Tuesday, April 24, 2007

N.C. hogs got food tainted with melamine & FDA Investigating other hog operations

Added 6:41pm: A couple of places are reporting that a POULTRY Farm (ie chickens) may also have received tainted feed. More here when I get it confirmed...

Added 5:15pm: Hogs in 3 states have tested positive for melamine. (As reported on the CBS Evening News)

FDA says probing "thousands" of hogs for tainted feed

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday that "thousands" of U.S. hogs might be affected by the agency's investigation of livestock feed contaminated with melamine.

"I don't have the numbers on that right now but it potentially affects thousands of hogs," Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, told reporters. "Some of the hog operations were fairly sizable."

Livestock feed that may have been contaminated with ingredients imported from China was sent to hog farms in North and South Carolina, California, New York, Utah and "possibly" Ohio, he said.


N.C. hogs got food tainted with melamine (Note: this is in addition to ones in California that we heard about last week. )

Hogs at a western North Carolina farm have tested positive for melamine, the industrial chemical blamed for killing and sickening dogs and cats that ate it in their food.

North Carolina Department of Agriculture officials said that none of the hogs that ate the tainted food have entered the food chain for human consumption. The department has quarantined the farm, which has about 1,400 hogs, until it the U.S. Food and Drug Administration can advise what to do next.

The department declined to release the name of the farm. It said no other farms are believed to have been affected.

"The system worked and these animals were intercepted before they were allowed to leave the farm," said Mary Ann McBride, assistant state veterinarian for the department. "We want people to know the food is very much safe."

In California, officials have quarantined 1,500 animals at the American Hog Farm in Ceres, Calif., where hogs are also believed to have eaten tainted food.

North Carolina investigators are attempting to determine whether the melamine was absorbed into the meat of the pigs and whether it would eventually be safe to eat.

N.C. officials said the pigs' food came from a proccessing plant in South Carolina. That food contained a rice protein concentrate from San Francisco-based Wilbur-Ellis Co., one of three pet food makers that recalled products last week that were tainted with rice protein concentrate imported from China.

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Volunteers Needed! Get food off shelves...

howl911.com, itchmo.com, thepetfoodlist.com, petconnection.com, petfoodtracker.com and spockosbrain.com have joined together to ask for your help.
Update 6-10: Recalled food was purchased from a California store on 5-29th – this stuff is still out there!
We need Volunteers to help get recalled food off store shelves. Read this post at Spocko’s Brain for instructions. Print a list (or two) on this site. Visit stores, then report safe stores here at Itchmo.com.

Printing Information:
1. Print the main FDA Pet Food Recall page http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html – this will be handy to show retailers who haven’t heard anything about the recall. (3 pages)

2. Print the list of 14 Major National Brands - it includes flavors and date information where applicable so you can tell if specific products for these brands have been recalled. The brands are: Alpo Prime Cuts, Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul, Doctors Foster and Smith, Eukanuba, Gravy Train, Hill’s Science Diet, Iams, Jerky Treats, Lick Your Chops, Mighty Dog Pouches, Natural Balance, Nutro, Pounce, Royal Canin. (It’s 7 pages and includes FDA contact information.)

3. Print the List of All Brands – it will remind you what products have been recalled - but it does not give you date and flavor information, there is just too much to put in one document. (7 pages, but the 7th page is links to more detailed information so you don’t need to print it)

If you want, and are going to a store that you know has store brands that have been recalled (such as Walmart), go to that recall information at the links on the summary or at the FDA site and print it out. Some of the information is formatted in ways that make it difficult to read (one of the main reasons for this site), but it’s better than nothing.

Note: The FDA is the official source for all recall information and recalled products. This is an unofficial volunteer effort to help get the word out and get recalled foods off of shelves. We’re doing the best we can but can’t guarantee these lists are completely accurate. Again, here is the official recall site: http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html