aflatoxin

[Guest guest]

>Taipei, Jan. 5 (CNA) All the dog food from a batch that is believed

>to have poisoned over 1,000 stray dogs nationwide recently will be

>recalled and turned into organic fertilizer, the Council of

>Agriculture (COA) said Monday.

 

 

Sounds as if they need to recall some of the organic

fertilizer heads at the Council of Agriculture, since this could be

a surefire way to spread aflatoxin contamination further into

whatever crops this stuff is applied to -- unless they plan to

superheat the material first, which would destroy much of the

nutrient value.

 

 

>A corporate spokeswoman offered an apology Monday and said that

>Ji-Tai was also a victim in the matter, as the company had no idea

>why the imported soybeans used to make the dog food contained

>aflatoxin.

 

This isn't rocket science. Aflatoxins are a form of

naturally occurring mycotoxin, produced by some types of fungi that

grow on grain. The best way to avoid aflatoxins is to avoid using

spoiled grain. The next best bet is to cook the hell out of any

suspect grain.

 

 

>COA officials said that all questionable dog food will be recalled

>nationwide and sent to a COA-authorized processing company in Yunlin

>to be processed into compost.

 

Composting could in theory cook the aflatoxins out of the

tainted pet food, if the compost pit reached & sustained a high

enough temperature for long enough, but I suspect most aflatoxin

experts would advise simply incinerating the stuff, rather than take

a chance on further distributing aflatoxins among crops.

 

 

>According to a United Daily News report Monday, nearly 1,000 stray

>dogs have died suddenly at several animal shelters in southern

>Taiwan in recent months, in what is believed to be a case of food

>poisoning from the Ji-Tai product.

 

Aflatoxin contamination of pet food is a reasonably

well-known phenomenon, having occurred in Israel, Venezuela, and

at least four U.S. states in the past four years.

 

Twenty-three dogs died in Israel before someone figured it

out, 17 died in the New York state outbreak, & about 600 died in

Venezuela.

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

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