Thanks to Rhon, Winston’s furmom, for barking in this press release from Senator Durbin’s site.

DURBIN CALLS FOR BETTER OVERSIGHT OF PET FOOD INSPECTIONS; TOUGHER PENALTIES FOR COMPANIES
Thursday, April 12, 2007

[WASHINGTON, DC] - At a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing today, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) called on the Bush Administration and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take meaningful action in addressing problems in federal regulation of the pet food industry. The hearing comes in the wake of a widespread recall of contaminated pet food.

“Many cats, dogs and other pets, considered members of the family are now suffering as a result of a deeply flawed pet food inspection system,” said Durbin. “The FDA’s response to this situation has been wholly inadequate - we need to establish standardized inspections, impose penalties on companies who delay reporting health problems and increase communication between the FDA and the state inspectors so that we can catch potential problems more quickly. These sound like basics steps but the FDA has failed to put them in place.”

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This just adds to that wonderful trust we all have for these guys, doesn’t it? And notice the pet food industry lackey says that the main problem is communication. No, the problem is that some in the pet food industry import food supplies from countries with no or little control over their safety or quality.

Thanks to MSNBC for this update.

Tainted pet food still on shelves, FDA says
Officials urge store owners to double check for recalled products

WASHINGTON - Federal officials still can’t give the all clear when it comes to the nation’s pet food supply, though they assured lawmakers they’re aggressively checking stores and suppliers.

The Food and Drug Administration said it had inspected about 400 stores nationwide and still found some dog and cat food products affected by last month’s recall by Canada-based pet food maker Menu Foods Income Fund and other manufacturers. The agency asked retailers across the country to be vigilant in removing all products associated with the pet food recall, which began on March 16.

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Thanks to MSNBC for this update.

Recall expands to include pet food in Canada
Tainted wheat gluten found in Ontario plant after prompts by FDA

WASHINGTON - The pet food recall expanded further Tuesday to include products made at a Canadian factory recently found to have used an ingredient tainted by an industrial chemical.

Menu Foods previously had recalled only cat and dog food made at its plants in New Jersey and Kansas, saying they were its only facilities to have taken delivery of imported wheat gluten later found contaminated with melamine.

However, Menu Foods discovered Monday that some of the tainted wheat gluten had made it to Canada. It was prompted to account for the ingredient by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which told the company that tests had detected the chemical in pet foods made at its Streetsville, Ontario, plant.

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If you have suffered the loss of one of your furry loved one’s and you suspect he or she was a victim of the tainted foods from Menu Pet or one of the other food manufacturers, here’s a way to find out for sure.

For more information, follow this link to the Iowa State University announcement.

On March 16, 2007, a number of pet food manufacturers recalled several brands of canned and pouched cat and dog foods following reports of animals developing kidney failure after eating those foods. The underlying cause of the kidney failure has not been determined and investigations are continuing. Up-to-date information is available at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website: www.fda.gov.

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It looks like all those corporate protestations about tainted pet food being limited to North America were about as true as everything else we’ve been told by Menu Foods and their lackeys.

Thanks to Howl911 for highlighting this article from News24.com.

SA faces pet food shock
Andrea Botha

Cape Town - Two big pet food manufacturers have removed of their products from shelves after reports that some animals fell ill after eating of the food.

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Normally I would not cover human-centered news here but this is so closely related to the pet food problems I thought you would want to see this article from CBS News. Thanks to Anne, Spencer’s furmom, for barking it in!

Anne wrote:
Well, as people were trying to care for their sick pets and grieving over the ones that were lost, it looks now as though it was only a fluke that prevented this wheat gluten from being added to our own food. There’s something a bit chilling about having the Centers for Disease Control quietly monitoring the number of new patients admitted to the hospitals with renal failure.

I agree with you, Anne. And what is especially galling is all these weeks we have heard a constant repetition from every governmental and corporate official that there was no way any tainted foods, including wheat gluten, could have gotten in the food supplies. Now we have to ask if those saying those things are outright liars or so gullible themselves that they willingly mouthed the official lies?

How Close Was Tainted Wheat To Human Food?
CBS News Learns Nothing But Luck Kept Suspect Wheat Gluten Out Of Food Supply

(CBS) The FDA announced today that not all of the tainted pet food has been pulled from store shelves. And at a congressional hearing, an entirely new concern was raised: How close did contaminated ingredients come to getting into food for humans?

CBS News has learned that the tainted wheat gluten used in pet food was human grade — meaning nothing but luck kept it from being used in the food people eat, too, CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports.

Wheat gluten is added to foods like bread, pasta and rice. While the public was focused on the danger to their pets, sources tell CBS News that the FDA had tracked at least one suspect batch of wheat gluten into the human food supply, quietly quarantined some products and notified the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention to watch for new patients admitted to hospitals with renal or kidney failure.

“We didn’t know at the time whether or not wheat gluten had made it into the human food supply,” said Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine. “We asked CDC to put a special emphasis on looking at increased incidents of renal failure in people.”

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Its getting so bad that now Australian Dogsters are barking in to warn their North American fellow Dogsters about the recall!

Heya folks, Can someone get this into the online news quickly?? You ALL need to know ASAP, cheers!
Laurel
Australia

Much of this article should be old news to regular blog readers but note that the Chinese government is now claiming that none of their companies sent wheat gluten to the US or Canada! What is going on here? The more things anyone involved with this mess says, the more questions arise. Can any of these people — Menu management, Chinese officials, Chinese corporate representatives, anybody — tell the truth? Do they even know the truth anymore?

Thanks to for barking in this article from the New York Times.

22 Brands of Dog Biscuits Are Added to Pet Food Recall

By KATIE ZEZIMA
Published: April 6, 2007

A recall of pet food tainted with melamine, a chemical used to make plastic products, has been widened to include 22 types of dog biscuits, the Food and Drug Administration said yesterday.

The biscuits, made by Sunshine Mills Inc., contain wheat gluten imported from China that contained melamine, said Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the Center for Veterinary Medicine at the F.D.A.

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Here’s one pet insurance company stepping forward to reassure their customers they will cover the dogs and cats hit by the recalled foods. How about the other pet insurance companies? What are you hearing? Bark in!

Thanks to Gail at Heartland Weimaraner Rescue for this update!

Pet Food Recall - ShelterCare Pet Insurance Covers Affected Pets

As we are sure all of you know by now, the pet food industry has been hit with a major crisis affecting not only national brands, but also many private labelled brands. It is possible that many of you have been using the food of some of the affected brands to feed the dogs and cats that have come into your organization prior to the recall.

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Thanks to Rhon, Winston’s furmom, for barking in this news about the Senate hearing.

I would love to hear this!

SENATE HEARING ON PET FOOD CONTAMINATION TO BE HELD THURSDAY, APRIL 12th

[CHICAGO, IL] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today confirmed that the U.S. Senate will hold an oversight hearing on the ongoing investigation and the regulatory mechanisms that govern the pet food industry as the widespread recall of contaminated pet food continues. Durbin, a member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, has worked with Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), the Chairman of the Subcommittee, to schedule the hearing which will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 12, 2007 in Room 192 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

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Thanks to BJ, Jammin’ Lady’s furmom, For barking in this press release from PR Newswire.

Menu Foods voluntarily recalls additional pet food made with ChemNutra wheat gluten

TORONTO, April 10 /PRNewswire/ - Prompted by reports from the US Food and Drug Administration as to the presence of melamine in cans of cuts and gravy pet food produced in Menu Foods’ Canadian production facility, Menu Foods undertook an accounting of all recalled wheat gluten supplied by ChemNutra Inc. to Menu Foods in the United States.

As the result of that review, Menu Foods has identified a single interplant transfer of the ChemNutra supplied wheat gluten, shipped from Menu Foods’ plant in Emporia, Kansas, to its plant in Streetsville, Ontario. This wheat gluten was subsequently used in the production of pet food in December, 2006 and January, 2007, which is being recalled by Menu
Foods.

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