ChemNutra Announces Nationwide Wheat Gluten Recall

Food and Drug Administration ^ | 4/4/2007 | news release

[girlangler]

I don’t have a ping list for this topic, and have to run. Can you two ping your lists?

[Miss Marple]

The question now is who bought wheat gluten from ChemNutra?

[NewCenturions]

And how hard is it to come by wheat gluten in THIS country? Sounds like an ultra cheap product to begin with. I mean, is there a “wheat gluten Union” that makes it too expensive to buy over here???

[Enterprise]

We only have glutton unions, not gluten unions.

[metmom]

Any word on whether or not this wheat gluten is used in human food, too? I find it hard to believe that it’s not a possibility.

[PissAndVinegar]

“Yesterday (4/2) ChemNutra sent recall notices to all four of its direct customers.”

They’re really on the ball there...

[Carpe Cerevisi]

I can’t eat the stuff anyway.

[PGalt]

Thanks for posting. Life/Health BUMP!

[RSmithOpt]

Con Agra, Kraft, Betty Crocker, Post, Quaker, etc., etc.,

Notice how the media and the government are hush hush about all this in that no one as far as I have seen has even asked that question in the news.

By almost any prepackaged, preprocessed, canned, wrapped, frozen, freeze dried food off any grocer's shelf from products like dog food, cat food, wheat crackers, peanut butter crackers, frozen waffles, frozen dough, bread, frozen, 'instant meals', 'dinner helpers' of all kinds, etc., etc. and wherever artificial beef or turkey or chicken flavors, gravies, sauces, etc., and the like where wheat gluten is an additive, then you'll have a huge possibility of just how far reaching this problem really could be.

Don't think for one minute that this is on the horizon and the government, Wall Street, the CDC, etc. are seriously wondering.

The big question is, how come each production lot isn't thoroughly testing for contamination by poisons, petroleum by products, cleaning agents, bacteria, insecticides, herbicides, especially when these products come from foreign countries? Why? Because it takes time and money. Companies always have to run "Just in Time and lean....otherwise they think they loose too much in profits, positive cash flow, inability to supply customer demand; well, AT LEAST THEY THINK.

I am not paranoid, just read the labels of any prepared snacks or prepared 'regular' food that is heat and serve. I bet you there is not hardly any prepackaged foods that do not contain wheat gluten.

[Red Badger]

Gluten
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wheat - a prime source of gluten

Gluten is an amorphous mixture of ergastic (i.e., non-living) proteins found combined with starch in the endosperm of some cereals, notably wheat, rye, and barley. It constitutes about 80% of the proteins contained in wheat, and is composed of the proteins gliadin and glutenin. Gluten is responsible for the elasticity of kneaded dough, which allows it to be leavened, as well as the “chewiness” of baked products like bagels. It is the glutenins (specifically, low molecular weight glutenins) that are especially critical to gluten quality.[1]
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Extraction
* 2 Usage
* 3 Occurrence
* 4 Health
* 5 See also
* 6 References

[edit] Extraction

It is possible to extract gluten from the flour of wheat and other grains by washing out the starch. To do this, a simple dough of flour and water is rinsed with plain water and kneaded until the rinsing water remains clear and free from starch and bran. For chemical, non-food purposes, a saline solution provides better results. The remaining lump of gluten should have a stringy, sticky texture reminiscent of chewing gum.

[edit] Usage

Cooked gluten becomes firm to the bite and soaks up a certain amount of the surrounding broth and its taste. It is therefore commonly used in vegetarian cuisine, notably Buddhist cuisine and vegan cuisine, where one variety is called seitan, from Japanese. Some consider it a convincing imitation meat (particularly duck) when the broth is flavored accordingly.

In the process of baking with yeast, gluten is responsible for keeping the fermentation gases in the dough, allowing it to rise. After baking, the coagulated gluten ensures that the final product keeps its shape (although starch is also essential for structural integrity). Recently, gluten has also been implicated as being at least partially responsible for bread staling.[citation needed]

The development of gluten in baked goods affects the texture of the resulting product. More gluten development leads to chewier baked goods such as pizza dough and bagels, while less gluten development is desirable in more tender baked goods such as pie. There are several main factors that affect the development of gluten in baked goods:

* the amount of gluten-forming proteins in the wheat flour used (for instance, bread flour is high in these substances, while cake flour is low in them).
* The amount of fat (shortening) in the product inhibits the formation of long gluten strands, so more shortening yields a more tender product.
* Mixing is necessary to develop the gluten strands, so more mixing creates a chewier product.
* Liquid is necessary to the development of the gluten, and more liquid generally is used in products where a chewier texture is desired. (see http://www.bakersassist.nl/processing5-2.htm).

As an example of a practical application, pie crust should be very tender, so a good pie crust uses low-gluten flour, lots of shortening, very little liquid, and is mixed only until combined.

[Post-Neolithic]

Just checked a few labels on bread stuffs, one of the main ingredients was, Wheat Gluten. The people who bought this crap from china should be shot. Looks like I am off store bought bread for a while now.

[Post-Neolithic]

And this directly from their website,

ChemNutra imports quality ingredients from China to the U.S. for the feed, food and pharma industries. We are a professionally managed, American owned company experienced in negotiating, securing and delivering ultra-competitive pricing on high-quality chemicals and ingredients from quality-assured manufacturers in China.

We bridge the business and cultural gaps…including all regulatory, compliance, import and transportation requirements.

We specialize in Taurine, L-Cysteine, Glycine, Vital Wheat Gluten, and Glucuronolactone, and we also handle many other ingredients.

ChemNutra imports over 4,000 tons per year, and our customers include several Fortune 500 companies.

[yldstrk]

I have yet to have heard one word of apology from the Chinese for this abomination. I suggest refusing to buy any of their products, which are produced in ways that are not hororable in my moral lexicon in many instances anyhow, for the foreseeable future.

[Miss Marple]

Ugh. I have been cooking from scratch due to being on the Weightwatcher’s diet, and it looks like I may be doing so for a long time.

[Dick Bachert]

Good luck sueing the CHINESE.

Yet ANOTHER benefit of OUTSOURCING to the CHEAPEST FOREIGN MARKET!

[Nomorjer Kinov]

Dangers like this are why, presumably, the FDA exists. In the US, all of our industries are hampered by regulations that escalate costs to domestic manufacturers. With respect to foodstuffs, there is probably a good reason to apply extra caution.

That said, foreign food products that do not have to comply with US food standards should be strictly scrutinized upon arrival and quarantined until approved.

[spectre]

I just checked my Wonder Bread and Wonder Bagels and they contain Wheat Gluton.

It would be interesting to have FReepers list products they have around their home that contain WG.

sw

[RSmithOpt]

FYI:

his is the link to "ChemNutra" which says:

"ChemNutra imports quality ingredients from China to the U.S. for the feed, food and pharma industries. We are a professionally managed, American owned company experienced in negotiating, securing and delivering ultra-competitive pricing on high-quality chemicals and ingredients from quality-assured manufacturers in China."............" ChemNutra imports over 4,000 tons per year, and our customers include several Fortune 500 companies."

The company is actually base in China: Chemnutra Llc USA (China office)

from the above website:

Notice it is a LLC company. (Limited Liability Corporation)

Principal Products/Services: Food additives

Main Market: North America

That's right folks: pharmaceuticals too!

From what I've gathered in 2 days on this subject because of my own dog, the press and the government and ChemNutra are all scrambling on this one.......Right now, the line they are giving is 'our records show that we were only seriously negligent in killing your pets and we ain't liable for that and neither are the pet chow companies! Currently, our select loyal employees are changing and destroying all pertinent records indicating any possible connection to the human food product customers and drug companies."

.Think I'm crazy? You own a plasma or LCD HDTV? Had it go bad after 6 months (quit working)? How long have you had to wait on the replacement part from Asia? 3 months on average.

[VeniVidiVici]

What I want to know is why is China exporting ANY food?

I buy only fresh produce from the USA. I will buy some fruit from Chile but that’s about it.