Del Monte Foods has confirmed that the melamine-tainted wheat gluten used in several of its recalled pet food products was supplied as a “food grade” additive, raising the likelihood that contaminated wheat gluten might have entered the human food supply.
“Yes, it is food grade,” Del Monte spokesperson Melissa Murphy-Brown wrote in reply to an e-mail query. Del Monte issued a voluntary recall Saturday for several products under the Gravy Train, Jerky Treats, Pounce, Ol’ Roy, Dollar General and Happy Trails brands.
Wheat gluten is sold in both “food grade” and “feed grade” varieties. Either may be used in pet food, but only “food grade” gluten may be used in the manufacture of products meant for human consumption. Published reports have thus far focused on tainted pet food, but if the gluten in question entered the human food supply through a major food products supplier and processor, it could potentially contaminate thousands of products and hundreds of millions of units nationwide.
Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine said the FDA is not aware of any contaminated gluten that went into human food but said he could not confirm this “with 100 percent certainty.” Wheat gluten is a common food additive used as a thickener, dough conditioner, and meat substitute. It is widely used as an additive in commercial bakery items and special purpose flours.
The FDA announced today that it has traced the contaminated wheat gluten to a single processor, Xuzhou Anying Biological Technology of Peixian, China, but has not released the name of the U.S. distributor who supplied the product to Del Monte, Menu Foods, Nestle Purina, and Hills Nutritional. In all, more than 70 brands and over 60 million cans and pouches of dog and cat food are now part of this massive recall, as well as at least one brand of dry cat food.
Public statements have indicated that the contaminated gluten was distributed by a single U.S. company, but since the FDA refuses to name the supplier, it is not yet known if this company also supplies human food manufacturers. It is also not yet known if Xuzhou Anying sells direct to food manufacturers in the U.S. or abroad.
While cats seem particularly susceptible to the effects of melamine poisoning, there is little research on the substance’s human toxicity. 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.
Maybe this fiasco will get some people to rethink the idea of exporting our jobs to China and importing our food (and airplane wings) from China.
Besides, if we send all our jobs to China, who’ll be able to eat?
Another stoopid brainstorm of the CHEAP LABOR CONSERVATIVES falls flat on its ass!
Your pet’s food is brought to you by China’s political prisoner slave labor in the name of “exporting democracy.”
Somebody check Fido’s dog food can to see if there’s a prisoner note stashed inside.
Roger Rabbit has posted 100% of the comments in this thread! If you don’t like it, have another helping of Gravy Train (fortified with imported wheat gluten).
Redneck’s amazing “invisible hand” poisons the hoi-polloi again … anything for profits … sic ‘im, Fido!!! Bite ‘im in the ass!*
* Just kidding — wingnut humor.
ALL WINGNUTS CARE ABOUT IS WHAT’S CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP. THEY SAY THEY’RE AGAINST COMMIES YET THEY SHOVEL A HUGE PORTION OF THEIR PAYCHECK AT THE CHINESE COMMIES WHENEVER THEY GO TO WAL-MART.
HYPOCRITES.
@8 Actually, I think the wingnuts admire the Chinese labor camp model.
Then don’t buy the product. Simple as that.
@10:
The recently signed agreement between the US and China, which allows food exports to America after processing in China, doesn’t require that the processing source be specified, and nothing is, as yet, known to be specified regarding in the agreement as to whether such food must meet FDA or USDA requirements for domestic product.
I suspect that that’s one reason why it’s taken so long for the FDA to admit a specific source and process – silence in return for cheaper goods and happy Chinese processors.
So, we can’t avoid if we aren’t allowed to know until it’s rather late in the game, eh?
Roger @ 5
Better check to see if Fido’s food WAS a prisoner.
Well the problem is not knowing where the hell the ingrediants came from originally.
Here is the list of foods and who makes them (not all companies are listed).
http://petsitusa.com/blog/?p=210
The FDA doesn’t require companys to specify the country of origin for whats in the food.
I have spent all weekend trying to find a brand I can use for my cats so I know I won’t kill them.
I have a feeling the shit is really about ready to hit the fan on this one.
Pet food is Soylent Green for animals.
Can you post the actual email from Del Monte? It looks like your article is hitting other sources. Wouldn’t want to cause mass panic.
Jonathan @15,
I asked:
And Melissa replied:
That was the extent of her reply. And by “pfi.org” she apparently actually meant “petfoodinstitute.org”
I guess the Moonbat!s forgot about the 2002 Bioterrorism Act. In it the FDA released two new rules — Registration of all Food Facilities and Prior Notice of Imported Food Shipments. Maybe dog and cat food are not covered.
Hey PelletHead, you “claim” to be an expert from A-ASSwipe, to Z-Zoo bred. Read it and give us your “commentary”, without the usual BULLSHITTIUM!
TL@17: Mr Clueless@8 can be called Mr UnzipLibBra.
Jonathan@13;
If you are anywhere near a Mud Bay Pet Supply, they have a bunch of non-affected pet foods.
Knowledgable staff too – my cat was refusing to eat anything but baby food for a while. I discussed his eating habits with a staff person there and she recommended 2 different foods to try. He loves them, so I can stop getting all those pre-printed coupons for diapers.
I think this was all done “accidentally on purpose”! You see, once our pets die, they are carted off by a company who then ships them back to China to be skinned and sold as “rabbit fur” to the fashion houses. Evil – but brilliant.
If someone would please figure out a way to pin this on Hillary, we’d all apprecite it.
This is yet another instance where the Misadministration puts corporate health above human health. Withholding the name of the supplier prevents us, the taxpayers, form knowing whether the bread we feed our children has melamine in it. It also protects the bottom lines of the distributor and those corporations who received and used the products in human food products. The shareholders of these companies are Bush’s base(“the haves and the have mores”). We who pay the taxes are a dime a dozen. Some culture of life! So you can put this right up there on the Wall of Infamy right alongside the Secretary of Agriculture classifying the results of mad cow disease tests (which you pay for) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission with holding the statistics on exploding tires causing fatal accidents (Remember Bridgestone/Firestone in the late 90’s.?). You pay to collect the data, but relesing it might hurt some corporation’s bottom line, so you pays your money and takes your chances! Bush and his base like it that way.
While we’re at it, whatever happened to the requirement that the production site(s) for grocery food be printed on the label? Trader Joe’s (whom I like, in many respects) is a huge offender in this. About all they ever tell you is that the machinery may have been used to process peanuts/shrimp/diapers or whatnot … and not a word about whether the stuff originated in Utah, Guatemala, or Burma. One should at least be able to check this fairly quickly, and that’s the crux of the matter with these varieties of pet food brands. Spinach and chives full of e coli, Melamine-infested cat food: it’s all just the tip of the same iceberg. (Deregulation strikes again!!)
There’s no actual rule, you know, that you have to feed your cat something with “cat food” printed on the packaging.
Just a thought.
Who is the U.S. distributer that the FDA and the affected companies are protecting?
Where in hell are the investigative jounalists?
As to who the suppliers are, I’m trying to figure it out by checking inside trades (in case it is a publicly traded company) – you know the insiders will be shedding these stocks like crazy (illegally – remember Martha Stewart?) before they get fingered.
“Kiroking says:
Then don’t buy the product. Simple as that.”
OK, so where do I find the list that tells me all the products that contain this tainted wheat?
I LOVE right-wingers. It’s always the responsibility of the individual and NEVER the fault of the greedy bastards who produce the crap.
Thanks Goldy for your responses and posting this article. I actually live in Colorado. I did find one person who actually cares what she puts in her pet food and is local to Colorado.
http://www.kumpikat.com./no_recall.html
So if there are any people from Colorado reading this its worth looking into I have been talking to her via. email all weekend and she knows her shit and uses local farmers.
Not some products grown from one big superfund site for a country A.K.A. China.
I have actually been to China and it was the most nasty country I have been to. You definately don’t want to go near their manufacturing towns.
This sounds and looks very familiar.
http://www.stephenvoss.com/sto.....oto13.html
Any idiot should have seen this coming from the first NAFTA agreement to the latest “free trade agreement”. How in the world can consumers in this country afford to pay the outlandish prices charged by Nike and the rest of the “outsourcers” when their jobs are being “outsourced” at the same time? The same things hold true whether it’s wheat or shoes or automobiles.
Does “food grade” gluten mean this batch from China could be in our multi-grain “health” bread? Don’t you love Big Brother’s NWO greed?
How come no one thought to test or examine the gluten from China prior to it being used in the animal feed? Did the company just decided that the gluten from China is cheap and therefor good enough to give animals? Did they want to save a few bucks by not looking into what they were getting?
My feline ate the recalled Hill’s dry food because that is what my vet recommended. Now, if she lives, she will only eat organic food. And it looks like I will eat organic only from now on, too.
You can make your own cat food. There are recipes on the internet or your vet should be able to give you recipes. At least until this pet food crisis is cleared up, that should hold you over.
I have no idea why this is being argued here as a partisan issue and people are calling each other names. Do any of your cats or dogs vote? My cats would have probably voted for the candidate who smelled the most like fish, and that could be any Democrat or Republican or Independent from a coastal state.
One of the biggest problems we face as a country is that the ranks of the regulatory agencies are often filled with former corporate officers and lobbyists. These people possess a great deal of expertise in the fields they are regulating, so one would think they would be the ideal candidates to fill the posts, but their loyalties are open to question and there is no doubt that there have been numerous instances in which their loyalties were not with the consumer first. That’s the crux of the issue. These experts are not necessarily putting corporate protection ahead of consumer protection, but the appearance of doing so is sufficient to reduce confidence in the regulators. Personally, I can understand that loss of confidence. Every thinking person knows that you don’t just trust authority blindly unless you want to get royally screwed somewhere down the line. Therefore, when you are questioning authority, you must note and question the appearance of divided loyalty. That seems obvious.
Okay, you can all go back to calling each other names now.
You cant make you own cat food since it doesnt contain taurine. Cats cannot subsist just on meat and veggies, they need the nutrient.
As for who is at fault, I blame Bush — PERIOD. He exports jobs, embraces outsourcing, and leaves our own wheat farmers hung out to dry. Why is everyone so suprised? The republicans are also to blame for this–they talk about a smaller government with less controls, so apparently there isnt any need for checks and balances. So next time your pet gets sick, think of that when you go to the voting booth. The republicans made your pet sick with their twisted way of running the government. SHAME ON THEM. Wake up America before its to late.
Joe: This all began way before Bush. But in your hatred you keep that mantra. Use the Internet pal. See when we started importing food. The Nafta post is getting close!
I am an organic farmer in Nebraska, and wonder why the Alpo plant in Nebraska that made some of the poison dog food could not find wheat closer to home than China? In case you don’t know there are millions of bushels of wheat grown very near the Alpo plant in Nebraska. Support American Agriculture. Don’t panic, eat organic.
Dr Andrew Weil website mentions Pet Promise pet foods as a brand all USA-based with safe products. drweil.com
Blame the foreigners all you want….these are American companies killing americans for cheap labor and expensive homes.
The worst is yet to come!
I believe every word of the story … but I need the sources cited (or linked) so I can use it … hopefully, it can be read by a huge audience.
Yes, Joe … you CAN make your own cat food. There are recipes all over the net. Yes, cats need taurine, but that can be added as a supplement.
I think that store bought pet food will eventually kill your pet off anyways. After all, would you eat ground up “meat and bone meal” of your own kind? “Oh let put all left-over dog from dinner night before who care?” (Might be a typical conversation overheard at overseas labor camp) No we wouldn’t because that would cause that Mad Cow thingy we only hear about once a year in the news.
Will humans be the next “Pig born with three legs and two heads?” I wonder how many Twinkies I have to eat to find out. Is my Sara Lee Heart Healthy bread lowering my blood pressure or do I feel the calm before death?
We just all need to grow our own gardens for hell sakes! I thought the government represented us and the FDA refuses to give out company names? Thats a crock. Does this still mean I have to pay my taxes?
This is indeed a sign of things to come with outsourcing food production to foreign contries, expecially ones like China that have no regard for individual freedoms or protection.
Funny thing though, we all have short term memory about the implementation of “free trade” agreements. Both parties are pushing it at the executive branch level. Remember, Bill Clinton was trying to get free trade agreements signed during his term. Both parties are to blame here. Both can and have been bought with politcal favors. Niether party is worth a damn anymore in my opinion, and it will only change when we all drop our stupid blind partisanship and hold our own parties accountable for the mess they’ve made.
This is but the tip of the old iceberg… Not only are environmental regulations all but non-existent throughout China, but imports to the USA from China are all but unregulated. Do you think the corporations that own and supervise the media information we are “allowed” to learn from our so-called free press want you to even remotely imagine that tainted food additives could actually be a part of your morning bagel, your child’s baby food or breakfast cereal, or any one of millions of products that contain wheat gluten? Any serious student of the safety of Chinese imports could give you thousands, even millions of examples of potentially dangerous products currently sitting on USA store shelves and in our homes. It is time for American’s to stop blaming the messenger (the press/media) and take some personal responsibility to learn where their food comes from. It may not be a pretty picture but it is better to be informed and safe than dumb and sorry about the repurcussions.
Here’s a site about what’s in pet food (seems like a reliable source with little bias, they’re not selling any):
http://www.api4animals.org
There are pet food without gluten. I use feed my cat one of them– Nutra/Innova Evo. Check the labels on pet food or do a search for “grain free” foods.
A request: Will someone please research just how much cheaper the Chinese gluten was than the American brand formerly supplied? The former American supplier might be a good place to start asking questions.
And if no exact prices, even a range, or speculation, would add something to the current debate. My guess is, it was so much cheaper they should have KNOWN something was wrong with it. IF the guilty company continues in business, I bet they’ll change their name: Menu Foods INCOME TRUST was actually their public name – – making it seem as if it were all about the bucks to them anyway.
Also, has anyone wondered WHY the melamine was in the wheat gluten? Does it make it seem more “gluten-y”? A woman I work with thought she’d heard that melamine, high in nitrogen, might have been added to make the gluten test out as higher in protein.
Not to knock China in a racist or anti-Third World way, but to point out that many of their exported products have quality problems, evidently from greed to make a quick buck. The sworn truth from a supplier should be taken with a grain of salt I’d say.
While we’re on the topic of unsafe pet food, I’ve known that lots of pet food was being made in Canada for quite a while, and I’ve wondered about why, and about Canada’s ties to England, as a former colony and member of the Commonwealth, and about what England IS doing with its beef since many nations will no longer accept it after Mad Cow Disease. I bet they’re shipping it somewhere where it’s getting relabeled and then entering the food and animal food chain, and I’ve wondered if pet food isn’t viewed as a safe dumping ground for otherwise unsellable product including possibly Mad Cow tainted beef.
Britain hasn’t cured Mad Cow Disease, has just swept it under the rug by culling any cows that present with it and by slaughtering cows for meat at an earlier age, before most infected animals would have developed the disease enough to present with it. It is likely still there but not being seen.
They should have dealt with it by slaughter of all cattle in the country, paying farmers a fair price for their loss, then rebuilding herds, after a decent interval and a general farm cleanup, with breeding stock from parts of the world where the disease wasn’t being seen.
Instead they’re trying to rogue it out from a breeding stock where it was heavily endemic. Its ways of transmission are little understood and apparently include transmission in the germ tissue, egg and possibly sperm, or through the womb, and it doesn’t always develop in a carrier generation.
My guess is if they let off the restrictions on the age of cattle being slaughtered, it would pop back up in great numbers.
And what IS happening to British beef? How much is being exported, to where, and are the countries where it is going of a size that would likely be consuming it all? Are any of them also beef EXPORTERS, by chance? Any re-labelling and fraud likely?
Britain is the land where scrapie, apparent source for Mad Cow Disease, has been tolerated in the sheep population for centuries. It’s like an episode of “All Creatures Great And Small” gone mad: The Greedy Farmer rules, not the Good Veterinarian.
http://www.solidgoldhealth.com
has anyone tried this brand? They seem like a really good brand.
You can also make your own pet food. http://www.motherearthnews.com had a really good article about making your own pet food. They listed a recipe for both dogs and cats. You can find it under the archives link.
China cruelly KILLS tons of cats and dogs every day to sell their fur for trinkets and clothing trim. Wouldn’t be surprised if they grind up their remains and include them in other stuff.
China does not kill tons of cats and dogs every day. I love eating cats and dogs every day. They’re very tasty. If you do not want your cat or dog, email me.
Woops, found via Google a site of an Oregon newspaper (The Capitol Press, Salem, Ore.) that covers agriculture issues, which reported in March that US current price for US-grown wheat gluten is 65-70 cents a pound and for Chinese, maybe 10 cents a pound less.
ChemNutra reportedly sold something less than 800 tons of the bad stuff to Menu Foods (make that Menu Foods Income FUND, not Trust as I earlier said) so at savings of $200 a ton times 800 means Menu maybe saved $160,000 by buying the cheaper product – – and maybe have lost their company for chasing price above quality.
ChemNutra says in a press release that the FDA posted online that it has recalled the suspect gluten from three other direct customers who bought it but doesn’t name them or say what they made with it.