Breaking: Pet Food Recall-US Wheat Gluten Supplier Identified

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http://www.dailykos .com/story/ 2007/4/4/ 24533/89801

Breaking: Pet Food Recall-US Wheat Gluten Supplier Identified! by jhritz

Wed Apr 04, 2007 at 12:28:39 AM PDT

ChemNutra of Las Vegas, NV, an importer of Chinese goods, has been identified as

the specific importer of the tainted wheat gluten involved in the pet food

scandal recall (not Archers-Daniels- Midland, as some had speculated).

 

(And wait 'til you see what else ChemNutra imports...)

 

ChemNutra's press release:

CHEMNUTRA ANNOUNCES NATIONWIDE WHEAT GLUTEN RECALL

Las Vegas, NV... April 3, 2007... ChemNutra Inc., of Las Vegas, Nevada,

yesterday recalled all wheat gluten it had imported from one of its three

Chinese wheat gluten suppliers - Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development

Co. Ltd.

The wheat gluten ChemNutra recalled was shipped from China in 25 kg. paper bags,

and distributed to customers in the same unopened bags.

ChemNutra's shipments commenced November 9, 2006 and ended March 8, 2007. [snip]

ChemNutra shipped to supplies wheat gluten only to pet food manufacturers. The

total quantity of Xuzhou Anying wheat gluten shipped was 792 metric tons.

792 metric tons of tainted wheat gluten...

Links, resources and safe food suggestions below the fold...

a.. jhritz's diary :: ::

b..

One new recall (unrelated to the tainted wheat gluten): United Pet Group has

announced that their line of pet treats (Chick'n Jerky Dingo) has been

voluntarily recalled for Salmonella poisoning:

Eight in One Inc., a division of United Pet Group Inc., is recalling all

packages of Dingo Chick'N Jerky, Dingo Kitty Chicken Jerky and Dingo Ferret

Chicken Jerky.

Salmonella can cause serious infections in pets and children, the elderly and

people with weakened immune systems. In pets, salmonella can cause diarrhea,

fevers, vomiting, loss of appetite, lethargy and abdominal pain. Animals that do

not get sick can infect other pets or humans.

And this new information on the tainted wheat gluten and the delays that may

have led to many more pet deaths than necessary (one is too many!):

 

Pet Connection's Christie Keith has written an article in the San Francisco

Chronicle with the inside story about the Pet Food Recall:

YOUR WHOLE PET, http://www.petconnection.com/ The Inside Story on the Pet Food

Recall

 

After reading Christie's very disturbing article about Menu Foods' delay in

reporting their findings (how many pets did not have to die????) and looking at

the date that ChemNutra says they were informed about their own tainted wheat

gluten (March 8th -- months after Menu Foods' testing killed several cats), I

must admit that browsing through the ChemNutra website is an invitation to panic

about the ways things could go wrong (as if the Pet Food Recall were not bad

enough) in a globalized economy.

 

So, what do they import? Links below that will make your stomach clench eyes pop

out of your head:

 

Feed http://www.chemnutra.com/feed.htm

Food http://www.chemnutra.com/food.htm

Pharma http://www.chemnutra.com/pharma.htm

It is vitally important that the source of the contamination is determined.

There are too many vital nutrients crossing borders to leave the heath of our

pets (and ourselves) to chance or the, eh hem, good will of corporations.

 

Speaking of which, what else is wheat gluten used in? Bagels, Bread, Asian

Food...??? According to CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight:

 

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not just in pet food. Wheat gluten is

a staple in the human diet, common in thousands of baked goods, like bagels and

multigrain breads. It's a protein extracted from wheat that improves the rising

ability in bread products and gives them a smooth texture. And it's common in

Asian cuisine.

 

In pet food it's a source of protein that binds ingredients together. Tainted

wheat gluten imported from China is suspected in the deaths of 15 pets and the

sickening of hundreds.

 

MICHAEL DOYLE, CENTER FOR FOOD SAFETY: We don't know where the problem started

or happened, what the source was, and it's likely that we'll never be able to

fully resolve what the original source of the problem was.

 

ROMANS: Doyle calls America's reliance on imported food out of control and says

we must do a better job with imported food safety. The U.S. imports most of the

wheat gluten this country consumes, primarily from Australia and Europe, but

China is emerging as a growing producer.

 

Wheat Gluten Sources for US consumption (in pounds):

 

European Union: 235 million

United States: 100 million

Australia: 68 Million

China: 52 million

Others: 45 million

 

(Source: 2006 Industry Statistics)

 

So, where does the gluten come from within China? CNN's John Vause traced it

back, not to the shiny building of the Chinese supplier who is calling the

accusation that they delivered tainted wheat gluten a " rumor. " But a dusty,

rural and rundown warehouse in Xuzhou, China, with no walls, no pavement and

sacks and sacks of locally made gluten (9,000 tons a year); one of many

independent operations that the Chinese company uses as a source for their

products.

 

So, how do they regulate that?

 

And it's not just food they're sending us:

 

According to CNN: Questions are being asked about the safety of China's food

supply. 300 million Chinese, according to the UN, suffer food poisoning a year.

 

Which makes this bit of info ever more worrisome:

 

CNN: The FDA inspects less than one percent of the imported foods that it

oversees.

 

Which, in turn, brings to mind that old saying: Buy locally, think globally...

 

Here are links:

 

Del Monte Foods Recall List

 

Menu Foods, Inc. Press Release

 

Nestlé Purina PetCare Company Press Release

 

Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc. Press Release

 

IAMS or Eukanuba: IAMS web site.

 

Here's the link to make complaints to the FDA.

 

My last four diaries about this:

 

1.. Poison in Recalled Pet Food! -- plus Healthy (safe!) Pet Food links!

2.. FDA reports Melamine in Recalled Pet Food!

3.. Hill's Prescription DRY Cat Food, Alpo Dog Food, Join Recall

4.. Pet Food Recall Grows - Del Monte issues their list!

SusanHu wrote a great diary about the FDA's Weak Food Inspection that includes

this letter to the FDA from Sen. Dick Durbin.

 

Here is a link to three dairies by anna, who has been closely following this

story.

 

Here is one from (great name) Goldy at HorsesAss (whose story I linked in my

last diary): Tainted Wheat Gluten Sold as " Food Grade " .

 

Has your pet been affected? Report it here: http://www.PetConne ction.com

 

Again, Christie Keith's (Pet Connection) article in the San Francisco Chronicle,

YOUR WHOLE PET, The Story Behind the Pet Food Recall.

 

The ABC News report on the class action suit building on the recall.

 

TheBigKahuna' s good advice: " I'd strongly recommend pet owners who think their

pets may have been exposed to the tainted food have their pets tested. If I

recall correctly, I think the cost for Socks was about $15. "

 

Important!! If your pet is sick, be sure to TELL your vet about the ingredients

suspected in the poisoning (Melamine and Aminopterin) . The head vet at Cornell

mentioned, during his press conference, that there are TREATMENTS for the

poisons, as long as the treating vet knows about it.

 

Menu Foods says they will reimburse expenses for pet owners who can verify their

pets were impacted by the recalled food.

 

How to make your own cat food: http://www.catinfo. org/

 

How to make your own dog food: http://www.seefido. com/... (thanks,

RippenKitten)

 

A link to Natural Pet Food Stores and Resources: http://www.ecobusin esslinks.

com/... (caveat: check the ingredients of any food you consider purchasing!)

 

And I strongly encourage all pet owners to look at natural prepackaged

alternatives as reported in this thread from one of the earlier diaries (same

caveat: check the ingredients of any food you consider purchasing).

 

http://www.dailykos .com/story/ 2007/4/4/ 24533/89801

 

 

 

 

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired

signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are

not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

 

http://www.sharedvoice.org/unamerican/