Granted this article came out in March before things got really bad but look at the Menu managers attitude even then. They refused to answer media questions and went on as if nothing was wrong.. All the time they KNEW dogs and cats were dying due to their greed. If the managers were to get bigger bonueses, they had to have heftier corporate profits.

Thanks to the International Herald Tribune for this article.

Despite recall, pet food maker is still a large supplier
By Ian Austen
Published: March 22, 2007

OTTAWA: Like many retail chains, PetSmart quickly pulled several varieties of wet dog and cat foods made by Menu Foods, a Canadian manufacturer, that were recalled and have since been linked by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to the deaths of 14 animals.

But while the recall left empty spaces on the shelves of PetSmart’s 908 outlets, the stores still carry cans and pouches of food made by the same company.

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I cannot express my complete outrage that we actually now know the source of the mass poisoning of animals (and perhaps humans) and yet we still are allowing food to enter this continent from this rogue nation! The Chinese government has demonstrated time and time again their complete sociopathic disregard for the lives of humans or animals. Is it not madness to allow their food products to enter our food chains?

Thansk to USA Today for this article.

Melamine in pet food may not be accidental

By Elizabeth Weise and Julie Schmit, USA TODAY

A nitrogen-rich chemical used to make plastic and sometimes as a fertilizer may have been deliberately added to an ingredient in pet food that has sickened and killed cats and dogs across the country, public and private officials say. A leading theory is that it was added to fake higher protein levels.

Melamine has been found in wheat gluten, rice protein concentrate and, in South Africa, corn gluten, all imported from China, and all meant for use in pet food, the Food and Drug Administration confirmed Thursday.

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Howl911.com has been doing a great job of covering the pet food recalls. Here’s a very recent post on Howll911 linking the North American and South African recalls. In effect, Howl911 asserts that the melamine addition WAS NO ACCIDENT!

I hope that Howl911 is wrong when it says all commercial food is suspect. Maybe its time for the best pet food manufacturers to get smart and start allowing impartial consumer groups to take tours of their plants and review their materials records. At this point, if you ARE one of the “good guys,” you better prove it! We’re all feeling pretty betrayed and raw out here.

Read the rest of this entry »

So now we know the rice protein came from China AND the Chinese government is ACTIVELY preventing US FDA inspectors from investigating this deadly travesty. Can we just say NO MORE FOOD PRODUCTS FROM CHINA UNTIL THEY CLEAN UP THEIR ACT AND THEIR FOOD?!!?!?! (Sorry for caplocking that but I am just as frustrated and angry as everybody else!)

What does the Chinese government have to do to get punished? Let’s start enumerating their transgressions
– Killed thousands of innocent dogs to gain more control over their humans
– Currently skinning alive thousands of dogs every day for their fur which the humans will then lie about to import into North America as faux fur or labeled as rabbit
– Knowingly allows tainted food products to be sold (And don’t even try to tell me that none of the tainted stuff has made it into the human food! NO ONE, including the FDA, can honestly make that claim!)

What do they have to do for us to finally say “STOP!” ?

This is NOT to say that all Chinese are bad. There are MANY caring and lovely Dogsters and Catsters in China. How terrible it must be for them to live in this situation! Let’s keep them in our thoughts and efforts!

Something else to notice in this article. There are a number of other pet food manufacturers who apparently got food materials via the importer with the tainted food. Diamond Pet Foods, which had a large recall all by itself last year and several others that the importer refuses to name. That’s fine for his customers but what about our pets who may still be exposed to tainted food. Durbin and teh FDA should DEMAND those names. As for Diamond, I would be nervous about feeding any of their food until they have independant certification that they have not been affected.

Here’s what they say on their home page:
Wheat gluten or rice protein are not used in any of our dry, canned or treat products.

I would assume that’s the products carrying their brand name. But what about the other brands they make like Costco, Wal-Mart, and Chicken Soup for the Doglovers’ Soul? The article makes it clear the tainted food material went to Diamond. I doubt that Diamond has a completely separate facility to make those other brands. That means unless the machinery is cleaned more than thoroughly after every production run that used the tainted materials the Diamond brands are tainted too. Do you want to take that risk? I sure don’t and I used to use Chicken Soup for the Doglover’s Soul and other Diamond brands.

Thanks to Daphne for barking in this article from Yahoo News. As she says:

Is China still shipping that stuff out?!?! Where will it show up next?

“The company said it had told the FDA on Sunday that a single bag in a recent shipment of rice protein concentrate from its Chinese supplier, Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co. Ltd., had tested positive for melamine”

I’m with you, Daphne. I can’t believe we are still allowing this Chinese offal masquerading as food to enter North America!

Pet food recall expanded
By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - An industrial chemical that led to the nationwide recall of more than 100 brands of cat and dog food has turned up in a second pet food ingredient imported from China.

The discovery expands the monthlong cascade of recalls to include more brands and varieties of pet foods and treats tainted by the chemical.

“This has exposed that the safety standards for pet foods are not in place in any significant way and the kind of drumbeat, day after day, of recalls has shaken consumers’ confidence in the pet food industry’s adherence to food safety standards,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to Camelot Boxers and Itchmo for getting the word out on this expansion of the Menu Pet foods recall.

Menu Foods Refines Recall List
TORONTO, ONTARIO–(April 17, 2007) - Menu Foods

Attention Business/Financial Editors

Menu Foods has previously recalled wet cat and dog food produced with adulterated wheat gluten supplied by ChemNutra Inc. Over the past several days, Menu Foods continued a detailed analysis of production records at its Emporia, Kansas, plant as part of the US Food and Drug Administration’s ongoing investigation of this adulterated wheat gluten. As a result of this work, Menu Foods advises the public:

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A Lot of Catsters and Dogsters have been meowing and barking in asking who to contact to join a class action law suit against Menu Pet Foods. Here is my most recent information. If you know more, please bark in!

Thanks to Summersnow for barking in this information:

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Great barks and meows go out to Rhon, Winston’s furmom, for barking in these notes and Baby Red Snapper for taking the time to watch the Durbin hearing and make notes!

Rhon, Winston’s Mom wrote:
Winston, received this paw mail from Baby Red Snapper with notes from the Senate hearing. (can I say how much I LOVE my Senator from Illinois?).

Subject: Senate Hearings of Pet Food Recall Sent: Fri Apr 13

I don’t know if all this will fit in a message, but I wanted you to have a copy of my blog from yesterday in the event that you were unable to watch the Senate hearing.

What happened at the Senate pet food hearing

I would like to request that if anyone finds a full transcript or video that you would notify me. In the meantime, here are some of my hastily scribbled notes:

Senator Robert Byrd from West Virginia talked about the special relationship between pets and their owners. He said many view their pets as not just dogs or cats but members of the family and that he is one of those people. He said his little dog sleeps on his bed and goes with him to the Senate office, and that pets are companions, soulmates, and hedges against emotional turmoil for human beings. He asserted that they enhance the mental health and well-being for millions of Americans, and that when the FDA protects pets, the FDA protects the health of millions of Americans. He expressed his hope that we will never have to face a similar problem in the future.

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Thanks to Gail at Heartland Weimaraner Rescue for barking in this link to the newest recall list.

Breaking news
April 10, 2007 (7:10 pm CDT)

Twenty-six additional products are being added to the list of pet food products that have been recalled because of concerns about potentially contaminated wheat gluten, Menu Foods of Ontario, Canada announced today. View the Menu Foods press release.

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Isn’t this NOT a surprise! A second (make that third) contaminant in the pet food! And the Chinese government is dragging its feet. That’s not a surprise either, is it?

Thanks to Rachel Hicks for barking this article from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review into the blog!

Chinese criticized in pet food probe

By Karen Roebuck
TRIBUNE-REVIEW

The Chinese government and the company that supplied a contaminated ingredient are slowing the federal investigation into the nationwide recall of pet food, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration official said Tuesday.

Researchers, however, are making strides toward uncovering what has sickened cats and dogs nationwide. A lead scientist said yesterday he is convinced a second contaminant was in the wheat gluten, which FDA and independent researchers said was laced with high amounts of melamine, a chemical used in plastics.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to the Spocko’s Brain blog, those of us who missed the Durbin hearing can see some of it on video.

And don’t miss Spocko’s comments!