Melanine, an industrial chemical used in plastics, is often used in animal feed to artificially boost "protein" content.
The culprit appears to have been Melamine-laced wheat gluten. Melamine is a product of cyanamide and is commonly used in manufacturing countertops, fabrics, glues, flame retardants, and fertilizers.
In other words, it's nasty stuff if ingested, where it can produce of all things ammonia, a poison. This is the reaction which most of the sick and dead animals seem to displaying.
What's shocking is that the melamine may have been added purposely. Why add a poison to foods? Because melamine artificially raises the "protein" content. Adding melamine to animal feed for this purpose is standard practice in China, home of Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology, the manufacture who supplied Menufoods the tainted wheat gluten.
So in this case, melamine may have been purposely added to the gluten solely for the sake of giving the "appearance" of higher protein content (though it's doubtful it can be utilized by the body).
This practice of articially inflating the vitamin, mineral and protein content in our foods is by the way also done to human foods. Manufacturers can claim a cereal supplies 100% of your daily Iron purely because of the quantity of iron present even if your body can't used. The most you can hope is that your body passes it right through.
Unfortunately for the pets who ate the tainted MenuFoods supplies, melamine can cause kidney problems, reproductive system damage, cancer, and of course ammonia poisoning.
And speaks to the need for the FDA to better monitor animal and human food supplies. It is simply not enough to get an ingredient list because that would never have shown the poison fed to the chickens used for Menufoods products.
MSNBC has just issued a breaking news alert regarding the MenuFoods scandal.
FDA testing has confirmed that a type of rat poison - which is BANNED in the USA - was found during testing of products effected by the MenuFoods recall. Earlier, MenuFoods attempted to zero in on the wheat gluten additive as the source of the contamination. As it turns out, the batch of wheat used to make the gluten was imported from China.
This leads to a few questions:
1. We are a net exporter of wheat - WHY is wheat being imported for use in animal food products? If we have a wheat surplus, shouldn't we be using domestic sources to manufacture these products?
2. Why didn't MenuFoods catch this contamination during their initial quality control testing of the products?
The FDA will hold a press conference at 1pm. I don't know if I'll be around to cover this as I have errands to run. I'd invite any of the other FPers to update this post accordingly if I haven't done it by 1:30.
UPDATE: Here is a link to the AP article. According to the article, it's not the FDA who'll be holding the press conference, but rather, the folks who tested the foods:
Officials from the agriculture department and Cornell University's Animal Health Diagnostic Center would not immediately confirm the ABC report but scheduled a news conference Friday afternoon to release laboratory findings from tests on the pet food.
This is Pebbles. Pebbles is a Yorkie from Los Angeles. About a week ago, the healthy seven year old began throwing up her Nutro dog food and became lethargic. A blood test on Friday confirmed she has renal failure, and she is currently awaiting a biopsy to determine whether she needs dialysis:
"It's just terrible to see her go through this," Pebbles owner, Jeff Kerner, said Wednesday. [...]
"Since getting this dog, I've gone through a divorce, I've moved away, my daughter has gone to college, I've remarried. Through it all, Pebbles has been there. I just pray to God I don't have to put a price on my dog's life."
Officials in LA county have thus far confirmed nine pet deaths resulting from the recall. Local media outlets across the country are reporting on pet deaths and illnesses associated with this recall, yet the national media continues to downplay this story.
My question is this: how many more pets have to die before this story gets the attention it deserves?
A Chicago woman sued Menu Foods on Tuesday, alleging the pet food manufacturer delayed announcing a recall of 60 million containers of dog and cat food despite knowing its products were contaminated and potentially deadly.
Dawn Majerczyk, 43, said her orange tabby, Phoenix, fell sick last week just two days after he ate a single package of Special Kitty. It is one of 95 cat and dog food brands recalled by Menu Foods of Canada. Friday's recall came two weeks after nine cats died during routine company taste tests of its products, the Food and Drug Administration said.
This is outrageous! MenuFoods knew this product was deadly as early as last month! I am absolutely floored that they allowed deadly products into the marketplace after animals died during internal testing.
A responsible company would have immediately halted distribution and issued a recall. A responsible company would publicly name it's wheat gluten supplier so that other companies could ensure their products are not tainted.
There is absolutely no justification for waiting for the public to begin complaining before recalling those deadly products. None whatsoever. And refusing to name the supplier of the bad wheat gluten is the height of corporate hubris and irresponsibility.
Last week, Anna informed you all about the MenuFoods Recall. Menufoods is the maker of some very popular pet foods such as IAMS, Science Diet, and Eukanuba. Please check out the full list here - and it's quite shocking how large and popular the list of foods is.
The recall was prompted by the deaths of several pets who ate the food. More pets also became seriously sick. If your pet starts to vomit, lik my neighbor's catslast month, please take your pet to the vet!
Unfortunately, the death toll is expected to rise.
The FDA said that it expects the number of deaths linked to the food to grow. The recalled "cuts and gravy" food was produced between Dec. 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007 at two Menu plants in Kansas and New Jersey, although consumer complaints have involved only products made in Kansas, the FDA says.
Since nine of the ten animals which died were cats, it may be indicate the type of contamination affecting the Menufoods' supplier, who the FDA refuses to name. Typically, kidney failure is more harmful to cats and that would indicate a possible metal contamination.
It's disturbing that this could've happened and be so widespread. Menufoods does need to address this issue but for the time being, it's more important that we spread the word about the contamination. Please let your friends know.
MenuFoods of Canada has issued a massive recall of nearly 100 brands of pet food. The spoiled food has already killed some companion animals, and many others are suffering from kidney failure. The recall includes popular brands such as IAMS and Eukanuba.
If you have a cat or dog, it is imperative that you visit MenuFood's recall site to ensure that you don't own any of the effected products. They've also set up a public hotline: 1-866-895-2708
It's taken them too long, IMO, but MenuFoods finally posted the list of effected products last night, two days after the recall story broke. You'll still have to go to the site and download the spreadsheets of the effected sub-brands. They are in Excel format. I'm actually peeved at them over this, because many people do not own Micro$oft Office. I've emailed the company and asked that they re-upload the files in a widely-used and freely available format such as PDF. I don't know if they'll act on a single request, so if you feel like adding to the chorus, fire away.
However, on a positive note, MenuFoods believes they have already pinpointed the source of contamination, a new supplier of wheat gluten that the company has already dumped.
Beneath the fold is a list of the effected brands.
This is Pebbles. Pebbles is a Yorkie from Los Angeles. About a week ago, the healthy seven year old began throwing up her Nutro dog food and became lethargic. A blood test on Friday confirmed she has renal failure, and she is currently awaiting a biopsy to determine whether she needs dialysis:
