Recall Update: Wednesday
Question: Should the FDA be looking for other unknown chemicals in imported foods?
Answer from FDA:
If we start to see unusual spikes of inexplicable illness, clearly we’d ask those questions.
In other words, the FDA will wait until someone gets sick before the FDA tests for other chemicals and foods. (FDA press conference transcript.)
Exploding head alert: FDA reminds food manufacturers of their legal obligation to use safe ingredients. It’s so absurd that they have to issue a memo on this topic. We had to read this multiple times to make sure it wasn’t written by The Onion. What’s next? Memo to pets: don’t eat poisonous food.
Recall news:
- Wheat flour sold as wheat gluten. Pet food companies duped.
- FDA: Recalls may not be over yet.
- Cyanuric acid commonly added to animal feed in China.
- 20 million chickens that were fed tainted pet food free to be eaten.
Toxin problem spreads to fish feed:
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Check out our fun and informative non-recall news below.
May 9th, 2007 at 5:27 am
This wheat flour/ wheat gluten debacle is insane. Would it kill the FDA to hire people with an IQ over 80?!?
May 9th, 2007 at 6:33 am
Dear Itchmo: I love the format you’ve been using to summarize each day’s recall news. It’s very helpful and much appreciated!
May 9th, 2007 at 6:57 am
Just insert the words “Top This” at the end of every press release. Less head banging that way.
May 9th, 2007 at 7:08 am
EU Now Checking for Melamine
http://www.foodproductiondaily.....na-imports
“EU regulators are investigating whether the banned chemical melamine has made its way into Europe’s food and feed supply chain from China.
“The investigation should put EU processors on guard against potential contamination from ingredients sourced from China, which now finds itself in the spotlight over its food safety practices.
“The regulators are responding to a request by the European Commission, made after the US Department of Agriculture reported last week that the contaminant had been found in pet food fed to hogs and chickens meant for human consumption.”
May 9th, 2007 at 7:23 am
CNN NEWS just did an exclusive interview with the “manager” of the wheat flour/melamine co. He denied any knowledge—?scapegoat?—at least CNN called this a Tainted Food Crisis and is covering it!!!
May 9th, 2007 at 7:33 am
I think it’s way past time for the American public to panic. How bad does this have to get before people understand we have a crisis bigger than Katrina? If I had a child, an elderly parent, or someone with a compromised immune system in my care I would be freaking out that the government is killing my family and no one seems to care!
May 9th, 2007 at 7:36 am
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/211990
Toronto Star/AP May 9, 2007
China arrests food managers
“China launched a food and drug safety crackdown on Wednesday, following an announcement that authorities detained managers from two companies linked to contaminated pet food that killed dogs and cats in North America.
“State media, meanwhile, reported the country’s disgraced former top drug regulator would go on trial this month on charges of taking bribes to approve untested medicine.
“In a notice on its Web site, China’s government body responsible for overseeing food safety said investigators had focused on individuals at two companies blamed for the melamine tainting, and said local police had already brought charges. It did not name those under investigation or give other details.
“”Relevant departments will deal strictly with the lawbreaking companies and those responsible according to the results of the investigation,” the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said on its Web site.
“China’s State Council, or Cabinet, said the nationwide crackdown would compel companies to adopt “standards used in food-importing countries … and test products which will be used to make animal feed or food for humans.”
“The government must “strengthen its investigations into protein products, especially melamine,” the notice said.
“Tainted drugs are also a serious problem. Recent reports have accused a Chinese company of selling diethylene glycol, a chemical cousin of antifreeze, that ended up in medicine that killed at least 51 people in Panama.
“Zheng Xiaoyu, the former director of the State Food and Drug Administration, is accused of taking up to $780,000 in bribes to approve untested medicines, including an antibiotic that killed at least 10 patients.
“Zheng was fired in 2005 and the official Xinhua News Agency said his trial will be held in mid-May.
“The detained managers were identified as having worked for Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd. and Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co. Ltd., both listed as having exported melamine-spiked rice protein and wheat gluten to the U.S.
“The general administration statement said the companies had added melamine to the wheat gluten and rice protein in a bid to meet the contractual demand for the amount of protein in the products. It said doing so was against regulations.
“However, the statement indicated the companies broke the law only when they mislabelled the exported products to avoid inspection.”
May 9th, 2007 at 7:39 am
For those businessmen and women in the US responsible for this there will be no legal or financial consequences for killing our pets and putting our human food supply at risk. The Bush administration has made sure of that. Thank god they are protecting us from cheap prescription drugs from Canada. We wouldn’t want our elderly folks to actually be able to afford their medication.
May 9th, 2007 at 7:48 am
People in China have been arrested. I want to see the people working for Chem Nutra and Wilber Ellis go to jail and I want them to be fed a diet of pork, chicken, and fish laced with melamine. Let’s see how long it takes to kill them. The FDA could use it as their test since they only “think” it “probably” won’t harm anyone. This is their chance to find out for sure!
May 9th, 2007 at 8:36 am
The FDA is overwhelmingly funded and supported by the industries they oversee. The same is true for the USDA. Some of these issues fall under USDA jurisdiction and it is not always clear to the USDA/FDA which of them is responsible.
None of these issues are new. It just took a threat to our pets for people to wake up to the dangers that have been occurring since Ronald Reagan started cutting the FDA’s funding.
Pax,
MLO
May 9th, 2007 at 8:38 am
until they link human deaths to tainted food, there will be no panic.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:09 am
Why does the FDA keep stressing the word wheat? Wheat flour spiked with, etc., etc. as if there was not a deliberate effort to sell a fake ingredient. It was not wheat gluten; it was not RPC. They sound like they are trying to soften the crime. It isn’t even an “adulterated” ingredient. It’s not the ingredient the package was labelled with. Why are they sucking up so badly? Do they think the Chinese will sue them?
May 9th, 2007 at 9:13 am
How many inexplicable human illnesses does it take to create an “unusual spike” significant enough for the FDA to take action on food safety: 10? 1000? 1 million? Are physicians all over the country reporting every single illness from every single patient they see - whether they think the illness is “inexplicable” or not - to the CDC? If not, how will the spike be detected?
May 9th, 2007 at 9:19 am
The way it looks now is that everyone–the importers, the manufacturers, and the food companies–are in violation of the Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act for adulteration and misbranding:
http://www.fda.gov/cvm/prodregulation.htm
“The use of food products is governed by the provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), and the regulations issued under its authority. These regulations are published in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The FFDCA defines food as “articles used for food or drink for man or other animals…” Therefore, any product that is intended to be used as an animal feed ingredient, to become part of an ingredient or feed, or added to an animal’s drinking water is considered a “food” and thus, is subject to regulation. FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) is responsible for the regulation of human food products. CVM is responsible for the regulation of animal food (feed) products.
“The FFDCA sets forth requirements for “foods” in the Sections 402 and 403. Failure to meet these requirements can result in a product being deemed adulterated or misbranded. Adulteration includes, among other things, food packaged or held under unsanitary conditions, food or ingredients that are filthy or decomposed, and food that contains any poisonous or deleterious substance. A food may be considered misbranded if its labeling is false or misleading in any way or fails to include required information.”
http://www.fda.gov/cvm/import_export.htm
FDA-CVM-Center for Veterinary Medicine
Imports
“The adulteration and misbranding standards for feed and feed ingredients of foreign origin are the same as for those of domestic origin.
“The legal requirements that must be met are the same for imported and domestic products, including feed mill licensing and new animal drug approval requirements.”
http://www.fda.gov/ora/import/.....ystem.html
FDA-Imports–Adulteration/Misbranding
“With the exception of most meat and poultry, all food, drugs, biologics, cosmetics, medical devices, and electronic products that emit radiation, as defined in the FD&C and related Acts, are subject to examination by FDA when they are being imported or offered for import into the United States. Most meat and poultry products are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“All imported products are required to meet the same standards as domestic goods. Imported foods must be pure, wholesome, safe to eat, and produced under sanitary conditions.
As defined in the FD&C Act the term adulteration has to do with the content of a product (such as the addition of a substance which makes a product inferior, impure, not genuine, etc.) while misbranding includes statements on labels or labeling that are false or misleading.”
The importers received misbranded (labeled wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate when the substance was wheat flour in both cases) and adulterated (melamine-contaminated products) food materials. Because of their neglect to test these shipments instead of relying on foreign paperwork alone, they sold adulterated and misbranded food items to various food manufacturers/food companies.
The food manufacturers/food companies neglected to test the products they purchased from the importers and relied on whatever documentation was provided by the importers. So they also sold misbranded and adulterated food materials, as they never tested to learn that the wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate were, in fact, wheat flour.
The manufacturers who were contract producers for various brand labels sold this material to the brands and didn’t test, who were sold the wheat flour as wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate.
And then the brands sold adulterated and misbranded food items to the public as wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate by not testing, when the true substance was wheat flour.
These people managed to involve the human food supply, causing the adulterated and misbranded material to be sold to hog and poultry farms via pet food scrap and by the sale of the “fish meal” to various fish farms. These count as additional sales of adulterated & misbranded products.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:27 am
Menusux–you are great for all the research you’ve done! I still can’t believe the “suspect” pet food became animal feed. That has nothing to do with China. Thanks for all your work.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:43 am
Just want to see some charges here–we can’t make everything 100% right again for everyone, but we can try to see that those responsible pay some of the price for their neglect.
My “digging” began when a large human pharma sold a less than legally potent drug to me for my baby a few years ago. Found the information re: their horrible lack of cGMP in their plant which produced it on the internet and a huge report about what was found there during an FDA inspection. This is how I learned my way around on the FDA site.
Wish I could say they were out of business, but let’s say the pound of flesh we got was sweet; there’s a much better company producing this product now and we helped to get the reliable drug on the US market. My baby and everyone else’s babies now have a drug they can depend on for this condition.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:52 am
They want to cap the reimbursement to those who have suffered a loss at $500. I have to wonder what the cap will be for dead children????
May 9th, 2007 at 10:20 am
Menusx, we try not to quote long articles, and instead quote a paragraph or two + provide the link, or just summarize the article. (Sorry to be a nag, but it’s been drilled into me by Webmasters at other blogs for many years, such as Daily Kos where people are permanently banned for quoting full articles since it violates copyright law, and also makes comments too long.)
THE SEATTLE TIMES has this front-page story today:
“Tainted feed tracked to state fish hatcheries”
“… The Canadian-made meal included what was purported to be wheat gluten, a protein source, imported from China. However, the material was actually wheat flour spiked by the chemical melamine and related nitrogen-rich compounds to make it appear more protein-rich than it was, officials said.
[…]
“News reports Tuesday identified two Canadian companies — Westaqua Commodity Group and Skretting — that distributed fish feed spiked with the melamine. Both companies distribute feed to salmon farms as well as trout and other types of fish farms. …”
http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....ood09.html
May 9th, 2007 at 10:22 am
Hi Susan, I thought I’d mention that, it’s a common practice, to use “spillage food” for ag. animal feed.
They get the ’scraps’.Just something extra. No waste.
So it was given, evidently, before our pets started to show problems. {probably before, during and after}
It’s the stuff that doesn’t hit the bags from the shoots as they are being filled in ‘assembly’ etc..
Like “seconds” in clothing manufacturing etc., that go to the Big-box Outlet places. No Waste. {like that blouse with a slightly longer sleeve on one side than the other}
Guess it’s a good thing WE don’t EAT seconds!
Ditto on Menusux and the research.
If the FDA won’t Uphold the Regulations it has on foods, drugs, cosmetics etc, why should anyone else?
It’s also nice to know that, Some of Us are, “expendable”, {talking humans here, {as animals obviously, Don’t Matter!}}, BEFORE a ban or recall OR the public is informed Enough to Panic! {yeah, informed Enough to make the decision on our Own, as to whether We WANT to eat low traces or diluted poisons!}
I’d say a ‘Little Panic’ might be, a Good thing!
May 9th, 2007 at 10:32 am
My local news did a story last night on the fish feed. They said the fish feed was related to the pet food recall in March and that the contaminated fish are probably not dangerous to humans.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:33 am
Might I add that I spent the rest of the night screaming in horror and frustration?
May 9th, 2007 at 10:47 am
Helen,
Same here in the Tampa area news. I am so frustrated. Fresh Grouper is no longer available at most restaurants in our area due to overfishing the price is so high. It’s been replaced by a white fish. Think I’ll be asking a lots of questions of where that fish is from.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:50 am
I’m guessing that the “seconds” animal feed goes to both premium grade, top quality animals and bargain basement, grocery store animals. Premium grade seems to be a marketing term now, not a quality assessment. I suspect we do eat seconds; we just don’t know it.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:01 am
Does anyone else remember the old saying “F*$& me once, shame on you. F*$& me twice, shame on me.”?
With that in mind, can’t we as citizens, form some sort of “watchdog” group to keep an eye on, at least, the pet food manufacturers? PFI SHOULD be doing it, *spitting on the floor* , but they’re not. What would we have to do ? Anyone know?
May 9th, 2007 at 11:05 am
Makes ya wonder what’s in those Generic cans?! {low income folks save money with those purchases}
I have to say, for years now, food hasn’t Tasted nearly as good, Anywhere. :-P And i’m not one to use ‘boxed’ foods/meals.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:06 am
PROBABLY NOT DANGEROUS??? I remember my father spraying DDT all over the house and yard when I was a child. He said it wasn’t dangerous to humans. (That would have been according to USDA I think)
I’m PROBABLY NOT DANGEROUS either, but beginning to feel more and more like I could get that way!!!!
May 9th, 2007 at 11:11 am
Sometime in the thirties Congress was informed that all minerals had been depleted from the soils of most of our croplands. Their decision was to wait and see what happened. They’re still waiting, meanwhile our food has less and less food value, and our pets, who at one time, thrived on whatever the humans didn’t eat, are subsisting on pure garbage!
Wonder why food doesn’t taste so good any more?
May 9th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Kathy Thompson: citizen watchdog group may be good result from this whole cesspool of corruption
Wish I were more optimistic, but I’ve come to the conclusion NONE of the petfood mfrs can be trusted: All benefit from the industry-lobbied loopholes.
I’ll make my own petfood before I’ll trust my baby to the b*stu*ds
May 9th, 2007 at 11:15 am
Put this in your pipe and smoke it (but please don’t ingest it):
[QUOTE] Xuzhou Anying had advertised the [protein] powder as its “latest researched, developed and produced” item and touted it as “a new way to solve the problem of shortage of protein resource.” Several people with experience in China’s food industry say such powders are invariably made with melamine. [/QUOTE]
NOTE the last sentence. All protein powders sold to humans in China are tainted with melamine. And protein powders sold worldwide? Well, we can just wonder. Can’t we, FDA?
“Gluten factory had a toxic history”
http://www.latimes.com/busines.....k=ntottext
– This is a very good story, worth reading in full. You may need to register at the LA Times, but it’s free and it’s worth it. Good newspaper.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:17 am
I’m not optomistic either, just still stubbornly trying to be.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:20 am
If I need wheat gluten for anything, I’ll make some, from locally grown organic flour thank you, and I will at least meet the farmer first, if I don’t already know him.
And if I want melamine, I’ll grind up my counter top!
May 9th, 2007 at 11:21 am
I remember when we ate our hamburgers rare and our eggs runny without getting ill. Now illness is “our fault” for not following their instructions when they sell us bacteria laden food. It seems the same with pet food. Even high quality pet food is garbage.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:28 am
I loooove the exploding head alert…
“”"FDA reminds food manufacturers of their legal obligation to use safe ingredients.”"
However, I feel it’s missing something….
They forgot to tell manufacturers specifically not to use poisonous products…
…also, if they DO use poisons, they forgot to tell them to make sure the stupid consumers don’t find out about it….
…and, if the stupid consumers DO happen to find out, they forgot to add that the manufacturers should have an obligation to tell them not to feed it to their pets….
There’s so much missing in here….they haven’t even STARTED to cover their **s on this one…
May 9th, 2007 at 11:35 am
Why would you expect PFI to “watchdog” the pet food industry? The PFI is not a government or independent agency……..PFI IS the pet food industry. (Their trade, lobbyiong and PR arm.)
May 9th, 2007 at 11:50 am
Just posted today:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com.....53/1/.html
Posted: 09 May 2007 2147 hrs
BEIJING: China has acknowledged for the first time that it was the source of deadly additives found in US pet foods and vowed to bring in wider checks amid growing overseas concern over its food product controls.
In an announcement seen on its website Wednesday, the bureau in charge of inspecting export products said the two companies illegally added the chemical melamine to food additives and mislabelled them to avoid inspection.
The case is just one of several that point to lax food product controls in China, which has been criticised previously for not sharing information on the bird flu virus and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in 2003.
“The two companies illegally added melamine to the wheat gluten and rice protein in a bid to meet contractual demands for the amount of protein in the products,” the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said, citing the results of its own investigation.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
http://www.king5.com/topstorie.....d65a1.html
FDA needs a BIG BAND-AID to cover the mess we are in. Also last night on the 11.00 King 5 News - it was reported that some of the fish were released into the wild.
The Washington State Department of Agriculture regulates those farms in this state.
State agriculture officials say they are standing by in case the FDA needs their help, but they say they don’t know too much more than this: One shipment of fish food was stopped and held at the border until the FDA stepped in and let it pass
May 9th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
If we start to see unusual spikes of inexplicable illness, clearly we’d ask those questions.
Um. Speaking to people in the health community, it seems the past few
years has seen a major increase in the incidence of digestive diseases, and colon and rectal cancers. My nurse friends tell me the same thing.
Major increase. Crohn’s disease, colitis, colon cancers, rectal cancers..
There are even TV commercials, urging people to get tested.
Makes me wonder what these people think an unusual spike would be.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
I am utterly disgusted. It is apparent that there is no reliable United States government regulation and industry follow-through with regard to this issue. We are not residents of China, so it is not China that we should rely on to protect us in the short-term and the long-term. The elected and appointed officials of the United States government have betrayed us in their subservience to and collusion with the inhumane machinery of private industry in the United States and internationally.
As an incorrigible label-reader, even before this nightmare, this betrayal, I never *knowingly* chose food products from China. For the record: I do not want to consume any food product, supplement, or medicine that is grown, manufactured, or formulated (to the smallest degree) in China or similarly polluted, poorly regulated countries. It is not acceptable for my own consumption or that of my companion animal. I do not want it. I will not buy it.
If my government can do nothing else in service to me, it can begin by not LYING to me anymore. Stop. Lying. Now. Not twenty years from now, when I am waiting for a kidney transplant, but now.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Awesome rant, Pit Bull Lover. Awesome.
Yes, I too wonder about the cumulative effect of our exposure to these chemicals. As NotNewNews points out, the increases in certain diseases may be a clue. The worst part is that people like NotNewNews and the rest of us are left to speculate because there are no plans to study the longterm effects.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m Sure I’ve read “somewhere” that, these chemicals can cause Alterations/mutations in DNA.
In animals as well as Humans.
I wish I could find that article! Maybe one of the origianl labs that did testing in March, can’t remember. Can Anyone remember? Help!
What that All ‘could’ mean?: Mutation in YOU as you ’stand there’ and animals too; Mutations of the In-utero {un-born}, and Mutations for “those to come”, to: be born, through Us and our breeding pets and breeding livestock.
Mutations can be One or All of these situations.
I’d be concerned with ANYTHING/One pregnant Right now, during this begining phase of this.
And IF, You breed your cats or dogs; I’d be asking your Vet to Prove to you that, there is “no cause for concern” from this “adulteration of Food stuffs.
And that would also go for Pregnant women and your OB/GYN specialists. ASK! Ask for Proof!
And Maybe THIS part IS, something to look into More and “harp upon” Real Loudly, about All of this!
Defects and mutations get the Attention.
Just some thougts here.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Ach, my last post about Alterations and Mutations is Lost, Itchmo! :-(
May 9th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Did ChemNutra do any due diligence and run a trade audit on their supplier?
http://www.chinatradeauditrepo.....er-now.php
Both name of supplier
“Suzhou Textiles Silk Light & Industrial Products â€
and information from Ernst& Young would indicate that this is a chemical/industrial supplier, NOT a food product supplier!
http://www.ey.com/global/conte.....Y_-_Suzhou
May 9th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
susanUnPC Says:
May 9th, 2007 at 11:15 am
Put this in your pipe and smoke it (but please don’t ingest it):
[QUOTE] Xuzhou Anying had advertised the [protein] powder as its “latest researched, developed and produced†item and touted it as “a new way to solve the problem of shortage of protein resource.†Several people with experience in China’s food industry say such powders are invariably made with melamine. [/QUOTE]
He may have taken it from the company’s website & torn down the factory, but it’s still being hawked on the internet through Alibaba and others:
http://www.alibaba.com/manufac.....owder.html
We had this link on Itchmo not long ago and suspected this was Melamix by the specs on the Alibaba site for it. The company posted the offer to sell it April 18, 2007 and it’s supposed to be available until May 18, 2007.
http://www.fuzing.com/vli/0020.....ein-Powder
Another active link to the protein powder on another online trading website above–same seller.
May 9th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
Menusx, how do we know if protein powders sold in the U.S. aren’t also contaminated?
And, isn’t that Ali Baba site a trip? When I stumbled on it — because their ad popped up in my NYT search results — I typed in all the supplement names I could think of, from taurine (in all cat food) to gluocosamine, and dozens of Chinese companies sell them on the worldwide market.
If I had a bunch of money, I’d send samples of (1) my vitamins, (2) human food (from tea to crackers to bread to pasta, and on and on), and (3) all pet food in to a top laboratory and pay for all of it to be broadly tested. Of course, it’d be hard for the lab because they don’t know what adulterating ingredients to look for and all I could do is hope they’d stumble on what the Chinese are mixing in these ingredients too.
May 9th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Thanks, menusux, for focusing on the criminal legal issue, here. I also feel it is critical to see as much justice as possible served in this matter. It will help in a small way in the healing of the human victims and also serve as a deterrent to other global traders tempted to be negligent or corrupt. People have to start seeing a conscience injected into the philosophy of Globalism if its proponents don’t want to have it totally rejected.
May 9th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
YaYa–I remember reading about changes in DNA or RNA but I think it was with the “first” poison that was detected–aminopterin—I did alot of reading about it then as one of my cats was not recovering like the other (she had become much more ill) and the vet had mentioned that RNA mutation as a worry (with aminopterin)
May 9th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
susanUnPC,
I love to send my FF to a lab for testing, but they would probably lie about there findings to protect PURINA. I really do not need it tested I have 2 sick cats to prove it. Just would love to make FF come clean.
May 9th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Thanks Carol, I do remember te Amonoptrin issue {and I Still do not dis-claim it like the FDA etc.!} But I was thinking this was a bit later when the melamine issue came out.
But Hey, Do Any of These sound like something you’d Feed in the smallest amounts to the “un-born”???????
Duh-O! They are Idiots for Not mentioning THIS part!
Should be “horse-whipped”!
I’d be Really freakng out if I was preganant and ate any “Known Adulterated Foods” right now!
And LorieVA, I’m sure my cat got sick on Friskies canned {a Nestle-Purina product} AND IMAS hairball control Dry- a Proctor&Gamble product. Both items purchased between Dec 06 and Feb 15th 06.
My Cat is doing much much better on the Homemade food now.
P&G and Nestle-Purina are Hyenas!
I keep hoping…………..
May 9th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Lorie, I bet the lab at UC Davis would be honest in testing your FF. I’m very curious why Purina has escaped the recalls so far — they say all their grains are from the U.S., but I’m a bit skeptical. Let’s hope so for the sake of all the pets who have to eat that low-grade pet food.
May 9th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
The scary (but truthful) thing about the protein powders is that we DON’T know if they are contaminated or not and won’t unless someone, be it FDA or a private party, sends them for testing. Unless a manufacturer can honestly say that the content is 100% of US origin, they’ll all be questionable unless they’re tested.
We learned that most of what’s imported isn’t tested by the buyer–you really get a better guarantee buying a used car on eBay than you do with food and medicines, with the system as it presently is.
If you go a bit further with the Alibaba site, you can find out more about these companies–this is the TrustPass profile for Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co., Ltd.–those of the would-be rice protein concentrate:
http://chinafeed.en.alibaba.co.....ofile.html
You see on the page that they were authenticated and verified by Huaxia Credit on August 24, 2006. It gets even more interesting when you learn who Huaxia Credit’s shareholders are:
http://my.alibaba.com/others/huaxia_credit.html
“The company’s key shareholders are:
China Commercial Information Center (subsidiary of State Domestic Commerce Bureau)
China Industrial and Commercial Consulting Service Center (subsidiary of State Administration Bureau of Industry and Commerce)
China International Tax Consulting Co. (subsidiary of State Tax Bureau)
Zhong Yin Finance Consulting Co. (subsidiary of People’s Bank of China)”
And you see how deep the Chinese government is in Huaxia, thus tying them to underwriting the honesty of Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co., Ltd. Not surprising that the manager of this business is also in custody and that they are promising changes in the way food and medicines are inspected.
Regarding the legal aspects of manufacturers being responsible for what they produce and sell, was VERY glad to see the FDA post the letter, since it clarifies that they do legally have that responsibility and makes it available to all without the need for consulting a lawyer to learn this. Hope this and the violation information re: the Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act might change the attitude of some of the offenders re: attempting to limit the amount per settlement.
My thought is that there will be charges brought because of the havoc they’ve created for pets and their people and also for US agriculture everywhere (as of now) except the cattle and dairy industry.
May 9th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Purina has just updated their FAQs page on the 7th.
http://www.purina.com/recallFAQs.aspx
They cite their new “office”
Nestlé S.A. also recently has established an office in China, headquartered in Beijing, to assist Nestlé affiliates, including Nestlé Purina, with sourcing ingredients and other materials from China. The goal of this office is to have Nestlé staff physically inspect and monitor the facilities of Nestlé approved Chinese suppliers and test product samples to ensure compliance with Nestlé Quality Assurance and Compliance safety standards.
They make no mention of the plant, using local ingredients. I wonder if they forgot it’s there…
May 9th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
If we haven’t already figured it out - our government is just a house of cards…any idea that it is there to protect,serve. and defend US citizens is just nonsense. It’s just nothing but cover-up after cover-up after cover-up…most obvious in the past 20 years since the gulf war, 9/11, Katrina, all this food contamination…we are on our own folk. When #$%^ hits the fan and it will, you can’t blame anyone but yourself if you think the government or your insurance company(s) are going to bail you out. It’s a farce. Protect the 14th amendment, grow your own food, save your own money for a catastrophe instead of paying it to insurance companies, stock pile water, meds, live a simpler existence, invest in renewable sources of energy for when the light go out or at least back up sources of heat and electricity, and be prepared mentally to survive on your own. It’s the only way. There is no-one coming to protect and safe us from harm’s way - natural or deliberate…
May 9th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Purina is establishing a plant in China. Translation: We are going to continue to get glutens from China, but we don’t trust the Chinese to not contaminate it, adulteration is so widespread there, we can’t trust the importing companies,and we don’t trust the FDA to care to regulate it, so we are going to the source to do it ourselves. This sounds like a good thing to me, I feel so much better now.
May 9th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
YAYA,
I had issues with IAMS dry hairball in the blue bag ln 2006 my one cat was having unexplained bloody loose stool, and the other was vomiting yellow foam. Took them off IAMS and all went away. The vet could not find anything wrong with my cats in lab work. They were doing great till the FF incident this past March
May 9th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Furmom,
Actually that plat is already in operation. There are a number of references on the web…one even of the ribbon cutting ceremony. They all say how much Purina spent on it, and the fact that they plan on using “local ingredients”. I;ve bombarded them with an assortment of emails and weeks ago they replied, saying they have my “letter” and they are sending it to the appropriate person to respond. Still waiting…not holding breath.
A few weeks ago I called them and actually got through. My first question was about the plant in China. I wanted to know what they are producing and if any of it would eventually come to our neck of the woods. The woman said there is no plant in China. I told her about the references on the web so she put me on hold to “ask”. She got back to me giggling like it was the silliest thing she’d heard in weeks, staying with “no plant in China”. You bet we’re in trouble.
May 9th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Kiki, I’m totally with you. I have been telling everyone I know, the only thing we can truely change is the way we live our lives. We must be more self-sufficient. Our govt. believes they are “the deciders”. We should always speak out against what is wrong and try to see that justice is served, BUT it should be obvious by now that not much is changing when we do. Our govt. has failed us in many ways yet we keeping paying them with our taxes for a horrible job. Most employers fire you for doing a horrible job AND lying. We may never change them BUT we must change the way we live and prepare for whatever could happen. Your post needs to be our cry to our family, friends, neighbors and community. Wake up America and get ready to take care of yourself.
May 9th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
If this doesn’t make your head explode, I don’t know what will:
This morning’s L.A. Times has an article reporting that the plant which manufactured, spiked and exported the wheat was torn down — BULLDOZED — by its owner DAYS before the investigators from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration arrived in China on a mission to TRACK DOWN the source of the tainted pet food ingredients. The owner has been arrested, but he bulldozed the plant to prevent its being inspected!
This is on the front page of the Business section below the fold. Click on the link at SusanUnPC above.
May 9th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
BlackLabOwner,
Yup, my head just exploded reading that article. Can’t help but wonder if the Chinese government wasn’t in it with him to delay our inspectors while they got rid of the evidence.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
I just had to run out and buy another roll of duct tape….it’s the only thing keeping the head together. Probably has melamine in it.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
KiKi:
I am so with you on that! Living in my apartment in a huge Metropolis…Itry and do what I can….but I know what you mean! Growing up my brother and I always grumbled when it came time for “pulling weeds” in the vegetable garden (a big one!) we had!
But oh!…I would give anything to have my own garden again! I can still remember how fantastic the potatoes tasted compared to what I eat today! Everything tasted so great…..even before this recall I was saying to my husband that I wish I had my own garden with fresh fruits and vegetables……….and believe me when I say, that I’d almost look forward to going out to pull those weeds…..cuz I know what I would be helping to grow…..fresh, wholesome foods…..that I’d know would be good….and not have to wonder or second guess their quality!
As for your other ideas in that comment…you are so spot on!….it’s becoming a fact of life that we can no longer ignore!
Deanna
May 9th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Aside from last night’s live chat in which Itchmo participated, this is the smartest radio discussion I’ve listened to — it’s so information-rich, I’m listening a second time:
Diane Rehm’s NPR show
“Safety of Imported Food and Medicine”
http://www.wamu.org/programs/dr/07/05/08.php#13174
Rep. Bart Stupak, who helped lead the recent House hearing, is on the show, and he’s SENSATIONAL! He really socks it to both the FDA and the food companies.
P.S. If you haven’t listened to Diane Rehm before, you may find her voice odd. She has the same vocal cord condition that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. does — they both have to get botox injections in their throats so they can keep talking. But she is SMART. And, best of all, the powerful in Washington, D.C. all listen to her show, and want to be on her show… so when she does a show like this one, you’ll know that the powerful will get the message too. (Now they have to act on it.)
May 9th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
LorieVA,the IMAS I used was in the orange bags. And I’m familiar with the foamy {yellow} no food-up-chucking. Then very reddish-brown liquid, not like digested food either. I’m with ya Girl! GRRRRRR!
WoW, and we’re supposed to believe it was jst *2* lowly plant managers who did this horrid deal to the glutens? HA! In a Pigs eye!
They have No checks and balances over there in Any of their plants. But just keep pumping it out. And it’s going to get worse.
This attempted appeasement with these *2* {and “only”
Plant Managers Where the HE** are the OWNERS????????!}
Makes me SICK! Over and over and over.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
I wonder about Doane manufacturers of Dry Foods.
They located or re located to Missouri , perhaps two to three years ago.
Sandi
May 9th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
LOL! DebG. I *needed* that Laugh!
I don’t have High Blood pressure but, in 2 weeks when I go for my check up with my Immunologist, I’m sure he’s gonna say: What the Heck is going on with You?! :-P
May 9th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
LorieVA,
OMG! I had forgotten about the bloody stool incident that my cats went through. I noticed little smudges of blood by there food dishes and on the tub where they would sit. I then saw bloody diahrrea remains on their little bottoms. I just pulled the invoice and info from the vet. He fecal tested both kitties for Giardia and Feline Coccidiosis twice but found nothing. That was June ‘05 and they were eating Iams, orange bag, at the time.
May 9th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Ugh, I really need to remember not to be eating when I read this site…;P
May 9th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
And the beat goes on..and on and on…
Some days I think all of the wonderful comments and wisdoms and witicisms on this site are what keeps me sane..I was already depressed enough since Nov 2000 about the direction our government was going but lately, it is hard to imagine what it will take to dig out of this mess…
I have a difficult time keeping up with all of the places to go on Itchmo and wondered if anyone else was keeping track of “teric†who sent away food from Kumpi and Canidae to be tested and thought addl results besides melamine would be back on Monday? anyone know if or where this information was posted?
May 9th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
I read somewhere on one of these topics last week that someone was having Canidae ingredients tested independently for themselves, I can’t remember the name of the person.
Does anyone know if they ever posted here the results of those tests?
Thanks
May 9th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
Sorry, I didn’t notice the above poster already asking the same question.
May 9th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Genny, My cats were tested for those also I was told they must of gotten in to somenting cuase there was bacteria in the stool samples. I flipped out and immediately that it was me bring fetilizer in from my container garden and the vet said it had to be something in a much larger dose It all makes sense now the food. I was also told the oldest was doing the yellow foam vomiting from turn 7 and getting snsitive stomach. Vet had no good explanation. I do now.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Thanks for the rant props, SusanUnPC. I seem to be cycling through the five stages of grief or something (although I’m very lucky that my dog appears healthy, now that I’ve changed her food). The last couple of days, I’ve been a smidge stuck on “anger.” Haha.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Lorie,
“”had to be something in a ‘much larger dose’ “”
YEAH, like their FOOD??!!?? Unbelievable. Sadly, many vets are as clueless now as they were back then. Sorta like the FDA. Only when they personally see many, many of their pet patients die will they get it.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
Yeah, Pit Bull Lover, that WAS a great post! Very articulate. I was wondering if I could use some of it when I write my letters to the gov’t officals??
May 9th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Well, after reading a few of these post from you that had cats, with the Same symptoms as mine and were On IMAS dry foods; I’d say IMAS {Proctor&Gamble} has a Real problem, they need to own up to.
I do Not believe for one minute, that the Largest makers in the country have had NO comtaminants in their Foods!
Purina as well.
I think it Impossible!
And the fact that Purina has ALREADY opened a factory In China, spells “Chinese Ingredients” to me, for Some time now.
Why would their Quality control, be any better than anyone elses.
Because they c-a-r-e?
May 9th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Does anybody have any idea why they wouldn’t be seeing increased deaths in the fish that ate the melamine feed?
May 10th, 2007 at 12:46 am
Genny: Thank you! Please use whatever you’d like.
May 10th, 2007 at 5:18 am
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