Pet-food recall: Consumers waking up, demanding change
By Gina Spadafori
May 17, 2007
- If you have a sick pet or a question on your pet’s health, call your veterinarian.
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Afternoon news wrap (thanks, readers!) …
New York Times (via International Herald Tribune): First, someone give David Barboza a gold star for his lead, which is the first we’ve seen in days responsible and courageous enough not to use the “at least 16 dead” crap:
SHANGHAI: Weeks after tainted Chinese pet food ingredients killed and sickened thousands of dogs and cats in the United States, China faced growing international pressure to prove that its food exports were safe to eat.
But simmering beneath the surface is a thornier problem that worries Chinese officials: how do they assure the world that this is not a nation of counterfeits and that “Made in China” means well-made?
Already, the largest pet food recall in U.S. history has heightened global fears about the quality and safety of Chinese agricultural goods. Now evidence is mounting that China has also exported counterfeit drug ingredients that could undermine the credibility of another of its booming exports.
“This isn’t an international crisis yet, but if they don’t do something about it quickly, it will be,” says David Zweig, a China specialist who teaches at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology. “The question is whether it spills over and ‘Made in China’ becomes known as ‘Buyer Beware.’ “
With contamination spreading to meat and fish supplies, some of the biggest U.S. food companies are now lobbying Washington to pressure China to increase its food safety measures.
Kraft, Kellogg and Cargill and other food companies have said that they were reviewing their food safety standards and upgrading equipment.
Their executives worry that another such safety scare involving China could set off a consumer backlash and reverse a trend that has seen big food makers grow increasingly dependent on processed ingredients from developing countries.
Consumers have complained to pet food makers that they want goods that are free of any ingredients from China, according to the Pet Food Institute.
Second … read the rest. Great piece. I guess the PFI thinks it’s all the fault of us bloggers that consumers don’t want toxic additives in our food. :::must not get snarky ::: must not get snarky :::
Clean up or cover up, guys. Word to the wise: The second option never works forever, and bites you much worse in the end.
Reuters (via Scientific American): China is complaining all this testing is really going to cost money. (No gold star for Reuters, which continues to underplay the death toll):
Foreign buyers of Chinese food are asking for safety tests following the melamine pet food debacle, threatening the country’s competitive position in a wide range of markets, including organic ingredients.
Industry officials said U.S. and other firms had demanded a certificate that farm products were free of melamine.
Their comments came after a U.S. Food and Drug Administration team visited China to investigate how melamine, a chemical product, got into pet food, killing at least 16 pets in the United States and leading to a recall of more than 100 brands of pet food.
Costs for such safety checks are expected to soar, especially as it would take time for the country to build up reliable nationwide quality controls.
“This scandal has had severe consequences for the whole industry,” said Chuk Ng, general manager of Nutrogen (Dalian) Co. Ltd, a company specializing in organic and non-genetically modified (GMO) farm products.
“Now the European and U.S. clients are checking every batch of products coming from China … The GMO test is one. Now you add tests for melamine or other heavy metals or pesticides, the costs are very high, too high,” Ng said.
Sad, huh? Turns out Japan has been raising an eyebrow about Chinese food quality for a while now:
The industry officials said Japan, which accounts for about a quarter of China’s farm product exports, had also recommended importers check for melamine in Chinese products, such as rice flour or wheat gluten, for use in animal feed.
“The safety tests for raw materials are likely to get tougher,” said a senior official from a Japanese food processing plant in China.
“Eventually they could demand traceability similar to that for non-GMO products … which would raise costs. Given higher costs and credibility, there’s a question if you would still want to buy raw materials from China.”
A year ago Japan tightened safety checks on farm products from China, which has angered Beijing. The new rules require checks for nearly 300 pesticides and chemicals residues at loading ports as well as at discharging ports.
And Medical New Today: More problems with Chinese fish:
Adding to China’s recent problems of food safety is now seafood contamination. As the world’s largest producer and exporter of fish and fish products, China may need to more closely monitor shellfish contaminant levels, because contaminants are finding their way into seafood. A new study found samples from markets that contained concentrations of contaminants high enough to pose threats to human health. The study is published in the latest issue of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
Organochlorine pesticides such as DDT can accumulate in top predators, including humans. Though these pesticides were officially banned in 1983, China had been using them for decades prior to the ban. Twenty-five years later, there is evidence that new sources, particularly of DDT, may be present and contaminating seafood.
The current study focused on seafood from markets in 11 coastal cities in Guangdong Province. The last two decades have witnessed explosive economic growth in that province. Rapid industrialization, urbanization, and conversion of agricultural lands to commercial use have accelerated the environmental deterioration in this region.
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”:::must not get snarky ::: must not get snarky :::”
i’m sure several of us will be more than happy to snark for ya! ;)
Comment by straybaby — May 17, 2007 @ 2:01 pm
Golly Gee Wiz, cleaning up and testing our food supply is going to cost money? Well, isn’t that the pits, I guess we’d just rather eat toxic waste and take our chances.
Comment by Linda — May 17, 2007 @ 2:10 pm
If my only value is as a consumer then I can fix that!
I refuse to consume anything that I must not, no new car, no pet food(easy enough, my pets are dead) no pet toys, no food from China, no plastic crap from anywhere, I can have a great time at local farms and save a bunch of money-goody for me.
I am no longer a “consumer” to be milked
I AM FREE.
What shall I do with all that money I will no longer be spending? I think I have an idea!
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 17, 2007 @ 2:13 pm
P.S.
Gotta love that photo - my, I’ve never seen a snappier look on a dog than that little black and white pup. I can only assume it’s all in fun - best of friends - acting up. Soooooo….cute. Where do you get these great photos? I have one of my Doberman pup asleep in the open mouth of my 90 pound coonhoud, who was laying on his back on the couch, and Dobie pup put his head in its jaws and took a nap…..just love all the cute photos. They make my day!
Comment by Linda — May 17, 2007 @ 2:17 pm
Comment by Linda — May 17, 2007 @ 2:17 pm
yes, the 3 new ones today tell quite a story, lol!~
Comment by straybaby — May 17, 2007 @ 2:21 pm
Yah … It’s a fun photo. Most we get from our own files, or from stock photo Web sites. This one is taken by someone I know … Xan Latta. The dogs were playing. The border collie pup is named “Mayday.” Appropriate, no?
Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 17, 2007 @ 2:23 pm
Yes, God love it. I’ve seen a lot of photos in my time, but this one just takes the cake and blue ribbon too!
Comment by Linda — May 17, 2007 @ 2:28 pm
Channel FOX 5 News is stating something else is killing pets now, haven’t yet mentioned the story (5:30 now east coast time). Haven’t been keeping up w/ the posts much at all since work week days - have I missed something ??? It’s not food recall - it’s something “new” I have no idea - please someone if you know ? I’m still waiting for what they say, hope I didn’t miss it if they did already -
Comment by shelly — May 17, 2007 @ 2:31 pm
we may want to check in with these flks and see where they stand on securing safe food from our own resources:
http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/subcomms.html
Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture
Dennis A. Cardoza, (D-CA) Chairman was at the hearing on Tuesday. Trying to catch the other names also.
Comment by straybaby — May 17, 2007 @ 2:32 pm
that would be *folks*
Comment by straybaby — May 17, 2007 @ 2:32 pm
“And where do you think we get 80 per cent of our apple juice concentrate?”
Well that’s nice. My autistic son will only drink apple juice and white or chocolate milk. It’s been slow steps over a thirty year period to get him to try a different food other than the foods he will eat. Feeding my son is like feeding a pet with limited choices. Now what? It took over 25 years to get him to even taste tea.
He will only eat basic meats and a few veggies. I’m running out of options here. There are plenty of things I can eat, but he won’t touch them. (Grrrr, ughhh!)
Comment by Kathi — May 17, 2007 @ 2:35 pm
Kathi, check your Farmers Market for apple juice/cider.
Comment by straybaby — May 17, 2007 @ 2:37 pm
Comment by Kathi — May 17, 2007 @ 2:35 pm
Your autistic son? You ran out of options when the poison you have eaten for years gave you that problem.
Sad.
Sorry for you.
Probably a lot sorrier for your problems that the big boys who did it to you.
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 17, 2007 @ 2:39 pm
“Proud member of the “Troublesome Bloggers - Piss Off, Duane - Dilution My A$$” coalition”
This little moment brought to you by the Spocko Bingo Swig Brigade, Inc.
(the Inc. part encompasses Kim, fine purveyor of press conference tequila & accutrements, straybaby’s snarks-R-us, ALL the troublesome bloggers present and….*drum roll please*….our ever ear to the ground, sleep deprived, wrists falling off journalists that we PC bloggers have occasionally erm…..*cough*…..driven off the deep end of sanity?…..: Christie & Gina)
Comment by Ally — May 17, 2007 @ 2:40 pm
the Ag hearing is interesting. they’re discussing the Farm Bill and how they need to look at it.
*off to find it to write my reps*
Comment by straybaby — May 17, 2007 @ 2:44 pm
“straybaby’s snarks-R-us,”
who me?! it’s the Bailey’s i tell ya . . . . lol!~
Comment by straybaby — May 17, 2007 @ 2:45 pm
;-) at straybaby
Kathi:
I’ll second stray’s suggestion to check your Farmer’s Market for the apple juice. You might even find you have a better selection to choose from. Good luck with your son & hang in there.
Comment by Ally — May 17, 2007 @ 2:50 pm
E.
My son is 33 yrs. We lived near Procter and Gamble before, during and after his birth. So I’m not surprised. P & G were supposed to clean up the river. They have since left that area. Lot’s of PCB’s in that river and the fish. But just try to prove the connection. Not gonna happen.
Comment by Kathi — May 17, 2007 @ 2:54 pm
Comment by Kathi — May 17, 2007 @ 2:54 pm
Again, I am sorry to hear of your trouble.
Lots of that going around, too much.
There is no profit that could have made me do such a thing but then, I aint a big power.
However, you do have my word that no Proctor and Gamble product will ever cross my threshold.
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 17, 2007 @ 3:02 pm
Love the picture!!
Corporations should have given a lot more thought about what would happen when they went looking for cheaper labor,raw product,etc,etc. Now they are scared! China is run by a communist regime for heavens sake!
Let’s see corporate profit, huge golden umbrellas for the CEO’s, American public to expensive to hire.. and now: it’s going to cost them to test product. Me thinks a price increase is coming.
China says it’s to expensive to test - guess they’re looking for the big corporations to foot the bill!
Who would have thought back in March, the pet food scandal would lead to an International human food scandal…
Katie
Comment by Katie — May 17, 2007 @ 3:02 pm
Transcript of todays FDA-USDA farce has been posted at USDA web site.
Comment by Aunt Granny — May 17, 2007 @ 3:17 pm
Once again the PFI demonstrates what a reprehensible, bogus and anti-consumer organization it is. Let them keep slapping themselves in the face - the more they scream and lie the more the public sees them for the charlatans they are. Hopefully, the companies that really want to clean up their act and regain consumer confidence will distance themselves from the evil that is the the PFI.
Comment by MFEMFEM — May 17, 2007 @ 3:35 pm
The apple juice revelation just ticks me off. I grew up in orchard country. My grandparents owned an orchard. To learn that 80% is imported from China just floors me.
So what else do we need to know about?
Our oats seem to come from here. We can still get rice from California and Texas.
This is just sickening when you think of all the children who prefer apple juice and now we learn it’s coming from China and who knows what pesticides they use.
I just spent a couple of days sending out emails to senators, etc and now need to add this to the growing list of concerns.
I’m just beside myself with this added to all the rest of the news.
Comment by Kathi — May 17, 2007 @ 3:48 pm
I love Apple Juice - we have wonderful apple orchards up the hill from where I live - and it looks like this next year I’ll be stocking up there. Health Food stores should have okay apple juice right? Made in USA or something like that -
I sure hope we can trust the labels of where the juice comes from - made in U.S.A. or just bottled in U.S.A.??????
At least I hope to make informed choices for me and my pets. I consider it only by the grace of God none of my dogs or birds were poisoned. Even though I was worried some, it is just a miracle we escaped with everyone’s health in good shape. I still have a little girl Dobie that is going in for tests this coming July as per the vet for a recheck - so far she seems fine after a barrage of blood and urine work and $1,000 of vet bills.
Daily I hear stories about friends and people I’ve met that aren’t so lucky. Such a sad situation. Does the 4% drop in pet food purchases seem realistic? Thought it should be a greater drop….ummmm….
I guess I’m alittle jaded and not believing published numbers anymore.
Comment by Linda — May 17, 2007 @ 4:03 pm
MFEMFEM @3:38pm
Not to mention Mr. ChemNutra and his “Safety Summit”. Right-o. Egads.
Comment by Kathi — May 17, 2007 @ 4:03 pm
Comment by Kathi — May 17, 2007 @ 3:48 pm
I still have that can of apple juice I bought from a vending machine a week or so ago. At least on the can in small print it said the juice came from a number of companies, including China. Now I have another Chinese doorstop. I’ll NEVER open it or buy another can again without being sure it is REAL apple juice and not garbage from Communist China.
Comment by MFEMFEM — May 17, 2007 @ 4:29 pm
Comment by Linda — May 17, 2007 @ 4:03 pm
So, Linda, a grand in vet bills when your dog did NOT get poisoned, not afun bill to pay, is it?
Have you reported the tab on the itchmo forum, your costs , even to confirm that your pet was NOT poisoned matter.
The costs matter.
All of it matters.
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 17, 2007 @ 4:52 pm
Re: Mentioned Corn Protein and ??? about Soybean Products and Labeling ????
We’re trying to make sense of food labels on everything our family consumes…it’s been an emotional roller-coaster ride. We sure need help….
Example: What’s the difference between vegetable oil and soybean oil..??
Our beloved and vivacious companion was prescribed Hill’s W/D Prescription Diet canned canine food. The wording and order of ingredients on the canned food labels purchased during the last quarter of 2006, or just 6-8 mos ago approximately, read different than the labels on the cans purchased in the first few months of 2007 ???
Also, the can size changed from 14 ¾oz to 13oz, or a 12% decrease in can size ????. Is this considered a dramatic change in can size - 12% smaller ???
One of the ingredients on the label of the previous 14 3/4oz PRESCRIPTION DIET can of W/D reads “vegetable oil”. The “new” 13oz can size label reads “soybean oil”.. Is this the same ingredient and do we have allergy to soy, like peanuts, etc.….
Also, another ingredient of the label changed - the “previous” 14 3/4oz can label reads “Corn Meal”, versus the “new” 13oz can label reads “Ground Whole Grain Corn”… Is this the same ingredient ?? Does this have anything to do with the “corn protein” mentioned above…today’s subject.
We would sure appreciate assistance from someone who may better understand how to interpret these label changes. If food label changes will be taking effect on account of new federal regulations, it would be most helpful if websites existed to educate us and provide comparisons of the old to new labels….we would pay to subscribe to this information…maybe one of the federal agencies could help us initially. There should be more disclosure/notices posted in the future at every business that sells products….we understand products will be more expensive for companies to supply us this survival data, but we feel our families are worth the cost of this extra insurance and assurance.
We’re also trying to properly research soy products and found this website. Did this product really come to us from China and did the US and other countries assist China to co-develop this product further??? The article seems to read that Americans consume these soy products more than any other nation…Why ???
http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/index.html
Thank you Pet Connections, Itchmo, and other helpful websites and organizations for all your support and efforts to save our civilization – both man and beast, and that of our planet, Earth. Hopefully, the combined efforts of our Congress, The President, all other agencies of our government, etc. will begin to solve our food chain problems.
We just have to pray and be most thankful that our dear Lord, along with our beloved companions that are deceased and/or living on borrowed time, alerted us to become more aware of the shortcomings of our food chains/food safety structure.
We’re so hopeful it’s not too late to ward off these plagues bestowed on God’s children. Thank you so much sweet Mitzi…we love and miss your companionship so much.
Dear Lord, Please help us .. we just can’t quit crying for our dear deceased friend and we weep for others that suffer each and every day trying to deal with their companion losses too..AMEN.
Comment by Bee — May 17, 2007 @ 5:44 pm
Shelly,
Did you find out what the Fox News story was about?
Comment by Tammy — May 18, 2007 @ 12:04 am
To the lady with the autistic son, try a gluten free diet. There is a connection between gluten and a variety of illnesses. It’s worth checking out.
To the PFI, rot in hell bastards.
Comment by Sharon — May 18, 2007 @ 4:17 am
Shelly: Channel FOX 5 News is stating something else is killing pets now,
They’ve been running this teaser for days. This really p*sses me off when they do stuff like this. They say it’s a disease that kills dogs that humans can also get. I didn’t watch it. My guess is they’re talking about leptospirosis and it’s not instantly fatal to dogs. It’s also probably everywhere, is NOT new, and many dogs probably have antibodies. There’s a vaccine, but it causes a lot of health problems for one, especially when used in a combo vaccine; and two, there are numerous types of Lepto and the vaccine only covers a couple.
Usually contracted through exposure to rat/racoon urine (in water) and can be passed to humans in dog urine. It’s not an epidemic so do some reading and don’t let these irresponsible news agencies out to scare you so you’ll watch their d*mned news station bother you. Educate yourself as to the symptoms. No panic necessary.
Comment by CathyA — May 18, 2007 @ 5:35 am
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05.....trade.html
David Barboza has a good article, as are all his articles on the tainted food and related topics, imo. Shows China is starting to run scared over its exports.
Comment by Patty L — May 18, 2007 @ 5:27 pm
Whoops! I see this article I just posted was already cited here from the International Tribune Review. Sorry, my goof.
Comment by Patty L — May 18, 2007 @ 5:30 pm