[ SHOWGSD-L ] recall "NEW" latest
- From: MORGAN LEWIS <shadowland22000@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: germanshepherds4show@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, amergsd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, gsd showlist <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2007 09:41:54 -0700 (PDT)
recalled pet food, sick animals POSTED: 12:27 p.m. EDT, March 30, 2007
var clickExpire = "04/29/2007"; Story Highlights? NEW: FDA working to
rule out any use of tainted wheat gluten in human food
? NEW: Agency investigating whether the gluten was used in dry pet food
? FDA says chemical used in plastics found in recalled pet food, sick animals
? Scientists not sure melamine was cause of pets' deaths
Adjust font size:
RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- Recalled pet foods contained a chemical used to
make plastics, but government tests failed to confirm the presence of rat
poison, federal officials said Friday.
The Food and Drug Administration said it found melamine in samples of the
Menu Foods pet food, as well as in wheat gluten used as an ingredient in the
wet-style products.
The FDA was working to rule out the possibility that the contaminated wheat
gluten could have made it into any human food, but was not aware of any risk to
people.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the melamine was the culprit in the
deaths of more than a dozen cats and dogs and the illnesses of hundreds more,
said Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine.
(Watch pet owner talk about her beloved dog's death )
In a news conference, FDA officials said that the apparently
melamine-contaminated wheat gluten also was shipped to a company that
manufactures dry pet food, but they would not name the company.
The FDA is attempting to determine if that company used any of the wheat
gluten, imported from China, to make dry pet food, Sundlof said.
Wheat gluten, a source of vegetable protein, is also used in some human
foods, but the FDA emphasized it had found no indication that the contaminated
ingredient had been used in food for people.
The FDA said it would alert the public quickly if the melamine was found in
any foods other than the recalled pet food.
Cornell University scientists also found melamine -- used to produce plastic
kitchen wares and used in Asia as a fertilizer -- in the urine of sick cats, as
well as in the kidney of one cat that died after eating the company's wet food.
Menu Foods recalled 60 million containers of cat and dog food earlier this
month after animals died of kidney failure after eating the Canadian company's
products. It is not clear how many pets may have been poisoned by the
apparently contaminated food, although anecdotal reports suggest hundreds if
not thousands have died. The FDA alone has received more than 8,000 complaints.
(Menu Foods recall information)
The new finding comes a week after scientists at the New York State Food
Laboratory identified a rat poison and cancer drug called aminopterin as the
likely culprit in the pet food. The FDA said it could not confirm that finding.
New York officials have detected melamine in the recalled food as well. Yet
New York remained confident in its aminopterin finding, said Patrick Hooker,
commissioner of the New York state Department of Agriculture and Markets.
Hooker added that neither aminopterin nor melamine should be in pet food, but
that it was unclear why the latter substance would be poisonous to the cats in
which it was found.
"While we have no doubt that melamine is present in the recalled pet food,
there is not enough known data on the mammalian toxicity levels of melamine to
conclude it could cause illness and deaths in cats. With little existing data,
many questions still remain as to the connection between the illnesses and what
has caused them," Hooker said.
The recall involved nearly 100 brands of "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat
food made by Menu Foods. The recall covered products carrying names of major
brand-name and private-label products sold throughout North America.
Menu Foods used wheat gluten to thicken the gravy of its pet foods, FDA
officials have said.
Menu Foods spokesman Sam Bornstein did not know whether company testing had
found melamine in its products. The company planned a press conference later
Friday.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review first reported the melamine finding in Friday's
editions.
Meanwhile, animal rights advocates called on federal food safety regulators
and pet food companies to expand a nationwide recall of dog and cat food to
include dry varieties, claiming they make pets sick.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals plans to make the appeal
Friday in Washington after it said it received complaints from pet owners who
claim their animals suffered kidney failure after eating dry pet food.
Norfolk, Virginia-based PETA wants the FDA and the companies to extend the
recall to foods that have received complaints, chemically test it and perform
necropsies on the animals involved. It also wants companies prosecuted if the
FDA's probe turns up wrongdoing.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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