Pet-food tainting raises food-safety questions

Q: How many brands of pet food were recalled?

A: Companies have recalled more than 5,500 varieties of pet food and treats, sold under more than 100 brands.

Q: What advice has FDA given pet owners?

A: The agency recommends checking if a pet’s food has been recalled. Any recalled food should not be used. A complete, searchable list is available on the FDA’s Web site. If a pet suffers a loss of appetite, lethargy or vomiting, the FDA suggests owners contact a veterinarian.

Q: How did the melamine get into the pet food in the first place?

A: Two vegetable proteins tainted with melamine were imported from China and used in pet foods sold in North America, while a third was used in southern Africa. In the United States, melamine has shown up in wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate. The protein-rich ingredients were used to produce the now-recalled brands of pet foods and treats by U.S. and Canadian companies. And in pet products sold in South Africa and Namibia, the third vegetable protein ingredient, corn gluten, also has been found to be contaminated.

Q: Why would melamine show up in those ingredients?

A: The Food and Drug Administration suspects melamine was used to spike the vegetable proteins to make them appear to have more protein than they actually did. Adding a nitrogen-rich contaminant like melamine would skew the results of tests to make an ingredient register as more protein-rich than it really is — and allow it to sell for more money.

Q: Who imported the tainted ingredients and where did they go?

A: All three vegetable proteins tainted with melamine were imported from China. Two companies are known to have imported tainted ingredients: ChemNutra Inc. of Las Vegas bought wheat gluten, and Wilbur-Ellis Co. of San Francisco purchased the rice protein concentrate. Both companies in turn sold the wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate to pet food manufacturers or distributors that supply such companies. The FDA does not believe either ingredient went directly to any company that used them to make human food.

Q: Why weren’t the ingredients tested for melamine?

A: Until the recent and ongoing recalls, regulators did not consider melamine a likely contaminant of food meant for either people or animals. Nor were the vegetable proteins considered at risk for contamination. The FDA is now testing a variety of vegetable proteins, used to make everything from infant formula to energy bars, for the chemical.

Q: What else is the government doing to ensure the safety of the food people and pets eat?

A: The FDA is inspecting factories and warehouses and analyzing both raw ingredients and finished pet foods as part of its efforts to track down all the contaminated product. Agency inspectors also plan to visit plants in China where the suspect ingredients were made. Along with the USDA and state officials, the FDA is investigating cases where contaminated pet food was fed to hogs and poultry. The FDA is also fielding consumer complaints as well as calls from veterinarians. And agency criminal investigators continue to monitor the situation.

Q: What about Congress?

A: Lawmakers have begun a series of investigations into how the FDA polices the safety of the nation’s food supply. Legislative proposals include the creation of a single food agency. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has called for an audit of the nation’s food safety system. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., has said that unless the FDA improves how it handles food safety investigations she would seek to withhold the paychecks of top agency officials.

MORE FROM PETS

Pets Section Front

Video: Abandoned pups, kittens feel recession 5,600 new species found in deep sea Send us photos of your pudgy pets!   Miracle pup survives 3 months in wilderness Titan the Great Dane named world’s tallest dog   French hotel lets guests live like hamsters   Croc crosses hippos, gets chomped   Make your furry friend famous   Snakes, gators slither on TODAY MIA dog found in Afghanistan after months Pets Section Front   Add Pets headlines to your news reader: