Posted on 04/26/2007 8:41:37 PM PDT by blam
Hogs that ate tainted pet food to be destroyed
By Mary Ann Fergus
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 26, 2007, 8:38 PM CDT
Federal officials alerted authorities in seven states Thursday that swine fed tainted pet food will not be approved to enter the human food supply.
Officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration expect that approximately 6,000 hogs, now under quarantine, will be euthanized even as they announced that the likelihood of illness after eating pork from the animals is very low. The affected hogs are in California, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, Kansas, Oklahoma and Utah.
Last weekend, the California Department of Food and Agriculture traced shipments of hogs that may have eaten the feed contaminated with melamine, a chemical found in the tainted pet food and associated with illness in and deaths of cats and dogs, to a farm that in turn sold hogs to a meat vendor.
California officials have contacted the approximately 45 people who purchased hogs from two custom slaughter facilities before the quarantine. Most consumers said they had already eaten the pork, said Steve Lyle, a spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Health officials in California have also called the risk to humans "minimal."
The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service continues to investigate whether any of up to 300 potentially affected hogs have been slaughtered and turned into pork for sale in grocery stores.
"We're not aware that any products have gone into commerce," said Kenneth Peterson, an assistant administrator with the Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Officials are also investigating whether a poultry farm in Missouri received or used the contaminated feed.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Please say Rosie ate it Please Please Please say she Ate it Please Please Please Please Please.
No, based on #11, I assumed that you also might be interested to know that Mr. Pickton was in fact Canadian. We have already had enough serial killers in Washington.
Here we go again. we can track pigs and mad cows, but not the illegals...
Will look for it, was posted on here in a newspaper article that a poultry farm also may have received tainted food.
Found it:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070424/hl_nm/petfood_testing_dc
A poultry farm in Missouri also may have received tainted feed, officials added.
Check out this site, for your city. http://www.pnv2.com/ they are having marches on Saturday for pets that have died, sick pets and for awareness of this contaminated human food.
Here is the flyer I received for Vegas.
MARCH FOR PETS
SATURDAY, APRIL 28, NOON
LLOYD GEORGE FEDERAL BLDG.
333 LAS VEGAS BLVD SOUTH
Contact Info: Gina Greisen, Nevada Voters for Animals (www.nv4a.org) 769-6560
-OR- Donna West, Sleep Over Rover-Las Vegas, 641-6896
Pets Need A Voice Too and Keep Our Pets Safe (KOPS) have joined forces in calling for a nationwide march this weekend to call public attention to the low FDA standards for pet food and the FDA’s unacceptably slow response to the pet food recall crisis.
We are marching in memory of pets that have lost their lives due to a lack of oversight of their food. We are marching in hope of recovery for those pets that ate tainted food and are fighting for their lives. We march as pet owners, dog lovers, cat lovers and average citizens who are tired of the low safety standards for goods coming into our country and being sold in our stores.
Please feel free to bring your dogs with you to the march. Please ensure that your pets have current vaccinations and licensing. Bring sunscreen and water for yourself and your dog. Please bring materials to address potty needs.
For more information on this nationwide effort, you can visit www.pnv2.com. The color of the campaign is brown, in case you and your dog would like to dress accordingly. Please feel free to bring signs, posters, etc. PLEASE PASS IT ON.
Note: This recall has also affected people food. Hogs who ate tainted feed have tested positive for melamine. And, it’s possible tainted grains have now affected other foods such as baby formula, bread, pizza dough, cereal, etc (USA Today article 4/25/07). The GAO (Government Accountability Office) submitted testimony on Capitol Hill on 4/24/07, regarding federal oversight of food safety. Their written testimony states, “in January 2007…GAO designated the federal oversight of food safety as a high-risk area for the first time.” (recent recalls include: spinach, peanut butter, and pet food) Also, According to the CDC, each year, 76 million people contract food borne illnesses, 325,000 require hospitalization, and 5,000 die. I can’t imagine what the statistics are for pet food.
EVERY MEMBER OF OUR FAMILY DESERVES TO EAT SAFE FOOD! JOIN US ON SATURDAY TO DEMAND (PET) FOOD SAFETY.
Thank you!
Nothing in New Orleans—most of my animal contacts have scattered since Katrina.
Add catfish to your list.
Agriculture Commissioner Bans China Catfish Imports In Alabama (Contaminated)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1824118/posts
Read post #18
I did, but a link always helps.
I agree with your suggestion. And why not send the cows with mad-cow disease to Iran?
airdrop ‘em into Iran
Actually, what will happen to these pigs is they will be sent to Menu Foods to be made into pet food.
(That’s not a statement of fact, it’s a jaded comment... and certainly not an out-of-the-question possibility, given the way all of this has played out so far.)
It’s a sick circle... My even sicker circle tells me that these pigs were fed the recalled pet food in the first place. (Again, not a statement of fact, just a jaded comment on one possible scenario.)
Iran needs fertilizer, lets just send them by “air mail”.
Don't forget vitamims nix and I would stick with goat cheese, I haven't heard of mad goats yet. j/k sort of, but our pets were the canary in the mine for us.
If the government doesn't wake up [and I doubt they will until they have to] many more people will be sick. Who knows what illnesses we already have are caused by tainted food products. People who eat in restaurants who think they have the stomach flu probably have some sort of bacteria from a food borne illness and not the flu.
Check your pets food dishes if they come from China and not dishwasher safe chances are they have lead in them.
Agriculture Commissioner Bans China Catfish Imports In Alabama (Contaminated)
Good tip, thanks.
They just said on tv that 22 people have eaten the tainted pork.
Unbelievable!
“USDA is offering to compensate producers who euthanize swine that were fed the adulterated product. USDA is authorized to use Section 32 funds to restore farmers’ purchasing power. USDA is also offering the expertise and assistance of Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) personnel in carrying out depopulation activities, to ensure animals are euthanized and disposed of in accordance with Federal and State laws.”
Ping,,,,,,,,,,,,
OK, if only 15 pets have died, that means thousands of people have eaten it, right?
What did they know and when did they know it.
Going to the March For Pets tomorrow here in Vegas.
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