Pet Food Recall

U.S. holds 20 million chickens because of melamine-tainted feed
Last Updated: Monday, May 7, 2007 | 9:58 AM ET
CBC News

U.S. officials are conducting a risk assessment to determine if millions of chickens are safe for human consumption after discovering their feed was contaminated.

The evaluation, drafted by the U.S. Agriculture Department, the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, could be completed as early as Monday.

On Friday, the FDA held back 20 million chickens from going to market because their feed contained melamine — a chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers.

Melamine found in tainted pet food has been blamed for the deaths of 16 cats and dogs, according to the FDA, which has also fielded about 17,000 consumer calls about related pet illnesses.

Officials traced the problem to imported rice gluten and wheat protein used in the pet food. More than 100 brands of pet food have been withdrawn from the marketplace since March 16.

Canada's food inspectors have issued border lookouts for vegetable proteins coming from China to prevent melamine from contaminating the human food chain.

U.S. hogs also being held

The FDA says that chickens raised at larger plants were not likely given the tainted feed but they said that about five per cent of feed used at smaller production facilities may have been contaminated.

The U.S. agency is also holding back from market hogs from farms in six states that had received tainted pet food for use as feed.

The FDA last week said it would not be issuing a recall on poultry or pork products already sent to market given that the feed comprised only a small portion of the animals' diet and the risk to humans was accordingly low.

Latest recall from smartpak.


May 4th, 2007

On May 2, SmartPak recalled all orders of LiveSmart Adult Lamb and Brown Rice. This product tested positive for presence of melamine in a test received on May 2. After their first recall of LiveSmart Weight Management Chicken and Brown Rice, SmartPak sent all of their other dog food for testing, and Adult Lamb and Brown Rice came back with positive results. SmartPak is dry food and is made by Chenango Valley.

SmartPak is saying that this is odd because this particular dog food doesn’t contain any rice protein concentrate, wheat gluten or any of the other ingredients that are on FDA’s import watch list. They are saying it may be cross-contamination. (Oh by the way, it took 48 hours for the FDA to put up the press release).

BCSnob wrote:
Additional difference is our food will have been filtered (by chickens, pigs, etc) and diluted (via excretion of melamine by chickens, pigs, etc) prior to consuming the melamine. However, with unknown effects, 0 consumption is the best approach.

Mark

I find the fact that it's excreted, to be somewhat good news??? That perhaps the body will rid itself of the stuff, given enough time??? Hopefully, some Veterinary School is trying to find this out.

During the PBB contamination in the '70's, they found it was stored in fatty tissue - it did NOT leave the body.

Deb

Cross-contamination widens pet food recall
Last Updated: Thursday, May 3, 2007 | 9:50 AM ET
CBC News
Ontario pet food maker Menu Foods has expanded its recall of wet cat and dog food because of the chance of cross-contamination.

The Mississauga-based company said in a news release on Wednesday it was now recalling products that were manufactured at one of its plants during the time when tainted ingredients were used, even if they weren't made with those ingredients.

The tainted pet food has been been linked to the deaths of 16 pets, mostly cats.

The pet food was marketed under a variety of brand names.

The company said it has received a customer report and study results that indicate cross-contamination had occurred.

The additional items on its recall list include products sold in Canada, the United States and Europe.

An updated list of its products can be found on the company website.

The contaminated gluten originated in China and was supplied to Menu Foods by ChemNutra of Las Vegas.

The recall dates of those products previously recalled have been modified to include all dates during the period that ChemNutra wheat gluten was used in the applicable Menu plant, the company said.

"All of these products, including the expanded dates, have previously been withdrawn from the market and should already be off the retailer shelves," the company said in a release.


Menu Foods said the additional recall represents less than five per cent of the products that have already been recalled. It said it has also revised its estimate of the out-of-pocket costs for the total recall to be $40 million to $45 million.

Wheat gluten shipments improperly labelled: FDA
The tainted pet food has been linked to the deaths of 16 pets, mostly cats. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said tests show that the food was contaminated with melamine, a chemical used in the making of plastics. The agency has fielded about 17,000 calls from consumers about the pet food recall.

Several other pet food companies also have voluntarily withdrawn their products from the market to prevent further pet deaths.

Meanwhile, American regulators say wheat gluten shipments went unchecked by Chinese export authorities because the goods were falsely labelled as non-food items, according to an FDA report obtained by the New York Times.

On Tuesday, FDA officials said that while melamine had been used in feed for hogs and chickens, the threat to humans was minimal.

The FDA confirmed that as many as three million chickens out of nine billion slaughtered may have consumed the tainted feed but the agency noted that there was no data to justify a recall on poultry and pork products.

Now there might be possible cross-contamination. What a mess.

menu foods recalls more

Thanks to Senator Durbin.

new regulations

Additional difference is our food will have been filtered (by chickens, pigs, etc) and diluted (via excretion of melamine by chickens, pigs, etc) prior to consuming the melamine. However, with unknown effects, 0 consumption is the best approach.

Mark

One advantage we have is weight. There is a difference between my 200# and an 8# dog or cat. Like you, I'm still not reassured by the FDA/USDA statements.

Doug

... tobacco ...