How Safe is Our Food?

[derekkj 0]

Tainted wheat gluten found in U.S. food plants

By Diedtra Henderson The Boston GlobePublished: April 3, 2007

ROCKVILLE, Maryland: The tainted wheat gluten that triggered a massive pet food recall also ended up in processing plants that prepare food consumed by people, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.

While agency leaders offered assurances Monday that the U.S. food supply remains safe, they said they cannot yet completely rule out contamination of human food by the suspect wheat gluten, which contained melamine, a chemical found in plastics and pesticides.

According to import records, the wheat gluten was shipped to the United States from China between Nov. 3 and Jan. 23 and contained "minimal labeling" to indicate whether it was intended for humans or animals.

The agency has banned all wheat gluten imports from the company, Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development, based in Wangdien, China.

The vast majority of the contaminated gluten went to pet food manufacturers and distributors, according to the agency. But some of the processing plants that remain under agency scrutiny make both human and pet food.

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"To date, we have nothing that indicates it's gone into human food," said Dorothy Miller, director of the agency's Office of Emergency Operations. "We have a bit more investigation to do."

The food scare began early last month when cats involved in a routine Menu Foods taste trial refused to eat. Within days, the Canadian company alerted a university lab that assists with its testing that the cat food could be toxic. On March 16, Menu Foods recalled 60 million cans and pouches of wet pet food. In recent days, the recall has grown to nearly 100 brands, including food manufactured by Nestlé Purina PetCare and Del Monte Foods' pet products division, Hill's Pet Nutrition.

Confused pet owners, reeling as the list of recalled products grows each day, will likely face more aftershocks.

"It's impossible for us to say, at this time, that there won't be additional recalls," said David Elder, director of the agency's Office of Enforcement. "We're continuing to follow the trail, and wherever the facts and the science lead us is where this investigation will be taken."

The agency is tracing the route of nearly three months' supply of the Chinese gluten in the United States, where it is used as a thickener.

Unlike a contaminant traced to the dirt in which food is grown or tainted water used for irrigation, the suspect ingredient in the pet food is unusual, said the agency commissioner, Andrew von Eschenbach. Bread products, in general, have not been at risk for problems, and wheat gluten undergoes some processing, which can lessen the risk a contaminant could pose.

In addition, the contaminant is chemical, not microbial, making it "very unusual," von Eschenbach said.

Underscoring the U.S. love affair with cats and dogs, the agency said it has received 9,400 complaints about pet food since the controversy began - nearly double the number of complaints for all topics last year. In an "unprecedented" show of force, the agency assigned 400 employees to track down the suspect shipments, field calls from worried pet owners and test 430 samples of potentially contaminated wet and dry food, said Michael Rogers, who directs the agency's field investigations.

[Alex+R 0]

Maybe this will turn more people on to healthy pet foods. Mine get Solid Gold. They're more expensive, but not by that much.

[mawilson 2,133]

Not very safe, if you're a pet.

[Ladylethal 12]

Feed the dog scraps from the table. (J/K I actually disagree with that tendency)

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Actually, while my brand isn't one of the ones listed in the recall, I have gone through the labels on every can and am just not feeding anything - treats or regular food - that contains wheat gluten listed as a product.

[Alex+R 0]

Actually, while my brand isn't one of the ones listed in the recall, I have gone through the labels on every can and am just not feeding anything - treats or regular food - that contains wheat gluten listed as a product.

Can't we just make sure we feed them foods that don't come from anywhere but within the US?

[Peikko 1,575]

Try feeding them foods that arne't full of chemicals and additives. There aren't many out there, but there are some. It's not good for humans to eat nothing but processed food so I can't see how it can be good for pets either. Have you ever read a list of ingredients on some of the prepared animal foods? It's not an attractive list.

And there was the pet owner who ate the food to encourage their sick pet to eat...wierder and wierder.

[Heracles 417]

I remember seeing a documentary showing how certain foods exported from China are being grown using human feces as manure, which is banned due to health reason in most countries..

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Actually, while my brand isn't one of the ones listed in the recall, I have gone through the labels on every can and am just not feeding anything - treats or regular food - that contains wheat gluten listed as a product.

Can't we just make sure we feed them foods that don't come from anywhere but within the US?

I agree. We can start by feeding them giant cherries.

[Alex+R 0]

Try feeding them foods that arne't full of chemicals and additives. There aren't many out there, but there are some. It's not good for humans to eat nothing but processed food so I can't see how it can be good for pets either. Have you ever read a list of ingredients on some of the prepared animal foods? It's not an attractive list.

And there was the pet owner who ate the food to encourage their sick pet to eat...wierder and wierder.

There actually are quite a few, if people are willing to shop outside the grocery store for their pets, they will find quite a selection.

Check this out: http://www.askvetadvice.com/petstore.shtml

I think Solid Gold and Canidae/Felidae are awesome

[Peikko 1,575]

Excellent information and just the sort of thing pet owners should be looking into, thanks

[Reba 2]

Try feeding them foods that arne't full of chemicals and additives. There aren't many out there, but there are some. It's not good for humans to eat nothing but processed food so I can't see how it can be good for pets either. Have you ever read a list of ingredients on some of the prepared animal foods? It's not an attractive list.

And there was the pet owner who ate the food to encourage their sick pet to eat...wierder and wierder.

There actually are quite a few, if people are willing to shop outside the grocery store for their pets, they will find quite a selection.

Check this out: http://www.askvetadvice.com/petstore.shtml

I think Solid Gold and Canidae/Felidae are awesome

On first click of your link above, I see the company Nutro mentioned. Nutro was affected by the wheat gluten recall on some of their foods.

Recommended Healthy Pet Foods For Your Pet From Wysong, Nutro Pet Food, Canidae, Nature's Recipe & Others

And how are we to know that our food is being bought in the US? ALL of those pet foods on the recall were manufactured in Canada and the US. But the one contaminated ingredient, wheat gluten, was shipped from China. Who knows where all the rest of it comes from. Could be from the US. Could be from Paraguay. (as an example).

Unless you're buying a pet food directly from a farmer who butchers his own cows and lambs and chickens, and grows his own grains (not good for dogs n cats anyway) how do you know its *all* made in the US? You don't really.

Even if you feed your pets a raw diet of steaks you buy at your corner grocery store, do you know where the cows came from? Probably not.

I think this food scare may make some people more informed consumers, but honestly, I think it'll probably be forgotten in a few weeks and everyone will be right back to feeding their pets Ol' ####### from Wall Mart again.

[Flames9_RN 358]

Thats why I like Canidae/felidae, ALL ingedients are top notch and come from the USA!!!

http://www.canidae.com/

[Alex+R 0]

Try feeding them foods that arne't full of chemicals and additives. There aren't many out there, but there are some. It's not good for humans to eat nothing but processed food so I can't see how it can be good for pets either. Have you ever read a list of ingredients on some of the prepared animal foods? It's not an attractive list.

And there was the pet owner who ate the food to encourage their sick pet to eat...wierder and wierder.

There actually are quite a few, if people are willing to shop outside the grocery store for their pets, they will find quite a selection.

Check this out: http://www.askvetadvice.com/petstore.shtml

I think Solid Gold and Canidae/Felidae are awesome

On first click of your link above, I see the company Nutro mentioned. Nutro was affected by the wheat gluten recall on some of their foods.

Recommended Healthy Pet Foods For Your Pet From Wysong, Nutro Pet Food, Canidae, Nature's Recipe & Others

And how are we to know that our food is being bought in the US? ALL of those pet foods on the recall were manufactured in Canada and the US. But the one contaminated ingredient, wheat gluten, was shipped from China. Who knows where all the rest of it comes from. Could be from the US. Could be from Paraguay. (as an example).

Unless you're buying a pet food directly from a farmer who butchers his own cows and lambs and chickens, and grows his own grains (not good for dogs n cats anyway) how do you know its *all* made in the US? You don't really.

Even if you feed your pets a raw diet of steaks you buy at your corner grocery store, do you know where the cows came from? Probably not.

I think this food scare may make some people more informed consumers, but honestly, I think it'll probably be forgotten in a few weeks and everyone will be right back to feeding their pets Ol' ####### from Wall Mart again.

Yeah, when I actually looked at the links, not all the foods were stellar, IMO. But the food that says "all ingredients from US" is a good sign. That's what Solid Gold says, Canidae too. I don't think we're completely in the dark here. I don't think the pet food scare is the primary reason to feed them that stuff. The primary reason is that those foods are also better formulated.

[wong_watkins 1]

No food is safe anymore...everything causes cancer..