thread, stating this blog used to be a good source of information. It just rubbed me the wrong way.
There really needs to be some sort of search engine for people to look stuff up on here. New people come here; old regulars come in & there is no way to retrieve the 7 weeks of links & history we have placed on this board.
If Terry is new, as many others coming to this blog a simple search engine would help them.
Anyway, my apologies once again. My nerves are FRIED!
Comment by Kat — May 2, 2007 @ 11:45 am
I am still waiting for a reply from Mars pet foods, as I e-mailed them a week ago asking about the wheat gluten in their Pedigree Dog Food. Mind you, this brand was not on the recall list. I asked them, if the wheat gluten in their dog food didn’t come from China, where did they buy their wheat gluten. Still waiting for a reply. MIGHTY SUSPICIOUS!!!!
Comment by Mike Russell Sr. — May 2, 2007 @ 11:47 am
Kat, the forums at itchmo are trying to organize info and links.
My nerves are flambe too.
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 2, 2007 @ 11:47 am
“the company’s shipments were not subject to mandatory inspection by the Chinese government”
This is the trade company that was/is shipping for the all the crooks in China. Since 1991! Doesn’t that date sound familiar? It’s the one reported to be when all the toxic junk began coming to this country. Big business, I see. May be Sally Q’s former/current employer? (Notice the ISO qualification.)
This is from a “very old” post of mine:
“2ND CHINESE COMPANY:
Suzhou Hengrun Import & Export Corp., Ltd.
Company Info
Suzhou Hengrun Import & Export Corp., Ltd. Was founded on the basis of the recorganization of its predecessor-Suzhou Textile Import & Export Co. Which was set up in 1978 as a trade company of textile products and has become one of the 500 largest foreign trade enterprises in China since 1991. It has been awarded the Certificate of ISO9001(2000)for Quality Management Authentication by the China … [ Click for details ]
Contact Details
Suzhou Hengrun Import & Export Corp., Ltd.
Company Name: Suzhou Hengrun Import & Export Corp., Ltd.
Company Address: 201 Zhuhui Rd., Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
City/Province: Suzhou/Jiangsu
Country/Region: China
Zip/Postal Code: 215006
Telephone Number: 86-512-65595569,67173223
Fax Number: 86-512-65298929,65188511
Contact Person: Aisha Huang/Allen Wang
Mobile: 86-13962128946,13962122907
Showroom: http://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/clive130
Homepage: Click Here
Comment by Nadine Long — April 3, 2007 @ 3:26 pm
Comment by Nadine Long — April 22, 2007 @ 1:04 pm”
Comment by Nadine Long — May 2, 2007 @ 11:52 am
Comment by Kat — May 2, 2007 @ 11:45 am
“I at first was going to make a defensive statement like Ally did,”
I’m going to say this and then let this go. What I said above:
Comment by Ally — May 2, 2007 @ 11:14 am
…..IMO, was NOT a defensive statement. I didn’t tell her to go look some where else for what she was looking for. What I did do, was offer an explanation of why someone new to this site might not think we are being serious here or at sites like Itchmo.
Being rude like that to someone is not, nor ever will it be, my personal MO. I think Kim above summed up my feelings straight on point.
Gina, don’t worry. I’m getting off my soapbox now. I just hate seeing my words twisted into something they are not.
Comment by Ally — May 2, 2007 @ 11:53 am
http://www.acquisition.gov/Age.....IP95-2.xls
I don’t know what this is but maybe it’s something useful - will need .xls again.
Comment by shelly — May 2, 2007 @ 11:54 am
Yeah, I signed up 3 weeks ago when he first opened it. I have only 2 posts there. This website right here has, by far, the most information, the most links & the most extensive view points that I have found. Just no way to access it… except for 2 ways:
Google Search Engine for websites:
http://www.google.com/services/search.html
—————
Google Search Engine for key words within any website:
http://tinyurl.com/2hrd5s
The word melamine has been mentioned 1,300 times. Within that list you can find posts & links.
Comment by Kat — May 2, 2007 @ 12:00 pm
Shelly, I’m looking at it now. The earlier one you posted (PART - Program Assessment Rating Tool) is pitiful.
Comment by Kim — May 2, 2007 @ 12:14 pm
I mean the info in it…
Comment by Kim — May 2, 2007 @ 12:14 pm
http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/.....005_11.doc
Purina is everywhere!
Comment by shelly — May 2, 2007 @ 12:23 pm
I’ll post this question on Itchmo’s forum, as well. How does one go about finding out WHAT CHICKEN FARMS a certain grocery store uses for their store brand??? I already called them, and “they’ll call me back”. Meanwhile, chicken’s on the stove. All that my baby and I have been eating lately is eggs, turkey, and chicken, plus some organic grains. Now this? Do I feed it? Is there some way that I can find out now, on the internet? He urinated five times yesterday. He usually only goes two or three times a day. Thing is, report just came back clean from the vet last week. How do I know that he didn’t just get a poisoned batch of chicken this week? Someone please help with suggestions. I can’t be running him to the vet every week. He seems playful and okay, but, I need to know what to feed now. Dinner’s in two hours.
WOLFIN )O(
Comment by WOLFIN — May 2, 2007 @ 12:25 pm
What is distiller grains?
Purina is in this one, too
http://www.smallfarms.cornell......20Beef.doc
Comment by shelly — May 2, 2007 @ 12:26 pm
Renal Screening Protocol for Purina 5001.
http://pga.mcw.edu/documents/RENAL_protocol.doc
Comment by shelly — May 2, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
In all seriousness….I have been following and reading on this site since this began. I must say, great job everyone.
Someone mentioned coffee in an earlier thread. I won’t mention brands, but there is a particular coffee that makes my family sick. Many others don’t.
How do you find out what, if any additives are in the brand of coffee.
After reading all the information I would not be shocked what was in the food supply.
Comment by BIA — May 2, 2007 @ 12:31 pm
Purina Chow Research Abstract form:
http://www.tufts.edu/central/r.....RD2/12.doc
Comment by shelly — May 2, 2007 @ 12:33 pm
CNN has a blog by Dr. Gupta today called, “Is Melamine Changing Your Diet”. It pretty much downplays the risk. Comments on the blog are permitted (they are moderated). I sent in one and hope it will appear. Here’s the URL:
http://tinyurl.com/2uc4gs
The blog is linked off the main story, “Feds: Millions Have Eaten Chickens Fed Tainted Pet Food”:
http://tinyurl.com/ysusmf
Comment by Melissa — May 2, 2007 @ 12:41 pm
I am sorry if this has been asked before, but what about the dogs that are eating chicken?
Nancy
Comment by nancy — May 2, 2007 @ 12:42 pm
OH NO>>>>>>
We were worried that Purina had how many farms? I know it wasn’t a million. We never considered a million. It’s a million.
“Land O’Lakes Purina Feed LLC is one million farmers and ranchers strong”
http://www.montana.edu/careers....._ag_06.doc
Enough learning about pURINa for me today
Comment by shelly — May 2, 2007 @ 12:45 pm
From the Int’l Herald Tribune article that Gina included at the top of this thread:
“Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development… had shipped more than 700 tons of wheat gluten labeled as “nonfood” products earlier this year through a third party, a Chinese textile company.”
This looks like a big legal red flag. Did ChemNutra receive its shipment(s) of wheat gluten from Xuzhou Anying in shipping containers or with paperwork marked “nonfood”? Then did they knowingly sell it to pet food manufacturers?
We’ve read that wheat gluten can be used in the manufacture of fabrics. But there’s no reason to spike the protein content in wheat gluten being used in fabric manufacturing. (And do we even manufacture fabrics/textiles in the U.S. anymore?) So a reasonable person would think that this labeling for shipping was intentionally misleading. And the Miller’s role in all this? And how was it labeled or shipped to Menu Foods in Canada? Surely it had to go through customs or its equivalent when it crossed the border…(Some might have been shipped directly from the port of entry, Long Beach CA, directly to Menu Foods.)
Comment by Maureen — May 2, 2007 @ 12:49 pm
Here is a thought. Chickens have been eating melamine laced food. Then, no doubt, some have been used to make pet food (maybe the ones that died?) which also had melamine laced gluten added..so they got a double dose. Nothing stands alone…it is the convergence of these additives that is an even bigger risk. No wonder our poor pets died.
Comment by Sandy — May 2, 2007 @ 12:50 pm
I don’t buy the “did not disclose” statement. I spent two years doing export documents. I had to do as many as 13 documents to ship one machine to another country (including China). These were very detailed documents. They took hours (sometimes days) to prepare. Every word, misspelling, etc had to match perfectly.
There is NO WAY they could have left China as NON-FOOD and entered the U.S. as HUMAN GRADE gluten without someone knowing.
Who’s LYING Chemnutra or China.
Comment by Jeanette/Ohio — May 2, 2007 @ 12:51 pm
No problem. This site is great - just wanted to roam a little elsewhere and don’t know my way around. Love you guys and thanks for the good links.
Comment by Terry — May 2, 2007 @ 12:51 pm
RE: Death data by the CDC. That would be the Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Reports or MMWR. Go to http://www.cdc.gov and I think there’s a link on the left for MMWR.
And Kat, no, a simple search engine isn’t what newcomers need. They need to be treated as if they have the same right to post here as anyone else. You people sound like the pet food companies with all the backpedaling. Hey! Don’t you think Gina and Christie are as tired and whacked out as anyone else? Don’t you think you could at least quit treating this as your private forum and give them a break from babysitting? Why didn’t you just say…I’m sorry.
If you’re getting too whacked out, get off the net and give yourself a break. You’ve all earned it. Excuse my Usenet voice…..but the rudeness shown to our hosts lately has really frosted my cookies.
Comment by CathyA — May 2, 2007 @ 12:56 pm
Terry, glad to see you stopped back by. Give us time. We might even grow on you. ;-]
Comment by Ally — May 2, 2007 @ 12:56 pm
Nancy,
I am feeding my cats Evanger’s Chicken cat food. I’ve got an email to them asking where they get the chicken from. Will post back when I hear.
Asked the butcher at big mega grocer where the chickena come from. Wouldn’t and or couldn’t say. Looked at me like I was nuts.
I’m starting to go nuts…….
Comment by Peg — May 2, 2007 @ 12:56 pm
http://www.montana.edu/careers....._ag_06.doc
Somebody was wondering how many farms Purina has? Is a million a comfortable number?
Comment by shelly — May 2, 2007 @ 12:57 pm
E. will definitely grow on you. You’ll spend more time in the little girls room than at your computer.
Comment by shelly — May 2, 2007 @ 12:58 pm
Comment by Sandy — May 2, 2007 @ 12:50 pm
Sandy, you just gave me a terrible thought.
Feed mela-crap to the chickens…
The chicken break it down into cyanuric acid.
Then use the chicken meat in the pet foods while adding in melamine and cyanuric acid laced-gluten…
the pets break that down some more…
Poor things are possibly getting 2x Melamine and 3x Cyanuric Acid
I don’t even want to go into the human scenario…
Comment by Peggy — May 2, 2007 @ 12:59 pm
On a whim I google china biological warfare. Wikipedia was there, so I clicked, read and reread.
Down towards the bottom of this was a paragraph titled: The role of public health depts. and disease surveillance.
Could be the sky is falling?
Comment by Maudigan — May 2, 2007 @ 1:01 pm
Are any of you familiar with homeopathy? I believe the concept there is that when a substance or mineral is diluted thousands of times, it’s essence becomes stronger, not weaker. Homeopathic remedies are the item (like arsenic) diluted until only the essence remains and it is very strong. So theoretically by diluting the mealine its impact on our bodies could be stronger?
Comment by Sandy — May 2, 2007 @ 1:06 pm
Look up the current listing on Wikipedia (wikipedia.com) for melamine. There’s a footnote referenced to a 1991 U.S. government manual with a protocol for testing for melamine in meat! 1991.
On a less polite blog they would call this a CF…
Comment by Maureen — May 2, 2007 @ 1:12 pm
The coffee mentioned in a post of mine above is called Kopi Luwak, it is the most expensive coffee in the world, much like the poisoned pet food we all fed to our pets-no matter what we paid up front it cost us waaay too much.
The coffee beans are eaten by a type of civet and ..er..excreted before processing. It shoots out a cat’s a$$ is the best way to say this. I thought it was a fitting way to end a melameal.
http://tinyurl.com/2s2u2s
served with this http://bertc.com/kitty.htm
for dessert, I thought it was appropriate.
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 2, 2007 @ 1:15 pm
let me get this straight. the Melamine (and other crap) should not be a worry to us because our pets ate the same diet everyday and we don’t?
hmmm, then that would be saying it had to build up over time? so those folks who had animals get suddenly sick on NB when they opened a new bag had already been feeding the poison? This is what they want us to believe?
but even if that is true, we have been shipping this poison in since summer of 06 and it’s OBVIOUSLY in our food supply so . . .
on a happier note, my box of free range non poison meats/bones/organs just showed up for my animals! safe livers for the fur kids!! I wonder if they’ll share their bounty with me . . .
Comment by straybaby — May 2, 2007 @ 1:18 pm
http://www.usda.gov/agency/ocr......42804.doc
Statement of Ann M. Veneman
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Before the House Committee on Agriculture
Washington, D.C.
April 28, 2004
Comment by shelly — May 2, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
Customs Broker Licensing Examination (that’s what this is - the Exam)
There’s 80 questions I believe.
I don’t want this job.
http://tinyurl.com/2mh8pz
Comment by shelly — May 2, 2007 @ 1:27 pm
Stock tip!
Making money on the pet food recall:
IDEXX LABS (NasdaqGS:IDXX)
AP
Idexx Labs 1Q Earnings Beat the Street
“Particularly strong revenue growth in the reference laboratories and instrument consumables businesses resulted in part from the well-publicized pet food recalls during the quarter, which we believe caused an unusually high number of pet visits to the veterinary clinic for exams that included diagnostic testing,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Jonathan Ayers.
Link to company web page on recall. Has some good info. I am NOT saying there is anything wrong with this company.
http://www.idexx.com/animalhea.....recall.jsp
But, here is a link to creep investors salivating over the recall, (one goof says he’s a vet and his profile even links to a clinic in NY state) There is something wrong with this bunch.
http://tinyurl.com/33zqph
Link to list of links to financial publications licking their chops:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/h?s=IDXX
I say follow the money. If someone placed call options on stocks like IDXX or put options on stocks like Menu Foods prior to reports of sick and dying pets, then you have a trail to deliberate sabotage, rather than tainting by negligent greed. Wonder if that is part of the FDA’s “criminal investigation”?
If “free trade” means that the kind of sociopaths who take glee in profiteering off of dead and dying pets are also running our international trading system, I’d rather pass on this “greater prosperity for all” scheme. See Ben Bernanke speech:
http://federalreserve.gov/boar.....efault.htm
Freedom in this case has truly been just another word for nothing left to lose for more and more people. Pets are the last straw.
Comment by Sylvia — May 2, 2007 @ 1:27 pm
Oh, and The University of Guelph did a study on this coffee I linked to above. So it was all kind of linked in my mind, sorry if I offended.
If you are serving melameals for dinner and it seems we all are, then Folgers just won’t do was my point.
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 2, 2007 @ 1:29 pm
Well, if we can’t get the mainstream media to pay attention, at least we have a comic strip that understands!
http://www.comics.com/comics/arlonjanis/index.html
Comment by kb — May 2, 2007 @ 1:31 pm
Im amazed at how few people in my town woodstock,ny know about pc.com, or itchmo??
i was at the pet food store doing my food supply
stocking, no 1 knew about pc.com ot it’s wonderful mascot itchmo? i told ‘em!!!
sigh,
it was heart rend’in hearing people complain that they didn’t know what they could do about this mess. so i enformed ‘em they could paticipate , organise , and take action by joining with other people who’r affected ?
i guess we’v got a few “lose-ends” to square
away…
i think if we stay on the little b@st@rds butts
(pet co’s,ceo’s, communists, fda. etc..)
people will pickup on it..
Comment by johnypaycut — May 2, 2007 @ 1:38 pm
Gina and Christie have done an amazingly tireless and unselfish job of keeping this informative blog going 24/7.
I for one would have been lost in a fog without the information and support of this site.
They have now been nominated for Bloggers Choice Award-Best Animal Blogger. Everyone get out there and vote for them. You need to register but it is quick and simple.
LETS SHOW OUR APPRECIATION FOR ALL THEIR HARD WORK AND PATIENCE!!!
http://www.bloggerschoiceaward.....show/12730
Comment by mal — May 2, 2007 @ 1:41 pm
I think we all need a laugh - here’s one from itchmo!
http://humour.200ok.com.au/giv....._pets.html
Comment by Phil — May 2, 2007 @ 1:41 pm
I was just playing tug-o-war with my dog and her headless stuffie toy. I think her next toy needs to be trio set. One would be a character wearing a FDA tag with it’s hand sewn over it’s mouth, one would be a pet food manufacturer with it’s hand sewn over it’s eyes and the third would be a grain product exporter with dollar bills coming out of its ears. Then she can rip off all the heads she wants! Just trying to keep us laughing instead of crying.
Comment by kb — May 2, 2007 @ 1:43 pm
I am going to re-phrase my quesiton. I am a dog trainer and I stopped giving my clients dogs or my dogs store bought treats in the last 6 weeks for obvious reasons. I have been using either chicken or cheese. I have been using TONS of chicken. Nancy
Comment by nancy — May 2, 2007 @ 1:46 pm
Comment by Mike Russell Sr. — May 2, 2007 @ 11:47 am
Mike - I contacted Pedigree and got the ‘form’ letter. I emailed again Monday and asked for this information:
==================
To Pedigree -
Thank you for your reply.
Please provide the name your domestic source from which you are purchasing corn gluten.
It is possible THEY are purchasing from China. And just don’t tell me they are not. I want names.
I would also like the names of the forgein suppliers of rice protein and wheat gluten, even though ‘they are not linked to the recall’.
===============
I’m glad we are holding their feet to the fire. Hope others are doing the same!
Comment by Deanna — May 2, 2007 @ 1:48 pm
Comment by Sylvia — May 2, 2007 @ 1:27 pm
For sure investors are just drooling over potential profits if they can figure out some way to scam the public into believing they have the solution? That Vet on that one board is a slimy lizard thats for sure.
Comment by Steve — May 2, 2007 @ 1:50 pm
RE: Ms. Veneman’s Statement, Sec. of U.S. Dept. of Agriculture:
I have a bright idea: keep our food here for U.S. citizens if we produce so much. We should process it here, too. Let’s get our defunct, delapidated factories running again. Let’s be more user-friendly to U.S. businesses.
Buying trends and consumer demands are changing as we type.
Why send our products to maverick countries such as China that take our good products, separate them into individual ingredients and derivatives, adulterate them, spike them up with the invention of a pseudo-this-or-that- additive from the latest patent-holding quack, and send them back to us.?
I think we’re going to see a rally for the small U.S. farmer and whole, unprocessed foods. The hippies in their “Back to Nature” movement knew…
*****************
Quote by Ann M. Veneman
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
In the United States, our agricultural production capacity far exceeds domestic demand.
http://www.usda.gov/agency/ocr......42804.doc
Comment by petlover — May 2, 2007 @ 1:54 pm
Only a few weeks ago I would have sold my soul to have the numbers of pet deaths reported with more accuracy, as is now happening with some regularity. We are seeing the major national and international newspapers finally getting with the story, in many cases quite in-depth, and with new information and insight. China has been seriously outed for the way in which they conduct and condone their international trade; this has damaged their credibility and this recognition WILL result in permanent changes in US trade and import policy. The FDA has been shown to be ineffectual to deal with this type of catastrophe but has made a responsive change in personnel hierarchy and all “protein” products from China ARE now being stopped at the borders. There have been several congressional subcommittee hearings which have begun the issue enlightenment process for our lawmakers….I am now absolutely certain there will be bi-partisan legislation on labeling, inspections and accountability in the coming weeks/months. There has been an increase in “voluntary” recalls that may have prevented thousands more dead and injured animals. The pet food manufacturers and brands have been widely exposed for their reliance on only a few manufacturing facilities and suppliers and a lack of labeling integrity and quality control. Many of us have undertaken and actually become quite proficient in the home preparation of dinner for our pets.
I am certainly not mentioning these things as “progress” in a way that suggests it is enough….not even remotely is it enough. But, we are at an “improved” place that I, for one, could not have envisioned even two weeks ago. And I am willing to acknowlege that. This ingredient adulteration is a huge and complex issue that has been put in the spotlight and under the microscope. It involves, among other things, international trade, diplomacy, science, agriculture, economics, medicine, and politics. The problem is, in fact, not “a” problem but an extremely multi-faceted one. It was not created over night nor will it be resolved over night. There is, unfortunately no simple or single “fix”.
I have been coming to this site for breaking news and information since the middle of March. On occasion I have tried to contribute information, respond to queries, offer ideas and submit what I hoped were useful comments. I have no agenda whatsoever except to make some sense of all this and hopefully to end up with safer foods (and lives)for ourselves, our livestock and our precious companion animals. I am so thankful that PetConnection was in place and stepped up as a conduit for us all to chat and learn.
But, I need to vent today, I guess, because I see the ongoing snark and defensiveness and put downs and I am starting to worry that some here are either too close to the situation to actually see the progress that HAS been made, or, more troubling, that they represent agendas that have little to do with pets. I honestly mean no offense to any individual. These are just my thoughts.
Comment by elizabeth R. — May 2, 2007 @ 1:54 pm
Thank you Gina and Christie for your hard work.
Comment by Terry — May 2, 2007 @ 1:54 pm
And another comi
http://www.gocomics.com/tomtoles/2007/05/01/
Comment by Kim — May 2, 2007 @ 1:56 pm
Comment by mal — May 2, 2007 @ 1:41 pm
I clicked, I saw, I voted.
Thanks to Gina & Christie, indeed.
Thanks as well to mal for providing the link!
Comment by Ally — May 2, 2007 @ 2:01 pm
Elizabeth, I agree. As some of you know, Christie and I have been working together off and on since our days running the Pet Care Forum on America Online. We know all about how online communities can get clique-ish, and people get snarky towards newcomers.
The people who have commented on here have brought an incredible value to the discussions, and have helped to get the story some of the attention it deserves from the regulatory agencies, from lawmakers, from the media and from the companies involved.
We’ve done that by working together, and by being civil and fair. By not allowing this to become a red vs. blue issue, or a “kitties vs. soldiers” issue. The fact is, we all gotta eat.
So, let’s continue to look for common sense and common ground and remember that we have rights not only as “consumers” but also citizens.
And fergoshsakes, let’s embrace those who have come in to find out more and help.
Kindness, everyone … and not just to animals.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 2, 2007 @ 2:01 pm
Nancy
Who know about the chicken? It’s still probabably a safer bet then snacks made in China, or with rice protein in them. I just discovered on accident that my dog loves frozen (organic of course) peas! Try them, maybe some of the dogs will like them. Does make you just want to go back to the good old hotdogs full of all the icky stuff and preservatives, doesn’t it?
Comment by Joyce — May 2, 2007 @ 2:02 pm
I something up with the howl911 site? It hasn’t shown an update since 4/27.
Comment by Sherrod — May 2, 2007 @ 2:05 pm
Sorry for repeating my post but when I put it up earlier it got buried right away so here goes one more time:
Gina and Christie have done an amazingly tireless and unselfish job of keeping this informative blog going 24/7.
I for one would have been lost in a fog without the information and support of this site.
They have now been nominated for Bloggers Choice Award-Best Animal Blogger. Everyone get out there and vote for them. You need to register but it is quick and simple.
LETS SHOW OUR APPRECIATION FOR ALL THEIR HARD WORK AND PATIENCE!!!
http://www.bloggerschoiceaward.....show/12730
Comment by mal — May 2, 2007 @ 2:06 pm
GINA & CHRISTIE: Congratulations on your nomination! I recommend a special topic for The Bloggers Choice Award. You’re not “tooting your own horn” if someone suggests you do this.
Please start a separate topic so this news does not get lost (and also so you don’t get another 600 comments saying that you should start a separate thread for this)! All of our congratulations will be in one place, not interspersed.
Congratulations to Gina and Christie for being nominated.
We appreciate your tireless efforts to keep us informed and deal with our comments. Thank you for this platform. Kudos!
Comment by petlover — May 2, 2007 @ 2:06 pm
Chicken and pork for humans, dogs, and cats—
Have any of the labs working on the effects of the melamine checked to see if it is accumulated in other body tissues besides the kidneys? Checked, for example, the muscles of the pets found to have the crystal formations in their kidneys? Or muscles of some of the now-slaughtered hogs or chickens known to have eaten the melamine-spiked rejected pet food?
If it is confined to the kidneys, the plain meats humans usually eat (unless you are into steak and kidney pie, hot dogs, or other processed meats)are muscle and might not be a risk to those who have eaten it. Of course, processed pet foods would still be suspect, because everything but (maybe I should say including) the kitchen sink goes into those, as we all know. I don’t know much about bird physiology, but I know human systems, and I’m guessing the liver would be another possible accumulation site in mammals at least. So I won’t be feeding my cats liver any time soon, even if it is human grade.
Anyone found info about this?
Comment by Debra — May 2, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
Comment by Sylvia — May 2, 2007 @ 1:27 pm
Bernanke’s all over the news today warning us about how bad we’ll have it if we dont’ keep up globalism. (the standard economist’s line)
“A move to protect U.S. industries and workers from foreign competition would be a serious mistake that would jeopardize the sizable benefits of free trade, the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, said Tuesday.”
ROAR!!!!!!!!
Comment by Steve — May 2, 2007 @ 2:09 pm
I would say any organ meats, which is of course what goes into almost all pet food.
Comment by Joyce — May 2, 2007 @ 2:10 pm
Comment by nancy — May 2, 2007 @ 1:46 pm
Nancy,
I think your question about dogs eating chicken has gone unanswered because no one here knows the answer. We are just regular people like you, searching for answers too. The only scientific sources for info we have on the subject are the Drs. at the FDA and the USDA. They say it’s not necessary to recall the chicken that ate the mela-feed. A reporter specifically asked if the FDA/USDA would name the companies who sold chicken who had eaten the mela-feed so that consumers could decide for themselves and they declined. So there really is no good answer to your question right now, unfortunately.
Comment by slt — May 2, 2007 @ 2:10 pm
The WTO came into being on January 1, 1995 so you can roughly guess we been eating this crap for 15 years at least.
Comment by Steve — May 2, 2007 @ 2:12 pm
I’ve heard that it is best to stay away from organ meat, not just because of the Mad Cow Disease but for reasons like what is happening now - anything contaminated gathers in the organs.
Comment by Terry — May 2, 2007 @ 2:15 pm
I agree with Elizabeth, progress has been made, in that more people are becoming aware of food safety issues, both pets and people!
And I would hope that each of us will do something every day to inform others. This morning I called my Senators and Representative, and I have also contacted a tv station, as I know some of you have done.
It is important that we do keep stirring the pot. I would like to see an action posted each day that we could all do such as “Call your Senator” and add some talking points because I know some folks wouldn’t call cuz they don’t know what to say.
I really do appreciate the effort that has gone into these websites to keep us informed.
Comment by Elaine — May 2, 2007 @ 2:20 pm
Nancy & Peg…
I called Evanger’s this AM to find out abaout the chickens (and turkeys?). They didn’t know it went beyond Indiana’s farms. I told them about the CNN article on the Itchmo site http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH.....d.poultry/ and that 100’s of farms with chickens for human consumption, not only in Indiana, could be feeding melamine to their chickens.
They (Evanger’s) went to the Itchmo site and pulled up the article. At that time they said they would look into it and get back to me.
Not wanting to wait for them to get back to me, I just called them again - Evanger’s Customer Service Call Toll Free: 1-800-288-6796 - and I spoke to Holly Scher(the owner of Evanger’s). She told me their chicken supplier is in the southeast and they did speak to their supplier after reading the article. The supplier told them that their chickens did not eat any of the tainted pet food.
I would really appreciate it if someone else would call Evanger’s and speak to Holly as well. Just to make sure I got it right.
Thanks!!!!!
Comment by Joyce — May 2, 2007 @ 2:23 pm
Comment by Steve — May 2, 2007 @ 2:09 pm
We know how those benefits are being portioned out. He is a smart man and I hope he will figure out that it would be easier to have at least enough trade regulation to ensure safe food, than it is to convince us that all is well when it is not.
Here is a link to the Fed’s e-mail contact:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/feedback.cfm
I may write and suggest they use their influence to help figure out why our pets were poisoned and how we can stop it from happening again. Since the issue puts free trade in such a bad light, maybe they will will want to “help”.
Comment by Sylvia — May 2, 2007 @ 2:24 pm
Comment by Sylvia — May 2, 2007 @ 2:24 pm
Well this is as good a time as any for Helicopter Ben to do something. Consumer spending has cooled for many reasons. How much longer can the economy keep itself afloat with “cheap stuff” which according to him is the ticket?
Comment by Steve — May 2, 2007 @ 2:49 pm
Any chance we can see a photocopy of ChemNutra’s invoice and certificates?
And can we see copies from Menu Food’s?
How about a list of who was trading shares/units between June ‘06 and Mar 16, ‘07 especially on those once or twice a month enormous volume spikes I saw after having nearly a flat-line of volume trades during Apr ‘06 thru Jun ‘06? 8)
Anybody know how to get that info?
Or maybe we could ask OSC to take a look-see.
Comment by Kathi — May 2, 2007 @ 3:12 pm
slt - melamine in chickens.
They need to go back to the pork. Cripes, how long ago was that? It’s all getting hazy. Anyway, they had ferried all those pork meat samples over to the UC Davis lab. I’d like to know how much residue they found in the meat. So far I don’t think we’ve heard have we?
Comment by CathyA — May 2, 2007 @ 3:17 pm
I have been reading these blogs for weeks now, and I want to thank everyone for all the helpful information about the pet food recall. Last week I took my dog to the vet because she seemed tired and I was worried that she had eaten tainted pet food. So, they did bloodwork and her tests came back fine, but she seemed like she was in heat, even though she was spayed over a year ago. She is almost 3 years old. They ordered an estrogen test and it came back elevated. This morning I took her in so they could do exploratory surgery and see if they had missed a piece of ovary. They just called and told me that although they did not find any ovarian tissue, they did find a dimesize cyst or granuloma! They are sending it out to the lab and should have results in 5-7 days. They told me most likely it is not malignanat. They said it may be scar tissue or could still be a piece of ovary, that the tests would tell them more ie. what kind of tissue it is. I am crying and worried sick! I had my first dog for 15 years and when she was 8 she got cancer and they said it was probably because I didn’t spay her. This same vets office saved her life and she lived another 8 years! So, this time, with my second dog, I did the right thing and spayed her while she was young. I am so upset! Does anyone know more about this type of thing? I would also like to ask for many prayers for my Bambi. All my children are grown up and she is my baby. I am disabled, so I am with her 24/7. I am so worried!
Comment by Bambi'sMom — May 2, 2007 @ 3:18 pm
Here is my letter to the Federal Reserve. Anyone is welcome to use it. (and enhance it or correct any boo-boos)
http://www.federalreserve.gov/feedback.cfm
Dear Chairman Bernanke and Federal Reserve Board,
I am writing regarding the current pet poisoning disaster that led to a massive recall of foods contaminated with products from China. I thought you would be interested in the negative impact this issue could have on “free trade”. I hope the Board will exert its influence towards a successful investigation of culpability in this matter leading to swift and effective punishment of the guilty individuals and/or entities. If regulation and inspection system failure is also evident, then please bring your influence to bear in the quick yet sound remediation of these systems. I believe that the American people need concrete actions to ensure the safety of their food supply. Speeches will not suffice. Their perception of the benevolence of international trading is in your hands.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Comment by Sylvia — May 2, 2007 @ 3:30 pm
I don’t know if I’m posting this correctly…
I see what looks like an additional recall:
“Schnucks brand included in expanded pet food recall.”
“The products may contain trace amounts of melamine in wheat gluten, the local firm said in a release.
Schnucks and Logli customers in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Tennessee and Mississippi are asked to check for the following Schnucks pet food products…”
Article gives UPC codes for various cat & dog foods.
Complete article is here:
http://news.moneycentral.msn.c.....ID=6835775
Comment by Aunt Granny — May 2, 2007 @ 4:15 pm
Oh, I got censored…guess I shouldn’t have said h%$ll. I think of it as a place rather than a profanity. I will do better next time.
Comment by Joyce — May 2, 2007 @ 5:13 pm
Petsmart has added to their recall list (Store brand and Nutro among them) see the PDF and look at the dates in the far right column.
http://www.petsmart.com/ps/main.jsp
Mars, Inc. bought Nutro Products yesterday
http://www.nutroproducts.com/press5-1-07mars.asp
Comment by Lori Lee — May 2, 2007 @ 5:25 pm
To Bambi’s mom -
So sorry about your Bambi’s problems. Sounds like you have a vet that you can trust and who cares, though. I certainly will keep you and Bambi in my prayers.
Comment by Linda P. — May 2, 2007 @ 7:31 pm
Thank you Linda,
She is home now, laying down on the couch. I can tell she doesn’t feel well. She did eat a little and drank a little water. I love her so very much. Thank you for your prayers.
Comment by Bambi'sMom — May 2, 2007 @ 9:41 pm
To Bambi’s Mom, make sure Bambi was prescribed sufficient painkillers by her vet so that she isn’t uncomfortable. That’s one thing many vets don’t do, and that is send pets home following surgery with enough pain medications. Some don’t give any (particularly following spaying). I don’t agree with that. All my pets get painkillers following surgery. I insist. Because after all if surgery would hurt me, then it would hurt my pets. Some pets can fool you though by acting stoic, but to make sure they aren’t suffering, pain meds are a good idea. They lower levels of stress which helps promote faster healing.
Comment by Melissa — May 3, 2007 @ 12:34 am
Melissa,
Thank you so much for caring. They did send her home with some Tramadol (1/4 pill of 50mg) every 12 hours. Also an antibiotic. She seems to be resting comfortably now.
Comment by Bambi'sMom — May 3, 2007 @ 12:47 am
TO BAMBI’S MOM:
I DON’T mean to scare you, but, read this article, please.
http://wbztv.com/consumer/loca.....20027.html
The important thing is to ask for package inserts - the stuff printed by the drug company for the vet - and watch for any symptoms. I had a friend lose one animal to this, and almost lose a second one. My baby had diarrhea. I called the vet, and we stopped the metacam. I didn’t realize how dangerous it had all been, til months later!
BLESSED BE.
WOLFIN )O(
Comment by WOLFIN — May 3, 2007 @ 3:12 am
TO NANCY, PEG, JOYCE, AND EVERYONE ELSE ASKING/COMMENTING ABOUT CHICKEN (OR USING CHICKEN):
I CALLED GIANT EAGLE HEADQUARTERS YESTERDAY. I WAS TOLD THAT THEY RECEIVED LETTERS FROM ALL OF THEIR CHICKEN SUPPLIERS (PURDUE, BELL AND EVANS, AND THE STORE BRAND, WHICH THEY GET FROM “MOUNTAIRE CHICKEN”), STATING THAT THEIR POULTRY IS NOT CONTAMINATED. THE MAN TO WHOM I SPOKE, BILL SMITH, SUPPOSEDLY IN CHARGE OF MEAT PURCHASING FOR ALL OF THEIR STORES, SAID THAT MOUNTAIRE CHICKEN IS LOCATED IN DELAWARE. I RAN OUT OF DAY YESTERDAY, BUT INTEND TO CALL THEM TODAY.
I’VE BEEN FEEDING CHICKEN, TURKEY, AND CHICKEN EGGS AS MY ONLY PROTEIN SOURCES FOR ABOUT SIX WEEKS NOW, AND SUPPLEMENTALLY SINCE LAST MAY!
I INTEND TO CALL NATURE’S BIN, MY SOMEWHAT LOCAL ORGANIC FOODS STORE, TO FIND OUT WHETHER THEY HAVE FRESH, ORGANIC, CHICKEN AND TURKEY THIGHS, AND CHICKEN EGGS, AND SHOPPING THERE ONCE A WEEK. I STILL NEED TO FEED WHAT I HAVE IN THE HOUSE FOR NOW, AT LEAST FOR A COUPLE MORE DAYS.
I NEVER ASKED ANYONE ABOUT TURKEY, NOR HAVE I SEEN IT MENTIONED ANYWHERE. I HOPE THAT THIS WON’T BE IN THE NEXT WAVE OF “POISON NEWS”.
“Cindy” also had useful information on the main comment site, at Itchmo’s.
BLESSED BE.
WOLFIN )O(
Comment by WOLFIN — May 3, 2007 @ 3:20 am