Pet-food recall: ‘Because it’s complicated’ edition and open thread
By Gina Spadafori
May 8, 2007
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What was your favorite part of the FDA’s media briefing, otherwise known as the “perfect storm for total confusion” (an actual quote from the briefing)?
My favorite, from “food safety czar” Dr. David Acheson:
[... O]bviously we are keeping our eyes open, we’re working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If we start to see unusual spikes of inexplicable illness, clearly we’d ask those questions.
Or maybe you were struck by the 20 million chickens many now “queued” for slaughter, the 50,000 swine, the who knows how much farmed fish, or the confusion between wheat flour and wheat gluten, and what the multi-agency (the Border Patrol and Centers for Disease Control are all in on it now, too) force is looking for, where.
Let us know. And also let us know the links to news stories. Heck, today’s media briefing might even push Paris Hilton out the news feed for a few minutes. Unless she shows up to serve her jail term without undies.
Add your comments, or drop us a note.
First out of the starting gate: Andrew Bridges of the Associated Press:
Farmed fish have been fed meal spiked with the same chemical that has been linked to the pet food recall, but the contamination was probably too low to harm anyone who ate the fish, federal officials said Tuesday.
The Canadian-made meal included what was purported to be wheat gluten, a protein source, imported from China. The material was actually wheat flour spiked by the chemical melamine and related, nitrogen-rich compounds to make it appear more protein rich than it was, officials said.
After pigs and chickens, the farmed fish mark the third food animal given contaminated feed. The level of contamination is expected to be too low to pose any danger to human health, said Dr. David Acheson, the FDA’s assistant commissioner for food protection.
Not related to the media briefing, but explaining some of why the situation with China is so politically tricky, this Bloomberg piece from yesterday (thanks, Deb!):
When the stock market’s benchmark for Corporate America rallies to a record, investors can attribute the bull market to its growing dependence on the Chinese.
Companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index get 49 percent of their sales from outside the U.S., up from 30 percent in 2001, according to S&P, whose index includes the biggest corporations. The balance may tip this year as global growth outpaces the U.S. The world economy will expand 4.2 percent in 2007, twice the U.S. pace, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
3M Co. and McDonald’s Corp., which generate more than half of revenue outside the U.S., led the S&P 500’s 6.4 percent gain this year with profits that exceeded analysts’ expectations. The index is now 1.2 percent below its peak reached seven years ago and even investors who used to be pessimistic about stocks say demand from China and Germany will push American shares higher.
Update: David Goldstein has done some great blogging on this all along, but today he hit it right out of the park:
I know I sometimes come off as a tad alarmist, but before you dismiss my skepticism lets first review what we know versus what we believe.
What we know:
- Tainted pet food has killed or sickened tens of thousands of cats and dogs, some dropping dead within a meal or two of first ingesting melamine and related compounds such as cyanuric acid.
- Autopsies have discovered “plasticized” cat kidneys, clogged with crystals comprised of equal parts melamine and cyanuric acid.
- Laboratory tests have have reproduced the formation of these crystals in a test tube by mixing melamine and cyanuric acid in the presence of urine.
- Tainted pet food containing melamine and cyanuric acid was “salvaged,” and sold as livestock feed, contaminating untold millions of hogs and chickens.
- About three million chickens and several hundred hogs are known to have been slaughtered, butchered and presumably eaten. At least another 20 million chickens are known to have consumed contaminated feed.
What we believe:
- Tainted meat poses little risk to human health.
I would love to join my friends in the legacy media in reporting that our food supply is safe. I love food. I eat it every day. But I’m having trouble taking that leap of faith, not simply because of what we know, but because of what we don’t know. For example, we have no idea if melamine/cyanuric acid crystals bio-accumulate in human kidneys over time, and we’re not even sure exactly how long or how widely these toxins have contaminated our food supply.
And… despite USDA/FDA’s recent assurance that contaminated meat is safe to eat, this “most extreme risk assessment scenario” was conducted without ever bothering to test melamine and cyanuric acid levels in the meat of contaminated hogs and chickens.
At least, that’s what they told me. FDA spokesperson Julie Zawisza explained that “identifying these compounds in high protein environments (eg, muscle/tissue) is not that simple” and that they “are still working on a valid test.”
Fair enough. So I asked Midwest Labs, a widely respected testing facility, if they could test “a pork chop or piece of chicken” as reliably as they could test, say, a can of dog food. Their response?
You’ll have to read his post to find out. Go now.
Update 2: From Ben at itchmo.com, the news that the FDA has known about the contaminated fish feed for weeks:
ChemNutra says information on their co-brokered deal for fish feed ingredient was in FDA’s hands in mid-April. Spokesperson Steve Stern also stated that the search of ChemNutra by federal officials announced 10 days ago should have turned up these details.
Update 3: Bringing up from comments, melamine found at an Oregon fish hatchery:
The Food and Drug Administration has confirmed that melamine has been found in fish feed at the Marion Folks Hatchery in Oregon.
The manager at the hatchery discontinued use of the feed, labeled as Bio Vita Starter, when the FDA contacted him about testing. The grade of food is used as a starter diet for juvenile salmon and trout.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife contacted the company to find out if the feed was shipped to other hatcheries. Representatives from the Skretting Co. confirmed that the same lot was sent to the Willamette, Gnat Creek, Big Creek, Cole Rivers, Butte Falls and Leaburg hatcheries.
We promise to start a new post after this update: The transcript from today’s FDA/USDA conference is up! Check it out!
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Oh my… just when I hoped there’d be a miracle… it just keeps getting worse. The only bright spot is all of you feel the same way I do about all this.
Comment by Rose L — May 8, 2007 @ 2:01 pm
“but the contamination was probably too low to harm anyone who ate the fish”
but, but, but! didn’t the fish eat a much higher concentration than the swine/chickens who had it mixed in the food at a low percentage so we shouldn’t worry because of the famous *dilution factor* . . .
Reporter: Are fish fed 100 percent fish meal?
Sundloff: No, but can’t tell you proportion. Probably less than half.
Comment by straybaby — May 8, 2007 @ 2:02 pm
Are you kidding… it would be news if she showed up anywhere WITH undies. And why do I even have to know this about anyone??? sheesh.
Comment by Cynthia — May 8, 2007 @ 2:05 pm
I look at this press conference this way: The news media had dropped the food safety story, and, thanks to our bumbling, spin doctors, it gave some life to the story.
So at least once a week, at their press conference, something new to report comes up.
Like the 50,0000 hogs involved!! And the fish!!!
Comment by Elaine — May 8, 2007 @ 2:10 pm
“Like the 50,0000 hogs involved!! And the fish!!!”
yeah, when i wasn’t dining on sushi, i did have my fair share of BLT&avocado on sour dough sammies . . .
*goes in search of a kidney cleanse diet*
Comment by straybaby — May 8, 2007 @ 2:13 pm
A note to those thinking certified organic is the way to go——-the “certified organic” in my supermarket is mainly from Mexico!
How could a Mexican farm be certified Organic?
Also, one of the news articles I read this week talked about “certified Organic” from China!
Comment by Elaine — May 8, 2007 @ 2:15 pm
Took this off a site (http://www.ams.usda.gov/cool/) on Country Of Origin Labeling (COOL):
“On May 13, 2002, President Bush signed into law the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, more commonly known as the 2002 Farm Bill. One of its many initiatives requires country of origin labeling for beef, lamb, pork, fish, perishable agricultural commodities and peanuts. On January 27, 2004, President Bush signed Public Law 108-199 which delays the implementation of mandatory COOL for all covered commodities except wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish until September 30, 2006. On November 10, 2005, President Bush signed Public Law 109-97, which delays the implementation for all covered commodities except wild and farm-raised and shellfish until September 30, 2008. As described in the legislation, program implementation is the responsibility of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service.”
Gee - maybe if someone with an overactive pen would quit signing laws DELAYING Country Of Origin Labeling.
But then I found this (http://www.countryoforiginlabel.org/) wherein you will read:
“The food industry believes this law should be repealed and made voluntary.”
Um. No. I don’t think so . . . .
Comment by The OTHER Pat — May 8, 2007 @ 2:16 pm
certified organic local grown is the new buzz word in foods ;)
Comment by straybaby — May 8, 2007 @ 2:17 pm
The OTHER Pat,
Of course the “food industry” read: big food conglomerates and big packing companies don’t want COOL to be mandatory, cuz they like to be able to sell us the cheap imported food and keep treating us like mushrooms.
Comment by Elaine — May 8, 2007 @ 2:26 pm
Guess who gives the big donations to the congressman to keep delaying COOL?
Just a facetious question, as I think we ALL get the picture here.
Comment by Elaine — May 8, 2007 @ 2:29 pm
Needless to say this leaves most of us even more confused than before.
So here’s a conundrum…Nutro dry has wheat flour as its first ingredient, Beneful has whole wheat flour in its ingredients. The immediate thought would be that this might explain the problem, however if this wheat flour was marked as gluten and rice protein, which leads one to believe this was not used in either food since it was thought to be something else.
Or, are there other issues with wheat flour? This whole thing reminds me of the scene in Home Alone where Macaulay Culkin grabs his face in both hands and screams.
Comment by Carole — May 8, 2007 @ 2:31 pm
Yeah well, it was only 3 weeks ago that I told them about the fish, so the F(oot) D(raging) A(gency) is ahead of schedule on this one…
Comment by schnauzer — May 8, 2007 @ 2:34 pm
I don’t know what to eat, I don’t know what to feed my dog…..I haven’t heard anything about liquor or wine……except that isn’t good for my pooch but it sure is good for me, especially right now!
I don’t want to get into politics but sometimes it’s hard not to…..W put all his cronies into place, they all represent big business & screw the little guy……& I would have to say, they are doing a fine job at that.
I honestly don’t think there’s much left that isn’t contaminated, scary as it is. I don’t think we’re getting half the story. They all knew something about melamine contamination, otherwise I believe it would’ve taken much longer to find it. After all, who would be testing food for melamine…..something smells here.
Have to go mix another meladrink while I’m pondering…..
Comment by JanC — May 8, 2007 @ 2:35 pm
certified organic local grown is the new buzz word in foods ;)
Comment by straybaby
that’s really true. it’s going to be all over the iam’s bag and menu foods cans ad nauseum.
and Elaine:
“Of course the “food industry” read: big food conglomerates and big packing companies don’t want COOL to be mandatory, cuz they like to be able to sell us the cheap imported food and keep treating us like mushrooms. “
Comment by Elaine
I’ve been doing serious homework since this whole thing started…. and I say just TRY to get around the system that’s been created. Even Whole Foods sells organic produce grown in China. The more I read and look into every possible diet, the more I understand that we are screwed. And it happened because we weren’t looking… we all expected the FDA or someone to be watching out for us. And most of the stuff grown in the US is GM. This is really a horror story.
Comment by Cynthia — May 8, 2007 @ 2:42 pm
CNN/CNN headlines chanels have carried the fish fed with melamine story at least 3 times that I have heard today in a couple of hours.
And it has run on the reader tape across the
bottom.
Comment by Cathy B Oregon — May 8, 2007 @ 2:45 pm
Do you all know what the Pollyanna Glad game is? You think of some good thing, no matter what!
Soooo—-as I am eating the heel off of a loaf of fresh out of the oven homemade bread, I can be GLAD that this food scare caused me to start baking bread again!
Comment by Elaine — May 8, 2007 @ 2:45 pm
Comment by Cathy B Oregon — May 8, 2007 @ 2:45 pm
yeah, i need to shoot them an email. they aren’t mentioning the other ingredient. and the bit they just ran about the Chinese not knowing about Melamine, well i think CNN needs to take a look a some of those Chinese trade sites and a patent or 2!!!
Comment by straybaby — May 8, 2007 @ 2:49 pm
Cathy B,
And I am GLAD that the imbeciles at the FDA had another news conference to put this news on front page again!
Comment by Elaine — May 8, 2007 @ 2:49 pm
Carole
Conundrum?
Keep in mind too that anyone who specifically buying food that was supposed to be wheat free because of allergies got screwed. Some dogs/cats are very allergic to wheat and if it said rice on the product and there was wheat that would have caused health problems too.
This is now starting to make more sense, taking low protein wheat flour adding lots of melamine, cyanauric acid, etc to boost it up to the percentages of high protein wheat gluten would mean a much higher percentage of toxins. Maybe that is why some of it tested at 8% which is substantial.
Why would we then ASSume that the wheat flour for human consumption would not be tainted also. What is to prevent them from adding melamine etc into flour to make it enriched???
I do appreciate everyone here, Gina, Christie, and everyone else following this, I just can’t stay on for long periods anymore, my blood pressure goes up, head explodes, I start runnnnnnnning around screaming, the dogs look at me funny, wife thinks I have lost it. Oh well.
sam
Comment by sam — May 8, 2007 @ 2:49 pm
YES! Lou is covering it again and AC 360 later!
Comment by straybaby — May 8, 2007 @ 2:50 pm
This stuff is all psychobabble. I have to treat the FDA press conferences as my comic relief for the week.
Next week they’ll be hot on a new trail for something else. Want to bet?
One thing I know for sure: the “powers that be” don’t know which end is up, which is why they keep changing direction all the time.
Comment by Lynn — May 8, 2007 @ 2:51 pm
“We want to make sure the public is well-served.”
Uh huhhhhh…..
Comment by Therese — May 8, 2007 @ 2:51 pm
“Why would we then ASSume that the wheat flour for human consumption would not be tainted also.”
why because the government told us it wasn’t, of course . . .
*yet another head explosion*
Comment by straybaby — May 8, 2007 @ 2:51 pm
Get ready for more head explosion.
CNN just reported melamine found in fish feed.
Can’t believe it.
We and pets being melamined to “death”.
Comment by Evelyn — May 8, 2007 @ 2:52 pm
Welcome to the FDA Family Restaraunt. Tonight we have an All-you-can-eat buffet sponsored by USDA. Your servers tonight will be FEMA and Homeland Security. And don’t forget all children under 12 eat free!!!! We will also throw in a doggie bag for you to take home some tasty treats for your furry friend. The meal tonight has been prepared with TLC by PFI and AAFCO. Tonight’s entertainment will be a jousting match between ChemNutra and Menu Foods. For those gamblers you can place your bets on the jouster of your choice. Mark Wiens will collect your bets. Bon Appetit!
Comment by Tammy — May 8, 2007 @ 2:56 pm
http://www.acga.org
The Corngrower President, Keith Bolin, is calling for a full investigation of the melamine contamination “There must be accountability and Consequences.”
I just got this on email
Comment by Elaine — May 8, 2007 @ 3:02 pm
Good one Tammy!!!
Comment by Kathi — May 8, 2007 @ 3:04 pm
Hmmm….they just NOW want to do the right thing? I think I just gave up corn! Hmmmppphhh!!!
Comment by Tammy — May 8, 2007 @ 3:10 pm
Cancer in China. What a surprise.
http://tinyurl.com/2lt2fn
Comment by Stephanie — May 8, 2007 @ 3:11 pm
“When asked why ChemNutra didn’t disclose previously that it played a part in that deal, Stern said the company did notify the FDA in mid April. However, the company chose not to include the co-brokered shipment in an April 2 recall of the wheat gluten it had imported for use in pet food —again because it hadn’t sold the ingredient, Stern said.”
So once again ChemNutra find themselves right in the middle. Sounds as if they could have prevented some of this had they spoken up.
Comment by Carole — May 8, 2007 @ 3:12 pm
Small farms need our help.
http://tinyurl.com/2ueoca
Comment by Kathi — May 8, 2007 @ 3:16 pm
Lou Dobbs, CNN just reported on the latest. He was almost funny, despite the fact that the piece by Kitty somebody was lightweight (no mention of now its flour in “gluten clothing”). But he almost exploded when she said they had been to just one fish farm. Then she said they really didn’t have their arms around the fish. He said are these the same (I can’t remember what inflammatory word he used to describe the FDA)(I’ll just say dummies) dummies who two weeks ago said everything was ok? She said they said it is a rolling story. Two bad he hasn’t listened to the press conference or read the blog/transcript. He’d really explode then.
Comment by Shawn — May 8, 2007 @ 3:25 pm
Comment by Tammy — May 8, 2007 @ 3:10 pm
honestly. i’ll take all the help we can get. i doubt many of these farmers knew what they were getting. the gov may pay them for losses, but the gov can’t buy back our trust in a product.
Comment by straybaby — May 8, 2007 @ 3:25 pm
Comment by Shawn — May 8, 2007 @ 3:25 pm
*opportunistic idiots* is what i think he called them .. .
i’m going to email some bullet pointed info to all 3 cnn reporters covering this. it got a mention on SR and will be on later on 360
Comment by straybaby — May 8, 2007 @ 3:28 pm
wait, take that back
Optimistic idiots.
sorry, was mixing the greed dudes up with the spin doctors . . .
Comment by straybaby — May 8, 2007 @ 3:31 pm
Breaking news at the AVMA
May 8, 2007 (3:30 pm CDT)
“Mislabeled wheat flour is contaminated, not wheat gluten or rice protein concentrate”
And so the “wheat flour” name change, ingredient change, whatever, spreads……
http://www.avma.org/aa/petfood.....070508.asp
Comment by Ally — May 8, 2007 @ 3:33 pm
My favorite part? When I asked them these questions:
Me: Mr. Spocko, Spocko’s Brain. My affiliation? United Federation of Planets.
“If the 20 million chickens are safe to eat, what are the names of the companies who are selling these chickens to the public? “
and then I asked them,
“Is this really about protecting public health, because culling the tainted birds and swine would be the safest method. Or is it about protecting the poultry and swine industry?” (Boy I’m surprised this question didn’t make them mad!)
and then
what about the accumulation factor?
(They acted like they didn’t hear me.)
And then I commented on their statement in the release and asked:
“Melamine is known to be excreted in animal urine.”
1) Which animals? Rats? Cats? Dogs? Pigs? Humans? (Lions? Tigers? Bears? Oh my!)
2) Is ALL of it excreted? (I think they still didn’t hear me.)
Of course I was amazed with what they responded when I asked THIS question:
What dose is considered safe? Were these safe dosage tests done on humans or rats?
I SHOUTED this last question and they still ignored me. Then I realized, “I’m not actually ON the phone with them. I’m just watching Christie live-blog it.” Boy was *I* embarrassed.
Comment by spocko — May 8, 2007 @ 3:36 pm
The image to the right is an actual photo of an actual melamine-tainted sack of “wheat gluten” imported by ChemNutra. As the FDA made clear today, the bag is labeled “Wheat Gluten”, but the contents were actually wheat flour adulterated with melamine to spike the nitrogen content. Wheat flour might typically contain 14-percent protein by weight. Wheat gluten (or more appropriately, “vital wheat gluten flour”) contains a minimum of 75-percent protein by weight. This helps explain the surprisingly high levels of melamine found in some samples.
http://tinyurl.com/yt26tp
Comment by Steve — May 8, 2007 @ 3:39 pm
My favorite moment of the press conference?
“We shouldn’t have to inspect it here. [Foreign governments] should inspect it all there.”
– Duane Ekedahl, president of the Pet Food Institute.
Translation: “There’s a leak on their side of the rowboat, and I’m sitting here with my arms crossed waiting for them to fix it.”
Comment by Katherine — May 8, 2007 @ 3:41 pm
spocko? you slay me. you really do.
I know I shouldn’t laugh - what’s been happening is beyond heinous.
Maybe because I’m so desperate for the madness to end, I just couldn’t help myself.
long live the united federation of spocko’s brain.
Comment by Ally — May 8, 2007 @ 3:41 pm
Comment by Spocko,
LOLROF Not sure if I got that one right, I am a gramma and I think that’s what the grandkids said!
Comment by Elaine — May 8, 2007 @ 3:45 pm
“No amount of regulation would have found the melamine,” says Duane Ekedahl, president of the Pet Food Institute. Instead, he says, the Chinese government should step up to help certify its food products – or otherwise be stung by consuming nations that shift their trade to more careful trading partners.
“The US system is not broken; that’s an oversimplification,” says Mr. Ekedahl. “We shouldn’t have to inspect it here. [Foreign governments] should inspect it all there.”
Comment by Steve — May 8, 2007 @ 3:50 pm
Yo Baker Spocko—I am still stuck on why the cuts and gravy products didn’t come out “not as they expected” per the recipe. If they were adding (so they thought) gluten then that is just protein. The starch (a thickening agent) has been disgarded. But they really used wheat flour complete with the starch, so why wasn’t the product over the top way too thick???? I cook and bake some (but I am not a professional baker) and I just can’t figure out why noone noticed this during the manufacturing process.
Comment by Shawn — May 8, 2007 @ 3:52 pm
I think spocko’s brain shattered into [20 million] tiny little pieces!!!
:)
Comment by Peggy (AKA: Big Fat Momma Cat) — May 8, 2007 @ 3:52 pm
David Goldstein’s blog entry was great. thanks for the head’s up Gina. I only now realized “Goldy” was David. Previously always thought “he” was a “she” while enjoying “its” very well written blog entries.
KO, quick question I’ve been muddling over:
Who are grocery store chains going to go after if consumers begin getting sick from mela-food and come after them for recompense? I mean heck, there’s so many possiblities to choose from.
Another question:
Dontcha think Ralph’s or Von’s or whomever might be just a tad concerned about the possibility of being sued for mela-food poisoning?
Comment by Ally — May 8, 2007 @ 3:58 pm
Straybaby-Yep, optimistic idiots. Since I had been thinking in those terms since about 2:15 ESDT, when I recapped I couldn’t be sure whether I was projecting my own thoughts on poor Lou or whether he actually said it!
Comment by Shawn — May 8, 2007 @ 4:04 pm
Shawn wrote
“so why wasn’t the product over the top way too thick????”
Maybe the addition of the chemicals had something to do with that. Like maybe melamine, etc diluted the wheat to the consistency of gluten, maybe just melamine wouldn’t do it but melamine, cyanauric acid, amelorine, ameloride does. That may be why all those chemicals were in there.
just a thought
sam ( head about ready to pop)
Comment by sam — May 8, 2007 @ 4:04 pm
RE: the fish meal…. does that mean fish oil is contaminated too?????
I have so many “favorite lines” from the FDA briefing today it is hard to just pick one. My brain has exploded trying to “grasp it all, because it’s complicated”.
Katie
Comment by Katie — May 8, 2007 @ 4:07 pm
well at least they didn’t say it was hard work . . .
Comment by straybaby — May 8, 2007 @ 4:25 pm
“There must be accountability and Consequences.”
Is that like Truth or Consequences?
Comment by CathyA — May 8, 2007 @ 5:13 pm
consumption; progressive bodily wasting away.
Guess the FDA is not lying. It is not against consumption but (safe) for consumption.
Dum, dum ,dum dum, another one bites the dust.
Suggest we rename the USA the “isle of Dr.Moreau”. Sorry to be so cynical.
Comment by Serijna — May 8, 2007 @ 5:16 pm
Acheson: If I could tell you what I don’t know, I’d know.
My absolute favorite part……Rummy’s back!
Comment by CathyA — May 8, 2007 @ 5:53 pm
Transcript of todays farce has been posted:
May 8, 2007 Transcript of Media Briefing Update by FDA and USDA Regarding Adulterated Animal Feed
http://tinyurl.com/2jyyen
Comment by Aunt Granny — May 8, 2007 @ 5:53 pm
Comment by Shawn — May 8, 2007 @ 3:52 pm
Or maybe the “food” in question is made by careless rednecks who simply dump 55 lb bags of ingredient into a big hopper, and a huge machine heats, it, churns it, and spews it out into cans… are human eyes even involved in the “cooking” process? Does anyone really think this stuff is made by hand…?
And if human eyes *were* involved, why didn’t any of those eyes notice the tiny sparkling granules in the “gluten” they were adding to the hopper in the first place?
Comment by David — May 8, 2007 @ 6:19 pm
I sitting here reading with tears just streaming down my face…………
Comment by Peg — May 8, 2007 @ 7:05 pm
Didn’t the FDA or one of the testing places say WAY WAY back in the beginning that it was very difficult to test the gluten because it was a very thick, sticky substance ansd they had to first figure out how to get it into their machines? I’ve never known flour to come out of a bag thick and sticky? MORE SPIN PLEASE!
Comment by PJ — May 8, 2007 @ 7:22 pm
The more coverage of this, hopefully, the more careful American companies will be in the future. Great job!
Comment by China Law Blog — May 9, 2007 @ 6:39 am
Good summary
Blog: Campaign for America’s Future
http://tinyurl.com/39cl4b
Submitted by Rick Perlstein on Wed, 2007-05-09 19:45.
Don’t eat pork: first it was supposed to be just 6,000 hogs who’d eaten melamine-contaminated salvaged pet food. Now 50,000 have been quarantined in Illinois.
Don’t eat chicken: first it was three million chicken contaminated with melamine - as the FDA’s new food safety “czar” reassured reporters. Then that estimate was revised upward to 20 million.
Don’t eat fish: Canadian fish meal manufactured from poisoned Chinese flour fed fish now in stores across the U.S.
The links above come from David Goldstein, one of our most heroic bloggers, who has pursued the story with the zeal of an old-school investigative report (remember when we used to have those?).
Check out the “faith-based” statements he’s been collecting from the public relations agencies for U.S. agribusiness funded by your very own tax dollars, the Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture:
FDA and USDA believe the likelihood of illness after eating such pork is extremely low.” – USDA/FDA, 4/26/2007
“We have no reason to believe that any of those are currently in the human food supply as a direct ingredient.” – USDA/FDA, 4/26/2007
“We have no reason to believe that anything other than the rice protein concentrate or the wheat gluten have been a problem in the United States recently.” – USDA/FDA, 4/26/2007
“But overall, we believe the risk to be extremely low to humans.” – USDA/FDA, 4/26/2007
“We believe that the likelihood of illness from such exposure is extremely low.” – USDA/FDA, 5/1/2007
“One of the reasons we believe that this is very low in humans is due to the dilution effect.” – USDA/FDA, 5/1/2007
“We believe the situation in the poultry is very much like that for the swine.” – USDA/FDA, 5/1/2007
“We do not believe that there is any significant threat of human illness from consuming poultry.” – USDA/FDA, 5/1/2007
“We believe the likelihood of illness to humans, including infants, is extremely small.” – USDA/FDA, 5/3/2007
“We believe the likelihood of a human illness is very remote.” – USDA/FDA, 5/3/2007
“We have no reason to believe those animals are any risk to the public.” – USDA/FDA, 5/3/2007
Now note the statement he’s collected that cancels out all of the above:
“There’s no tolerance for any of these compounds, either melamine or cyanuric acid. […] We just don’t know when we get these mixtures together. So there is no, really no acceptable level.” – USDA/FDA, 4/26/2007
Maybe we just shouldn’t eat.
Comment by safefoods — May 9, 2007 @ 2:45 pm