| thanks amberite and dogemperor |
[05 May 2007|10:11am] |
This post will now be the primary source of news re the pet food recall (and partner to the original post on the pet food recall); the original "news ticker" post has hit LJ's limits for post length and is archived here.
MAJOR UPDATE 17 APRIL, 20 APRIL, 29 APRIL, AND 1 MAY: RECALL IS NO LONGER RESTRICTED TO WHEAT OR WHEAT GLUTEN AND ALL FOOD PRODUCTS FROM CHINA SHOULD BE CONSIDERED HIGHLY SUSPECT. THERE IS ALSO THE RISK THE LIST OF POTENTIALLY CONTAMINATED FOOD MAY EXPAND FURTHER. HUMAN FOOD CONTAMINATION HAS ALSO BEEN CONFIRMED IN PORK AND CHICKEN AND THERE ARE REPORTS THAT AT LEAST 45 HUMANS ARE KNOWN TO HAVE EATEN CONTAMINATED PORK. THERE IS ALSO NOW EVIDENCE THAT MELAMINE DOPING, INCLUDING IN HUMAN FOOD PRODUCTS, IS WIDESPREAD, ROUTINE IN CHINESE FOOD PRODUCTS, AND HAS BEEN OCCURING FOR YEARS. IN ADDITION, CHICKEN IS NOW KNOWN TO BE CONTAMINATED AND LIKELY CONSUMED BY HUMANS. SEE BELOW.
Casualty updates (last update 5 May):
1 May: Petconnection.com reports 4,583 dead (2,334 feline, 2,249 canine) with 14,228 animals dead or critically ill (this does not include livestock contaminated by being fed melamine-laced feed). Of livestock, over 6000 hogs are now confirmed to be contaminated and which must be destroyed as well as an unknown number of chickens.
For the first time, the FDA is giving numbers close to petconnection.com's figures (and in fact exceeding them). In an import alert issued 27 April (and only publically released 30 April), the FDA has noted it has received reports of 17,000 pets that were dead or critically ill with 4,150 fatalities in that total (1,950 feline, 2,200 canine; interestingly, most other sources are showing more feline than canine deaths).
2 May: Petconnection.com has not updated its report since 30 April, possibly because of the FDA finally announcing that deaths are in the thousands.
In regards to livestock, 6000+ pigs and at least 100,000 chickens likely to be destroyed due to contamination.
Per news reports, reportedly one in six households in the United States have been affected in some manner by the pet food recalls; the same article notes (in what is a sad commentary) that there are only four domestic producers left in the US producing wheat gluten and other grain glutens.
5 May: Per a USDA press release the FDA may have received over 8,500 reports of deaths</a> (per the press release, 17,000 complaints have been received by the FDA with "over half" being in regards to fatalities). Petconnection.com reports 4,633 dead (2,474 feline, 2,159 canine) with 14,372 dead or sick. Again, these figures do not include livestock.
News reports from Reuters indicate as many as 20 million chickens may need to be destroyed; see below.
MAJOR UPDATE WITH POSSIBLE IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN HEALTH (most recently updated 5 May):
Note: Multiple human food products are now confirmed contaminated and it has also been confirmed that humans have eaten contaminated food product with possible serious consequences for health. There is also the very strong possibility this has been going on for years. See below.
1 May: In addition to pork products, chicken must now be considered potentially contaminated as well; per multiple sources including Cattle Network, broiler chickens in Indiana (covering at least 30 broiler farms in Indiana and eight breeder farms) were widely fed contaminated pet food as chicken feed and have since been slaughtered. It is also expected that contamination found in both swine and poultry is likely to increase to many other states and farms.
So far, this covers ten states where contaminated feed has been found, and two states alone for poultry; Indiana is also a major poultry-producing state, in particular Southern Indiana for Tyson Chicken.
In addition, South Africa (which has been dealing with its own issues with Chinese-origin corn gluten that is also doped with melamine) has also posted its own revelations re melamine doping. Per the (Johannesburg) Mail and Guardian, a Chinese company (Kaiyuan Protein Feed Company) has been melamine-doping grain for at least fifteen years running (which gives you an idea just HOW long this crap may well have been fed to animals and people :P)
Sadly, the idea of melamine doping may not have originated in China. The first case of melamine doping of grain products actually occured here in the good old USA back in 1985 and only came to light when a whistleblower employee reported Schuler Grain Co. to the FDA...after they'd already sold doped flour to Pillsbury. (The owners were ultimately ordered to pay $400,000 in restitution to Pillsbury, which had to enact a recall as a result.)
2 May: Reportedly the USDA has admitted that 3.1 million chickens fed only one batch of contaminated feed have not only been slaughtered but likely eaten by people (and probably pets as well); 100,000 chickens are now quarantined and likely to be destroyed.
Also per the USDA conference call, there may literally be hundreds of firms in China that are the source of contaminated grain products (I would probably up that to potentially all factories in China, based on what we know know re the extent of melamine doping in the Chinese food industry).
In addition, reportedly hundreds of chicken farms may have received contaminated feed and it is now estimated that millions of humans are now at risk of predator-prey poisoning.
5 May: The USDA has confirmed that over 20 million chickens have been fed contaminated feed--the really sick thing is that they are still considering putting them in the human food supply (supposedly, a "risk assessment" is underway as to whether or not they can be "processed"--aka slaughtered and put in the human food supply--which is to be completed Monday).
Recall Announcements (last updated 5 May):
2 May: Menu Foods is radically expanding its recall of US and Canadian pet foods (including, of note, two European brands) because of the likelihood of cross-contamination (even with products not containing wheat or wheat gluten in the ingredients).
As an aside, it is precisely this risk (the risk of cross-contamination) why I have--from the beginning--recommended avoidance of all pet food products from all companies that have received contaminated grain or grain protein products.
5 May: Multiple other companies, including Dr. Fosters and Smith and LiveSmart, have made recall announcements due to the risk of cross-contamination.
The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is now making the exact same advice that I have been making in my main post on the pet food recall--avoid any products from any plants that do not source all products domestically.
Enforcement action/investigation (last updated 5 May):
1 May: The big news in this involves several news media outlets (notably the New York Times and CNN) blowing the lid off of melamine doping being common in China and with the FDA finally blocking import of grain and grain products of Chinese origin. More below.
2 May: The American Veterinary Medical Association has posted a report on the University of Guelph findings (that, specifically, melamine + cyanuric acid + cat urine pH = much badness); analysis of crystals found in kidneys of dead animals indicate that the crystals consist of 70% cyanuric acid, 30% melamine, and some also have other breakdown products of melamine (ammeline and ammelide; the latter two are known breakdown products of melamine resulting from alkaline hydrolysis). It is in fact possible that all the secondary contaminants are the result of original melamine doping (ProMed, a medical mailinglist aimed at doctors, has noted that many kinds of bacteria, including Kleibsella and Pseudomonas spp. can break down melamine to cyanuric acid and other breakdown products).
Some of the reports coming in re poisoning are in fact horrifying reading. A CNN transcript of Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees has an interview with Dr. Louise Murray (of the ASPCA Bergh Memorial Hospital, New York City) that describes the almost complete plasticisation of a cat's kidneys from within:
We actually had a case recently where the cat's kidneys were completely obstructed. And when we went to surgery, to try to relieve the obstruction, there was no normal stone. Instead, the aortas were completely full of these melamine-type crystal.
(Mineralisation of the aorta is a known consequence of end-stage feline renal disease. With this level of plasticisation of the kidneys, sadly, the cat's condition would have been fatal without a kidney transplant.)
Also 2 May: Reportedly the FDA has found 330 positive tests for melamine in 750 samples of Chinese grain products so far; this is just over half the grain products from China being contaminated if the testing is accurate.
5 May: Curious what melamine-contaminated gluten looks like? The University of Guelph has posted photos of contaminated grain products (you can actually see the plastic crystals) and also pics of melamine plastic crystals found in cat urine.
Pet Food Safety Issues/The "Blame Game" (last updated 5 May):
1 May: The New York Times/International Herald-Tribune story on widespread melamine doping of grain products in China seems to have blown the lid off of a very dirty secret; CNN now is also reporting on how melamine doping of grain products is not only routine in China but actively promoted as being "healthy".
Also--in a pattern all too distressingly common to those of you who are following the news ticker--American Nutrition is now firing back at pet food companies who were (rightfully) very pissed about rice protein being added to their pet foods without notifying them. (American Nutrition seems to have been singularly ignorant on how this is a Bad Thing--not only is it illegal, it's hurting their business as well (Blue Buffalo has had to recall practically its entire product line and is now shopping for a new processor--just like Nutra is leaving Menu Foods after finding their product was adulterated). In fact, I'm willing to bet they are putting this FUD out because of threats of lawsuits by Natural Balance and Blue Buffalo (among others).)
5 May: In an amazingly damning revelation, a PDF of ChemNutra ordering wheat gluten from Xuzhou Anying has been posted by itchmo.com.
Also, Sen. Durbin has still not gotten any response to a formal request to the FDA to reveal all shippers of contaminated gluten products (in addition to Wilbur-Ellis, Binzhou Futian has apparently shipped contaminated rice protein to a second unknown importer).
Also, Forbes.com points out just how dependent we are on Chinese Cheap Crap--US gluten producers have been so undercut for so long by Chinese producers that there are only four companies left that produce gluten in the US--and these four companies cannot supply enough to meet domestic demands.
Legal Action/Governmental Action/Etc. (last updated 5 May):
1 May: Finally, the FDA takes the action that most of us following here have been screaming at them to do since early March (and which Canada and South Africa have also been considerably more proactive at)--namely, the FDA has issued a formal detention without physical examination order for practically all Chinese-origin grain or grain products.
Whilst this will not prevent companies from using stuff that has already been imported, and is (at this date) the rough equivalent of bolting the barn door after the cattle have not only escaped but started a stampede down Main Street downtown, it is still appreciated. It would possibly have been a bit more effective had it been done back in March, but at least something is being done (finally).
One has to wonder if the recent New York Times expose of widespread melamine doping in China may have been what finally spurred them into action.
2 May: Per the Washington Post, FDA investigators are having delays in entering plants due to Golden Week (Golden Week is a five-day holiday in China and many other Asian countries, and essentially the whole country is shut down).
5 May: The FDA is also now beginning an investigation of food makers to make sure "they aren't using contaminated grain products"--sadly, at this late date it's more like "seeing how far this crap is already in the pet and human food chains", but that's neither here nor there. At least some effort is being made, however late it is.
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