Pet food recall: Hearing is over

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(Editing to correct time references.)

The Senate hearing on the pet food recall was held earlier today, and the Webcast is here -- one reader gave this as an alternate link: webcast. I liveblogged it on my personal blog, and so did itchmo. Video clips and more commentary at Spocko's Brain.

Sen. Durbin opened with remarks that bloggers and Web sites -- the volunteer efforts of pet owners -- are spreading more information, and better information, than our government. If sites like VIN and petconnection.com can do this, he said, so can the government.

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Comments

[Linda]

Longer and healthier lives - what about the rising cancer of dogs, even young dogs?



Linda MS

[Cynthia]

And about the wheat gluten testing... from what it sounds like from reports coming out of Cornell's lab, even a VISUAL inspection could have been a red flag for the shipment.

[Linda]

AAFCO regulates but it does not test and does not enforce.



Linda MS

[DeeAnn]

So sad, way too many people have sold their souls, instead of "wanting" to try and do the right things.

[Lois C.]

Did we REALLY expect anything good from this hearing? Once again, cow towing to big business. All I know is if pet food is already highly regulated then WHY are all of our pets getting sick and dying????????? Can't the U.S. government do ANYTHING right????

[Linda]

Nutrional adequacy - what? The dogs have to live for 6 months on the food and not lose more than 15 pounds. The big test.



Linda MS

[Linda]

The definition process - yes, they get away with spin - long term health - is not at question......



not really.



Linda MS

[Don]

Senator Durbin is right on the mark and bearing down.

[Linda]

Yes he is. Good for him. He will go to heaven!



Linda MS

[Lois C.]

I must say Sen. Durbin does convince me that he is trying to get to the bottom of this whole mess. At least he is trying.

[MonkeyKitty]

Senator Durbin has my vote!

[Cynthia]

Ekedahl says the system works!



You would think he would want to make sure this never happens again... if not for our pets, then for his own position protecting the industry. It's as if he'd like to invite this problem to happen again and again. Shameful.

[Linda]

They have their facilities in certain states for a good reason. Protocal - does not mean diddly.



Fumble, fumble, oh we don't need a cop at your (our) shoulders.



Menu's pets died and they didn't stop production. Gads, I'm gonna puke!



Linda MS

[Lois C.]

Go Senator Durbin go!

[MonkeyKitty]

Everyone please email Senator Durbin thanking him and encourage new law.



I wish he lived in Colorado!

[Linda]

No, wheat gluten and Gluten is a problem.



Linda MS

[Kim]

This is getting good now!

[Don]

Mr. Ekedahl - Ex. Dir of the Pet Institute didn't KNOW the timing sequence.



C'mon sir, move along. You've attended your last industry-financed conference.

[Lois C.]

Now we're getting somewhere!

[MonkeyKitty]

Don't tell me you don't know the facts Ekedahl. Don't tell me you don't know the facts Ekedahl. Perjury is a serious crime.

[Lynn]

DURBIN



You tell them!!! Put them on the defensive!

[Linda]

Hi Linda,

......The point is that their foods are bad enough with the "approved" ingredients- the gluten grains, soy, corn and now dairy products...again. That last one is insane, after we took all dairy out 20 years ago and for good reason. The pets are being sickened by these "staple" but totally unnatural ingredients every single day, with or without rat bait or plastic contaminants. We don't need to be looking for overtly offensive additives to explain the problems we are seeing, although it is painfully clear that we need to for the safety of our pets...and us.



They are supposed to list all ingredients in the food, starting with the most abundant. Whether some "secret"ingredients exist is unlikely, especially in the case of the bigger companies, buuuut....stranger things have happened. :(



I hope this helps,



I will post all the e-mail later.

[Linda]

Hope that the manufacturers clean their lines - cross contamination.



No one oversees this process. No requirement for clean out (other than medicated feeds.)



Right.



Linda MS

[Kim]

My favorite quote so far "The marketplace HAS dealt with it and a lot of consumers aren’t going to buy menu pet foods”

[Linda]

Kim,



Yes, stop buying their toxic waste junk dog food.



Linda MS

[VJ]

That's it!!!!!!!!!???????????

So where do pet owners go from here??

2 hours and it's over!!!!

[Linda]

Those creeps just didn't want to answer the tough questions. The jerks.



Linda MS

[DeeAnn]

This country as a whole, has allowed bad behavior from everywhere to become the norm instead of shunning it. There are lapses in serious consequences to wrong doing.



Senator Durbin is grilling DUANE EKEDAHL OF PET FOOD INSTITUTE and doing a good job of not letting him get away with his song and dance on the timeline of the recall.

[Don]

The strongest message out of this - caveat emptor!

[MonkeyKitty]

I ran out of disk space so the recording stopped. It would have been too large to download anyway.

[VJ]

What happens now???

[Linda]

It is archived and you can play it anytime.



Linda MS

[Linda]

Let the marketplace decide? Okay, no one ever again buy anything made at a MENU plant and every can needs to - must - have on it what plant, company etc acutally produced it.....



Linda MS

[Kim]

It's over? Did I miss the ending? Next steps?

[elliott]

This has not been a good day for pets

[Linda L. Tinker]

I say petconnection.com starts a campaign for Senator Durbin for President ... Can he call a spade a spade, or WHAT? Or ... B.S. by any other name is still B.S. That boy is GOOD! He'd probably arrange for Menu Foods' products to be sent to Iraq ... terrorist cells only ...

[Linda]

Time to e-mail Senator Dubin and ask him what's next.



Linda MS

[Shirley]

What happens now???



Comment by VJ



Now all pet owners need to contact their congressmen and not let the issue die. Let them know that we want action on regulation of the pet food industry.

[Empress 60]

BRAVO Senator Durbin

[Shirley]

Even if Durbin sponsors a bill, he will need the support of congress to get it passed.

[E. Hamilton]

While you are emailing and asking what is next , email reporters - this can be and SHOULD BE a big story, it could make a reporter famous.

There are plenty of political investigative reporters who could ride this to a Pulitzer prize and the great work done here on this blog would help.

The political connections alone are staggering.

And please do this now because one of our "favorites " Nestle/Purina announced today that they are going to buy Gerber babyfood!

Does that sound like a good idea to you?

[Linda]

Please send an e-mail to Senator Durbin and thank him. I asked him what would be his next step in this process.





Linda MS

http://durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm#contact

[Lynn]

NUMBER OF KIDNEY-RELATED ILLNESSES AND DEATHS IS DECLINING IN RECENT DAYS - GROSS ERROR!!!!



Someone stated that the number of alleged kidney-related illnesses and deaths has started to decline, based on data in various databases.



This is assinine. What has happened is that consumers have lost all confidence in commercial food and are making pet food themselves [and therefore the pets are not getting ill]. Gee, doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this one out.

[Carole]

Anyone seen this article just put out this afternoon by AP China?



http://tinyurl.com/2fg8xb

[Carole]

"While no investigation results have been announced, industry experts said they suspect the gluten might have been contaminated by having been processed or stored in machines or containers also used for melamine. Such anomalies show just how difficult it is to ensure purity, they said."

[Linda]

Lynn,



I read that the best selling books at Amazon are now the ones on making your own pet food - and they are running out.



Did you hear that woman vet testify, that making your own pet food is not a good idea? I just about choked. Well, its okay now while the pet food is poisoning. ???????



Linda MS.

[Cynthia]

Here's a good article from Newsweek that I think has just published.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18078824/

[elizabeth R]

Duane didn't do so hot, did he? Aafco guy was a buffoon. Sen. Byrd was harmless but took up valuable time that could have been used for additional important questioning such as looking for further contaminents and disposal of all the existing tainted product out there. It's a start, I guess but I'll still be cooking for a while longer.

[Linda]

Well if you can't test for all the toxic waste, and China uses so much of it, then stop allowing it to enter our country and onto our dinner plates, for crying out loud! Don't you all get it (not us bloggers) but the rule-makers, the government, FDA, CIA, whatever.



Linda MS.

[Don]

Once again, as pet owners or parents, we are responsible to ourselves, our pets and our families. No amount of taxpayer's dollars or regulatory authority, agency, trade association, corporate entity, or congressional hearings, etc., can ensure our safety with a 100% guarantee. We heard today that the testing of toxins or hazards can only be performed on toxins that have been previously identified or associated with foodstuff contaminations. In other words, it is impossible to test for every known toxin on earth that could find its way into any food chain. This said, contamination could occur at any time and anywhere. The Great Plague did and yet, today, we continue to face the prospect of a pandemic avian flu.



I have no doubt that the Menu Foods recall will highlight the lapses in oversight in a system that is inherently weak and incestuous to begin with. Some good is bound to come from all this - but again, never 100% guarantees.