Pet food recall: FDA press conference report

In an FDA press conference this morning, a reporter asked the FDA's Dr. Stephen Sundlof if people could be feeding unsafe food to their pets right now, because the FDA won't reveal the name of a company - that makes dry "kibbled" food as well as "wet" pet food - that received wheat gluten from the same source Menu did.

The response? "It is possible, but I think we've been following every lead that we can. My sense is that we have gotten most of it under control."

As soon as we have any information, he assured reporters at a press conference this morning, we'll notify the public. Except for the name of the company, it seems.

How about the numbers? asked another attendee. You're still saying only 15 confirmed deaths, but some reports are in the thousands. How do you explain the discrepancy?

Dr. Sundlof said FDA can't confirm any cases beyond those first few in Menu's test labs, even though they have received over 8800 additional reports, because "We have not had the luxury of confirming these reports." They'll work on that, he said, after they "make sure all the product is off the shelves."

He pointed out that in human medicine, the job of defining what constitutes a confirmed case would fall to the Centers for Disease Control, not the FDA... and there is no CDC for animals.

Updated: Karen Roebuck of the Pittsburg Tribune-Review, who broke the story earlier this morning that melamine, not aminopterin, had been found in the tested foods, asked if any of the wheat gluten had found its way into the human food supply.

The response: "At this point we are not aware that any of that went into human food." They do know the company that supplied the contaminated wheat gluten, and are tracking its shipments, but they aren't disclosing the name of the company.

They are, however, doing "100 percent review and sampling of all wheat gluten from China."

More to come.

If you have a pet with a recall-related illness, let us remind you to:

• Call the FDA to report your information


• Call your veterinarian and ask him or her to report to your state veterinarian, also for the FDA


• Enter your pet in our database

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Comments

[Steve]

The Two main U.S. suppliers of Wheat Gluten are MGP Ingredients, Inc. and Archer Daniels Midland.



http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070321/cgw064.html?.v=51

[Gwen]

So, they think they've gotten "most" of it under control, eh? That's nice. Unless, of course, your pet happens to be presently consuming a tainted product that doesn't fall into the 'most' category.. in which case, you're pretty much.. well, y'know.



If they know who supplied the gluten, why is it so difficult to determine who else bought the stuff? If we know there's something wrong with it at this point, why not announce the supplier so that, at the very least, companies using the gluten will know that their products may be contaminated? Who are they trying to protect? It's certainly not the consumer..

[Cathy]

Steve,

don't know what the wheat gluten suppliers was in reference to, but MGP quit selling to MenuFoods 18 months ago.

[Steve]

Bureaucratic malaise

[Kim]

"It is possible, but I think we’ve been following every lead that we can. My sense is that we have gotten most of it under control."



My belief now...

It's Big. And Worse. Bigger and worse than we feared.

[Steve]

It's obvious we shouldn't get our hopes up to high and expect Genius level problem solving and aggressive round the clock solution finding from the FDA.

[Elderta]

I flinched when they said that the shipment of wheat gluten went to Canada, the US, AND Mexico. No body until now has said anything about shipments outside of the US and Canada until now.

[Steve]

Ever get the uneasy feeling we've been transformed into a Banana Republic the past 6 years?

[Kim]

"The apparently melamine-contaminated wheat gluten also was shipped to an unnamed company that manufactures dry pet food. The FDA is attempting to determine if that product, imported from China, was used to make any pet food, Sundlof said."



2 questions.

1. If it wasn't used to make pet food, what was it used to make?



2. Is there a Menu-Foods like manufacturer of 90% of all dry foods sitting out there somewhere?

[Sharon Gilbert]

I'm still not giving up on the rat poison thing. That makes absolutely more sense than plastic. Just ask those who have sick or dead pets. I have both.

[CatLady]

"Is there a Menu-Foods like manufacturer of 90% of all dry foods sitting out there somewhere?" That is a very good (and very terrifying) question.



I am far from reassured. I wish they wouldn't keep cramming this onto Fridays to push it under the news cycle. Why does it appear to be a foreign concept to these companies and to the FDA that people CARE whether their pets are being poisoned?

[Cathy]

"He pointed out that in human medicine, the job of defining what constitutes a confirmed case would fall to the Centers for Disease Control, not the FDA… and there is no CDC for animals."



Yup yup yup. Not to repeat myself, but WHAT the FLOCK has Homeland Security been doing for the past 5 years?



Just the other day I thought, cripes why don't they call in the CDC. If there's ANYONE on the planet who knows how to run one of these crises, it's them. And the CDC doesn't hold back on saying that X number of cases are "suspected" instead of requiring complete testing to be done.



I smell more pink slips coming. But I don't really care about that right now. I just want people to focus on FIXING the problem. The very first fix is to find someone who can actually run FDA, then turn her/him loose.

[Kim]

Cathy - excellent point. How do we get the CDC involved in this?



And... P&G.



How many dry pet foods do they make?



(How many other foods do they make?)

[Linda]

“The apparently melamine-contaminated wheat gluten also was shipped to an unnamed company that manufactures dry pet food. The FDA is attempting to determine if that product, imported from China, was used to make any pet food, Sundlof said.”



Either they know the truth and aren't telling it, afraid of panic and .....



Or they fear the worst and are having difficutly tracking it down.....



So many unknowns...dry? Are we safe eliminating just the wheat - what about oats etc?

[MARY ANN]

WELL this just sucks big time. every fri there is more bad news. my babies are spoiled and now i'll really spoiled them with home cook meals.too many pets have died and i feel there is so much more bad news comeing.

[Linda]

I heard they use it as a fertilizer in Asia. Any truth to that and will it poison our pets?

[Cathy]

Kim, my guess is the CDC is present on a consultant basis, though I doubt they'll say anything publicly. They ought to give them some clues about communication and transparency while they're at it.



But wait, is the statement about "not being aware" of any toxic wheat gluten going to the human market a soft pitch of the problem over to the CDC? I hope so.

[Steve]

My guess now is delay tactics or unbelievable incompetence or unbelievable ignorance or any combination of the three.

[Steve]

Press Release Source: Menu Foods



Menu Foods News Conference

Friday March 30, 10:26 am ET



TORONTO, March 30 /CNW/ - In order to respond to developments today, Menu Foods will be holding a news conference for media only (accreditation required).



Who: Paul K. Henderson

President and CEO



Randall Copeland

Vice President



When: 2:00 p.m.



Where: Intercontinental Toronto Center

Ballroom A

225 Front Street West

Toronto, ON





For further information



Sarah Tuite, (416) 848-1703

[Adrienne Stephenson]

I wonder how long it will be before we find out which of the dry products are affected?

[Linda]

I think what is happening and has happened shows how difficult it is for the powers that be to solve immediate problems not just with poison pet food, but the ramifications are immense and reminds me Kafka's "Castle" - stuff is being done but nothing much gets accomplished but the wheels are turning and speeches are made and backs are patted. Unbelievable.



If Terrorists were to poison our food supply, then what? We'd be spending three weeks testing and coming up empty.



Pathetic!

[Steve]

We’d be spending three weeks testing and coming up empty. Pathetic!

Comment by Linda — March 30, 2007 @ 9:58 am



They are always interested in helping people out of their money.

[Pamela J. Betz-Baron]

"I’m still not giving up on the rat poison thing. That makes absolutely more sense than plastic. Just ask those who have sick or dead pets. I have both.



Comment by Sharon Gilbert — March 30, 2007 @ 9:27 am"



My husband and I looked up the two chemicals on Wiki this morning. We compared the chemical structures. It looks as though aminopterin contains the melamine structure. (If I am not using the correct terminolgy here, please forgive...I am not a chemist.) Melamine has many uses, including fertilizer.



Perhaps, this explains the presence of melamine and how a lab got it confused with aminopterin. I really have no idea, but I suppose it's possible.

[Steve]

Melamine in pet food, wheat gluten from China : FDA

Reuters via Yahoo! News - 1 hour, 3 minutes ago

U.S. officials said on Friday that melamine, a chemical found in fertilizers in Asia and which should not be in pet food in any amounts, has been detected in the wheat gluten used by Canada-based Menu Foods.

[Steve]

Federal Officials Discover Fertilizer in Pet Food (Update1)

Bloomberg.com - 6 minutes ago

March 30 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. investigators found a substance used to make plastic kitchen utensils and fertilizer in samples of pet food blamed for killing at least 16 cats and dogs, prompting the recall of 60 million cans of Menu Foods Ltd. products.



http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=awNIdXyIlDc4

[Adrienne Stephenson]

It's beginning to sound to me like this was something that was intentional. I don't know, maybe I'm just be paranoid but it really makes me wonder.

[Nadine Long]

Who will be paying for all this testing? Can we trust the tests?



And...why aren't all sources of wheat gluten being tested since melamine is used in

fertilizers. Who says it not being used in the U.S.?

[Steve]

Press Release Source: P&G Pet Care



P&G Pet Care (NYSE: PG) Position Statement in Response to Today's Announcement by the Food & Drug Administration

Friday March 30, 11:52 am ET



>



For further information



Kurt Iverson of P&G Pet Care, +1-937-264-7436 Web Site: http://www.pg.com

[Sandi K]

I noticed that Menu Foods website has updated dates of 3-30 under the recall products but I cant tell if anything new has been added, can anyone else?

[Steve]

P&G Pet Care (NYSE: PG) Position Statement in Response to Today's Announcement by the Food & Drug Administration

Friday March 30, 11:52 am ET

[Steve]

http://biz.yahoo.com/cnw/070330/oh_pg_responds_to_fda.html?.v=1

[Pamela J. Betz-Baron]

I quit using any brand containing wheat, as well as any brand not natural/organic/human grade/made by the company that sells it/a small manufacturer, for our surviving dog on the evening of March 18th, and now I have new food for our mice. Our guinea pigs and senegal parrot are already on human grade foods produced by the companies that sell them. Our Betta fish is on Hikari Betta Bio-gold, which is made in Japan.

[Linda]

For myself, I'm only eating "Organic from a Health Food Co-op" and then mostly fresh and locally grown." I fear the worst and don't know where to turn. I say avoid all wheat and grains for awhile, unless certain of their origin, locally grown or harvested, and wait and see. I don't trust the "humane" food supply either.

[Steve]

The FDA said the wheat gluten in question was shipped to a second pet food manufacturer that makes dry dog food, but as of this morning it had not been determined whether that wheat gluten had been used to make pet food. The FDA declined to identify the manufacturer.



Canadian-based Menu Foods Income Fund issued a recall of 60 million cans and pouches of wet style cat and dog food on March 16 after nine of 25 cats it used in taste tests died. All of the tainted product was made at the company’s plant in Emporia, Kan., which was set to resume production today after being shut down for more than a week.



http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/17001048.htm

[Steve]

The FDA says it has been unable even to count the sheer number of calls it is getting from pet owners reporting sick or dead cats and dogs. Pet owners, meanwhile, are desperate for answers.

The government has not responded to the allegations. The FDA also will not answer questions about why it never inspected the plant in Emporia, Kan., suspected as the source of contamination, until after animals began dying. An FDA spokesman said in an e-mail Wednesday that the agency had no comment on its investigation.



http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/175965

[Angie]

So it appears that Proctor and Gamble are trying to reassure us that their dry food is safe by telling us some really "enouraging" things. They say their food does not have melamine in it and that we should feel safe because their dry food is not made by menu foods. They also insist their other foods not in this recall are perfectly fine. Hmm I seem to remember a warning letter issued yesterday about a chromium supplement. This company has so many things wrong about it that my sarcasm fails to convey the depth of my anger.

[Linda]

Sorry to repeat myself. But FDA needs to fess up to the name of the dry food company now. They are protecting big business and not our pets.

[Krystal Kubichek]

I posted under the dry food recall blog, but let me repost this, since P&G makes Iams and Eukanuba sound sooo safe in their press release. After all, they claim their dry food is safe from the Menu Foods recall. It may be, but the FDA says some of their food isn't safe for another reason: it included a chemical which the FDA told them they couldn't use, because it's dangerous for pets. So telling me Iams and Eukanuba is safe doesn't quite comfort me. Check it out: Iams and Eukanuba deliberately disobeyed the FDA and exposed our animals to unsafe foods themselves, not just through Menu Foods. Don't believe a word of their announcement!

http://www.itchmo.com/read/fda-issues-warning-against-iams_20070329#more-260

[slt]

Whose pets have to die before the FDA will release the name of the kibble company whose food *may* be tainted?

[Linda]

I'm sure all their friends know - it's the little people at the bottom without the "big contacts" that must wait and suffer. They are keeping it on the QT and meanwhile their "mates" are throwing out the poisoned crap.

[jm]

Aminopterin in some, melamine in others, and still no definitive answer on the actual source. Incidental findings?? Nice food. Neither of the above really correlate completely with the symptoms and bloodwork. I'm still waiting for something that makes sense. Of course, a combination of all these toxins could probably be overwhelming to a system. So it looks like Fridays for the news cycles and press releases (or small portions of them)which is insulting and interesting at the same time. I am sorry for all of you who have lost your pets. I am looking at losing one now as BUN/Creat are back up after a few days off IV fluids. We'll do subcutaneous fluids at home and repeat bloodwork in a week or until she shows symptoms that affect her quality of life to a point where enough is enough. This whole thing is a mess, the information makes no sense, and I am truly deeply saddened that I may very well lose an adorable "little friend" in a short period of time here.

[Steve]

Comment by slt — March 30, 2007 @ 10:51 am



It doesn't matter to them. This is the Katrina of the Pet Food Industry.

[Steve]

We're all on our own now. Poisoned food, poisoned air, poisoned water, no worker safety. Big Business has destroyed government and it's oversight duties to it's citizens. All we have now are unscrupulous corporations doing whatever they please with zero government oversight. When something major occurs, the Government acts like they are doing us a favor and is inconvenienced. Mediocrity is rewarded with a Medal of Freedom.

[Linda]

Is a meltdown on the horizon?

[The Other Steve]

There is a CDC for animals.



It's called the National Animal Disease Center. It's operated by the USDA and is located in Ames, IA. They look into things like hoof and mouth, mad-cow, bird flu, etc. Granted, these are diseases that impact livestock, they don't deal with pets. But it would not be hard to expand their role if necessary.



http://ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=36253000

[Nadine Long]

It's all about money, Steve.

[Steve]

It’s all about money, Steve. Comment by Nadine Long — March 30, 2007 @ 11:04 am



Not to me it isn't. You can't buy peace of mind and integrity.

[4lgdfriend]

OK we need to get on researching who makes dry.

Several are made by Diamond. how many more made by Diamond?

what else?

[Melinda]

Is melamine approved as a fertilizer in the US? If not, why are we importing wheat from China that uses this fertilizer? I suspect that we are allowed to import it but not use it in human food products. This is a mistake, since once it hits the US market, I think there is not a whole lot of control about how it is used.

[Maureen]

At least one company that manufactures wheat gluten is Archer Daniels Midland. While they do manufacture it, this doesn’t say if they manufacture it in China. However, the following description by Reuter’s of ADM’s business ventures in China (and Indonesia) begs that question:



“Golden Peanut Company LLC, a joint venture between the Company (ADM) and Alimenta (U.S.A.), Inc., supplies peanuts to both the domestic and export markets. The Company has a 50% ownership interest in this joint venture. The Company participates in various joint ventures in China and Indonesia that operate palm plantations; soybean, rapeseed, cottonseed, sunflower, peanut, palm kernel and sesame crushing facilities and related vegetable oil refineries and packaging facilities; an oleochemical plant that produces fatty acids, glycerin and soap noodles; a soy protein plant; wheat flour mills; rice mills; feed mills; fertilizer operations, and related silos and storage facilities.”



Source: http://stocks.us.reuters.com/stocks/fullDescription.asp?symbol=ADM.N&WTmodLoc=HybArt-C1-ArticlePage1