Dogged Blog

Radio show

I'm going to be on David Goldstein's radio show at 8:05 PM Pacific Time (11:05 PM ET), talking about developments in the pet food recall story ... it's streamed on the web at http://www.kiro710.com/. Listen in, call in if you have questions!

Your pets don't count

This is a video of pets who don't count.

From Pets Need a Voice Too.

More info:

Pet Connection's main recall page
pet food tracker
the pet food list
American Veterinary Medical Assoc
FDA recall page

24 hours of FDA silence

It's been 24 hours since the FDA last responded to my follow-up questions to yesterday's press conference about the pet food recall.

More than 24 hours since reporter (and veterinarian) Dr. Debbye Turner of CBS News asked "should we expect any additional voluntary recalls among pet food in the coming days and weeks?"

More than 24 hours since David Elder of the FDA replied to her, "We aren’t aware of any other potential recalls at this time involving either pet food produced from contaminated wheat gluten or from contaminated rice protein concentrate. As we say time and again, the investigation is open, we continue to follow the trail, but we don’t have anything else that we expect to emerge."

And yet, just before Turner asked her question and Elder made that response, Costco announced a recall of some of its Kirkland Signature dog foods due to melamine contamination in the food - contamination detected, they told me, by the FDA itself.

Which makes me wonder, wouldn't finding melamine in un-recalled pet foods in its own labs have itself been reason to "expect any additional voluntary recalls among pet food in the coming days and weeks"?

Then examine the fact that within 16 hours of Turner's question and Elder's reply, six  recalls in addition to the one from Costco were announced - Harmony Farms, Natural Balance (expansion of previous recall with new products), Blue Buffalo (recalled their entire product line after recalling one run of one kitten food previously), Canine Caviar, Mulligan Stew, and Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul.

Seven new recalls, at least one of them prompted by a finding from the FDA's own testing, within hours of the FDA saying "we don’t have anything else that we expect to emerge."

UPDATE: I got an email from the FDA's press office at 7:39 PM Eastern Time:

We found later that other FDA officials did know about it but Captain Elder didn't have that information available when the telebriefing began. A press release from Diamond Pet Food has since been posted on our website http://www.fda.gov/... . We also expect additional recalls from Sierra Pet Products and Blue Buffalo Company.  Attached is American Nutrition's announcement.

The very recalls I'd been asking him about, and that we'd already reported at PetConnection, yesterday.

Remind me again why we have an FDA? Oh yeah:

The Food Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 (U.S.C. Title 21, Chapter 9): "The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation's food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation."

Liveblogging FDA press conference

I'll be liveblogging the FDA media teleconference at petconnection.com at 4:15 PM Eastern.

We were having some technical issues at PetConnection, but I believe they've been resolved. If there are any problems with the  site during that time, I'll pick it up here on Dogged.

WHAT:
Update on Recall of Pet Foods

WHEN:
Thursday, April 26, 2007, at 4:15 p.m. EDT

MODERATOR:
Julie Zawisza
Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs, FDA

WHO:
Daniel McChesney, DVM
Director, Office of Surveillance and Compliance
Center for Veterinary Medicine, FDA

Captain David Elder
Director, Office of Enforcement
Office of Regulatory Affairs, FDA

David Acheson, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA

Kenneth Peterson
Assistant Administrator for Field Operations
Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA

Activism is so last century

Yes, I did, I found a way to combine writing about nail polish and political activism. I so rock. At AfterElton.com:

It was a crushing blow to find out that while I was researching an important article on gay male sex on television and getting my nails done, the gays got over political activism.

First I had to get over my shock at there being a trend among my people that I wasn't already at least aware of, if not on the forefront of. Remembering the early days of ACT-UP, and actually having been at the White Night riots (and if you don't know what those are, seriously, you need to take queer history 101 immediately) - in fact, being one of the few les/gay people who remembers when San Francisco Pride was actually called the Gay Freedom Day Parade - I suppose it's no surprise this news doesn't make me happy.

Read the rest here. I have YouTube footage of the White Night riots over there, too. Just for an interesting contrast with that  more recent photo, above,  of "gay activism" at San Francisco's City Hall.

When it comes to activism, the gays have many skills.

Liveblogging today's hearing on FDA, food safety, and pet food recall

My hands are about to fall off. I just spent more than four hours liveblogging a congressional hearing on the FDA, food safety, and the pet food recall. Present were the CEO of Menu Foods and the CEO of ChemNutra, which sold them the contaminated wheat gluten.

It's here.

Getting it wrong

I tried to decide why the flurry of wire stories, picked up on websites, TV stations, radio stations, and newspapers around the world, with headlines about the FDA investigating whether or not the contamination of pet food was intentional, was bugging me so much.

It's not that I can't see why that angle seems important. It opens the door to criminal legal proceedings, and makes the story sexier, turns it into an investigative piece, a sort of "whodunit" of food safety.

But that angle also steers perception of the story in a specific way. If this is just a limited issue of corporate wrong-doing in China, some unscrupulous companies tossing in a little melamine to up the protein content of their product and make a little extra money? That dogs and cats were canaries in the coalmine, and that's sad and even tragic, but still, limited?

That's the kind of story that makes you relax. Feel better. Feel safe again. Because human greed and even evil are things we've learned do sometimes reach out and harm us. Horrible, abhorrent, but ultimately, they fall into the "shit happens" category and we shudder, grieve, and move on.

But that's not the story. The story is about a failure of massive scale in our food safety system and national security.

• The FDA still has information directly relevant to decisions you are making in the grocery store every day about what you feed your pets and your families and yourself, and it's not telling you.
• There have been three protein concentrates, from three different sources in China, found to be contaminated with melamine and other harmful toxins, on two continents. What do you think the chances are we've found all the substances, all the sources? What do you think the chances are this only started happening last February November July?

David Goldstein asked Does FDA Spell FEMA?, and he got the question right. Because this story isn't about an act of god, like a hurricane. And while human greed will no doubt be at the bottom of the actual contamination, that's not the real story, either.

The real story is why the FDA won't give us information that will help us keep our families and our animals safe, and make rational decisions in the grocery store. Why we're relying, in this day and age, on canaries in the coal mine in the first place. Why more than a month into this story, there are so many basic questions left unanswered, and frequently, unasked.

I don't say this often, but you know, this is one of those times you just have to say, wow, there ought to be a law. Oh, wait....

The Food Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 (U.S.C. Title 21, Chapter 9): "The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation's food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation."

What the FDA knows and won't tell you

What the FDA knows, and you don't: The FDA knows the two remaining companies who received shipments of contaminated rice protein concentrate and won't name them. I know, because when I asked them on Thursday at their press conference, they refused to name them.

What the FDA doesn't know, and should: First it was wheat gluten from China, sold in the United States for human or animal use, and used, as far as we know but without certainty, only in the production of pet food.

Then it was corn gluten from a different Chinese source, sold in South Africa, and used in pet food, where it has caused illness and death in large numbers of pets.

Then it was rice protein concentrate, from yet another Chinese source, sold in the United States, and used in pet food. Some of this found its way into livestock feed, as well.

Three sources, all in China. Three different products. All contaminated with melamine.

Hey, FDA ,I'm curious. On Thursday Dr. Sundlof said they were aware that contaminated corn gluten had been shipped to South Africa, but had no evidence any had come into the US. Which makes me wonder, what's your basis for saying that? Since all three of these known incidents involved three different protein sources from three different companies, well - does the phrase RED FLAG mean anything to you?

You told the reporter from Advertising Age at the press conference on Thursday that at this time you hadn't looked into whether other US companies had received contaminated corn gluten from China, as South Africa did. You were vague about plans to test corn gluten, and any other protein powders and concentrates imported from China.

I suppose I'm a really strange person, because I'd like to make up my own mind about whether or not I want to risk buying something that may or may not contain a contaminant that can kill my dog or cat. Or, you know, me, since I'm also quite fond of being alive, and extremely attached to my kidneys.

So, would you please tell me the name of the other two pet food companies who you know received the contaminated rice protein concentrate but who so far have not seen fit to tell us themselves?

Also, would you please test all protein concentrates coming into the US from China?

And if it's not too much trouble, would you please name the company that sold the contaminated corn gluten in South Africa, and check on whether or not they sold any to the United States, and if so, to who? And what was done with it?

I'd really like to know. But more to the point, I actually think it's your job to tell me:

The Food Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 (U.S.C. Title 21, Chapter 9): "The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation's food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation."

Fluff and substance

A bit of cognitive dissonance on a lovely Friday afternoon - from the pet food recall to Hairspray.

First, the substance. Gina is totally brilliant and has written the ultimate smackdown of the FDA's handling of the pet food recall:

Do I have to tell you that as we approach 11 a.m. ET this morning, neither of the latest recalls has made it to the FDA’s recall page? Do I have to tell you that we’re still waiting for more recalls, and that the FDA still won’t tell us what companies are involved? Anyone want to take bets that the companies will drop their releases late today, and that chances are good the FDA won’t update the recall lists until Monday?

Do I have to tell you how many people do their shopping on the weekend, and how many will do as they’ve been advised, and check the FDA recall list before getting food for their pets? How many of those will not be aware of the most recent recalls?

Over on Howl911, Nikki has made the point that what the FDA is doing would sound ridiculous if human food products were involved. Something like: “We’ve identified four bakeries that got the tainted ingredients, and it might have made it to products that are on your grocery shelves. Any recalls are vountary, and we can’t tell you which breads you might want to avoid. Have a nice day.”

Even if you accept — which we don’t, of course — that these are “just pets,” how about the potential economic hit some families will take if a pet becomes sick? Dr. Paul Pion of the independent Veterinary Information Network puts the costs to pet-owners in the range of $2 million to $20 million.

FDA, you work for us. Tell us the companies. We know you can’t force them to come clean with us, so let us know. Let us know.

Not only is it in the best interest of consumers, it’s also in the best interest of the pet-food industry. Until we know where tainted products are, who in her right mind will buy anything? Aren’t the companies that are not involved owed something, too?

Click here now and read the whole dazzling thing.

Okay, so now switch gears with me, and embrace the fluff.

I just saw a rough partial screening of Hairspray  - yes, THE Hairspray, the new musical film of the musical stage show of the original 1988 John Waters film. I interviewed Adam Shankman, the director, and wrote about it over on AfterElton.com:

So, other than Travolta's semi-suckage, how was the movie? Oh, just basically completely brilliant. I've been pissed off lately, what with the Supremes going all retro on abortion rights, and the pet food recall and the Virginia shootings and the war in Iraq, and well, you know, life as we know it in America today, and Hairspray is the perfect antidote to all that - and not, like a lot of movies, because it lets you escape reality for a little while.

Hairspray succeeds, in all three of its incarnations, because at heart it's a feel-good movie about fighting the good fight. Tracy Turnblad, a plump high school girl who knows she's destined for greatness as either the first woman president or maybe a Rockette, gets picked as one of the dancers on an afternoon music show on a local TV station. She uses her new-found fame to take a public stand for racial equality in segregated 1962 Baltimore, saying that if she were the first woman president she'd "make every day Negro day!"

Go read all the goodness here - and see a nice, long video preview of it too. And leave comments and tell them OMG Christie is the MOST INCREDIBLE BLOGGER EVER IN THE HISTORY OF BLOGGING.

Forget about the nanny state, daddy's taking care of everything

I'm a contributing editor with Universal Press Syndicate's Pet Connection, a nationally syndicated pet feature that's in over 75 newspapers nationwide. We have been covering the pet food recall on our blog for more than a month now - and we got a shout out at the Senate hearing on the recall from Dick Durbin for the job we've been doing.

I cover the late night shift on this story, and so I've gotten a fair amount of the midnight press releases in which bad corporate news is usually dumped. And tonight I got one letting us know that Wilbur-Ellis, the company that shipped rice protein concentrate possibly contaminated with melamine to pet-food manufacturers, has voluntarily recalled the concentrate. (For those who haven't been following the story, yes, that's rice protein concentrate, not wheat gluten - the recall hasn't just spread to more pet foods, but to another suspected contaminated ingredient.)

They've shipped it, they said, to five pet food manufacturers  around the United States. They urged those companies to recall their products made with that concentrate. And really, I think they should and hope they do. But that's not what's on my mind tonight.

Presumably Wilbur-Ellis knows what manufacturers those are. I'm sure the FDA does. So why are we begging the companies to name themselves? Why aren't we just being told? By, oh, I don't know, the federal agency charged with protecting the human and animal food supply and the public health, the FDA? Call me crazy.

I listened in on the FDA press conference a few Fridays ago, in which we were assured that they’d let us know anything they found out as soon as possible. They didn't that day (another recall was announced later that evening), and they aren’t now.

You know how Republicans sneer about the nanny state, the one that wants to hold our hands when we cross the street and, through excessive regulation, protect us from ourselves? Well, I'll take a little excessive hand-holding any day over being lied to and manipulated, to having information dribbled out to me with a "don't worry your pretty head" filter on it.

I don't just want to know what companies those are, I should already know. And so should every pet owner out there trying to figure out what to feed their dogs and cats, and hoping they're not trading one bad choice for another.