Pet Food Tracker

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Summing it all up - David Goldstein at The Huffington Post

Another great entry by David Goldstein of The Huffington Post

It is official, this is no longer just a pet food recall:

U.S. health officials are now looking at whether humans may have consumed food containing a chemical linked to a recall of pet foods and livestock feed, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday.
FDA officials said they would inspect imports of six grain products used in foods ranging from bread to baby formula for traces of melamine, a chemical thought to have killed and sickened cats and dogs.
Those six grain products are wheat gluten, corn gluten, corn meal, soy protein, rice bran and rice protein. As many as 39,000 dogs and cats may have been sickened or killed due to melamine contamination.
But wait, it gets worse:

The California Agriculture Department said separately it was trying to contact 50 people who bought pork that may have come from pigs fed food containing melamine. The state's health department recommended humans not consume the meat, but said any health risk was minimal.
Melamine, a chemical used in plastics and fertilizer, has already been found in wheat gluten and rice protein imported from China for use in some pet foods, triggering a recall of more than 100 brands. [...] Some tainted material was used for hog feed before the contamination was found, and officials said on Tuesday thousands of pigs might be affected on farms in North and South Carolina, California, New York, Utah and possibly Ohio.

The FDA is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and several states to investigate the now-quarantined farms and whether hogs on those farms were slaughtered for human food.

"Some of the hog operations were fairly sizable," said Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine.

And worse:

A poultry farm in Missouri also may have received tainted feed, officials added.

Mmm. Melamine... it tastes just like chicken.

And all this news comes only hours after Congressional hearings on food safety, at which the FDA didn't bother to mention any of this at all. Typical.

Back on April 1, when I first started covering this story at length, I wrote:

Unless and until the FDA determines otherwise, one cannot help but wonder if our sick and dying cats are merely the canary in the coal mine alerting us to a broader contamination of the human food supply.

I take some pride but no joy in my prescience, and it now seems clear that from the moment the FDA first thought to test for melamine, they clearly understood the potential scope of this "economic adulteration." A huge swath of our food supply has been compromised: any processed food containing high-protein additives, and any and all livestock, including farmed fish. And considering how widespread the melamine contamination appears to be, and the Chinese government's indignant non-reaction, it is not hyperbole to suggest that all imported Chinese foodstuffs should for now be viewed with suspicion, as should all domestic products using imported Chinese ingredients.

This is a huge story, and I cannot for the life of me understand how the news media has let it slip so far under the radar. It is virtually impossible, given the nature of our food industry and the circumstances publicly known thus far, for the tainted foodstuffs not to have made it into the human food supply. Americans and their pets are being slowly poisoned by melamine, and quite likely have been for years.
You'd think maybe, some enterprising reporter might be smelling a Pulitzer in there somewhere?

You'd think David, you'd think.

More from his blog today:

You Are What You Eat: Is "Salvage" Pet Food Feeding Cows to Cows?

It is time for the Food and Drug Administration and the media covering it to stop pretending that our nation's massive pet food recall only concerns our pets, for the more we learn about common food industry practices, the breadth and scope of melamine contamination, and the lack of adequate regulatory safeguards, the more it becomes apparent that our entire food supply isn't nearly as safe as the average consumer assumes it to be.
The industrial chemical melamine has now been discovered in multiple high-protein food additives -- wheat, corn and rice gluten -- from multiple Chinese manufacturers, leading industry experts to conclude that not only was the contamination intentional, but that such "economic adulteration" is disturbingly widespread, at least in China. Testifying this morning before the House Committee on Energy & Commerce, ChemNutra CEO Steve Miller -- the importer of melamine-tainted wheat gluten that killed or sickened as many as 39,000 dogs and cats -- explains the theory:
"We at ChemNutra strongly suspect, at this point, that XuZhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd may have added melamine to the wheat gluten as an "economic adulteration" designed to make inferior wheat gluten appear to have a higher protein content. They can sell it to us at the price we would pay for a higher-quality product because the melamine, our experts tell us, falsely elevates the results of a nitrogen-content test used to assess protein content. Melamine is not something that we or, anyone else, including the FDA was ever testing for in the past, though of course we are now.
We have recently been told that there was a prior history of this same kind of economic adulteration related to a similar agricultural commodity about three decades ago, where this commodity was adulterated with urea, another nitrogen intensive additive, which had at the time become inexpensive enough to economically use to fool the protein testing."

Given the facts and the known history, no other theory can adequately explain the contamination, regardless of what FDA investigators eventually find once they are permitted entry to China. One synthetic organic chemist explained that he could think of no other chemical better suited to such economic adulteration than melamine. "What you would look for" he told me, "is an additive that is nontoxic, nonvolatile, high in nitrogen... and dirt cheap." At approximately 66-percent nitrogen by weight, with no explosive characteristics or previously known toxicity, and widely available for less than a penny a gram, melamine was the obvious choice.

If these known batches of adulterated gluten have not made it directly into the human food supply, it is only by sheer luck, but last week it was confirmed that the toxin most likely did make its way into American kitchens in the form of melamine-tainted pork from hogs fed on "salvage" pet food, exposing yet more of the dirty underbelly of our food industry.

What is "salvage" pet food, and why was it fed to hogs? A spokesperson for Diamond Pet Foods explained that the mixture from the beginning of each production run is "too high in moisture content to run through the manufacturing process," and that this is provided to farms with non-ruminant animals as "salvage" under regulatory guidelines. In all of its communications regarding the hog poisoning incident, Diamond is careful to frame the little known "salvage" and "distressed" pet food market in the best possible light.

"It is a common regulated practice for animal food facilities to provide salvage product to farms with non-ruminant animals. This regulated practice is mindful of the environment as it does not waste energy (food) and saves valuable landfill space."

Yeah sure, in fact, feeding salvage and distressed pet food to livestock apparently is a common practice... in the U.S. North of the border, however, not so much. Indeed, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency:

Because livestock animals are grown as food for humans, and pets are not, the pet food industry is able to make use of ingredients which may be unsuited for use in livestock feeds. Thus it is not acceptable to subsequently reintroduce these ingredients back into livestock feeds as waste pet food material. [...] Pet food, including salvaged and distressed pet food, is not an approved ingredient for use in livestock feed and as such its inclusion is not considered safe and will not be allowed at this time.

Makes sense. Unsuitable ingredients include those not approved for use in livestock feeds as listed in Schedule IV or V of the Canadian Feeds Regulations. (Interestingly, "rice gluten" or "rice protein concentrate" appear nowhere on the list. Or, for that matter, in the FDA's EAFUS -- Everything Added to Food in the United States -- database. Go figure.)

Other ingredients unsuited for livestock feed -- in Canada -- include those that "may contain animal proteins [...] which may be prohibited from feeding to ruminants." You know, it just isn't kosher (literally and figuratively) to feed cows, um... cows.

And according to a brochure provided by the Pet Food Institute, the same ruminant cannibalism prohibition holds true here. Sorta. In the U.S., salvage and distressed pet food may be repurposed for livestock feed, but must be labeled "Do Not Feed to Cattle or Other Ruminants" if it contains any mammalian protein at all. That is, any mammalian protein except:

Milk products.
Gelatin.
Blood and blood products.
Pure pork or horse protein.
And inspected meat products of any type which have been cooked and offered for human food (such as "plate scrapings") and further heat processed for animal feed.

Yuck. Who knew that in the U.S. your unfinished burger could make its way into cattle feed via salvage dog feed, and then back onto your plate in the form of another burger? That type of dedication to recycling I can do without.

One of the take-home messages from the whole Mad Cow crisis was that it was unsafe and unnatural to feed animal protein to ruminants meant for human consumption, and yet the practice apparently continues to this day. Our lax, salvage pet food regulations have already directly led to human consumption of melamine-tainted pork, and there is no reason to be confident that this and other dangerous chemicals or diseases have not contaminated our beef and dairy supply. If it is unacceptable to feed salvaged pet food to livestock in Canada, it should be unacceptable here in the U.S. as well.

There has been much talk recently about the FDA lacking the funding and staffing necessary to adequately police our globalizing food industry, but after six years of Bush administration control, it also clearly lacks the leadership and mandate as well. This isn't merely an issue about management -- it is ideological -- and by now it should be clear to objective observers that the FDA's and other federal regulatory agencies' over-reliance on industry self-regulation has put the health, safety and welfare of the American public at risk.

This is what comes from electing politicians who despise government, and who appoint regulators who do not believe in regulation.

FDA to test Imported Corn Meal, Corn Gluten, Soy Protein and Rice Bran in addition to Rice Protein and Wheat Gluten for Melamine

WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) -

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday it would look for melamine contamination in imported wheat gluten, corn gluten, corn meal, soy protein, rice bran and rice protein, used in manufactured food for humans and livestock.

Since melamine has already been found in wheat gluten and rice protein in the US (imported from China), and in corn gluten in South Africa (also imported from China) , I'm guessing they have a good reason to suspect corn meal, soy protein and rice bran.

The FDA said thousands of U.S. hogs might be affected by its investigation of livestock feed contaminated with the chemical melamine, which used in plastics and fertilizer.
Melamine has been found in wheat gluten and rice protein imported from China that was used in some U.S. pet foods and feed.
"We're going to target firms that we know are receiving imported products," said David Acheson, chief medical officer of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. "The goal is obviously to sample as much as we can."
Melamine has been found in wheat gluten used in pet foods. Menu Foods, Procter & Gamble Co., Colgate-Palmolive Co., Nestle SA and Del Monte Foods Co. have recalled pet products made with the gluten.
Rice protein tainted with melamine was also found in pet foods from at least five manufacturers who obtained the protein from one supplier, U.S. officials have said. It also made its way into feed used at a California hog farm.
On Monday, two U.S. lawmakers said a second company likely imported rice protein from China that was contaminated with a chemical linked to a major pet food recall.
"The initial focus is on imports, not domestically-produced (proteins)," Acheson told reporters. "In terms of countries of origin, we're really interested in protein concentrates that were manufactured in China."

The agency said on a call with reporters late on Tuesday that it had no intention of banning imports of wheat gluten, rice protein or similar proteins from China.

Why the (bleep) not?!

"We believe the safety net is in place to make sure that no additional products are going to get into the commerce of the United States," said David Elder, director of FDA's enforcement office.

You're joking, right?

The FDA said contaminated feed was sent to hog farms in North and South Carolina, California, New York, Utah and possibly Ohio.
The FDA is working with the U.S. Agriculture Department to investigate the now-quarantined farms and whether any of the hogs on those farms were slaughtered for human food, the agency said.
"I don't have the numbers on that right now, but it potentially affects thousands of hogs," said Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine. "Some of the hog operations were fairly sizable."

U.S. Food Safety Strained by Imports - Ingredients rarely tested

Wonder how we got into this mess?

Here's an excellent (and scary) AP Report that helps to explain it all.

By JUSTIN PRITCHARD, Associated Press Writer

Monday, April 23, 2007
The same food safety net that couldn't catch poisoned pet food ingredients from China has a much bigger hole.

Billions of dollars' worth of foreign ingredients that Americans eat in everything from salad dressing to ice cream get a pass from overwhelmed inspectors, despite a rising tide of imports from countries with spotty records, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal trade and food data.

Well before contaminated shipments from China killed 16 cats and dogs and sickened thousands more, government food safety task forces worried about the potential human threat — ingredients are hard to quarantine and can go virtually everywhere in a range of brand products.

When U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors at ports and border checkpoints look, they find shipments that are filthy or otherwise contaminated. They rarely bother, however, in part because ingredients aren't a priority.

Because these oils, spices, flours, gums and the like haven't been blamed for killing humans, safety checks before they reach the supermarket shelf are effectively the responsibility of U.S. buyers. As the pet deaths showed, however, that system is far from secure.

Meanwhile, the ingredient trade is booming — particularly since 2001, when the Sept. 11 attacks focused attention on the security of the nation's food supply.

Over the past five years, the AP found, U.S. food makers prospecting for bargains more than doubled their business with low-cost countries such as Mexico, China and India. Those nations also have the most shipments fail the limited number of checks the FDA makes.

"You don't have to be a Ph.D. to figure out that ... if someone were to put some type of a toxic chemical into a product that's trusted, that could do a lot of damage before it's detected," said Michael Doyle, a microbiologist who directs the University of Georgia's Center for Food Safety.

Doyle sat on several federal task forces studying threats to U.S. food security; while they discussed ingredients, he said, their findings are classified.

Read down most any food package's label and there they are: strange-sounding substances that keep soft drinks fizzy, crackers crispy and sauces from gooing up. Gum arabic, extracted from acacia trees, helps give light whipped cream its texture; maltodextrin is derived from starchy foods, then can be dusted on chips so spices stick; caseins, a protein from milk, help the consistency of cheese substitutes.

While Americans are consuming more imported food and drink from preserved fruit to coffee, demand among U.S. food makers for overseas ingredients is increasing even faster.

In 2001, the United States imported about $4.4 billion worth of ingredients processed from plants or animals, AP's analysis shows. By last year that total leaped to $7.6 billion — a 73 percent increase. Other food and drink imports rose from $38.3 billion to $63 billion — up 65 percent.

No single reason explains the increase. Profits are one factor; changing consumer tastes play a role, too. There's a growing expectation that seasonal products will be available year round, while immigrants may hanker for familiar flavors and others want variety.

So U.S. food makers head overseas, where labor-intensive ingredients can be cheaper to produce in low-wage countries. They're not expensive to ship, either, because they're relatively compact and don't spoil easily, said David Closs, an expert in global food supply at Michigan State University.

By its own latest accounting, the FDA only had enough inspectors to check about 1 percent of the 8.9 million imported food shipments in fiscal year 2006. Topping the list were products with past problems, such as seafood and produce.

"I don't ever remember working on ingredients," said Carl R. Nielsen, a former FDA official whose job until he left in 2005 was to make sure field inspectors were checking the right imports. "That was the lowest priority, a low priority."

On Tuesday, a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee will hold a hearing on the FDA's oversight of the food supply, with a focus on the recent cases of contaminated spinach, peanut butter and pet food. The hearing is part of a broader investigation by lawmakers into the FDA's handling of food safety.

There are other reasons ingredients aren't thoroughly examined. Unlike rotting fish or moldy vegetables, ingredient testing often requires a laboratory. Analyzing samples takes days and can irk importers who don't like the choice of holding their product or risking a costly recall if they go ahead with distribution.

To cope with limited resources, the FDA requires that overseas companies announce that a shipment is coming, notification that lets inspectors target products once they arrive.

That leaves quality control, by and large, to American buyers and their suppliers. If they don't do it, they run the risk of health problems that can devastate a brand and generate huge lawsuits.

But except in rare cases, companies don't have to prove that a shipment of ingredients is safe — no tests must show that it's pesticide-free, for example — and the FDA rarely checks whether overseas processing conditions are up to par. That contrasts with meat imports regulated by the Department of Agriculture, which must be processed under conditions equivalent to those here.

"Unless there's a known problem," Nielsen said, "it's going to fly through."

FDA records over the past year reflect that reality:

_ Inspectors refused more than 650 food or drink shipments from China; only about 20 were ingredients. Catfish, eel, shrimp and vegetable products were among the most rejected.

None of the barred shipments was either of the two tainted ingredients — wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate — that led to nationwide pet food recalls. It took the deaths of cats and dogs this spring to trigger tests that revealed an industrial chemical somehow entered the food chain.

_ While inspectors refused the most shipments from India, they didn't turn back any of the top ingredient import from there, a sticky plant extract that helps give frozen desserts their texture. Although there were no reports of problems with those thickening agents from locust beans or guar seeds, it's unclear how many shipments were inspected and let pass. The $118 million imported in 2006 made the category the third-largest food from India, behind shrimp/prawns and cashew nuts, and well ahead of rice.

The FDA issued two brief statements in response to interview requests, saying imported food ingredients are treated "basically the same as with any food commodity" entering the United States.

"We use a risk management approach and any regulated product, including food ingredients, IS a priority to FDA if it poses a public health risk," one statement said. "If a food ingredient were to be identified as risk to public health, we are able to quickly shift resources to handle."

Exporting countries are supposed to help. But governments such as China, where tainted food scandals are common, can have a stunning lack of oversight, said William Hubbard, a top FDA official for 14 years who now advocates for stiffer food safety regulations.

He recounted how one supplier drove a truck over tea leaves to dry them with exhaust, which leached lead into the leaves. That was an unintended consequence of a supplier taking a shortcut. Imagine, Hubbard said, what could be done by someone intent on hurting people.

By late last week, federal officials said they were investigating whether the recalled pet foods may have been intentionally spiked with the industrial chemical melamine to boost their apparent protein content.

Ingredients aren't often blamed for outbreaks of human illness.

One reason is that they may be processed enough that microbes are killed, though as the pet food case shows, chemicals can remain. Another reason is that connections can be elusive: People sickened by casein, for example, might have consumed anything from cheese to a bodybuilding shake.

Even when an ingredient is the suspected culprit, it can be hard to pinpoint.

More than 1,200 children in at least seven states were sickened in 1998 after eating school lunch burritos. Although flour tortillas were identified as the common link, public health officials never determined what was wrong with them.

"Ingredients are more likely to go under the radar screen," said Helen Jensen, an Iowa State University economics professor who studies food safety and international trade.

When they are bad, she said, they present particular problems: They're widely distributed and often used in products with a long shelf life.

When Canadian pet food maker Menu Foods recalled its products last month, they were pulled from shelves nationwide. Three weeks later, the FDA warned that contaminated food may still be circulating.

Last year's list of leading ingredient suppliers reflected the globalized food chain.

While U.S. neighbors Canada and Mexico were first and third, Malaysia was second. Forests in that Asian nation have been replaced by plantations of trees tapped for palm oil, $250 million of which was sent here. China and India were fifth and sixth, just after New Zealand, according to the AP analysis.

The top ingredient category was the catchall "food preparations," followed by industrial-sized blocks of chocolate, cocoa butter, casein and refined palm oil. Some of the imports can be used in non-edible products; wheat gluten, for example, also is used to make biodegradable "sporks," the combination spoon-fork.

FDA officials have said none of the contaminated wheat gluten from China entered the human food chain. That's little comfort to Jeff Kerner.

Kerner read food labels, paid for all-natural ingredients and figured that would keep his Yorkshire terrier healthy. Instead, Pebbles died last month after eating tainted food.

"All of us, I think, fall into that false sense of security that 'Well, if they put it in there, it must be OK,'" he said. "I understand that it's the bottom line, but at what expense?"

____

Associated Press graphic artist Jesse Garnier and researcher Julie Reed contributed to this report.

Senators say second batch of tainted rice powder imported

We still don't know the name of the 5th manufacturer that received the 1st batch of melamine rice protein - now there's news of a second batch that went to a different distributor. As far as I heard, this did NOT come up in the hearing today.

US senators raise new concerns in pet food scare

A second company likely imported rice protein from China that was contaminated with a chemical linked to a major pet food recall, two U.S. lawmakers said on Monday.

Rice protein tainted with the chemical melamine was used in pet foods from at least five manufacturers who obtained the protein from one supplier, U.S. officials have said. It also made its way into feed used at a California hog farm.

Now, another company is suspected of importing rice protein from China, Democratic Sens. Richard Durbin of Illinois and Maria Cantwell of Washington said in a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"We have learned that in addition to Wilbur-Ellis, a second United States company imported a shipment of rice protein from China that is also likely to be contaminated with melamine," the senators wrote. "We request the FDA identify this second importer as well as those manufacturers to which it may have sold the contaminated product."

An aide to Durbin said the senators found out about the second importer from industry sources.

If confirmed, that could further expand a pet food recall that so far includes more than 100 brands. FDA officials have confirmed 16 deaths of cats and dogs from kidney failure and have received more than 15,000 reports of illnesses.

The senators' letter came ahead of a congressional hearing on Tuesday to examine the pet food scare as well as the larger issue of human food safety before a U.S. House of Representatives committee.

FDA spokeswoman Cathy McDermott said so far the agency is only aware of one rice protein importer, Wilbur-Ellis Co., but the investigation is ongoing.

The agency has said the rice protein was supplied by China-based Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co. Ltd. but the company has denied involvement.

Last week, privately held Wilbur-Ellis said contaminated rice protein was distributed to several pet food makers. Three of them -- Natural Balance Pet Foods, the Blue Buffalo Co. and Diamond Pet Foods -- have pulled some of their products.

Wilbur-Ellis and the FDA declined to name the other two makers. Durbin and Cantwell called on the agency to make those two companies publicly known.

Melamine, used in plastics and fertilizer, was earlier found in wheat gluten used in pet foods.

House Hears Testimony on Pet Food Poisonings; FDA's Lack of Authority Cited

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/04/house_food_safety.html

U.S. Food Supply at High Risk of Terrorist or Profit-Driven Tampering
American food is high risk for both natural and terrorist-related outbreaks and many in Congress are questioning whether the Food and Drug Administration can adequately protect Americans.

With increased reports of dangerous imported glutens, particularly from China, infecting pets and possibly humans, Representatives held one of a series of hearings today to determine how to strengthen our nation's food supply.

"This has become a systematic problem that requires systematic change," Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) said.

Representatives blamed the FDA's lack of power for the rash of recent food recalls.

"Every American has reason to worry about pathogens in our food supply that sickens 72 million and kill about 5,000 of us each year," Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) said. "It is important we learn how much of this death and illness could have been prevented by diligent and properly funded regulatory agencies, primarily the Food and Drug Administration."

Foxes Guard Henhouse

The most-noted flaw in the FDA's authority is its complete inability to order a food recall. By law, the manufacturer or distributor must voluntarily recall the tainted products.

This shortcoming was dramatically illustrated over the weekend, when ConsumerAffairs.Com's Lisa Wade McCormick reported that the FDA admitted knowing of five companies that received contaminated Chinese rice protein concentrate.

Three firms have identified themselves by announcing recalls; the other two are not publicly known because the FDA will not name them until the companies come forth voluntarily.

Currently, recalls are dependant upon the media to disseminate information and for consumers to be conscientious and well-read buyers.

DeGette has proposed legislation that will give the FDA and USDA the power to order recalls and also to increase recalls' effectiveness by forcing stores to remove dangerous products from shelves.

This morning's Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing raised a continuing concern about imported foods from China, which has been at the center of the pet food recall. Recent reports claim the Chinese manufacturer purposely poisoned the wheat, rice and possibly corn glutens used in pet foods and to feed hogs.

After a handful of theories as to why pets around the country were dying, the FDA finally determined that Melamine, a toxic plastic, was to blame.

"Melamine is used in plastics and is not edible," Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) said. "In light of that fact, the FDA is investigating whether it was intentionally added to the wheat gluten or other ingredients to boost the protein content in order to make the products more valuable."
No Accident
Many are convinced that it was no accident that the Chinese tainted the glutens.
"Regardless of whether they are wheat, rice or corn-based proteins, they share two characteristics," Dingell said. "First, they were contaminated deliberately. Second, they came from our trading partners in China."

Yesterday, the Chinese finally allowed FDA inspectors into the country to inspect the suspect processing plants. But that came after an initial request which the Chinese immediately turned down.

"China's foot-dragging in a public health incident is totally unacceptable," Barton said. "Building a great wall of bureaucracy between our experts and their problem is not going to make the problem disappear."
"The suspicion of international contamination is eerily similar to past incidents in China," Barton said. "A dozen years ago, 89 children in Haiti died after taking cough medicine made with, believe it or not, poisonous antifreeze that was traced back to China. The world never got an answer from the Chinese on how this crime occurred.
"In an investigation started in 1998 when I was the chairman of this subcommittee, we found that 155 Americans were sickened by impure gentamicin sulfate made by a Chinese firm," Barton continued. "We never got a definitive answer on how this unapproved, impure drug ingredient got into that particular product."

Terrorism Risk

The poisoning of thousands of pets with dangerous food imported from China demonstrates how easily terrorists could kill Americans by poisoning food imported through a porous food inspection network.

"So far, the evidence suggests that the deliberate contamination was for greed and not as a trial run for terrorist purposes," Dingell said.

But a February Government Accountability Office report also concluded that the food network is a "high risk" and that terrorists could easily kill Americans through our own food.

There are a handful of bills pending in both the House and the Senate that seek to strengthen the food inspection network, but any preliminary vote on legislation appears months away at best.

The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee will hold another hearing in approximately two weeks that will bring FDA officials to the stand.

LiveSmart Weight Management Chicken and Brown Rice Recall

Updated Wednesday 6:30pm: Per their new press release today, their contract manufacturer is Chenengo Valley Pet Food in New York.

Another non-recall recall. Apparently this was 'announced' on Friday, though noone knew about it until today. So, once again I must say "What is WRONG with these people??!!"

LiveSmart Weight Management Chicken and Brown Rice Recall

On Friday, April 20, SmartPak initiated a voluntary recall of a single production run of the LiveSmart Weight Management Chicken and Brown Rice Dog Food.

The particular lot of food recalled included rice protein concentrate that was supplied by Wilbur-Ellis, the same company that supplied rice protein concentrate contaminated with Melamine to Natural Balance. This was the first time that our supplier purchased and used rice protein concentrate from Wilbur-Ellis. No previous lots were affected, nor do we use rice protein concentrate in any other formulas of LiveSmart dog or cat foods.

Thankfully, the product was just produced, and only a very limited amount of product had left our facility prior to the recall (less than 1200 pounds). We have notified every affected pet owner via both phone and email.

We have not had any reports of injury to any dogs. Dogs who have consumed the LiveSmart Weight Management food and show signs of kidney failure (such as loss of appetite, lethargy and vomiting) should be seen by a veterinarian.

We have temporarily suspended further distribution of the LiveSmart Weight Management Chicken and Brown Rice Dog Food. We will notify you when we have the product back in stock and will continue to update our website as more information becomes available.

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.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Royal Canin CANADA Recalls more DRY Foods

http://www.royalcanin.ca/index_en.php

Royal Canin Canada Voluntarily Recalls Pet Food Products That May Contain Contaminated Rice Protein Concentrate

Guelph, Ontario -- Following Royal Canin USA's discovery of a melamine derivative in rice gluten in some of its dry pet food products and its decision to recall these products, Royal Canin Canada has decided to remove Sensible Choice Diet and certain veterinary prescribed specialty diet products from distribution.

The following Royal Canin Canada products are being recalled:

ROYAL CANIN VETERINARY DIET CANINE EARLY CARDIAC

ROYAL CANIN VETERINARY DIET CANINE SENSITIVITY RC
(Rice and Catfish)

ROYAL CANIN VETERINARY DIET CANINE SKIN SUPPORT

ROYAL CANIN VETERINARY DIET FELINE HYPOALLERGENIC HP

ROYAL CANIN VETERINARY DIET FELINE SENSITIVITY RD
(Rice and Duck)

In the interest of pet safety, Royal Canin Canada has taken the proactive measure to recall the products listed above.

"We cannot express how devastated we are to notify pet owners of this finding," said Xavier Unkovic, CEO Royal Canin Canada. "However, we feel that this recall is necessary as we absolutely cannot put pets at risk."

Based on today’s announcement, pet owners should immediately stop feeding their pets the Royal Canin Canada pet food products listed in this statement. Pet owners should consult with a veterinarian if they are concerned about the health of their pet. No other Royal Canin Canada diets are affected by this recall and CONTINUE TO BE safe for pets to eat.

Along with the recall announcement, Royal Canin Canada will no longer use any Chinese suppliers for any of its vegetable proteins.

Pet owners who have questions about this recall and other Royal Canin Canada products should call 1-866-494-6844.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Criminal Probe Opened in Pet Food Scare

It's about time.

Criminal Probe Opened in Pet Food Scare

FDA Says Charges Possible; Tainted Pork Confirmed in Calif.

By Patricia Sullivan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 21, 2007; Page A10

The Food and Drug Administration has opened a criminal investigation in the widening pet food contamination scandal, officials said yesterday, as it was confirmed that tainted pork might have made its way onto human dinner plates in California.
More than 100 hogs that ate contaminated food at a custom slaughterhouse in California's Central Valley were sold to private individuals and to an unnamed licensed facility in Northern California during the past 2 1/2 weeks. The hogs consumed feed that contained rice protein tainted with melamine, the industrial chemical that has sickened and killed dogs and cats around the world.
Almost a dozen companies have found that they have used melamine-contaminated ingredients from China in their animal foods, either wheat gluten, corn gluten or rice protein concentrate. In the United States, more than 60 million containers of cat and dog food have been pulled from the market in the past five weeks.
People who bought pork from the American Hog Farm, a 1,500-animal facility in Ceres, Calif., between April 3 and April 18 are being advised not to eat the meat, California health officials said yesterday, although there have been no reports of illness in either people or the hogs. Authorities are tracking down all the purchasers.
"We are making the recommendation out of a preponderance of caution," said Kevin Reilly of the California Department of Health Services. "The risk is minimal, but the investigation is very early on."
Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, said criminal charges are a possibility, but he declined to say whether there is reason to believe any individual or organization intentionally adulterated pet food.
Late Thursday, Royal Canin USA became the most recent company to recall pet foods. Some of its brands were contaminated with rice protein concentrate. Its South African subsidiary said contaminated corn gluten had been linked to the deaths of 30 pets there.
Five companies received the contaminated Chinese rice protein concentrate. Three firms have identified themselves by announcing recalls; the other two are not publicly known because the FDA will not name them until the companies say they used contaminants in their products.
More than six other companies, some of which make pet food under a variety of labels, have announced recalls because melamine-contaminated wheat gluten was used in their products, starting with a March 16 recall. Wheat gluten is by far the larger ingredient in American pet food, the FDA said.

Three other contaminants in urine, kidneys of pets - Pigs ate same food, Hog Farm Quarantined

PetConnection.com has a great post that combines info from a couple of articles. Rather than re-create the wheel, here it is in full. (Italics in parentheses are my comments)

Toxicologists have been saying for some time now that they didn’t think melamine alone could be causing the symptoms being seen in cats and dogs eating recalled foods, and suggested it might be a marker or co-contaminant. Tonight, Karen Roebuck of the Pittsburgh Times-Review (in an article titled "Humans at risk from tained pet food?") reported that researchers have:

…identified three other contaminants in the urine and kidneys of animals sickened or killed after eating the recalled foods, including cyanuric acid, a chemical commonly used in pool chlorination, three researchers told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Cyanuric acid is what most likely sickened pets, one researcher said.

[…]

Researchers isolated a spoke-like crystal in pet food, wheat gluten and in the urine, kidneys and tissues of infected animals. That crystal serves as a marker for determining what animals were sickened in the outbreak. About 30 percent of those crystals are made up of melamine, one investigator said, and researchers spent several weeks trying to identify what is in the remainder.

Researchers in at least three labs found cyanuric acid, amilorine and amiloride — all by-products of melamine — in the crystals of animals’ urine, tissues and kidneys, according to Dr. Brent Hoff, a veterinarian and clinical toxicologist and pathologist, at the University of Guelph, in Ontario, Canada; Richard Goldstein, associate professor of medicine at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and a kidney specialist, and Dr. Thomas Mullaney, acting director of Michigan State University’s Center for Population and Animal Health.

Michigan State’s lab so far has found only the amilorine and amiloride, but Mullaney said he was aware of at least three other labs finding the cyanuric acid in the animals. The FDA asked labs involved in the pet food recall to test for the three chemicals.

Finding cyanuric acid is the more significant finding, Hoff, Goldstein and Mullaney said, although they are not yet certain how toxic it is to animals.

She also has quite a bit on the possible contamination of hog feed, and its implications for human health. Full story here.

Royal Canin Recalls DRY Pet Food in US

http://www.royalcanin.us/

April 19, 2007

Dear Royal Canin USA Customer,

It is with sincere regret that I inform you of a new and unfortunate development with some of our pet food products.

Although we have no confirmed cases of illness in pets, we have decided to voluntarily remove the following dry pet food products that contain rice protein concentrate due to the presence of a melamine derivative.

ROYAL CANIN SENSIBLE CHOICE® (available in pet specialty stores nationwide)

- Chicken Meal & Rice Formula Senior
- Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Puppy
- Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Adult
- Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Senior
- Rice & Catfish Meal Formula Adult

ROYAL CANIN VETERINARY DIET™ (available only in veterinary clinics)

- Canine Early Cardiac EC 22™
- Canine Skin Support SS21™
- Feline Hypoallergenic HP23™

We are taking this proactive stance to voluntarily recall these products to avoid any confusion for our customers about which Royal Canin USA products are safe and which products may be affected.

Pet owners should immediately stop feeding their pets the Royal Canin USA dry pet food products listed above. Pet owners should consult with a veterinarian if they are concerned about the health of their pet. No other Royal Canin diets are affected by this recall and CONTINUE TO BE safe for pets to eat.

In addition, Royal Canin USA will no longer use any Chinese suppliers for any of our vegetable proteins.

This decision to recall some of our dry pet food products is driven by our philosophy that the “Pet Comes First”. The safety and nutritional quality of our pet food is Royal Canin USA’s top priority. Pet owners who have questions about this recall and other Royal Canin USA products should call 1-800-592-6687 or (800) 513-0041.

On behalf of the entire Royal Canin family, our hearts go out to the pet owners and everyone in the pet community who have been affected by all of the recent recalls. We are as passionate about the health and happiness of our customers’ pets as we are of our own, so we are committed to taking the steps necessary to ensure this never happens again.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Rice Protein Recall: Blue Buffalo Recalls Spa Select Kitten DRY Food - One Date ONLY

Voluntary Recall of Spa Select Kitten Dry Food

Dear Pet Parents:

The Blue Buffalo Company has undertaken a voluntary recall of one production run of our Spa Select Kitten dry food. The production code on the recalled product is:

“Best Used By Mar. 07 08 B.”

We have taken this action because the rice protein concentrate used for this run was obtained from Wilbur-Ellis, the same company who supplied this ingredient to Natural Balance. Test results received late last evening (4/18) indicated that this rice protein concentrate tested positive for melamine. This is the first and only time our manufacturing partner sourced an ingredient from Wilbur-Ellis, and we had no knowledge that they had imported the ingredients from China.

We have advised the FDA of this finding and will be working closely with them on this issue.

Of the 4,752 bags produced in this one run, we were able to prevent the majority from ever entering retail distribution. We are working closely with our retail partners to remove this product immediately and will be re-stocking the shelves with Spa Select Kitten dry food that was produced without any rice protein sourced from Wilbur-Ellis as soon as possible.

If you currently have a bag of Spa Select Kitten dry food, please check the code date and if it matches the one shown above discontinue use immediately and return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. If your cat has eaten any of the recalled food, please call your veterinarian immediately to discuss if there are any risks to your pet.

Should you have a specific question call our Customer Service Department at 1-800-919-2833 or email us at info@bluebuff.com. We understand your desire for immediate answers and we will be working to get back to you as quickly as we can.

No other Spa Select cat food or dog food, canned or dry, is included in this recall.

As a family owned company whose reason for being is to provide cats and dogs with the highest quality natural foods, we are extremely upset by this recall and can’t begin to apologize enough to our customers. From our perspective, it is unacceptable to produce even one bag of food with the potential to cause a pet to become ill, and we will further tighten our ingredient sourcing and quality assurance procedures as a result of this incident.

Sincerely,

Bill Bishop
President
The Blue Buffalo Company

South Africa Pet Food Recall : Melamine in CORN Gluten

Thanks to howl911.com for the information, and who adds

This finding--melamine in corn gluten--should seal the theory that melamine was added to wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate deliberately .... With this news, Howl 911 believes all pet foods containing additives of any kind from China should be tested for melamine and other contaminates.

This finding also vindicates the claims of many pet parents whose pets were sickened or killed as a result of eating non-Menu Foods brands which did not contain wheat gluten. Virtually all pet foods and many treats contain protein additives in the form of gluten (wheat, corn) or from other grain or vegetable sources (rice, soy, whey), and many of these additives are products of China.

I am sorry to say, but this newest information--combined with the lack of full disclosure from pet food companies as to where they source their raw materials from-- renders ALL commercial pet food suspect.

I couldn't agree more, even though no US or Canadian connection has been reported. Yet. But (again thanks to howl911.com)

An independent pathologist, Professor Fred Reyers said the outbreak may not be an isolated incident. He believed there was sufficient evidence to suggest a link between this outbreak and a similar one in Cape Town as well as one in the United States. The source of the contaminant was said to be from raw materials in the food that originated from China.

Johannesburg - Tests have confirmed that Vets Choice and Royal Canin dog and cat dry pet-food products contained corn gluten contaminated with melamine, says the manufacturer.
The contaminated corn gluten was delivered to Royal Canin by a South African third-party supplier and appears to have originated from China.
Those products subject to the present recall were manufactured by Royal Canin South Africa in its Johannesburg plant between March 08 2007 and April 11 2007 and were sold exclusively in South Africa and Namibia.
...

Sales of all Vets Choice products were suspended on April 11 2007 and all affected products were being recalled from the market.

David Goldstein's post called it ahead of time after he received a tip from an industry insider 2 days ago, here.

Rice Protein Recalled - Pet Food Makers need to Recall foods using it

If you missed it, the company is now urging all pet food manufacturers using its rice protein concentrate to recall any pet food that may still be on supermarket shelves.

Gee, ya think? Someone needs to give us the names of these companies and these pet food brands NOW.

Here's the USA Today Article about it

And the press release
Wilbur-Ellis Voluntarily Recalls Rice Protein Concentrate

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wilbur-Ellis Company is voluntarily recalling all lots of the rice protein concentrate the San Francisco company’s Feed Division has shipped to pet-food manufacturers because of a risk that rice protein concentrate may have been contaminated by melamine, an industrial chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers that can lead to illness or fatalities in animals if consumed.

Wilbur-Ellis noted that it obtained rice protein from a single source in China and shipped to a total of five U.S. pet-food manufacturers located in Utah, N.Y., Kansas and two in Missouri.

Last Sunday, April 15, Wilbur-Ellis notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that a single bag in a recent shipment of rice protein concentrate from its Chinese supplier, Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co. Ltd., had tested positive for melamine. Unlike the other white-colored bags in that shipment, the bag in question was pink and had the word “melamine” stenciled upon it. Wilbur-Ellis separated that bag and quarantined the entire shipment for further testing and since that time, no further deliveries of rice protein concentrate have been made. Samples from the white bags tested negative for melamine. However, subsequent and potentially more sensitive tests by the FDA came back positive for melamine, leading Wilbur-Ellis to voluntarily issue the recall.

Wilbur-Ellis began importing rice protein concentrate from Binzhou Futian Biology Technology in July 2006. A total of 14 containers holding 336 metric tons of rice protein concentrate were sent from Futian to Wilbur-Ellis. Wilbur-Ellis has distributed 155 metric tons to date.

On Monday (April 16), a pet food distributor issued a voluntary recall of its pet food, believing the source of contamination to be rice protein concentrate supplied by Wilbur-Ellis. As an additional precaution, Wilbur-Ellis is urging all pet food manufacturers using rice protein concentrate supplied through Wilbur-Ellis to recall any pet food that may be on supermarket shelves.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Menu Foods Recalls more food - Looking at their Records

Hey - *another* (unannounced) recall.

And check this out - Menu Foods apparently forgot to shred some documents, because someone found records of additional foods contaminated with wheat gluten. Additional dates of some foods now recalled, PLUS they've added Natural Life. http://www.menufoods.com/recall/Press%20Release%2004172007.htm

Attention Business/Financial Editors

Notice who they address in ALL their press releases - never you, the consumer.

Menu Foods has previously recalled wet cat and dog food produced with adulterated wheat gluten supplied by ChemNutra Inc. Over the past several days

Why the hell did you wait this long??!

Menu Foods continued a detailed analysis of production records at its Emporia, Kansas, plant as part of the US Food and Drug Administration’s ongoing investigation of this adulterated wheat gluten. As a result of this work, Menu Foods advises the public:

- One additional item has been added to the recall list and is shown below

- Two additional production dates of eight varieties of pet food have been added to the recall list.

These eight varieties of pet food had previously been withdrawn from the market and should already be off the retailer shelves.

An updated list of the recalled products, including this addition, is available at the Menu Foods website at http://www.menufoods.com.

Menu Foods - I've worked at a lot of crappy companies, and you guys just suck beyond belief. I hope you all end up in jail, eating the food you made. I'll send you some forks.

Added: Here's the additional stuff added:

Dog Update

Natural Life – ADDED to list for 1^st time – only 1 item
Ol’Roy – new date
Pet Pride / Good n Meaty – new date

Cat dates updated:

Best Choice
Hill Country Fare
Pet Pride
Sophisticat (Petsmart brand – ALL dates pulled by them at first date of recall)

NOW Canned Food and Treats Too Natural Balance finds melamine -recalls 2 more products

Just added 4:25pm Itchmo has confirmed with Natural Balance that their recall has expanded and now covers the following items for all dates:

Venison and Brown Rice Treats for Dogs (New today)
Venison and Brown Rice Canned Formula for Dogs (New today)
Venison and Brown Rice Dry Food for Dogs (Reported Sunday)
Venison and Green Pea Dry Food for Cats (Reported Sunday)

7:21pm: The Natural Balance website HAS been updated with this information.

And, just added 5:13pm David Goldstein at The Huffington Post received a tip earlier today from an industry insider that products containing tainted rice and corn gluten were about to be recalled. Read what he said here.

USA Today posted this article:

Natural Balance Pet Foods said Tuesday it found melamine in two of its pet food products, which the company has recalled.

Melamine is the chemical suspected of causing pet deaths and illnesses related to the Menu Foods recall, covering more than 60 million cans and pouches of wet dog and cat food from dozens of brands the past four weeks.

But Natural Balance doesn't use wheat gluten, the ingredient contaminated with melamine in the Menu recall. Instead, it suspects that melamine was in a rice protein concentrate, a new ingredient used in the dry foods, said Natural Balance president Joey Herrick. "That was the only change in the product," he says.

The concentrate is now being tested, he added. Melamine was detected in samples of the food. The recalled foods are: Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Foods.

Whether other pet food makers got the same rice protein concentrate is unclear at this time. Herrick says the food was made for Natural Balance by Diamond Pet Foods.

Diamond Pet Food makes no other food that includes rice protein concentrate, spokesman Jim Fallon says.

Herrick also said Diamond got the rice protein concentrate from an American company, which he wouldn't name. The melamine in the Menu Foods recall was in wheat gluten imported from China.

What? Again with this "won't name suppliers crap?" This company must be named now!

The company has recalled all dates of the two products, although Herrick says it has only received complaints for food made March 28.

Herrick says Natural Balance, a premium pet food maker based in California, started getting calls Thursday from consumers reporting that dogs were vomiting. By Friday, the company had received calls from seven households regarding 11 dogs, Herrick said. The company also says it has received reports of animals suffering kidney problems, which has also occurred in the Menu recall.

The consumer calls set off alarms because "we don't get that," Herrick said.

The company has also received reports involving three or four cats, he said.

Natural sent out the food Friday to be tested for the usual things that would cause animals to vomit, such as pesticides and heavy metals, Herrick says.

No animals had yet died but that the company had reports that some were hospitalized, he said.

Melamine is not allowed in human or pet food. It is an industrial chemical used in plastics making in the USA and as a fertilizer in Asia, the Food and Drug Administration says. While melamine is not highly toxic, the FDA is investigating whether it, or something related to it, is responsible for pet deaths in the Menu recall.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Natural Balance Pulling Venison Dry Dog and Cat Formulas

Added Mon 2:38pm: Natural Balance has modified the information on their website , it now says:

NOTICE:
We are receiving consumer complaints regarding the Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food, and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Foods. We do not know what is wrong with the food at this time, but we have heard that animals are vomiting and experiencing kidney problems. Although the problems seem to be focused on one particular lot, as a precautionary measure, we are pulling all dates of Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Food from the shelves.

Please discontinue feeding all Venison and Brown Rice Dry Dog Food, and Venison and Green Pea Dry Cat Food.

We are working closely with the FDA.
We will update this website today, as more information comes available.

NO OTHER NATURAL BALANCE PRODUCTS ARE AFFECTED.

Itchmo breaks news again:

Natural Balance Pulling Venison Dry Dog and CAT Formulas (original post didn't state cat formula was included)

Itchmo has confirmed an email from Natural Balance that they are removing two products from sale:

* Venison and Brown Rice Dry Dog Formula
* Venison and Green Pea Dry Dog Formula

This products do not contain wheat gluten. No deaths or serious illnesses have been reported and no recall warning has been issued. The warning applies only to products sold in the last week, according to Natural Balance.

Please know that at this time we are removing this product from the shelves, as we have had some phone calls indicating gastric upset after eating this formula. At this time, we are unsure if this could just be a particular batch problem, or simply customers switching diets too fast. However, in the meantime while we are looking further into this matter, we are not recommending to feed this formula, and are suggesting to feed our Potato and Duck or Sweet Potato and Fish Dry Dog Formula.

Commercial Pet Food - My Decision to Stop Buying It

I can't do it any more, I just can't buy another can or bag of food for my cats. And I can't make any more suggestion of foods that might be safe for any of you to feed your pets. I can't do it, and I won't do it, not any more. (The rest of this is a bit long, because I feel the need to explain how I got to this decision...)

I went to several retailers this weekend to make sure they'd pulled all the recalled foods, and I was somewhat relieved to see they had. However, in every store I felt myself getting more and more sick to my stomach, as I looked at the products on the shelf wondering which product would be recalled next.

Like so many people in the past 4 weeks I've learned more about pet food and pet food manufacturing than I ever wanted to know. I've been appalled and horrified, felt angry and deceived, and then felt overwhelming guilt for keeping my head in the sand for so long.

Just a few of the lowlights...

The unforgivably slow and poor response by most of the companies and retailers involved in the recall. Learning that many brands (low-end high-end and in between) do only their own Marketing - the rest is contracted out to the lowest bidder. Finding out aboutRendering Plants. Reading undercover reports of how dogs and cats are horribly treated by pet food manufacturers.

Learning that there is no control over ingredients, and that 90% of the canned pet food is made by one company with the words "Income Fund" in their company name. Discovering that there are no penalties if companies don't report/recall poisoned food in a timely manner, and tragically finding out that the deaths of thousands of beloved pets is meaningless to them. Specialty Pet Food Retailers that knew less about the food on their shelves than I did.

Yet even with all this, I just kept trying to find a 'good' brand. A 'safe' company. One with 'integrity'. I kept reading updates of companies that didn't have recalled products over at www.thepetfoodlist.com.

After switching from Wellness and Innova because their canned foods are made by Menu and I decided early on to boycott any company doing business with them, last week I bought a couple more cans of Natural Balance (barely touched), and tried both Merrick and Solid Gold (both of which my cats liked.)

After reading about the negative health benefits of dry food (links coming soon) I stopped giving it to them, but yesterday I did buy a tiny bag of Natural Balance dry food for them - to be given to them as occasional treats only. They loved it, and I gave them some yesterday and more today.

And yet, all day Friday I sat here and hit 'refresh' over and over, waiting for the next recall, waiting for the other shoes to drop. And I'm not the only one, many of us online were doing the same thing.

I spoke with my FDA Complaint Coordinator last week, and as many other people have previously reported being told by their FDA people, he indicated that they are conducting tests on other dry food because of the numerous reports of illness and death they have received. And he told me his personal recommendation to callers is to not feed any food - wet or dry - made by any company with food on the recall list. I've been recommending the same thing, but, this still hit me hard.

Going into Friday night I was a bit relieved that there were no new recalls, but then I found out some information about the Merrick company that disturbed me, the family apparently owns a rendering plant right next door to their pet food company. While there's really no indication /proof that one affects the other, it does in my mind. And it's enough for *me* to cross them off the list of companies I'll give even a penny to. (I'll edit this soon to include a link to this information, posted over at petsitusa.com)

And while I'd planned to create a list of 'Good' companies and 'Safe' pet food this weekend, I kept avoiding it. I put it off and put it off and put it off. And I couldn't sleep. Not Thursday night. Not Friday night. And not Saturday night. And then tonight I realized why.

After over 4 weeks now of recall after recall after recall, I've come to the inescapable conclusion that I just can't trust my cats health to anyone but myself. I've been researching both home-cooked and raw diets, and my cats and I will be making that transition this week. I cooked for one of them this week, and so far he's thrilled. And he'll take to raw food like a cat would take to a, well, mouse.

And while there's a list of things it's not safe to feed your pets- and a few other things you really need to know - I found that once you get past the conflicting information it's really pretty basic. And straightforward. And it makes sense. Common sense.

I'll do my best these next few weeks to share information on making this transition with you, in the simplest way possible. And I'll try to keep your choices and options simple. Because whether it's deception on the part of the pet food industry, ignorance on the part of our vets, or just the normal learning curve of doing something new, to many of us it seems overwhelming to contemplate taking full responsibility for our pets food.

But how can we not? Living in dread of the next recall is no way to live. Wondering if the food you buy today will be recalled tomorrow is no way to live. Having food from the brand you bought yesterday be recalled is no way to live.

Watching your pet obsessively for symptoms of poison is no way to live. Standing in front of pet food in stores with a sick feeling in your stomach is no way to live.

Wondering if your other cat will someday need to go on fluids for chronic kidney failure is no way to live. Watching your dog struggle through the night trying to recover from poison is no way to live.

And watching one more beloved pet die before their time is no way to live.

So, I'll keep up the Lists of Recalled foods, and I'll make them easier to use as I get suggestions from you all on how to do that. I'll let you know here about everything directly related to food being recalled, and I'll add new lists when and if necessary. And on my other blog I'll continue to let you know what you haven't been hearing about from the companies involved.

And I promise I won't 'preach' about home cooking or raw food diets, I know for many of you it would be more difficult to do than it will be for me.

But I won't be doing a list of "Safe foods from Good Companies' like I'd planned. Not because there aren't any out there, because I do believe there are, somewhere. But because I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I did.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

NUTRO Recalls all Wet Food Products with Wheat Gluten

Nutro Products Orders Removal of All Wet Pet Food Products Made by Menu Foods with Wheat Gluten

It's about time.

Added: And as if this weren't enough... I'm not a huge PETA fan, but at this point I'm much more likely to believe them than Nutro. http://www.peta.org/feat/contract/o-other15.html

For years, Nutro representatives have been telling consumers that the company does not use animals in laboratories to test its pet foods. Now, we know differently.

Menu Foods recalls additional pet food made with ChemNutra wheat gluten

Tainted food expands to 3rd Menu Foods Plant... Recall expanded

Pet food maker Menu Foods Income Fund has voluntarily
recalled additional products made with tainted wheat gluten at its
Canadian plant, the company said late on Tuesday.

The move was prompted by reports from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration identifying the presence of the industrial chemical melamine in "cuts and gravy" style pet food produced in Menu Foods' Mississauga, Ontario, facility.

Menu Foods said it "undertook an accounting of all recalled wheat gluten supplied by ChemNutra Inc. to Menu Foods in the United States."

Based on that review, Menu Foods said it identified a "single interplant transfer" of the wheat gluten, shipped from Menu Foods' plant in Emporia, Kansas, to its plant in Mississauga.

This wheat gluten was subsequently used in the production of pet food in December 2006 and January 2007, which is now being recalled. "Menu Foods transfers ingredients among its four plants," company spokesman Sam Bornstein wrote in an e-mail. "The adulterated wheat gluten was moved during one such transfer."

Menu Foods' recall list was originally announced on March 16. It was updated late last week to cover foods produced between Nov. 8 to March 6. The latest update -- the first to involve its Ontario plant -- comes amid news that the the chief financial officer of Menu Foods Income Fund sold nearly half his units in the pet food maker less than three weeks before it announced its massive product recall, according to insider trading reports.

The new varieties in the United States and Canada have been added to the recall list. The latest recall group is listed below, and a complete list of recalled products, including the new items can be reviewed at http://www.menufoods.com.

Here's a good list of the new products added to the recall.

Any one think it's a coincidence that this happened today, just after the news about melamine found in Nutro cans in California was made public?

And isn't it amazing that Menu just happened to have all this information handy, when it's taken them days to get the information together in the past?

My question to Menu Foods - how long have you really known?

And, why would we believe the South Dakota plant is also not affected?

And yes, I'll be updating the Pet Food Trackers for the 3rd time in 2 days .

The List of All Brands of Pet Foods Recalled Summmary 4/9

NOTE: The current file is at the top of the page, under "Recalled Pet Food Lists"

Master List of All Brands Recalled Pet Food Summary
Includes:
Date of recall
Dog and/or Cat recalled
Type of Contaminant (Wheat Gluten, Rice Protein Concentrate, Corn Gluten, Salmonella)
Name brand or Store brand
Stores where products are sold
Canned, Pouch, Dry, Snacks/Treats
Links to detailed info on flavors and dates recalled

Suggested Use(s)
Check products already bought at your home, neighbors, etc.
Take into stores that don't know about recall

Description
This is a “Master List” Summary (PDF file) of all the Pet Food Brands that have had at least one food recalled. This includes store brands! Individual foods/flavors are not listed, some of that information is on the Major National Brands Pet Food Tracker, also found at the tope of the page , the rest you can access via the links included.

Instructions
Clicking on the link at the top of the page will open the file for easy printing, right click on the link to open in a new window. Click here to download the latest Adobe Reader

The List of the 10 Major National Brands Pet Food Recall Details 4/9

This file replaces the previous Pet Food Tracker (Recalled Pet Food Tracker - National Brands Updated 4-2 )

(Added Tuesday 8:35pm This has been updated to include the new Nutro products that have been recalled.)

Ten Major National Brands - with Details (flavors and date codes)
Includes detailed flavor and date codes for these Ten Brands only:
Alpo Prime Cuts
Eukanuba
Gravy Train
Hill's Prescription and Science Diet
Iams
Jerky Treats
Mighty Dog Pouches
Nutro
Pounce Cat Treats

Also Includes:
FDA Complaint Coordinator list
Parent Company Brand Info

Changes:
Alphabetical
Parent company info moved to make it shorter
Formatting changes to make it shorter

Suggested Use(s)
Take into national retailers that carry these products to see if they are still on the shelves.

Description
This is a summary (PDF file) of the pet foods recalled by 10 of the most commonly found Major National Brands. Other brands will be added soon... in the meantime to see ALL products recalled, go to http://www.menufoods.com/recall/ for brands not listed here. The summary is 4 pages, and includes FDA contact information for every state. This list is for quick-reference only – it is NOT a complete list of all recalled products!

Instructions
Clicking on this link will open the file for easy printing, right click on the link to open in a new window. Click here to download the latest Adobe Reader .

NUTRO cans not part of recall test POSITIVE for Melamine

See itchmo.com for breaking news on 3 Nutro cans that are NOT part of the recall but have tested positive for melamine. I'll have these files updated again today.

Chicken Cacciatore, UPC 79105352055
California Chicken Supreme, UPC 79105300117
Lamb & Turkey Cutlets, UPC 79105300148

Marin Independant Journal broke the story last night

Itchmo includes other information about the same products, and howl911.com gets my psychic award of the day as they had posted this earlier. (Nutro Max Cat California Chicken Supreme, 3 oz cans, "use by" date 05-16-09. (not on Menu Foods official recall list, but is suspected of causing same symptoms as the recalled food, resulting in death.)

In other 'how-much-more-did-they-know-news', petconnection.com reports Menu Foods CFO sold half his shares 2 weeks prior to recall. Note - I'm psychic, he's not. He's a liar and is responsible for the deaths of thousands of pets.

I've said it before and I'll say it again (in fact I just said it on Friday, but updated the post yesterday and removed it.)

Don't feed your pets ANYTHING that's on the recall lists - regardless of the dates! (That's not advice, just my personal opinion, I know nothing, no legal whatever, don't hold me to it, blah blah blah. )

Because here's the thing. Do you trust any of these companies now? With so many companies with food NOT on the recall list (see that list here thanks to http://www.thepetfoodlist.com/ , why would you keep feeding your pets any other food now?

This story is not over. There will be more foods reported by independent labs as 'tainted'. And more pets will die.

And Nutro's website says they'll be releasing a press release today. 10pm is my cynical guess...

Monday, April 9, 2007

FORBES - Misnavigating the Pet Food Crisis

Thank you Forbes! I couldn't agree more... I'm trying to keep everything other than Pet Food info over at my other blog, but since this made me feel so much better to read, I figured it might help a few of you too.

http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2007/04/09/pet-food-recall-oped-cx_meb_0409advice.html

Misnavigating The Pet Food Crisis
Marc E. Babej and Tim Pollak
The tainted pet food crisis has roiled a passionate market. And the story isn't dying: As the recalls mount, and the threat moves from cuts-in-gravy to staple dry food and even to treats, feeding pets seems like Russian roulette. How have the pet food companies involved reacted? Too little, too late--and, for the most part, the wrong way.
For most pet-owning families, their pets are family. This is hardly news to the nation's pet food manufacturers, but it might as well be. They've been strangely, almost eerily, silent. Such behavior consumers might expect from a big, impersonal corporation, but not from the people who make the food for their beloved pets.
A recent tour of their Web sites was almost surreal. As you might expect, the worst offender was Menu Foods, maker of the majority of the food affected by the recall. Rather than a heartfelt apology, the Menu Foods site displays puppies joyfully eating out of bowls emblazoned with the corporate name.
The consumer brands aren't doing much better. The home pages of Hill's Pet Nutrition, Del Monte Foods and Nestlé Purina PetCare offered links to press releases that sound like the product of a chemist, a lawyer and a publicist huddled around a conference table. MasterFoods trumpeted its non-involvement. Iams also led with good news: "This recall does not affect any Iams or Eukanuba products marketed outside of the U.S. and Canada." But what about their North American customers? Two more clicks, and buried in a page of technical copy is the following line: "We want you to know that we care deeply, and we continue to take action on your behalf." Sounds good--but what actions are they taking?
To Iams' credit, so far alone among this caring crew, it ran a national newspaper ad acknowledging the crisis. It expressed the sentiment that its employees were "heartsick that any of our products were involved," but provided little in the way of reassurance to jittery pet owners. Worst of all, the ad said nothing of substance about the steps being taken to ensure this would never happen again.
So far, pet food brands have been hiding behind each other, feeling secure in the knowledge that their collective market dominance leaves pet owners with few options. Sure, there are alternatives--high-priced organic specialty foods such as Merrick or Abady, or the fresh, refrigerated dog foods being rolled out to national retailers by Freshpet. Even homemade recipes have been getting a lot of attention. But these options can't possibly satisfy the hunger of an estimated 100 million America dogs and cats.
What should the industry be doing?
First, say you're sorry. Act like you really care about the animals. You may not think you owe an apology, but in pet owners' minds, you do.
Second, offer to replace the pet food in people's pantries, even it it's not your brand. Every new recall announcement creates more doubt about the food that's already out in the market. It might not be the cheapest solution, but it would buy a lot more goodwill than an ad campaign.
Third, stop being defensive. Simply reassuring people your other products are safe isn't very reassuring. After all, a few weeks ago, you were de facto assuring that all your products were safe. Do you trust the guy who says "just trust me" right after he messed up? Probably not. To regain consumers' trust, pet food brands have to give consumers reasons to trust that their food is safe.
Fourth, offer some substance. Explain what really happened, and what specific steps you are taking now to prevent something like this from happening again.
Fifth, send a message from the top. Jim Burke, the legendary head of Johnson & Johnson (nyse: JNJ - news - people ), personally managed the 1982 Tylenol crisis. The pet food manufacturers are all hiding behind their brands--to wit, the full-page ad signed by "The Employees of Iams and Eukanuba Pet Foods," not by A.G. Lafley, the CEO of Procter & Gamble (nyse: PG - news - people ), which owns both brands. The pet owners of America deserve to hear from the CEOs to whom they entrust the health and well-being of their pets. There are differences between this crisis and Tylenol's, but there is no less need for corporate courage, integrity and leadership.

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 5-29^th – 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 7^th 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

Files to Download (Recalled Pet Food Lists & More)

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Foxes Guard Henhouse

No Accident

Terrorism Risk

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Friday, April 20, 2007

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Monday, April 9, 2007

Volunteers Needed! Get food off shelves...

Historical Reference Only!

Pet Food and Recall Links

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