Latest from, http://www.petconnection.com/blog/category/2007-food-recall/
A personal take? The fact that there is still contaminated pet food out there on store shelves, and that the FDA seemed to imply at the hearing yesterday that there could be more recalls, are the two things worrying pet owners the most. From Joy at Dogster:
This just adds to that wonderful trust we all have for these guys, doesn’t it? And notice the pet food industry lackey says that the main problem is communication. No, the problem is that some in the pet food industry import food supplies from countries with no or little control over their safety or quality.
No sign of a late Friday press release drop - yet. Post or email if you hear about anything we should know.
ChemNutra CEO: Rat Poison Never Found in Wheat Gluten, Cuts Ties With Supplier
ChemNutra, the US broker of wheat gluten, sent us an email about their reactions and a timeline related to the pet food recall.
Interesting items from the ChemNutra timeline:
Aminopterin (rat poison) identified in Menu Foods products was never found in the wheat gluten. So where did it come from?
Menu Foods told them they were changing wheat gluten suppliers because of “water absorption factor”, not because of contamination.
Menu Foods suspected 4 toxins for more than a week before issuing the recall.
Email highlights are below:
We are appalled and distressed that Menu Foods took so long to recall its products, although it clearly suspected there was a problem for weeks prior to the first recall. And it wasn’t until eight days before they issued their first recall that Menu Foods told us that wheat gluten was one of many ingredients it was investigating… We had no idea that melamine was an issue until being notified by the FDA on March 29. In fact, we had never heard of melamine before… We assure you that we will never again do business with the supplier of the suspect wheat gluten, XuZhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd.
Entire letter after the jump. The timeline they referenced is here.
Dear Pet Owners, Pet Food Businesses & all who love animals:
We at ChemNutra want to express our support and condolences for pet owners whose cats have fallen ill or died as the probable result of contaminated pet food
produced by Menu Foods, as well as pet owners throughout North America who have become fearful about their pets’ food following news of the contamination. We also offer our empathy for the difficulties imposed on pet food businesses that were negatively impacted by this situation.
The possibility that any animal fell ill or died because of an ingredient we may have supplied to Menu Foods saddens us and also angers us because it means that
ChemNutra has victimized as well, by our own supplier. In fact, news reports and congressional testimony provide increasing evidence of this possibility.
We are appalled and distressed that Menu Foods took so long to recall its products, although it clearly suspected there was a problem for weeks prior to the first
recall. And it wasn’t until eight days before they issued their first recall that Menu Foods told us that wheat gluten was one of many ingredients it was investigating.
Moreover, here at ChemNutra, we are concerned that we may have been the victim of deliberate and mercenary contamination for the purpose of making the wheat gluten we purchased appear to have a higher protein content than it did, because melamine causes a false high result on protein tests. We had no idea that melamine was an issue until being notified by the FDA on March 29. In fact, we had never heard of melamine before. It’s simply not a chemical even on the radar screen for food ingredient suppliers. You can find more information on the timeline of events that occurred since late February here.
We assure you that we will never again do business with the supplier of the suspect wheat gluten, XuZhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd.
XuZhou Anying had been recommended to us by a long-time reliable source in China, and presented what appeared to be legitimate proof that its product was safe. We hope that U.S. and Chinese government investigations of XuZhou Anying reveal what actually occurred.
ChemNutra has an excellent record of compliance with all applicable regulations, but please know that as additional product safety recommendations are developed by the FDA, the Pet Food Institute and our customers, we will implement them immediately.
Steve Miller
CEO
ChemNutra