Posted on 04/27/2007 6:50:19 PM PDT by mom4kittys
WASHINGTON - Federal agents searched facilities of a dog and cat food manufacturer and one of its suppliers as part of an investigation into the widening recall of pet products, the companies disclosed Friday.
Food and Drug Administration officials searched an Emporia, Kan., pet food plant operated by Menu Foods and the Las Vegas offices of ChemNutra Inc., according to the companies.
Menu Foods made many of the more than 100 brands of pet food recalled since March 16 because of contamination by the chemical melamine. ChemNutra supplied the manufacturer with wheat gluten, one of the two ingredients tainted by melamine used in recalled pet products. Both companies said they were cooperating with the investigation.
Menu Foods also said the U.S. Attorney's offices in Kansas and the western district of Missouri have targeted the company as part of misdemeanor investigations into whether it violated the federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act. The sale of adulterated food is a misdemeanor.
The FDA also is looking at all other ingredients imported by ChemNutra, and trying to reconcile what it imported with what it supplied to customers, said agency spokeswoman Julie Zawisza.
Import records obtained by The Associated Press show that since May 2006 alone ChemNutra also imported 440,000 pounds of the second suspect pet food ingredient, rice protein concentrate, from the same Chinese trading agent that handled exports of the tainted wheat gluten.
It's unknown if ChemNutra's rice protein concentrate was contaminated. Limited testing suggests it wasn't. However, another company's imports of that same ingredient, albeit from a different source, have been found to be tainted.
Ten of the 11 containers of rice protein concentrate imported by ChemNutra over the last year went to undisclosed pet food companies, spokesman Steve Stern said. The 11th is under quarantine and being tested. But just one of the other 10 is known to have been tested; results from those tests, done last week, showed it was not contaminated, Stern said.
The origin within China of the wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate remains murky. For example, ChemNutra's source for the two vegetable proteins, Suzhou Textile Import and Export Co., told The AP that food ingredients aren't part of its business but that employees often take on side deals. Stern said ChemNutra dealt with the company's president.
The FDA has blocked wheat gluten imports from a second Chinese company, Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. That company has told AP it bought the ingredient from other undisclosed firms and then sold it to Suzhou Textile.
Meanwhile, rice protein concentrate imported by the second company, Wilbur-Ellis Co., has tested positive for melamine. It came from a different Chinese source, Futian Biology Technology Co. Ltd.
Last week, the FDA blocked rice protein concentrates from that source. And on Friday, American Nutrition Inc. became the final of five pet food companies that Wilbur-Ellis supplied with the tainted ingredient to recall a variety of products.
An unknown number of dogs and cats have been sickened or died after eating chemical-laced pet food.
Menu Foods said it faces more than 50 lawsuits. It in turn has sued ChemNutra.
___
Associated Press writer Christopher Bodeen in Shanghai, China, contributed to this report.
On the Net:
Food and Drug Administration on pet food recall: http://tinyurl.com/2bjasu
Depends on where the Chinese restaurant buys its food supplies.
Well, it’s a good bet where they get their ingredients from.
yep.
Here are a few links to FR articles on Duncan. I'll see what I can find on Paul while you're checking these out.
Duncan Hunter speaks out on borders, trade
Duncan Hunter on Trade (By Duncan D. Hunter, Son and Marine)
DUNCAN HUNTER Champion of Property Rights and Real Free Trade!
China does not deserve normal trade relations status (by Duncan Hunter)
I'm old and slow at this HTML stuff. Sorry this took so long.
You will be very pleased to discover that we rich guys down here on Wall Street absolutely agree. We are the engine that runs the whole economy of the nation. Therefore, whatever makes us richer eventually trickles down and benefits everybody else. So, nothing can be allowed to stand in our way as we seek to maximize corporate profits for our shareholders, and benefits packages for the executives of the corporations we serve. That is what capitalism is about, after all. Its not about growing food and making crap.
I like the fact that you sound like you see things from more than one point of view.
Thank you SO much for gathering these links. I will definitely read them and educate myself (although it will be tomorrow—getting late)
So there is free trade and then there is fair trade—am I getting that right? I’ve had so much tunnel vision on other issues, I need to get up to speed on this.
For Immediate Press Release
The entire staff of the FDA has been recalled. This includes all dates of issue and is a purely precautionary measure.
Only a few hundred heads have exploded during media events held by the FDA and it is important to note that less than 1% of the American population is affected by this recall. Only 16 of the people whose heads exploded are considered “officially” deceased and the total number of those killed by brain explosion may never be known. Mostly because we are not going to count them.
Amnesty International has provided proof that allowing the FDA to continue making media releases constitutes torture of a nature that violates the rules of the space time continuum and could result in early heat death of the universe.
Tests are ongoing to confirm this but results are not in yet, everyone forced to choose between listening to FDA media releases or hop naked into a barrel of rattlesnakes has chosen the snakes.
The executives of the FDA will be replaced by the 2007 graduating class of Mrs. Dingleberrys’ School for “Special” Children,most of whom can tie their own shoes and count to almost 12, thus assuring that the high academic standards required of the FDA will be improved by a factor of several hundred percent.
No further recalls are expected at this time.
Experienced FEMA staff is being used during the transition and the situation is going almost as smoothly as the evacuation of New Orleans. The American public can rest assured that the food on store shelves is just as safe as it was before the recall, possibly safer.
Thanks for your insightful posts.
I love it! Classic!!!
I have just finished writing to the President,my State Senators, the Veterinary head of the FDA, and a few others on the back of pictures of my dead dog, telling them I want answers as to why the warnings weren’t out before and what is the matter with the system now that it has gone into the human food supply.
Hopefully the Senate offices will be flooded with these pictures next week.
Got this off the site http://www.pnv2.com/
Usually write on my own but this does seem like it will have a greater impact.
excerpt:
My Pet Counts! Postcard Blitz
*More info can be found at www.itchmo.com and www.petconnection.com*
We are calling on all pet owners, parents, guardians
who have lost a pet due to contaminated pet food
to join us in a post card blitz to demonstrate the
full scope of this pet food recall disaster.
The FDA continues to publicize only “16 confirmed
deaths.”
This number has often been repeated by the media.
Reliable sources report that the number of pet deaths
are and will be much higher
- most likely in the thousands.
If you want your pet’s death to count for something
good, please join the My Pet Counts!
Post Card Blitz.
Who: Anyone who has lost a pet due to contaminated
pet food.
What: Post cards may have a picture of your pet, or
can be blank.
Purchase cards or design your own. Each set of
postcards represents one pet.
If you have lost multiple pets, send multiple cards
to each address.
Only one set of postcards per dead pet , please.
Postcards ONLY, this is to ensure the mail is
delivered with no security delay.
Where: No need to leave home. You can mail your
postcards from your own mailbox.
When: All postcards should be mailed on Saturday,
April 28th.
This coincides with the national march organized by
KOPS (Keep Our Pets Safe).
If all postcards are mailed on the same day, the
impact will be all the greater when
received at the other end.
Why: By sticking to the “only 16 confirmed deaths”
wording this disaster is being grossly minimized.
The word must get out!
How: Mail a postcard to each of the addresses
provided.
The message should be very short, easy to read, no
anger, profanity, or rudeness of any kind.
Let them see your grief. Tug at their heartstrings.
Use your pets name.
Use the words “My Pet Counts!”
Post card Mailing List:
Marcia K. Larkins, D.V.M
FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine
Ombudsman
7519 Standish Place HFV-7
Rockville, MD 20855
Senator Richard Durbin
309 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Your own senator: addresses at http://tinyurl.com/b1lm
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Anderson Cooper
c/o CNN
One CNN Center
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-2762
Yes it seems that there is. I don't know who actually writes our trade agreements, but it seems to me that they are purposely written to screw us. The other country always gets a better deal.
You'll better understand what I mean when you read Duncan's articles. I'm terrible at trying to explain this stuff.
Good night and happy reading!
I have enjoyed reading your posts on free trade. Your insight and explanations are excellent.
RE: your post #44.
I suspect you’all is pretty good with ciphering the numbers, nobody has showed up with flamethrowers ;^)
This is why I don't understand how people can say that we shouldn't rely on the government so much... <dripping with sarcasm/>
Eat at your own risk -- U.S. safety rules weak-(MOST vitamins made in china)
U.S. hogs ate contaminated pet food from China.
Blue Buffalo Recalls Can and Biscuit Products Due To Tampering By American Nutrition Inc.
Recalled Pet Food Given To Hogs (Not Clear If Meat Entered Food Supply)
Yep side deals.........if they are trying to tell us this criminal activity is done just in the pet food supply I have a bridge to sell.
Dishonesty runs amok there.
BTW, what took the FDA so long to start checking these places???????
Is this another govt agency afraid they will get caught sleeping at the wheel and doing their CYA dance now?
It certainly does sound like CYA
Incredible isn’t it?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.