Posted on 03/30/2007 6:19:26 PM PDT by nuconvert
Recall expanded to some dry cat food
By Andrew Bridges, Associated Press Writer
March 30, 2007
WASHINGTON --Federal testing of recalled pet foods turned up a chemical used to make plastics but failed to confirm the presence of a cancer drug also used as rat poison. The recall expanded Friday to include the first dry pet food.
The Food and Drug Administration said Friday it found melamine in samples of the Menu Foods pet food involved in the original recall and in imported wheat gluten used as an ingredient in the company's wet-style products. Cornell University scientists also found melamine in the urine of sick cats, as well as in the kidney of one cat that died after eating some of the recalled food.
Meanwhile, Hill's Pet Nutrition recalled its Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry cat food. The food included wheat gluten from the same supplier that Menu Foods used. The recall didn't involve any other Prescription Diet or Science Diet products, said the company, a division of Colgate-Palmolive Co.
FDA was working to rule out the possibility that the contaminated wheat gluten could have made it into any human food. However, melamine is toxic only in high doses, experts said, leaving its role in the pet deaths unclear.
Menu Foods recalled 60 million containers of cat and dog food, sold throughout North America under nearly 100 brands, 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; the company, more than 300,000.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
My cat thinks there's a difference and interestingly she prefers the cheapest dry food. Does better on it too - 1/10th of the throwing up - doesn't whine and complain all the time. She definitely can tell the difference.
Boy, that doesn't sound good.
ping
In some countries they use melamine monomer as a fertilizer- six nitrogen, three carbons and six hydrogens, a good source of nitrogen.
In the US we use ammonium nitrate, but some countries don't trust their citizens with stuff like that (we make about 6 million tons a year and so far only Karl Armstrong and Tim McVeigh have misbehaved).
China has been known to use melamine as a fertilizer and sometimes as a sort of pesticide.
Point is, melamine plastic and melamine monomer are different.
I think that some bags of fertilizer got mixed with bags of wheat and processed, or a tank car was used for fertilizer then wheat without cleaning.
I guess there's something to be said for feeding your pet table scraps after all.
I had my two yorkies and pom at the vets today for bloodwork--kidney tests. They were eating the recalled food. I hope and pray their bloodwork comes back ok. Now it's homecooking for them--no more store bought again. And I'm saving my darn vet bills....
I don't know what to think either.
They say not to feed them stuff with gluten and corn products (?) so what is left?
Notice its those "upscale" or "more sophisticated diet" types with this recall? My cats and dog (who thinks she's a cat too) always loved the el-cheapo, generic pet food brands and have few digestive problems too.
The last time (a few years ago) i tried a special diet stuff, IAMS, they all had the runs and major house clean up was in order.
BTW>>>With dry pet foods, throw it in the freezer for 24 hours after buying it, that kills tiny bugs that get in there in shipment or in warehouses.
Here's hoping we get our pups healthy.
Actually, that Menu Foods company makes almost all the cat food for the "el cheapo" brands. I think I read 100 brands
Keep me posted on your pets, I sincerely hope they are okay. Big Pom fan here :) I have a Pom/Pek mix who is my soul mate.
I heard that too. Suffice it to say a bunch of very dear pets have died due to damned globalization.
Yes...that is the reason why freezing dry food for 24 hours after bringing it home, there are bugs in it that also thrive in flour products while in storage or shipment...its the same bug critters that get in the pet food and flour products. My vet told me this years ago, I have not had problems since...so far no problems with my critters, with this "new" illness' either.
Holly
My daughters ourside cat died last week.
A friend's dog died last week.
This is in York County Pa.
I wonder how many pets have died?
There is no place to report when your pets died is there?
Stand Back! I, gonzo, am a Certified Plastics Engineer, and I shall assuage your fears!
Melamine, or melamine-formaldehyde, or urea-formaldehyde - lotsa names here, because, well, it's real name has been sorta fudged over many year - is a thermoset plastic. That means you heat a pot of chemicals up, shape it like you want it, keep heating it until it's hard, and then cool it and use it. If you made a cup out of it, you got a cup! Have some coffee!
It is not toxic (remember the coffee?), but it does kinda stink when it's cut with a power saw. It's a speed/abrasion thing that breaks down the polymer chains, liberating some gas, like formaldehyde and others.
BTW, cups, saucers, bowls, and plates are made from the stuff. They called it 'Melmac'(Melmac-melamine: get it?), and it was once very popular as durable, non-rusting, outdoor, tableware. Some other uses are floor tiles, countertop covering (Formica-formaldehyde: pretty neat, huh?), and lots of other really handy stuff. Cheap Inexpensive, too (I HATE the word 'cheap' when it comes to plastics).
"How is it made, you ask?" Well, they take a bunch of chemicals, mostly liquids, put them in a big tank, and ... ah ... they just cook it, OK?
"Where do they get the chemicals, you ask?" Now, it gets interesting!
A dairy cow produces milk. It's a living machine that we feed grass and stuff to, and it makes gallons of milk! It also makes fecal matter which we use to describe dimocRATS, and in fact, they're the same thing! Then we call it fertilizer.
The cow also makes gallons of urine just standing there, while we're using the milk and poop. That 'urine' is a veritable cornucopia of hydrocarbon chemical compounds just waiting to be processed into something else.
Yes, that's right, boys and girls - Melamine, Melmac, Formica, etc., are all potentially made out of cow-piss! They can be made out of other things, but there's a lot of cow pee available out there, and if you really believe in recycling, this shouldn't bother you at all.
Now have a nice day ................... FRegards
PS: I have been waiting to tell that story for 30 years ...
Ping # 35 ................ FRegards
Ping # 35 ................ FRegards
You telling me that some of my dishes are made out of cow piss? Uuhg!
Yes, surprisingly enough, there is a difference. Menu Foods essentially provides the hardware that is difficult to find. But each company will provide their unique recipe and sign non-disclosure/confidentiality agreements with the company producing the end product.
Now some ingredients are consistent throughout many foods irregardless of the recipe, such as taurine for cat foods, and there are limited suppliers to go to.
I lost my favorite cat to this just last month, and he was the most affectionate one I ever had. It was obvious he'd ingested a nerve toxin, but I didn't know until now what could have happened. The culprit? IAMS brand canned catfood.
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