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

Pet food recall: Weekend update and open thread

• If you have a sick pet or a question on your pet’s health, call your veterinarian.


• If you’re new to the site, please check out our general information page (includes information on recalled foods).


• If you want to report a sick or deceased pet, click here.

This is Christie's late night edition of the open thread, since the old one had over 300 comments and was loading a little slowly.

I have only one additional update tonight. The USDA issued a joint media release with the FDA. There are some interesting details about the timeline, although it's not new information, I think it's something that hasn't fully been discussed as it pertains to pets - emphasis mine:

As reported on April 22 by FDA, the Agency determined that rice protein concentrate imported from China was contaminated with melamine and melamine-related compounds. The product was imported by Wilbur-Ellis, an importer and distributor of agricultural products. Although the company began importing product from China in August 2006, the company did not become aware of the contamination until April 2007. As part of the ongoing investigation, FDA has determined the rice protein was used in the production of pet food and a portion of the pet food was used to produce animal feed. The ongoing investigation is tracing products distributed since August 2006 by Wilbur-Ellis throughout the distribution chain.

The release was mostly concerned with the impact on human health, although it doesn't appear to consider the possiblity that humans might be exposed to the contamination in anything other than pork:

The assessment that, if there were to be harm to human health, it would be very low, is based on a number of factors, including the dilution of the contaminating melamine and melamine-related compounds from the original rice protein concentrate as it moves through the food system. First it is a partial ingredient in the pet food; second, it is only part of the total feed given to the hogs; third, it is not known to accumulate in the hogs and the hogs excrete melamine in their urine; fourth, even if present in pork, pork is only a small part of the average American diet. Neither FDA nor USDA has uncovered any evidence of harm to the swine from the contaminated feed. In addition to the dilutional factor and the lack of evidence of illnesses in the swine fed the waste pet food, we are not aware of any human illness that has occurred from exposure to melamine or its by-products. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention systems would have limited ability to detect subtle problems due to melamine and melamine-related compounds, no problems have been detected to date. To further evaluate any potential harm to humans, the FDA is developing and implementing further tests and risk assessments based on the toxicity of the compounds and how much of the compounds consumers could be expected to actually consume.

The full media release is here.

Just a reminder: Hate speech, racism, calling people "skanks," and similar uncivil behavior will be deleted. Play nice or play somewhere else.

Something we missed? Send us your news, or post it here!

Go to the latest blog post | Go to the PetConnection home page

|Technorati Tags: pet food recall, dogs, cats,veterinarian, veterinary

Pet food recall: Friday news and open thread

• If you have a sick pet or a question on your pet’s health, call your veterinarian.


• If you’re new to the site, please check out our general information page (includes information on recalled foods).


• If you want to report a sick or deceased pet, click here.

We're putting this up as a small news roundup and open thread for Friday night. Please let us know by email or by posting here if there's anything new or something we've missed. And please send remedies for sleep deprivation and carpal tunnel syndrome.

The big news is that not only were ChemNutra's offices in Las Vegas searched by the FDA, but Menu's offices were, too. From the AP's Andrew Bridges:

Federal agents searched facilities of a dog and cat food manufacturer and one of its suppliers as part of an investigation into the widening recall of pet products, the companies disclosed Friday.

Food and Drug Administration officials searched an Emporia, Kan., pet food plant operated by Menu Foods and the Las Vegas offices of ChemNutra Inc., according to the companies.

[...]

Menu Foods also said the U.S. Attorney's offices in Kansas and the western district of Missouri have targeted the company as part of misdemeanor investigations into whether it violated the federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act. The sale of adulterated food is a misdemeanor.

Turns out ChemNutra has also imported rice protein concentrate from the same supplier of the tainted wheat gluten:

Import records obtained by The Associated Press show that since May 2006 alone ChemNutra also imported 440,000 pounds of the second suspect pet food ingredient, rice protein concentrate, from the same Chinese trading agent that handled exports of the tainted wheat gluten.

[...]

Ten of the 11 containers of rice protein concentrate imported by ChemNutra over the last year went to undisclosed pet food companies, spokesman Steve Stern said. The 11th is under quarantine and being tested. But just one of the other 10 is known to have been tested; results from those tests, done last week, showed it was not contaminated, Stern said.

Full story here.

Interesting, although short, article from canada.com on a piece of the puzzle as to how melamine, generally thought to be incapable of causing the level of kidney damage seen in affected pets, might have reacted with cyanuric acid when ingested:

Scientists at the University of Guelph say they have discovered a chemical process that may explain how pets in Canada and the United States were affected by contaminants discovered in recalled pet food products last month.

They found that melamine and cyanuric acid - compounds identified as contaminants in the gluten that was used in the recalled pet food - react with one another to form crystals that may block kidney function.

Menu Foods is biting back at ChemNutra:

Menu Foods said on Friday that ChemNutra was wrong in implying that suspicious wheat gluten used in its pet food may have come from other suppliers, since it did not start having problems with tainted supplies until it starting working with ChemNutra.

U.S. officials have said the wheat gluten used in pet food made by Menu Foods was tainted with melamine, an industrial chemical that is not approved for use in food, and is linked to a U.S. pet food recall that includes over 100 brands and could expand further.

"ChemNutra's statement is wrong, and unnecessarily alarms consumers," a Menu Foods spokesman said via e-mail.

Update: Interesting article in the LA Times about food safety, national security, the FDA, and the pet food recall:

After the 2001 terrorist attacks, the government and experts developed protections against an array of threats. But as time passed without new attacks, the sense of urgency drained away. In the case of foodstuff, the FDA's Import Strategic Plan fell victim to budget constraints, competing priorities and government inertia.

"The bottom line is that the United States is being overwhelmed with food imports, and they are not being screened by the FDA," said William Hubbard, a former FDA associate commissioner for policy and planning.

"A lot of time and effort went into it, and the best minds of the agency were brought in," he said of the import protection plan. "It wasn't approved or disapproved. It was basically, 'We can't do this because we have no money. This is all good stuff, and it should be done, but we don't have money.' "

There is, however, a new urgency. The chemicals implicated in the pet deaths, identified as melamine and cyanuric acid, were found in protein ingredients used in human foods, ranging from bread to veggie burgers. One of the most common of these ingredients is wheat gluten.

FDA investigators suspect the interaction of melamine (used to make plastics more pliable) and cyanuric acid (used to sanitize pool water) might have caused fatal kidney problems in pets. A possible reason for adding the chemicals is that in certain tests, they can make food ingredients appear protein-rich.

This week, the FDA announced that it was expanding testing for contamination of human foods, though none has been detected. China, a country with a reputation for lax safety standards, is a major supplier of ingredients in pet and human foods marketed by U.S. companies.

Full article here.

So - will I get to sleep tonight or not?

Go to the latest blog post | Go to the PetConnection home page

|Technorati Tags: pet food recall, dogs, cats,veterinarian, veterinary

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."

Pet food recall: FDA transcript, and the question

• If you have a sick pet or a question on your pet’s health, call your veterinarian.


• If you’re new to the site, please check out our general information page (includes information on recalled foods).


• If you want to report a sick or deceased pet, click here.

It's been a long night and I'm still somewhat in shock from all the recalls in the hours after the media conference at which the FDA said... well, I can tell you exactly what they said, because they just published the transcript:

OPERATOR: Next question comes from Debbie (sic) Turner. Your line is open.

REPORTER: Thank you. This is Debbie Turner (sic) with CBS News. As it relates to pets, are you confident that you have confiscated and contained all the melamine adulterated or contaminated, whether it be wheat gluten, rice protein concentrate, and should we expect any additional voluntary recalls among pet food in the coming days and weeks?

CAPTAIN ELDER: There was a recall announced today (PetConnection note: That recall was actually announced the day before) involving the rice protein concentrate. It was announced by Chenango Valley Foods. And in this announcement it covered the product Smart Pac, product produced, marketed by the firm Smart Pac that we mentioned during the last call on Tuesday of this week, and it includes additional products distributed by a firm called Foster and Smith. These again were associated with the contaminated rice protein concentrate. 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. However, with the caveat, the inspection is ongoing and we are going to follow the trail until it ends, and if another recall emerges through that investigation that's what will be necessary to continue to protect animal health and we will make sure that we do that as expeditiously as we can.

The whole transcript is here on the USDA website.

As I think we all know by now, not only had there been a subsequent recall during or shortly before the press conference - the Costco one - but there have now been FIVE MORE tonight, within hours of that statement - made, it should be noted, in response to a question from a reporter, Dr. Debbye Turner, who is also a veterinarian.

What's more, since Craig Wilson of Costco told me that it was FDA testing that found the melamine in their food in the first place (tests run by American Nutrition on the food were negative), what chain of events could have led to FDA saying that it "didn't have anything else that we expect to emerge"? What did FDA expect would happen with the companies it had told had melamine in their foods?

Go to the latest blog post | Go to the PetConnection home page

|Technorati Tags: pet food recall, dogs, cats,veterinarian, veterinary

Pet food recall: Menu sues ChemNutra - and yes, there ' s another recall

• If you have a sick pet or a question on your pet’s health, call your veterinarian.


• If you want your say on food-safety reform, Sen. Durbin’s office wants to hear from you.


• If you’re new to the site, please check out our general information page (includes links to recalled foods).


• If you’d like suggestions on what to feed, click here.


• If you want to report a sick or deceased pet, click here.

Looks like Menu is placing the blame for the contamination of pet food that led to the massive ongoing pet food recall squarely on ChemNutra, the company that sold the pet food manufacturer wheat gluten contaminated with melamine.

And the Canadian company is doing it the American way: with a lawsuit.

From the Emporia Gazette, in Emporia, KS, where the plant that received the contaminated ingredient is located:

“Menu Foods prides itself on providing customers with wet pet food products made with high quality ingredients,” the company’s attorneys stated in the court petition, filed in Lyon County District Court. “In 2006, ChemNutra promised Menu Foods that it could supply one such high quality ingredient, wheat gluten to Menu Foods. ChemNutra breached its promise.”

The gluten came to ChemNutra from a Chinese supplier.

At Congressional hearings earlier this week, Menu Foods President Paul Henderson said the gluten may have been spiked as part of a fraud. Melamine is high in nitrogen, he said, and could make wheat gluten appear to be high in protein.

“What this appears to be is a case of deliberate contamination of wheat gluten in order to pass off substandard product,” Henderson told a U.S. House committee. “For a seller who knows how industry testing methods work, this would allow them to cheat the buyers.”

ChemNutra Chief Executive Officer Steve Miller, in a letter on the company’s Web site, said he feared his own company had been “the victim of deliberate and mercenary contamination” as well. He said the Chinese company that sold the gluten had been recommended to ChemNutra by a reliable source.

“We assure you that we will never again do business with the supplier of the suspect wheat gluten, XuZhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co., Ltd.,” Miller wrote. “...We hope that U.S. and Chinese investigations of XuZhou Anying reveal what actually occurred.”

In the lawsuit, Menu Foods asks for a judgment “substantially in excess of $75,000.” It also asks that ChemNutra indemnify Menu against all costs associated with the recall and any lawsuits pressed against Menu as a result of the recall, along with any other damages the court chooses to assign.

Full story here. Here's the AP version

UPDATE: So far unconfirmed, but from a flood of email from readers, there may be another recall - Therese from thepetfoodlist.com and I are digging into it now.

UPDATE 2: I found it on the PetSmart press center website. It is an extended list of recalled products carried by PetSmart, that includes several Blue Buffalo foods, dated as having been added today.

These products are NOT referenced on Blue Buffalo's own website, which still states that only its one run of one kitten food was affected by the recall.

Update 3:Itchmo just got a press release from Blue Buffalo, which he has reproduced in its entirety here. Excerpt:

We at the Blue Buffalo Company have just learned that American Nutrition Inc. (ANI), the manufacturer of all our cans and biscuits, has been adding rice protein concentrate to our can formulas without our knowledge and without our approval. This is product tampering, and it apparently has been going on for some time. The can formulas that we developed, and trusted them to produce, never contained any rice protein concentrate. It appears that only an FDA investigation of ANI’s rice protein concentrate supplies forced them to reveal this product tampering to us.

While this activity by ANI is in itself unlawful, the situation is further clouded by the fact that ANI has been receiving rice protein concentrate from Wilber-Ellis, some of which the FDA has determined to be contaminated with melamine.

So while no BLUE or Spa Select canned product has tested positive for the presence of melamine, and there has been no reported illness due to any of our canned products, we simply cannot be sure of what ANI has been including in our formulas. For this reason, we have decided to remove all of our canned and biscuit products from retail distribution. While this may seem to many to be a major over-reaction, as other ANI customers will probably only recall the products that tested positive for melamine, we see this as a matter of integrity.

Update 4:And forwarded from itchmo, a press release from ChemNutra - seems the FDA searched ChemNutra's office today. And since Menu's suing ChemNutra, ChemNutra is doing some finger pointing of its own:

Steve Miller, Chief Executive Officer of ChemNutra, said “We have cooperated and complied fully with FDA investigators both prior to and since being served with today’s search warrant, and will continue to do so. We keep very good records which has made it relatively easy for the investigators to retrieve what they needed.” He added that, “We also now believe that our wheat gluten customer, Menu Foods, used significantly more wheat gluten monthly than we supplied to them, so we hope that Menu Foods will disclose its other sources to the FDA to ensure that any suspect product is quarantined.

“We placed our wheat gluten in quarantine as soon as Menu Foods informed us that it might have contributed to pet illnesses about which Menu Foods had apparently been aware for some time. We can only hope that Menu Foods has taken steps to ensure that this situation will not be allowed to spread even farther because of its inaction.”

Full thing over here.

Go to the latest blog post | Go to the PetConnection home page

|Technorati Tags: pet food recall, dogs, cats,veterinarian, veterinary

Pet food recall: Costco speaks

• If you have a sick pet or a question on your pet’s health, call your veterinarian.


• If you want your say on food-safety reform, Sen. Durbin’s office wants to hear from you.


• If you’re new to the site, please check out our general information page (includes links to recalled foods).


• If you’d like suggestions on what to feed, click here.


• If you want to report a sick or deceased pet, click here.

A reader of this blog told us yesterday that her local Costco was pulling pet food off its shelves, and an employee said it was because the food was "bad." None of the Costco Kirkland brand foods had been recalled at that time.

I contacted Costco but received a "no comment" response, along with a statement that someone else could contact me who could answer my questions.

Today at around 4 PM Pacific Time, I heard from Craig Wilson, Vice President, Food Safety and Quality Assurance for Costco.

He said Costco was informed last Friday at around 4 PM by American Nutrition, which manufactures their canned dog food (they do not make a canned cat food), that some of the Wilbur-Ellis melamine-contaminated rice protein powder had been used to manufacture some foods in Costco's Kirkland Signatures pet food line. He said Costco did not suspect their foods might have a problem prior to this because they were unaware that any ingredients in their food came from China, or that there was rice protein powder in any of their foods. Rice protein powder is not listed on the label; the label ingredient in question is "rice flour."

After hearing from American Nutrition, he immediately ordered all suspect foods removed from the shelves in all Costco stores nationwide. "Even with no test results yet from American Nutrition, I pulled it nationwide," he said.

During this afternoon's FDA press conference, CBS News' Debbye Turner, a veterinarian, asked the FDA's David Elder if there were any more recalls planned or pending. Elder answered no, he wasn't aware of any further pet food recalls that were planned at this time. He stressed the investigation was still open, and that they'd keep following the trail.

While Costco did not officially notify the FDA it was recalling the food until around 3 PM Pacific Time today, well after the press conference had ended, according to Wilson the FDA had already tested Kirkland pet foods, not subject at this time to any recalls whatsoever, and discovered one of them contained melamine.

Wilson stressed that Costco acted with caution to prevent harm to any pets who might eat the food. They believed their food was safe, and American Nutrition's own tests did not detect melamine in the food. It was FDA testing that detected the contamination. Wilson said that American Nutrition is working with the FDA, and that "many" other brands are involved, "not just Costco."

"The affected dates are from August '06-April '07," he said. "I'm sending a letter out to each and every person who purchased the dog food during the recall period and to make sure they get a full refund. There have been no out of the ordinary reports of illnesses on any of our Kirkland dogs."

Costco, he said, is not relying on outside testing to assure the safety of their pet foods. "We are testing everything, absolutely everything, internally. Pet food's under tremendous scrutiny right now." He said this includes their dry pet foods as well as canned, although they do not contain rice flour.

The recalled food is Kirkland Signature Super Premium Canned Food, item # 38436, best buy dates of Aug. 21 08 to April 15 of 09.

I wrote the FDA immediately after the press conference asking about the statement Capt. Elder made about there being no planned further recalls, and pointing out the Costco recall that had been announced that day. In an email at 2:34 pm PT this afternoon, the FDA's Michael Herndon said, "As Captain Elder said on the call we are not aware of any other recalls at this time."

I wrote back asking for clarification, and at 3:03 pm PT, received another email, stating, "We have not received any information from Costco regarding a recall so far today." He did not respond to further emails.

The question of how the FDA could state that they were not aware of any pending recalls in their afternoon press conference when they had already detected melamine in un-recalled foods - and as Wilson said, apparently not just in the Costco foods - remains an open one.

Go to the latest blog post | Go to the PetConnection home page

|Technorati Tags: pet food recall, dogs, cats,veterinarian, veterinary

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

Pet food recall: Liveblogging 4/26 FDA press conference

• If you have a sick pet or a question on your pet’s health, call your veterinarian.


• If you want your say on food-safety reform, Sen. Durbin’s office wants to hear from you.


• If you’re new to the site, please check out our general information page (includes links to recalled foods).


• If you’d like suggestions on what to feed, click here.


• If you want to report a sick or deceased pet, click here.

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

Although I believe our technical issues have been resolved, if there are any problems with this site during that time, I'll pick it up on my personal blog at www.doggedblog.com. Please have compassion for my bandwidth over there and DO NOT click on this link until you need to - just save the URL in case you can't get here.

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

The music playing while we wait to be processed into the teleconference is "Hotel California." It's a jazzy Latin muzak version.

I do have one question - I thought, perhaps incorrectly, that Daniel McChesney was a PhD and not a veterinarian, but he's listed here as "DVM." Does anyone know?

4:23 PM ET, still hasn't begun.

4:30 PM ET, still hasn't started. The music is getting worse, if that were possible.

4:31 PM ET, it begins with opening remarks.

The rest after the jump ...

Capt David Elder, Mr. Kenneth Peterson from USDA, Dr. Daniel McChesney from CVM at FDA, Dr. David Atchinson.

Capt Elder: Working closely with USDA on ag aspects. Notifed state authorities that swine fed adulterated product will not be approved, although risk of illness is low.

Recapping rice protein contamination.

The contaminants include melamine and related compounds, including cynauric acid (sp?). Says melamine is not that toxic, but may be in combo with other compounds.

Dr. Peterson: Animal feed was adulterated, so USDA cannot rule out possiblity food produced from these animals wouldn't be contaminated, so USDA can't approve this meat if it's produced for inspection. Will compensate farmers for swine that can't be sold, and USDA will help with "depopulation activities" and disposal of swine.

Capt Elder: Coordinating with state authorities. CA KS CN NY OK SC UT (might have missed one)

6000 hogs. Quarantined or being held in their states.

Feed mill in MO might also have rec'd contaminated feed.

Peterson: Pork will also be destroyed. In CA and UT, pork is bring retained at the plant. In SC, swine being held. Authorities are trying to find out if any meat has "entered commerce." If this has occurred, follow up action will be taken.

Capt Elder: If other producers are identified that fed contaminated feed, will be compensated.

Open to questions, said we must ask one only.

Marian Falco (?): Says people in CA HAVE consumed it. What is risk?

Dr. Peterson: We're investigating if any has "gone into commerce." Says as far as they know today, about 6000 hogs were potentially fed the feed. Has no reason to believe anywhere near that number is gone to slaughter.

In CA, does not involve a federal plant. Those products didn't go into "commerce," but were sold to customers. Doesn't know any that went from federal plants.

Elizabeth Weisse from USA Today: Can you be more specific in how cynauric acid is related to melamine, was it only found in the rice?

Dr. Elder: It's related to melamine, has been found in rice protein, some testing done on wheat gluten and in some samples, found there.

Andrew Bridges, AP: Does "not approved to enter the food supply" mean it's illegal to sell these hogs?

Peterson: Will be humanely euthanized. "Not eligible" to apply marks of inspection on these products. Sounds like he isn't saying it's "illegal" per se.

Richard Reed, the Oregonian: Interaction between melamine and cyauranic acid? What would the interaction do?

McChesney: Trying to figure that out. Might increase toxicity of melamine. Some indication the crystals form from combo of two compounds.

Pittsburg Post-Gazette: Asking about reimbursing for hogs - who being reimbursed?

Recapping how that works.

David Goldstein asked about pet food salvage being fed to livestock.

Dr. Elder: We are tracking all manufacturers of pet food. Practices differ as to what they sell as salvage products. Are tracing other pet foods made by Menu or anyone, made with wheat gluten, to see if have entered animal food supply.

Question: How certain are you these compounds ARE the culprit compounds? Latest estimates of affected pets.

McChesney: No additional info on compounds. Estimate on pets has not changed. Focused mainly on making sure all product is removed from commerce.

Follow up: Any other compounds?

Other metabolites of this family.

Gina Damron, Detroit Free Press: Ohio still have hog farm affected? Have all states quarantined?

Response: OK was just added today. Sounds like they removed the Ohio farm after investigation. Quarantine in some states, state or local "holds" in others.

Allison Aubrey (?) Did not ask.

Abigail Goldman, LA Times: Update us on where you are with the investigation in China? Do you have people in the factories? Please bring us up to date.

Murray Lumpkin: Have rec'd documents we need to get visas. People are ready to go over. We are working with Chinese authorities who have been in plants doing inspections. We know that our in-country colleagues have in-country expertise, and often having the original inspections done there gives us info that we can use when we go in. Expect to be in China, working with our counterparts, and doing our own inspections.

Alex Polaski, Oregonian: Asked McChesney about interaction of the mel and cyn acid, forms crystals? Lead to renal failure? Also, will USDA or government go after Wilbur Ellis for reimbursement.

Answer: Yes, crystals in kidneys can result in kidney failure.

Peterson: Compensation is for farmers. Will not compensate importer.

Polaski: Not question. Will gov'ment seek repayment of compensation from importer?

Peterson: No.

Question: How much money will be spent on compensation?

Answer: No.

Jim (?) WDI-TV In Detroit: Total number of pets killed or sustaining some sort of injury from pet food contamination?

McChesney: Confirmed 17-18. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) We're not working on that.

Follow up: Will you ever take a count of dogs and cats involved?

McChesney: Don't know. Have had many thousands of calls. Are looking at it, but not sure we'll ever come up with a final number. Doesn't think we can ever get that.

Missed one question.

Reporter is asking about some swine where feed tested negative but urine tested positive. Does this mean this has been going on for a long time?

Elder: Contamination in food not homogeneous. He feels dates are clear. Can't speculate on "what you perceive as an inconsistency."

Daniel Goldstein, Bloomberg: Elaborate on Missouri feedmill. Any chance chemical got into chicken and cattle feed as well?

Answer: Not prepared to talk about that.

Goldstein: Can't rule out chicken and cattle feed?

McChesney: Can't rule out chicken, but BSE regulations would prevent this from going into cattle feed.

Debbye Turner, CBS News: Are you confident you have confiscated all contaminated pet food, will there be additional voluntary recalls in the next few days?

David Elder: Recall announced today involving Chenango Valley Foods for SmartPak (NOT TODAY), changed to say Tuesday. Now says there are additional products by Foster and Smith. (WE KNEW THIS.) We aren't aware of any additional recalls at this time. As we say time and again, the investigation is open. We continue to follow the trail. We don't expect anything esle to emerge, but we will follow the trail.

Dierdre Henderson: Is melamine truly the cause of the harm to these animals?

McChesney: We are considering other possibilities, but melamine is associated.

Question for Dr. Peterson: Has USDA rec'd indication from international trading partners that they might suspend US pork imports?

Peterson: No.

Chris Clayton: Why hasn't then been any US agencies putting hold or ban on imports until invesgitation is further along?

I'm sorry, I missed this response.

LA Times: Asked more about cyanuric (?) acid. Swimming pool chemical? How did it get into pet food? Byproduct of melamine?

McChesney: They don't know. Can say it's a nitrogen rich compound much like melamine. Either or both of those compounds in a protein product could serve to increase the apparent protein level. It's structurally similar to melamine. Probably added seperately not a breakdown product.

Question: Asked about dangers of eating the hogs to humans.

Atchinson: No melamine toxicity studies in humans. Working from rat studies. Indicate you need very high levels of pure melamine to cause a problem. Some mixtures may be more toxic. However, likelihood of human toxicity is low.

AP: Is depopulation mandatory?

Peterson: No.

Missed one question.

They apparently are not going to take my question, which was going to be:

American Nutrition has just confirmed for thepetfoodlist.com that some of Costco's Kirkland Signature pet foods are being recalled now, that melamine has been found in them, and that other foods may be involved. You said you weren't aware of any pending recalls - does that include this one? What is the likelihood there will be more?

They're done.

Go to the latest blog post | Go to the PetConnection home page

|Technorati Tags: pet food recall, dogs, cats,veterinarian, veterinary