Second chemical eyed in Chinese pet food scandal

International Herald Tribune ^ | 5/8/07 | By David Barboza

[mom4kittys]

SHANGHAI: A second industrial chemical that regulators have found in contaminated pet food in the United States may also have been intentionally added to animal feed by producers seeking larger profits, according to interviews with chemical industry officials here. Three Chinese chemical makers said that animal feed producers often purchase, or seek to purchase, the chemical, cyanuric acid, from their factories to blend into animal feed. The chemical producers said it was common knowledge that for years cyanuric acid had been used in animal and fish feed. In the United States, cyanuric acid is often used as a disinfectant for swimming pools. Two of the chemical makers said feed producers used it because it was high in nitrogen, enabling feed producers to lift the protein reading of the feed artificially. "Cyanuric acid scrap can be added to animal feed," says Yu Luwei, general manager of Juancheng Ouya Chemical Company in Shandong Province. "I sell it to fish meal manufacturers and fish farmers. It can also be added to feed for other animals." The disclosure is noteworthy not just because it is another indication that Chinese animal feed producers were intentionally doctoring the ingredients they sold, but because the practice of using cyanuric acid may provide clues as to why the pet food in the United States became so poisonous.

[AmericaUnite]

Ping

[I'm ALL Right!]

Thanks, m4k. I am grateful, at this point, that my dogs are so particular. I tried at least 8 kinds of food. They wouldn’t eat ANYTHING other than Beneful.

[I'm ALL Right!]

Thanks, m4k. I am grateful, at this point, that my dogs are so particular. I tried at least 8 kinds of food. They wouldn’t eat ANYTHING other than Beneful.

[I'm ALL Right!]

Thanks, m4k. I am grateful, at this point, that my dogs are so particular. I tried at least 8 kinds of food. They wouldn’t eat ANYTHING other than Beneful.

[CDHart]

I haven't seen any Purina products involved in the recall, have you?

carolyn

[CDHart]

They've already fed the contaminated pet food to hogs and chickens raised for human consumption.

Carolyn

[Gideon Reader]

I have four felines who manage my time and affairs.
They are fed with Royal Canin and Fancy Feast.
Royal Canin has pulled eight of their products but for in house quality control reasons, not the China poison gambit.
They use ONLY US products and offer in their website to pay for any visit to the VET any of their users wish for a physical or treatment. Really good stuff according to my Cat-Team, who go thru their crunchie-tots FAST.
Check out their Website. RoyalCanin.Com

[mom4kittys]

Good thing! I’m worried about long term effects for pets and people.

[mom4kittys]

I came very close to trying Royal Canin after all this, but I ended up with Nature’s Logic and Innova. I understand Royal Canin is a first class company.

[steve86]

Don’t forget human food. I think it’s only a matter of time before someone lets it slip that this stuff is finding it’s way into human food products.

Hasn't that already happened with the chickens? (with respect to melamine, I guess).

[steve86]

Yes, and the hogs. I didn’t pay as much attention to that as we consume a lot of poultry but no pork. My pets are birds, ironically — fortunately, the seeds are uncontaminated AFAIK but sometimes I wonder about Hartz products, they are of such poor quality.

[little jeremiah]

Add to that the fact that pollution there is horrific, farms often used water that has high levels of industrial toxins in it, and they use all kinds of pesticides and chemicals without any regulation whatsoever. No food of any sort whatsoever from China is safe.

[Abigail Adams]

Aaaaahh...Ancient Chinese secret!

[nuconvert]

“I haven’t seen any Purina products involved in the recall, have you?”

Yes, there were 2 dog foods recalled, I believe.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

"a disinfectant for swimming pools"

Not quite. It's a stabilizer used in many chlorine formulations (dichlor, trichlor). It reduces chlorine's ability to disinfect but helps prevent the chlorine from being broken-down by sunlight. It builds up over time, necessitating a partial drain and refill of the pool.

[I'm ALL Right!]

Sorry about the triple post! My computer froze.

[The Raven]

Don’t they have the super duper very left wing commie pinkos worker’s paradise over there?

[mom4kittys]

It happens to me all the time when FR is slow.

[sweetiepiezer]

Nestle Purina PetCare Company recalled Alpo prime cuts in gravy plus Alpo Prime cuts Variety Packs.

One wonders what got into Nestle human foods?

[sweetiepiezer]

Thanks for the ping m4k. just saw on the news where they fed recalled pet food at fish hatcheries.
Anyone got a link?