Wheat Gluten/Melamine Poison in Pet Foods

V

valich

Registered Senior Member
Ironically, the brands most seen on the media as being affected by this problem are the most trustworthy of them all: Eubakanuba and Iam's. They were so revered by all that they claimed "proprietary rights" to their ingredients and so were not scrutinized. Every reputable breeder assumed they were feeding their dogs the best. I became suspicious three years ago when my Elkhound developed a copper tint on her fur after feeding her Eubakanuba - a complaint that the company reps just ignored. Glad I switched to Eagle brand immediately.

"Food and Drug Administration took action against wheat gluten from Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. in Wangdien, China, after the U.S. recall of nearly 100 brands of pet food made with the chemically contaminated ingredient. The pet food, tainted with the chemical melamine, apparently has resulted in kidney failure in an unknown number of animals across the country. The FDA reported last week that it had found melamine in samples of the vegetable protein source used in the recalled wet and dry pet foods and treats, as well as in cats that died after eating contaminated food...Melamine is used in plastics, countertops, glue, fire retardants and other products. Its toxicity to dogs and cats is unknown, but it is not allowed in food in any quantity. The FDA still doesn't know where all the contaminated imported wheat gluten ended up, though it appears unlikely any made it into human food." http://www.king5.com/animals/news/stories/NW_040207ANBpetfood_glutenSW.26c06be6.html

"FDA directed inspectors to stop all wheat gluten imports from Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Company Ltd. The FDA said wheat gluten supplied by the company to Menu Foods was found to contain melamine, a chemical used in plastics and fertilizers. Menu Foods has recalled 60 million cans and pouches of "cuts-and-gravy" style wet pet food sold under various brands after the deaths of 14 cats and dogs." http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?alias=us-blocks-wheat-gluten-li&chanId=sa003

"China rejects blame for pet food recall: The government disputed reports that a chemical called Aminopterin, a rat poison, could have entered the pet food supplies in North America from China. The government said the chemical is not used in rat poison in China." http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/05/business/gluten.php
 
draqon said:
it's ok for pets to die, they are not part of our society. They are not humans.
But I really see this issue as economical/politically bases, USA is trying hard to not make China a monopoly in the marketing field.
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That doesn't even come close to relating to this particular situation.

In fact, in the past few days, China has come to realize that it IS the source of the problem (while still not saying so) because it has begun it's own investigations and has even found it has serious problems realting to contamination in it's human food supply.

China is still a technological wannabe while things like it's farms and food industry still continue to operate in a very much third-world manner. In fact, very large populated expanses of the country are polluted more than other countries (including the US) have ever been. Nationally, their water supply is in the worse condition it has ever been in and is getting worse every month.

So, would you like to take a moment and rethink what you just said?
 
I agree, but what do you mean by the last statement? I don't think that this has anything to do with the US trying to not make China a monopoly here? I don't understand what you're trying to say. Also, there's been quite a few concerns lately that this contamination might have gone beyond dogs and cats and have affected humans. There's still an uncertainty here, but at least now we know that it is traced back to China. From my experience there, Chinese could care less about what type of food ingredient they supply for pet food. Not a concern. This is where it makes a lot of sense to me: just sell it to the Americans for pet food.
 
Read-Only said:
That doesn't even come close to relating to this particular situation.

In fact, in the past few days, China has come to realize that it IS the source of the problem (while still not saying so) because it has begun it's own investigations and has even found it has serious problems realting to contamination in it's human food supply.

China is still a technological wannabe while things like it's farms and food industry still continue to operate in a very much third-world manner. In fact, very large populated expanses of the country are polluted more than other countries (including the US) have ever been. Nationally, their water supply is in the worse condition it has ever been in and is getting worse every month.

So, would you like to take a moment and rethink what you just said?
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Very good post. What are your sources that China is investigating this? I posted a source that states that China is denying it.

There's no doubt about the pollution problem in China. While I lived there for over ten years, I've never come across a stream, river, or creek that had any sign of life in it - mostly just grey muck. When I walked/ran my dog home along the beach in Xiamen - known as the flower beautiful city - I'd have to always keep an eye out for dead pigs, cows, and miscellaneous other garbage that always washed up on the beach. Once a dead whale even washed up. It's not just the inland water supplies, but also the extensive garbage that they throw into the ocean. There is no filtration system in most cities on the coast. They run a three foot diameter pipe out about a quarter mile into the sea and just dump all the sewage out.
 
That's not true. China is only saying that they do not use Aminoptren as rat poison. They're no saying that they don't have it or use it otherwise. They're not saying that it, or some other contaminant was not present in the wheat gluten that was imported from China.
 
Numerous links that say "aminopterin is a cancer drug made in China" that found its way in the wheat gluten.
 
valich said:
I agree, but what do you mean by the last statement? I don't think that this has anything to do with the US trying to not make China a monopoly here? I don't understand what you're trying to say. Also, there's been quite a few concerns lately that this contamination might have gone beyond dogs and cats and have affected humans. There's still an uncertainty here, but at least now we know that it is traced back to China. From my experience there, Chinese could care less about what type of food ingredient they supply for pet food. Not a concern. This is where it makes a lot of sense to me: just sell it to the Americans for pet food.
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I thought the last statement was very clear. You said "But I really see this issue as economical/politically bases, USA is trying hard to not make China a monopoly in the marketing field."

Which is poorly worded but that I took to mean the US is trying to keep (not make) China from becoming a monolopoly in the marketing field. And that has nothing at all to do with this particular issue.

Did I misunderstand what you were trying to say?
 
If I may ask, why is that? He tried to turn it into a political/economic battle on behaf of the US and that doesn't come into play. It was simply shoddy practices on the part of the Chineese. The current thinking is that someone may have used the same equipment to process both things in or stored the gluten in improperly washed containers. And NOT that the US is trying to harm their export market.
 
valich said:
Very good post. What are your sources that China is investigating this? I posted a source that states that China is denying it.

There's no doubt about the pollution problem in China. While I lived there for over ten years, I've never come across a stream, river, or creek that had any sign of life in it - mostly just grey muck. When I walked/ran my dog home along the beach in Xiamen - known as the flower beautiful city - I'd have to always keep an eye out for dead pigs, cows, and miscellaneous other garbage that always washed up on the beach. Once a dead whale even washed up. It's not just the inland water supplies, but also the extensive garbage that they throw into the ocean. There is no filtration system in most cities on the coast. They run a three foot diameter pipe out about a quarter mile into the sea and just dump all the sewage out.
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I can't find the exact article that I read on MSNBC.com a few days ago but I found this current one that comes close. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18078824/

The whole article is interesting but notice one of the last couple of paragraphs on the second page that says both the government and company are investigating.
 
Read-Only said:
I thought the last statement was very clear. You said "But I really see this issue as economical/politically bases, USA is trying hard to not make China a monopoly in the marketing field."

Which is poorly worded but that I took to mean the US is trying to keep (not make) China from becoming a monolopoly in the marketing field. And that has nothing at all to do with this particular issue.

Did I misunderstand what you were trying to say?
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No. I agree with what you are saying. I think that this has nothing at all to do with this issue.
 
Well that article that just came out yesterday solidifies that facts:

The list of Chinese food exports rejected at American ports reads like a chef’s nightmare: pesticide-laden pea pods, drug-laced catfish, filthy plums and crawfish contaminated with salmonella. It took a much more obscure item, contaminated wheat gluten, to focus U.S. public attention on a very real and frightening fact: China’s chronic food safety woes are now an international concern. In recent weeks, scores of cats and dogs in America have died of kidney failure blamed on eating pet food containing gluten from China that was tainted with melamine, a chemical used in plastics, fertilizers and flame retardants. Pesticides and chemical fertilizers are used in excess to boost yields while harmful antibiotics are widely administered to control disease in seafood and livestock. Rampant industrial pollution risks introducing heavy metals into the food chain.

Farmers have used cancer-causing industrial dye Sudan Red to boost the value of their eggs and fed an asthma medication to pigs to produce leaner meat. In a case that galvanized the public’s and government’s attention, shoddy infant formula with little or no nutritional value has been blamed for causing severe malnutrition in hundreds of babies and killing at least 12. Chinese products are bounced for containing pesticides, antibiotics and other potentially harmful chemicals, and false or incomplete labeling that sometimes omits the producer’s name...The gluten was traced to a company outside Shanghai, Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18078824/
 
This is what China said last week:

"Chinese agricultural department has never permitted it to be used as a pesticide or a rat poisoning pill. Therefore any wheat or wheat products made in China should not have contained, or been contaminated by such substance." http://www.chinanews.cn/news/2005/2007-04-03/34797.html

If that doesn't sound like a "maybe," then I don't know what does.
 
valich said:
Well that article that just came out yesterday solidifies that facts:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18078824/
Click to expand...

Yes, and the primary thing I wanted you to see in that article was the first sentence in this paragraph:

"The company and the government’s inspection and quarantine administration are investigating. But a company sales manager, Geng Xiujuan, said Xuzhou Anying was only a middleman, buying the gluten, commonly used as a thickener in pet food, from companies in neighboring provinces and selling it to a separate trading company."

China still admits no problem officially, but the other report I read said they were also checking the human food supply as well - again, without official acknowledgement of the fact.
 
How often do you ever hear China admit to any of their own people's mistakes? Yes, Let's hope they are investigating. So who should take the blame here? The shoddy peasant farmer who is struggling to make a living and growing crops with whatever tainted fertilizer might be available? Or whatever else might have caused it. The middleman has much more of a responsibility in checking the quality of the products that he buys and then exports out to others. It took a long time after the fact before China officially acknowledged that they had a serious SARS problem, and only then because they had to to stop it. I doubt they'll ever officially acknowledge this one.
 
Wow! This problem is now so out of control. U.S. gov orders recall. Diamond Pet Food sells then sells their surplus supply to hog farms in California, Ohio and India. Pigs eat the melamine and contaminate the pork we buy to eat. Now the gov quarantines all those pig farms. Melamine is now found in wheat gluten, rice protein, and a third - all traced back to China. Could've been intentional poisoning, or intentional to boost protein content. Someone doesn't like pets?

Here in Arizona a similar problem just occurred. Someone went door-to-door and put strychnine in the bowls of pets outside. Now the community is scared to death and no one dares to let their pets out.
 
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