Pet food recall news (split into dedicated post)
(Note 1 May: New continuation of ticker here.)
As of today, we hit the Livejournal limits for update of the original pet food recall post, so news updates relating to the recall are now appearing here. The advisories for what to do if you are worried, as well as a pointer to the "news post", are still at the original site.
MAJOR UPDATE 17 APRIL, 20 APRIL, AND 29 APRIL: RECALL IS NO LONGER RESTRICTED TO WHEAT OR WHEAT GLUTEN AND ALL FOOD PRODUCTS FROM CHINA SHOULD BE CONSIDERED HIGHLY SUSPECT. THERE IS ALSO THE RISK THE LIST OF POTENTIALLY CONTAMINATED FOOD MAY EXPAND FURTHER. HUMAN FOOD CONTAMINATION HAS ALSO BEEN CONFIRMED IN PORK AND CHICKEN AND THERE ARE REPORTS THAT AT LEAST 45 HUMANS ARE KNOWN TO HAVE EATEN CONTAMINATED PORK. THERE IS ALSO NOW EVIDENCE THAT MELAMINE DOPING, INCLUDING IN HUMAN FOOD PRODUCTS, IS WIDESPREAD, ROUTINE IN CHINESE FOOD PRODUCTS, AND HAS BEEN OCCURING FOR YEARS. SEE BELOW.
Casualty updates (last update 29 April):
There are also ancedotal reports that animals could have been sickened as early as January from the tainted pet food (and there are now reports coming out showing that animals could have been sickened in December, too) as well as, more recently, reports from vets nationwide of sickened pets.
20 March: This has caused at least ten dogs and cats to die and many more to be critically ill due to kidney failure.
22 March: Now up to 16 confirmed deaths as of 22 March 07, 15 feline, one canine; again, I should emphasize this is only *confirmed* deaths, the total is probably far higher as noted below.
27 March: Sad update as of 27 March; the Veterinary Information Network (a veterinary medicine association that, among others, sponsors continuing medical education for vets) has reported that there are 471 cases of kidney failure linked to aminopterin- and melamine-tainted Menu Foods products that their association is aware of including 104 confirmed deaths (11 canine, 93 feline); this same report notes that PetConnection.com has ancedotal reports of 1792 more deaths (1018 feline, 774 canine) attributed to the bad feed.
1 April: Sad update as of 1 April: Petconnection.com now has ancedotal reports via their reporting database of 2,822 deaths as of 7:50am PST, 1,557 feline, 1,265 canine; this number is likely to rise considerably and of 2 April is close to 3000 dead.
4 April: Petconnection.com reporting 3,168 dead (1,700 feline, 1,468 canine) and 9,203 total pets reported to their database as either sick or dead from contaminated pet food; the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association reports 104 suspected cases of poisoning due to contaminated feed (68 feline, 36 canine) reported to the state public health veterinarian, of which at least 38 are known to be fatal (23 feline deaths, 15 canine); a survey of Michigan vets from the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association shows 135 suspected cases of poisoning in that state (100 feline, 35 canine) with 29 of those cases as being fatal (no breakdown as per species, though both canine and feline cases reported); the same article notes that 41% of vets responding to the survey have treated caes of kidney failure possibly related to the tainted feed, and some sources are reporting "hundreds" of deaths; if similar numbers are occuring with veterinary reporting nationwide, this would back up the petconnection.com numbers.
6 April: petconnection.com numbers: 9,378 dead or ill, 3,242 dead (1,731 feline, 1,511 canine); Iowa's state veterinary college reports 43 cases of suspected poisoning, 18 fatal (no breakdown as per species) which backs up numbers from state veterinary associations.
10 April: Petconnection.com numbers: 3,730 dead (1,938 feline, 1,792 canine), 11,703 dead or critically ill total; Veterinary Information Network (which covers approximately half of the veterinary practitioners in the US) estimates "hundreds, if not thousands" dead based on its own survey of veterinarians and possibly up to 10,000 pets suffering kidney failure as a result; Banfield (largest pet care clinic chain in North America, largely based in PetSmart stores) has issued very worrying statistics that state that 3 out of 10,000 pets who have eaten contaminated food and been treated at their hospitals have gone on to develop kidney failure, that kidney failure cases are up 30 percent, and that over 39,000 cases of kidney failure related to contaminated feed are expected.
12 April: We are now at almost 4000 pets dead because of contaminated wheat gluten :( (PetConnection.com numbers: 3,973 dead, 2,058 feline, 1,815 canine; 12,419 total sickened or dead)
18 April: Death toll is (sadly) 4,211 dead with nearly an even split of canine and feline cases, 12,820 cases of food-related illness (per petconnection.com).
20 April: 30 pets confirmed dead in South Africa from contaminated corn gluten. We may have only scratched the very beginning of this particular hell, folks. Also per a recent Pittsburgh Live article (which also contains disturbing info re possible human food contamination) notes the FDA has received 15,000 reports of dead or severely ill pets. Petconnection.com reports 4,346 dead (2,233 feline, 2,113 canine); Oregon State public health vet reports 120 suspect cases (44 canine, 76 feline) and 46 dead (20 canine, 26 feline) and the Michigan State Veterinary Association reports 155 suspected cases (114 feline, 41 canine) with 52 dead (35 feline, 17 canine). Veterinary Information Network reports "thousands" of suspected cases, estimates death toll to ultimately be 2,000 to 7,000 dead; reported cases in-network include 951 sick pets and 313 dead.
Also underreported is the cost to treat animals sickened; VIN reports their doctors have seen $812,000 so far in veterinary costs, with average cost of treatment (where animals did not have to be almost immediately euthanised) at $925. (Fortunately, there are multiple organisations offering to cover medical bills of pets sickened by contaminated food.) Even with help, though, costs will be substantial; VIN has estimated that the final monetary toll in money spent to treat sickened animals will be $2 million to more than $20 million US.
22 April: In researching South African deaths related to cyanuric acid poisoning (using melamine as a marker), 30 more deaths may have been found with a different brand of pet food that was contaminated--thus bringing up the toll to 65 South African pet deaths officially recognised. 4,427 dead per petconnection.com (for once, there is no breakdown by species).
27 April: Petconnection.com reports 4,515 dead (2,306 feline, 2,209 canine) with 13,984 pets in total affected (dead or requiring medical treatment).
29 April: 4,546 pets dead per petconnection.com (no breakdown by species) and 14,094 sickened or dead in total. This does not include non-human animals. In addition, over 6000 pigs are to be destroyed due to having been fed melamine-contaminated pet food in slop.
As of this update, human exposure and casualty figures will also be noted. Per news reports, 45 humans are now known to have eaten pork from pigs fed contaminated pet food sold as slop (thus we are, sadly, likely to be seeing casualty figures with humans getting sick from kidney failure as well--especially if reports that thousands of contaminated pigs may be in the food chain are correct).
Per the same news reports of human poisoning and contaminated hogs, the FDA has reportedly received over 500 reports in the state of Illinois alone of dead or dying pets.
Enforcement action/investigation (last updated 29 April):
23 March 2007: Per multiple news reports, the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets has preliminarily linked the poisoned food to wheat that was imported from China which contained a rodenticide illegal for use in the United States; Menu Foods is withholding commentary until they can verify the test results. The MSNBC article also notes that at least one veterinarian has suspected cases of poisoned pets prior to the recall.
As of 1pm the state agriculture department (which, incidentially, has one of the best labs in the US for determining food contamination--the FDA frequently relies on NY Ag Dept.'s own advisories for issuing its own recall notices) has announced the poison identified is aminopterin. Aminopterin is a folic acid antagonist which in the 50's and 60's was used as cancer chemotherapy (and, illegally, to induce abortion) until it was replaced by the less toxic drug methotrexate (and seeing as methotrexate is probably one of the most toxic drugs in the anticancer arsenal, this is telling you something; typically humans receiving MTX (much less its chemical cousin aminopterin) receive leucovorin to "rescue" them from the effects of folic acid depletion). Aminopterin is used in some countries (including China) as a rodenticide but is considered far too dangerous for any use in the US, either medicinal or rodenticidal (for reasons that are all too tragically obvious now). The one bright spot in this is we may actually have treatment for those poor animals who have been poisoned.
Poisoning by illegal Chinese rodenticides which are not registered for use in the US (and thus illegal) are not unprecedented--the CDC has recorded a case of an infant poisoned by an illegal Chinese rodenticide (which triggered a nationwide alert).
I will also note that the list of recalled food noted in the Menu Foods advisory should be treated as preliminary--among other things, the Science Diet recall is a newer addition, and it is actually far easier to list what pet foods are not produced by Menu Foods than what are (just because a food is organic is no guarantee, either--Nutro is definitely under the recall, there are at least two other major holistic pet food manufacturers that do processing at Menu Foods, and the recall is rapidly expanding to non-Menu Foods manufacturers). Especially with the discovery of aminopterin-contaminated wheat, I'd be very surprised if this does not expand.
23 March 2007: At this point, even Menu Foods doesn't know what's up (and are not willing to confirm or deny at this point that the poisoning may be due to contaminated wheat until they perform their own tests); among other things, there are worrisome signs that the problem may not in fact be restricted to one plant (the FDA is in fact inspecting two US-based plants Menu Foods operates) and if (as now suspected) the problem is in fact contaminated wheat the problem may extend not just to products using wheat gluten but wheat in general.
24 March 2007: Per a medical advisory aimed at veterinarians from the American Veterinary Medical Association, it appears that aminopterin is causing kidney failure due to the drug crystallising in the kidney tubules (thus destroying the kidneys); the medical advisory also notes that there is still testing going on for other agents besides aminopterin (advising caution to vets) and also notes the risk of other health problems as a result of aminopterin poisoning (specifically the fact that the drug depresses bone marrow; a close "chemical cousin" of aminopterin, methotrexate, is used in humans and dogs with various blood cancers (leukemias and lymphomas) and in lower doses as a "last-resort" drug in humans with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis (both of which are autoimmune diseases) specifically for its bone-marrow suppressing effect, and methotrexate is used in very high doses to destroy bone marrow in preparation for stem-cell and bone marrow transplants).
30 March 2007: An additional contaminant has been found by FDA labs in Menu Foods product--specifically, melamine. Melamine is a urea-based chemical that is used widely in the manufacture of plastics (especially floor laminates); it is also (due to its urea base) used in several countries as a fertiliser. Of note, news reports that melamine has been found in the kidneys of a cat who died of Menu Foods related poisoning (an important forensics finding), and the NY Ag Dept. lab which first detected aminopterin in the pet food has also confirmed the melamine finding.
As melamine is a urea-based chemical (yes, it's based on uric acid, and both get their name from urine) it could be a missing link as to why the poisoning is so severe--certainly, melamine *cannot* help with aminopterin-caused kidney failure. One of the known effects of melamine intoxication in humans is kidney stones, and (combined with the known mechanism of kidney toxicity with aminopterin, specifically crystallisation in the kidneys) the two chemicals likely have a synergistic effect. (Whilst focus is shifting to melamine as the predominant toxic agent, I'm not sure this is appropriate; both melamine *and* aminopterin are known to be renotoxic and the two combined are likely worse than either alone. In particular, it's uncertain how melamine is toxic to the kidneys of cats, who generally have better filtering systems for urea and uric acid derivatives (thanks to the fact cats are obligate carnivores); IMHO (and I am not a vet here, mostly a medical geek) this possibly points to *both* chemicals being responsible.)
30 March 2007: The FDA has issued an emergency order to specifically block import of any wheat or wheat gluten products containing melamine and to step up surveillance and testing of all wheat and wheat gluten products entering the US. Per a website also following the pet food scandal, one shipper of the tainted wheat gluten is now known to be Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Company Ltd. and pretty much anything using wheat or wheat gluten from this company should be considered potentially tainted.
2 April 2007: There is strong possibility other manufacturers in China are also sources; reportedly Xuzhou Anying Biologic has claimed they are in fact buying wheat and wheat gluten from *other* companies within China. The second firm linked to contaminated grain has been identified as Suzhou Hengrun Import & Export Corp., Ltd.; Suzhou Hengrun is quite a major import/export company in China, with a great deal of their trade involving pharmaceuticals, specifically antimicrobial drugs.
4 April: Tne shipper of tainted wheat products from Xuzhou Anying (and possibly others) seems to be ChemNutra Inc., based on an FDA press release of ChemNutra recalling suspect ingredient. ChemNutra is an import/export company specialising in import of Chinese-source ingredients (including, notably, wheat gluten) for the food (including pet food) and pharmaceutical industries.
4 April onwards: de-emphasis on aminopterin being a culprit (two labs were unable to confirm the aminopterin findings) yet it is uncertain how melamine could be sickening cats in particular.
6 April: Now up to four manufacturers other than Menu Foods affected including Del Monte Foods (makers of Pounce cat treats, among others) and Sunshine Mills (makers of Ol' Roy pet food and pet snacks); Del Monte is on its second round of recalls, in fact, despite assurances from the FDA the day before that this would be the last of the recalls.
10 April: Additional contamination found in non-recalled food, per Marin (CA) Independent Journal; this specifically includes Nutro canned cat food (pouched Nutro has been recalled, but not canned) which is implicated in a kidney failure case and which has tested positive for melamine. The same article notes that the FDA has received at least 21 pet food samples from customers (who have made complaints) which have also tested positive for melamine.
12 April: Cornell University's veterinary forensics lab may have identified a secondary contaminant (or possibly a tertiary one; aminopterin has been identified in some samples (but not others), and this could either be a confirmation of aminopterin or a finding of a third contaminant) which has been found both in pet food and in tissues of poisoned pets. It is presently unknown what the additional contaminant found was.
17 April: Contaminated rice gluten now found as well--see below. Suspected source is from a second Chinese company, and the discovery is especially disturbing in light of rice (which is the major alternative to wheat or corn) being potentially contaminated--the pet food recall is likely to expand dramatically.
18 April: The Sacramento Bee reports further on the latest recall (and now firmly places Diamond Foods in the *unsafe* category; all food packaged at Menu Foods *and* at Diamond must be considered suspect). Among other things, up to five other food products not yet recalled may be affected by the latest contamination discovered.
18 April: A recent horsesass.org post indicates a regular writer may have gotten a tip that not only rice but potentially corn gluten is affected. (Folks, if you are at all of a spiritual or religious bent, you may well want to pray that the bit on "corn gluten" is NOT true. Corn gluten is used in practically all pet foods that rice or wheat are not ingredients in (with the exception of a very, very few holistic brands that do not use grain at all or use potato flour)--if corn gluten is found to be contaminated, that's effectively all three major grains used in pet food contaminated and is essentially the end of safe pet food altogether. Due to the extensive use of corn and corn by-products in the States, that will also bring up the real risk of contamination of the human food supply.)
20 April: News24 in South Africa may have just confirmed the biggest fears of all of us watching this--apparently corn gluten, too, is also contaminated (the recall re Royal Canin products is related to contaminated corn gluten per the press release).
As of this moment, apparently there may not be safe dry pet food anymore, and the safe wet/moist pet food may be reduced substantially. The "safe" list is being amended to reflect this.
As it turns out, melamine may have been a marker for the *real* poisons--per this article additional poisons have been found, the most likely culprit being cyanuric acid; cyanuric acid is used as a pool chemical and derivatives are used as industrial disinfectants. Of particular note, cyanuric acid is also a breakdown product of melamine, hence the presence of melamine as a marker. Amilorine and amiloride, also breakdown products of melamine, were also found in analyses of contaminated food.
Also, there is frightening info that human pork products may have been contaminated with the same poisons effecting pets (more info on that below).
29 April: Disturbing news has come to light that 45 humans may have eaten contaminated pork and are at risk of poisoning as a result. More below.
Also, the actual mechanism of poisoning may have been discovered; researchers at the University of Guelph (Canada) have found a synergistic reaction between melamine and cyanuric acid occuring at normal urine pH causing crystallisation in the kidneys. Cyanuric acid is known to be a breakdown product of melamine (specifically, when melamine is broken down by Pseudomonas bacteria and other urea-liking bacteria), so it's very likely that this may be the ultimate culprit here.
Recall announcements (last updated 29 April):
30 March 2007: the recall may be expanding to dry food not produced by Menu Foods--specifically Hill's Science Diet is recalling some of its dry food as well as at least one variety of Hill's Prescription Diet due to the fact the wheat gluten used was from the same company as Menu Foods and melamine has been detected in these food products as well. (This is the first confirmation of news that dry food may be affected as well other than ancedotal reports on pet-care forums.)
31 March 2007: There are reports that Purina separately purchased wheat gluten from the same supplier (specifically involving a recalled lot of Alpo pet food which was not processed by Menu Foods), and even Purina's non-Menu Foods product must be considered hazardous. In addition, Del Monte, a third non-Menu Foods pet food manufacturer, is recalling several varieties of pet food due to use of contaminated grain. It is becoming more and more apparent that the contamination of wheat gluten may well affect practically every variety of pet food sold in North America containing wheat or wheat gluten and as a result all food containing wheat or wheat gluten must be considered as potentially contaminated. (This is especially the case now, considering that grain from the Netherlands is now also considered officially suspect and the Chinese company linked to the tainted gluten is now claiming they bought the wheat and wheat gluten from other manufacturers within China--meaning pretty much almost *all* Chinese-sourced grain could be potentially risky.)
4 April: Now up to four manufacturers other than Menu Foods affected including Del Monte Foods (makers of Pounce cat treats, among others) and Sunshine Mills (makers of Ol' Roy pet food and pet snacks); Del Monte is on its second round of recalls, in fact, despite assurances from the FDA the day before that this would be the last of the recalls.
4 April: ChemNutra, an import/export agency linked with the contaminated gluten (see below), is also recalling product.
6 April: Per news reports Menu Foods has now expanded the recall to cover all pet food made between 3 November 2006 and 6 March 2007 (which would be in line with my own advisory that pretty much all pet food containing wheat or wheat gluten made after 3 November should be treated as suspect).
10 April: Kroger Inc. is now taking very similar action to what we've suggested in our own advisories (namely, avoiding all pet food with wheat or wheat gluten); specifically, Kroger's (and its affiliate store chains) have removed all pet food containing wheat or wheat gluten "until we can assure that it is safe for our customers and their pets". Kroger has also removed all pet food that was packaged at Menu Foods, whether or not it was packaged or processed at plants affected by the recall (notice here) and is accepting returns and offering refunds for food purchased, no questions asked. (Kroger Co. is the largest grocery store chain in North America, and operates a huge number of stores besides the Kroger chain proper (a short list of regional brands Kroger owns includes Fred Meyer, Fry's, Food4Less, Owens, King Sooper's, and many more). Odds are, there is probably a Kroger-affiliated brand in your area who is pulling this stuff off the shelves, and Kroger is to be commended for its proactive stance in protecting pets.)
12 April: Nutro announces recall of all products containing wheat or wheat gluten due to discovery of contamination at a Canadian Menu Foods facility and due to deaths linked to Nutro products packaged outside of the two plants previously implicated. (This is also why I have been specifically warning all along to avoid any pet food who packs at Menu Foods--I suspected there would be (at minimum) other plants implicated, and possibly problems throughout the company or with other companies.)
Publix and Winn Dixie are also recalling store brands, and the first round of recalls not covering pet food containing beef is also occuring (specifically with wet tuna pet food sold for cats).
17 April: Contaminated rice gluten now found as well--Natural Balance (which had been previously listed as safe) has recalled food found contaminated with melamine from rice gluten. All Chinese-origin foodstuffs should be considered suspect at this point; I have updated the safe foods list appropriately and will be conducting a more in-depth review of ingredients tomorrow on listed product. Diamond Foods as well as Menu Foods should particularly be avoided (yes, I realise this means the vast majority of pet food makers in the US).
Also, reportedly Natural Balance does in fact process through Menu Foods and Natural Life Vegetarian has specifically been recalled (I had previously listed this as potentially unsafe).
Royal Canin now included in recall, including a total recall of all product in South Africa and recalls of the Medi-Cal sub-brand sold in Canada. This is especially bad news, as this effectively means that all the manufacturers of prescription pet foods may well have contaminated product.
22 April: Royal Canin announces further recalls; also, Royal Canin has officially announced that effective immediately they will no longer source grain or grain products from China (thus as of this update, Royal Canin, Blue Buffalo, and Nutra are "on quarantine" until it can be confirmed that non-contaminated product is in the pet food retail chain and they are no longer using potentially contaminated product). Of note, Royal Canin has been particularly hard hit, as apparently they've found that all *three* grain products they use have been contaminated.
24 April: SmartPak also recalls pet food with note re suspected melamine doping.
27 April: Blue Buffalo expands recall to its entire line of products and also adds the very disturbing news that a third US-based pet food company must now be treated as "all products contaminated"--specifically American Nutrition (the *other* major wet pet food producer in the US other than Menu Foods, and the one major producer of dry foods other than Diamond). Now, all of the "Big Three" pet food processors in the US must be considered contaminated; the "safe food list" *should* remain the same, but additional info will be added to avoid pet food processed by this company. (Specifically, it seems that American Nutrition has been adding rice gluten to pet food *without notifying pet food contracting companies*.)
Largely due to the recent American Nutrition revelations, Chicken for the Pet Lover's Soul is formally recalled (I had recommended avoiding them due to associations with Diamond for their dry food) and Diamond itself is recalling more pet food; in addition, Kirkland's (the "store brand" of Costco warehouse stores) is also recalled. Natural Balance is also recalling more product due to this adulteration.
Drs. Foster and Smith is recalled due to contamination.
29 April: Harmony Farms and Mulligan Stew also recalling product; this is related to American Nutrition's adulteration of pet food with potentially contaminated rice gluten without notifying pet food makers.
MAJOR UPDATE WITH POSSIBLE IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN HEALTH (most recently updated 30 April):
Note: Multiple human food products are now confirmed contaminated and it has also been confirmed that humans have eaten contaminated food product with possible serious consequences for health. There is also the very strong possibility this has been going on for years. See below.
Per CNN, the FDA is working to rule out any possibility that the contaminated wheat or wheat gluten may have entered the human food processing system. (This is why I say "Even if it's 'human grade' pet food, if it has wheat gluten or wheat, it's risky"--we STILL do not know how far the contaminated grain has been spread in food processing chains, and the news that the FDA is now worried about potential contamination of stuff in the human food processing chain is incredibly distressing indeed. As there is at least one known case of a human being sickened by contaminated pet food (specifically a woman who ate Iams pet food to convince her pet to try some; both she and her dog ended up in hospital) the idea that humans could get sick from eating contaminated grain is not far fetched.)
The fact that the FDA has a specific hold-and-detain order in regards to potentially contaminated wheat or wheat gluten further points to them being very worried this could have entered the human food chain, but we need confirmation on this--if you are worried about any wheat or wheat gluten products you are using in your household, you *may* well want to ask the makers if they either import from China or if their supplier sources wheat or wheat gluten from China (or even potentially the Netherlands).
Part of the reason that there is now concern that tainted products may have entered the human food chain is because information has since come out that the tainted wheat gluten was specifically sold as "human food grade" product; many higher-end pet food manufacturers (including Nutro) advertise that they only use human-grade ingredients in their pet food, but (as I've noted all along) "human grade" is no guarantee of safety. (As I've also noted below, China has a long history of rather severe problems with food safety, especially concerning contamination of grain products with pesticides and fertilisers which are either illegal worldwide (including in China) or are legal in China but illegal in the US due to known health effects. The problem with Chinese food safety has been highlighted in the Time Magazine article China's Unhealthy Taste For Toxins which details just how common it *is* for Chinese food products to be contaminated.)
A great deal of the concern relates to the fact that the FDA cannot in fact state they can guarantee none of the tainted grain entered the human food supply and due to the fact that the FDA has revealed the Chinese supplier (Xuzhou Anying Biologic) but has so far not identified the US-based importers and distributors who would have bought the gluten from Xuzhou Anying Biologic and ultimately distributed it to food producers. Interestingly, it is thanks to one of the companies that bought the contaminated products (Del Monte Foods) that we even know that the product being imported from Xuzhou Anying Biologic is in fact "human food grade" gluten--otherwise, we'd be in the dark on that, too. (Update 2 April--Menu Foods has also confirmed that the gluten used was "human food grade" --fer) (Update 4 April--the importer, ChemNutra, also deals in human food ingredients and has now issued a recall notice --fer)
In addition, it is extremely likely (based on a press conference from Xuzhou Anying) that quite a number of companies are involved; as noted above, a major import/export company has also been implicated, and by Xuzhou Anying's own admission they were shipping wheat and wheat gluten products purchased from a large number of other companies in surrounding provinces of China. (Again, this points back to the severe problems with Chinese food safety.)
The Boston Globe has also reported that part of the worry re potential human food contamination involves minimal labelling of the product. ChemNutra has for its part claimed none of its product ended up in human food (ChemNutra imports wheat gluten only for pet food), however, it is still unknown how many companies imported from Xuzhou Anying Biologic or any of the companies Xuzhou Anying imported from (again, Xuzhou Anying partly acted as a regional importer of grain products in China, and there are other import/export companies that purchase from Chinese companies besides ChemNutra).
At any rate, the FDA is sufficiently worried that contaminated gluten could have entered the food supply that they are doing "across the board" testing of all human food products containing wheat gluten and some stores (Safeway among them) are either holding products for testing or (WinCo among them) pulling products already even without the threat of a formal recall.
Persons concerned re implications for human health are advised that one of the higher-risk groups (if this stuff has entered the human food chain) are probably vegans; this article (which also notes a lot of the same grave misgivings I have on PETA in general) notes that wheat gluten is heavily used in meat-substitutes for the vegan market, particularly Seitan. (Interestingly, you folks unlucky enough to have celiac may be the safest of all of us!) Per the Wikipedia article on wheat gluten, particularly high-risk foods may be wheat-based breads (or any bread containing wheat gluten--again, read the ingredients) and vegetarian "meat substitutes" (including tofurkey--despite the name, the meat is largely seitan, *not* tofu); mock duck (sold in Asian groceries and stores selling goods for macrobiotic diets) is particularly risky in this regard, as it is almost entirely Chinese-sourced and almost entirely made of wheat gluten. Potato bread may be an alternative to wheat-based bread products so long as it does not contain wheat gluten as a solidifier. Gluten-free diets may be considered for folks who are very concerned about this.
17 April: Contaminated rice gluten also found--this is of very major importance, in part because a different import/export agency and a different exporting company seems to be responsible. (This in part highlights the rather severe problems with food safety in China in general.)
18 April: The contaminated rice protein is also from a second company, indicating that the problems are in fact system-wide in the Chinese food supply.
There are a number of articles of interest in regards to Chinese food safety (or more properly, the lack of it) and how China's food safety issues are an international concern. Among other things, the FDA only inspects 1.3% of all imported human food in the US (and, whilst not mentioned in the article, the FDA actually largely relies on state agencies to issue recall notices based on what their state agricultural boards have found in their labs--many of the FDA food recalls are based on test results from the New York Department of Agricultre, among other things)--China is quite consistently the top leader in FDA "hold without inspection" and even "destroy upon discovery" orders due to contaminated food. The US isn't alone in detecting problems with imported Chinese foodstuffs; South Africa has had to recall honey contaminated with chloramphenicol (an antibiotic used in beekeeping in China which has been linked to aplastic anemia--a disorder in which the bone marrow essentially shuts down and fails to produce red blood cells, which often must be treated by bone marrow or stem cell transplant; chloramphenicol is considered a "last resort" human drug for most indications in the US due to this risk).
There is also an interesting article in regards to how the FDA has been gutted--in a partisan manner, and in almost identical method to practically all non-military federal agencies--during the Bush administration and how this could have been a factor in the contaminated pet food tragedy. (Yes, folks, you HAVE heard this before--hurricane_fema is a community in regards to the results of similar bouts of favoritism and budgetary butchering which resulted in a "disaster within a disaster" with Hurricane Katrina. I have a very bad feeling, and have had such a feeling for a time, that a remarkably similar bout of clusterfuckage (similar to what happened with Katrina, what is happening with the debacle in Iraq and Afghanistan (where our soldiers aren't even getting sufficient body armor, they're now trying to recruit mentally ill people to avoid a draft, oh, and the Taliban are happily taking Afghanistan back over :P), etc. is in progress--save for anything promoting an explicitly dominionist political agenda, the present administration has done a remarkable job of being a "reverse Midas" by turning gold to shit. :P)
20 April: The news alert we all feared: possible human food chain contamination due to the Chinese Clusterfuck. Specifically, melamine (and presumably the other toxins found in pet food known to have made pets violently ill) has been found in hog feed and at least one hog farm has been quarantined as a result. The FDA is taking this so seriously now that they are launching a wide investigation as to whether pork products may be contaminated--so now not only do we have pretty much *all* dry pet food and most moist pet food as potentially poisoned, but also our ham and bacon and sausage. (This hits home for me. I have bacon usually every morning for breakfast :P) There is not yet a press release from the FDA on this, however.
21 April: As a recent reader noted, "This just gets worse and worse"...human food contamination is now confirmed as pigs fed contaminated food products have entered the human food chain. Reportedly over 100 pigs were fed contaminated slop and were shipped to slaughterhouses before rice gluten was recalled; the pigs were apparently slaughtered at one particular slaughterhouse in California for private individuals and a presently-unnamed "licensed facility" in California (presumably a human food producer, perhaps for frozen dinners and the like--fer).
23 April: Four facilities now confirmed to have slaughtered pigs fed contaminated slop.
24 April: The more that comes out, the more horrifying this is...there is now evidence that contamination of pork may be quite widespread, as pork products produced in six states (California, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, and Utah) are being recalled and potentially "thousands" of pigs may have been contaminated. (More info on the North Carolina hog contamination here.)
As if this weren't bad enough, a poultry farm in Missouri may have fed contaminated product and the FDA is *finally*--fully a month after revelations that "human grade" food products may have been contaminated--beginning testing of human food products for melamine and cyanuric acid (in the country, this is what we call "shutting the barn door after the cows have got out", but that's neither here nor there).
26 April: More disturbing news--upwards of ten separate companies may have been selling contaminated pet food as animal feed, leading to the spectre of widespread contamination of the meat supply as well; in addition, it's suspected the contamination has been ongoing since at least summer of 2006.
27 April: USDA announces contaminated hogs not to be allowed into human food supply and that farmers will be compensated for contaminated hogs destroyed. In addition, an emergency culling has begun of potentially contaminated hogs.
29 April: Expect all manner of hell to break loose soon--per the Chicago Tribune, 45 people in California alone are now confirmed to have eaten contaminated pork from pigs fed melamine-laced pet food (there are probably many, many more in the food chain--"surplus" and "remainder" pet food are a very common ingredient of slop sold to pig farms in the US) and the newspaper article describes this as now turning into a "full-fledged public health scare". (For those having problems seeing this article, use BugMeNot. Per the same article, the FDA is also investigating a report of potentially contaminated rice gluten used in human food products in Illinois.
30 April: International Herald-Tribune (the international division of the New York Times) has done a horrifying expose (noted below) to the extent melamine doping may have been widespread in animal feed for years--meaning that there may have been human food contamination for Gods-only-knows how long.
Pet Food Safety Issues/The "Blame Game" (last updated 30 April):
Sadly, there is quite the game of "Not Me!" going around (those of you who read "Family Circus" as kids know all about Jeffy's little friend "Not Me"...) where ChemNutra is saying "Not Me! It was Xuzhou Anying!", Xuzhou Anying saying "Not Me! It was suppliers from surrounding provinces! A-And we never shipped our grain over there anyways!" and even the Chinese government officially stating "Not Me! We didn't ship any grain over there!" (despite the fact there is very good evidence through the existence of multiple import/export companies that Chinese-origin wheat gluten is shipped Stateside). Sen. Durbin's investigation is welcomed in this light.
22 March: There is rather disturbing information that points to Menu Foods potentially having covered up the deadly pet food for upwards of a month (or possibly closer to three--see below) pre-recall and only announcing the recall after pets were ending up in vets' offices with kidney failure or dying.
24 March: Per Menu Foods' website pretty much all food from 3 December 2006 to 6 March 2006 should be considered suspect; in other words, contaminated food by Menu Foods' own admission has been in the retail chain for nearly four months at the time of this writing--and Gods only knows how long in truth. Based on this, it is *very* likely that pets have been getting deathly ill from this stuff from early December on; I will actually be surprised if people aren't charged for criminal negligence as a result at this rate.
31 March: There have been reports from an ex-employee of Menu Foods detailing quality control problems at the company, including at least one failed USDA inspection and a possible history of dodgy ingredients used.
5 April: Sen. Durbin notes that Menu Foods plant, and possibly other plants involved in recall, were not FDA inspected (FDA relies on state agencies). See below.
6 April: There is the very disturbing possibility that the contamination of pet food that has killed thousands of animals may have been deliberate--specifically involving melamine possibly having been added to fortify protein content. (Hence the very enthusiastic game of "Not Me!" above--this definitely could count as "food adulteration" and subject all those responsible to trade bans or even FDA sanctions.)
Many people have asked "Why are we importing wheat and wheat gluten from China, anyways?" Even though the US is a net exporter of grain and there is plenty of domestic product to be had, the sad reason is that it's for much the same reason as jobs are outsourced overseas (including manufacturing and IT jobs)--specifically, companies do it because getting Chinese product is cheaper than supporting the local economy. Unfortunately, though, cost-cutting all too often comes at the expense of human and pet health. (There is a very similar controversy going on now re costs of high-fructose corn syrup (linked to obesity and possible problems with glucose metabolism) versus sugar (which is tariffed at a high rate); HFCS is primarily used in the US as a sweetener as (until recently) it's been cheaper than sugar, though the increased use of ethanol in fuels is changing this). For that matter, the severe problems with Chinese food safety are largely due to "cost-cutting measures" done by companies, selling contaminated product that would otherwise lose money, using illegal pesticides, etc.)
12 April: More disturbing info indicating melamine may have been deliberately added to the wheat gluten as an adulterant to increase protein has come out--specifically it appears that Xuzhou Anying apparently has been purchasing large quantities of melamine, including via online vendors, over the past few months.
Also, interestingly (and in a move claimed to be coincidential) the CEO of Menu Foods sold half his shares in the company shortly before the beginning of the recall.
17 April: Contaminated rice gluten found as well. This time, per media reports, importer of contaminated rice protein concentrate was Wilbur-Ellis; no info yet on the specific Chinese company they imported from, but it may be a different company than Xuzhou Anying.
18 April: Veterinary Information Network notes that they have informal reports of possible poisoning from five other products not presently recalled, including (in even more disturbing news) two medical products--HeartGard chewables (a heartworm preventative) and Pill Pockets (used for dosing animals needing medication).
18 April: Chinese origin has been confirmed for the contaminated rice protein--and it *is* a different company than Xuzhou Anying; specifically Binzhou Futian Bioloy Technology Co., Ltd. seems to have been the source this time around. There is also increasing speculation that melamine may have been added deliberately to both as a form of "nitrogen doping" (to make food appear to have more protein content than it actually does).
18 April: There are now highly disturbing reports coming out to the effect that the Chinese government is actively refusing to let US investigators into the country to trace down sources of contaminated grain. More below.
20 April: Corn gluten is added to the list as well; presently, there is no info from Royal Canin as to the Chinese manufacturer.
Also, melamine has shown up in hog feed, leading to serious concerns about contamination of the human food supply.
One of the most disgusting aspects of this tragedy--one which has been noted here before--is the issue of American companies purchasing Chinese wheat, rice and corn products even though they are natively produced in the States and we are a net exporter (and in fact, with corn, there are considerable price supports). As noted, it is largely a costcutting measure; a Boston Sun article turns a new light on this; interviews with the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers indicate that American companies would *love* to deal with US companies but are being undercut by Chinese imports--and the savings are only something like twenty cents or less per pound.
Yes, you're reading this right, folks--the health of our pets, and quite possibly ourselves as well, is literally being sold for twenty pieces of silver. :P
24 April: In further indications of continuing issues with Chinese food safety (and further indications this is system-wide), a second import-export company is known to have imported contaminated rice gluten. So far, the FDA has refused to identify them (just as they have refused to identify the two remaining companies that got contaminated rice gluten from Wilbur-Ellis but have not yet enacted recalls).
24 April: One wonders if China isn't the only country with spotty food security--as it is, our own FDA has essentially admitted it has known about food safety issues for years but has been unable to do anything about it. One of the most shocking failures revealed has been the fact that the FDA literally does not have the legal authority to push for a recall on its own--it literally can only notify manufacturers, and it is dependent on manufacturers alone to actually initiate any recalls relating to food, even if public safety is involved (it can prevent a product from ever entering the human food chain, but once it's in, it's in unless Congress specifically bans it). There is now a major push for the FDA to have authorisation to name names and initiate recalls and bans on its own (similar to how the South African or EU equivalents to the FDA can push for mandatory recalls).
27 April: Lordy lordy but do we have a slew of updates:
The FDA, as per usual, is blissfully unaware of pet food companies recalling product (specifically with the recall of Costco's store brand). (This is, in part, why I've been using sites like Itchmo and PetConnection for news updates--they are literally breaking this upwards of a week before the FDA is announcing things on their website, and the FDA in fact has to be notified by recalling companies before they can announce it on their website.)
Menu Foods is now suing ChemNutra for selling them contaminated product. One wonders when ChemNutra will sue Xuzhou Anying or the Chinese government. (One wonders when we'll be sensible and stop importing the damned stuff from China in the first place.)
China finally bans melamine (of course, I expect this to be about as effective as, oh, the Chinese bans on TETS which are linked to many poisonings a year in the country despite it being quite banned) and does a bit of interesting finger-pointing at the FDA ("Well, you bastards let it in because it wasn't marked pet food grade, neener neener neener!").
And finally, one of the pet food companies hit by this is ironically a hero (otherwise we would probably still have no idea what the hell was going on)--it was Iams Company who finally stood up to Menu Foods and triggered the recall (they were noticing complaints of sick and dying pets from customers, and told them flat out that even if Menu Foods didn't recall their products, Iams would recall theirs, by God). Kudos to Iams for doing the right thing; now let's hope they get away from Menu Foods altogether.
30 April: Category 5 Sh*tstorm about to hit--the International Herald-Tribune has put out an incredibly horrifying article involving interviews with Chinese feed producers. According to the article, melamine doping is not only widespread in China (including for the import/export markets) but apparently has been occuring for quite some time (years) and is so common that practically all products containing grains--including soy--are routinely "doped" (and thus have become a major area of profit for melamine-producing regions of China).
Legal Action/Governmental Action/Etc. (last updated 29 April):
22 March: reportedly no less than two separate class action lawsuits have been filed in Canada.
29 March: First of national class actions in the US filed.
31 March: There is a Yahoo Groups mailinglist for people interested in a potential class action against Menu Foods and the other parties involved; also numerous personal lawsuits filed.
5 April: In Sen. Durbin's press conference (in which he announced he will be forming a congressional committee to investigate the pet food recall) some rather distressing info came out re Menu Foods' plants in particular; apparently Menu Foods (and possibly other pet food plants as well) are in fact not required to be inspected by the FDA if they have a state agency that does inspections, and Menu Foods' plants (including the plants linked to contaminated feed) have apparently never been inspected, even by state agencies. (Most states that have inspection programmes tend to be very understaffed and have them run by the state agriculture department (the same agencies inspect weights and measures at gas stations and rides at amusement parks and fairs, areas which also have had noted shortcomings); New York's state ag department is a notable exception.) This is completely in contrast to FDA's monitoring of human food, which requires plants to be FDA inspected (including "spot" inspections of plants unannounced). Part of the Senate investigatory committee will in fact focus on the FDA's inaction in this tragedy per the senator's website.
6 April: Per news reports over 200 people are also suing Menu Foods for fraud).
10 April: A bill has been proposed in the New Jersey legislature that would hold companies responsible in cases of food contamination and would essentially act as a statewide Pure Foods Act for pet food.
10 April: We also know some more info now on possible testimony at Sen. Durbin's hearings--one person expected to testify is a former executive of Hill's Pet Food, who will be discussing the extremely lax state of pet food safety laws at present.
12 April: Senate hearings on pet food safety begin today.
18 April: A highly disturbing press release from Sen. Durbin's office notes that the FDA has attempted to get investigators into China (starting from 4 April) but that the Chinese government has refused to issue visas or allow inspectors into the country. In response, Sen. Durbin has written a very stern letter to the Chinese ambassador to the US.
20 April: Federal investigators are now pondering the possibility that wheat, rice and corn products from China may have been deliberately "doped" with melamine to boost the apparent protein content. (With three separate grain products in two countries now being found to be contaminated, there IS the very strong possibility of doping.) Dick Durbin is also pushing for the FDA to set up national inspection standards for pet food and human food factories, rather than relying on state agencies (which are typically underfunded branches of state agriculture departments). The Washington Post has a separate article on the matter as well.
Also, South Africa shows us how a food recall for something this serious *should* be done--South Africa has blocked imports of all gluten and grain protein products from China effective immediately, and also has stated officially that pet food producers had best either recall potentially contaminated food (and note it publically) or the government will happily out those companies and warn that their food is potentially contaminated. Interestingly, the South African death toll is higher than the "official" death toll in the US despite South Africa having a smaller pet population. (This is an extremely welcome change from the FDA, which still will not officially admit more than 15 pets dead, will *still* not reveal the names of two pet food manufacturers who received contaminated rice protein, and has lagged upwards of a week (compared with independent bloggers and pet food companies' recall sites) with such basic things as recall announcements.)
21 April: With recent discoveries of contamination entering the human food chain via pigs fed contaminated products, the FDA is finally making a federal case out of this debacle--a criminal probe has been opened re the food contamination and in particular pigs being fed contaminated food and subsequently entering the human food chain.
22 April: More info on South Africa's regulatory action here; the head of South Africa's pet food industry coalition has even officially stated Chinese product is risky due to the problems with contamination and food safety in that country.
In yet another sign that--quite unlike the US--South Africa's government is handling the matter as the serious issue that it is, the government is expressly warning people not to dump contaminated pet food to prevent contamination of the rest of the food chain or of water. (Again, quite unlike the US, where contaminated pet food was in fact sold as pig slop and which has now contaminated an unknown portion of the human food chain through prey-based contamination.)
24 April: China finally cries uncle, allows US inspectors in.
29 April: Canada is now testing all Chinese-origin vegetable protein for potential contamination.
As of today, we hit the Livejournal limits for update of the original pet food recall post, so news updates relating to the recall are now appearing here. The advisories for what to do if you are worried, as well as a pointer to the "news post", are still at the original site.
MAJOR UPDATE 17 APRIL, 20 APRIL, AND 29 APRIL: RECALL IS NO LONGER RESTRICTED TO WHEAT OR WHEAT GLUTEN AND ALL FOOD PRODUCTS FROM CHINA SHOULD BE CONSIDERED HIGHLY SUSPECT. THERE IS ALSO THE RISK THE LIST OF POTENTIALLY CONTAMINATED FOOD MAY EXPAND FURTHER. HUMAN FOOD CONTAMINATION HAS ALSO BEEN CONFIRMED IN PORK AND CHICKEN AND THERE ARE REPORTS THAT AT LEAST 45 HUMANS ARE KNOWN TO HAVE EATEN CONTAMINATED PORK. THERE IS ALSO NOW EVIDENCE THAT MELAMINE DOPING, INCLUDING IN HUMAN FOOD PRODUCTS, IS WIDESPREAD, ROUTINE IN CHINESE FOOD PRODUCTS, AND HAS BEEN OCCURING FOR YEARS. SEE BELOW.
Casualty updates (last update 29 April):
There are also ancedotal reports that animals could have been sickened as early as January from the tainted pet food (and there are now reports coming out showing that animals could have been sickened in December, too) as well as, more recently, reports from vets nationwide of sickened pets.
20 March: This has caused at least ten dogs and cats to die and many more to be critically ill due to kidney failure.
22 March: Now up to 16 confirmed deaths as of 22 March 07, 15 feline, one canine; again, I should emphasize this is only *confirmed* deaths, the total is probably far higher as noted below.
27 March: Sad update as of 27 March; the Veterinary Information Network (a veterinary medicine association that, among others, sponsors continuing medical education for vets) has reported that there are 471 cases of kidney failure linked to aminopterin- and melamine-tainted Menu Foods products that their association is aware of including 104 confirmed deaths (11 canine, 93 feline); this same report notes that PetConnection.com has ancedotal reports of 1792 more deaths (1018 feline, 774 canine) attributed to the bad feed.
1 April: Sad update as of 1 April: Petconnection.com now has ancedotal reports via their reporting database of 2,822 deaths as of 7:50am PST, 1,557 feline, 1,265 canine; this number is likely to rise considerably and of 2 April is close to 3000 dead.
4 April: Petconnection.com reporting 3,168 dead (1,700 feline, 1,468 canine) and 9,203 total pets reported to their database as either sick or dead from contaminated pet food; the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association reports 104 suspected cases of poisoning due to contaminated feed (68 feline, 36 canine) reported to the state public health veterinarian, of which at least 38 are known to be fatal (23 feline deaths, 15 canine); a survey of Michigan vets from the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association shows 135 suspected cases of poisoning in that state (100 feline, 35 canine) with 29 of those cases as being fatal (no breakdown as per species, though both canine and feline cases reported); the same article notes that 41% of vets responding to the survey have treated caes of kidney failure possibly related to the tainted feed, and some sources are reporting "hundreds" of deaths; if similar numbers are occuring with veterinary reporting nationwide, this would back up the petconnection.com numbers.
6 April: petconnection.com numbers: 9,378 dead or ill, 3,242 dead (1,731 feline, 1,511 canine); Iowa's state veterinary college reports 43 cases of suspected poisoning, 18 fatal (no breakdown as per species) which backs up numbers from state veterinary associations.
10 April: Petconnection.com numbers: 3,730 dead (1,938 feline, 1,792 canine), 11,703 dead or critically ill total; Veterinary Information Network (which covers approximately half of the veterinary practitioners in the US) estimates "hundreds, if not thousands" dead based on its own survey of veterinarians and possibly up to 10,000 pets suffering kidney failure as a result; Banfield (largest pet care clinic chain in North America, largely based in PetSmart stores) has issued very worrying statistics that state that 3 out of 10,000 pets who have eaten contaminated food and been treated at their hospitals have gone on to develop kidney failure, that kidney failure cases are up 30 percent, and that over 39,000 cases of kidney failure related to contaminated feed are expected.
12 April: We are now at almost 4000 pets dead because of contaminated wheat gluten :( (PetConnection.com numbers: 3,973 dead, 2,058 feline, 1,815 canine; 12,419 total sickened or dead)
18 April: Death toll is (sadly) 4,211 dead with nearly an even split of canine and feline cases, 12,820 cases of food-related illness (per petconnection.com).
20 April: 30 pets confirmed dead in South Africa from contaminated corn gluten. We may have only scratched the very beginning of this particular hell, folks. Also per a recent Pittsburgh Live article (which also contains disturbing info re possible human food contamination) notes the FDA has received 15,000 reports of dead or severely ill pets. Petconnection.com reports 4,346 dead (2,233 feline, 2,113 canine); Oregon State public health vet reports 120 suspect cases (44 canine, 76 feline) and 46 dead (20 canine, 26 feline) and the Michigan State Veterinary Association reports 155 suspected cases (114 feline, 41 canine) with 52 dead (35 feline, 17 canine). Veterinary Information Network reports "thousands" of suspected cases, estimates death toll to ultimately be 2,000 to 7,000 dead; reported cases in-network include 951 sick pets and 313 dead.
Also underreported is the cost to treat animals sickened; VIN reports their doctors have seen $812,000 so far in veterinary costs, with average cost of treatment (where animals did not have to be almost immediately euthanised) at $925. (Fortunately, there are multiple organisations offering to cover medical bills of pets sickened by contaminated food.) Even with help, though, costs will be substantial; VIN has estimated that the final monetary toll in money spent to treat sickened animals will be $2 million to more than $20 million US.
22 April: In researching South African deaths related to cyanuric acid poisoning (using melamine as a marker), 30 more deaths may have been found with a different brand of pet food that was contaminated--thus bringing up the toll to 65 South African pet deaths officially recognised. 4,427 dead per petconnection.com (for once, there is no breakdown by species).
27 April: Petconnection.com reports 4,515 dead (2,306 feline, 2,209 canine) with 13,984 pets in total affected (dead or requiring medical treatment).
29 April: 4,546 pets dead per petconnection.com (no breakdown by species) and 14,094 sickened or dead in total. This does not include non-human animals. In addition, over 6000 pigs are to be destroyed due to having been fed melamine-contaminated pet food in slop.
As of this update, human exposure and casualty figures will also be noted. Per news reports, 45 humans are now known to have eaten pork from pigs fed contaminated pet food sold as slop (thus we are, sadly, likely to be seeing casualty figures with humans getting sick from kidney failure as well--especially if reports that thousands of contaminated pigs may be in the food chain are correct).
Per the same news reports of human poisoning and contaminated hogs, the FDA has reportedly received over 500 reports in the state of Illinois alone of dead or dying pets.
Enforcement action/investigation (last updated 29 April):
23 March 2007: Per multiple news reports, the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets has preliminarily linked the poisoned food to wheat that was imported from China which contained a rodenticide illegal for use in the United States; Menu Foods is withholding commentary until they can verify the test results. The MSNBC article also notes that at least one veterinarian has suspected cases of poisoned pets prior to the recall.
As of 1pm the state agriculture department (which, incidentially, has one of the best labs in the US for determining food contamination--the FDA frequently relies on NY Ag Dept.'s own advisories for issuing its own recall notices) has announced the poison identified is aminopterin. Aminopterin is a folic acid antagonist which in the 50's and 60's was used as cancer chemotherapy (and, illegally, to induce abortion) until it was replaced by the less toxic drug methotrexate (and seeing as methotrexate is probably one of the most toxic drugs in the anticancer arsenal, this is telling you something; typically humans receiving MTX (much less its chemical cousin aminopterin) receive leucovorin to "rescue" them from the effects of folic acid depletion). Aminopterin is used in some countries (including China) as a rodenticide but is considered far too dangerous for any use in the US, either medicinal or rodenticidal (for reasons that are all too tragically obvious now). The one bright spot in this is we may actually have treatment for those poor animals who have been poisoned.
Poisoning by illegal Chinese rodenticides which are not registered for use in the US (and thus illegal) are not unprecedented--the CDC has recorded a case of an infant poisoned by an illegal Chinese rodenticide (which triggered a nationwide alert).
I will also note that the list of recalled food noted in the Menu Foods advisory should be treated as preliminary--among other things, the Science Diet recall is a newer addition, and it is actually far easier to list what pet foods are not produced by Menu Foods than what are (just because a food is organic is no guarantee, either--Nutro is definitely under the recall, there are at least two other major holistic pet food manufacturers that do processing at Menu Foods, and the recall is rapidly expanding to non-Menu Foods manufacturers). Especially with the discovery of aminopterin-contaminated wheat, I'd be very surprised if this does not expand.
23 March 2007: At this point, even Menu Foods doesn't know what's up (and are not willing to confirm or deny at this point that the poisoning may be due to contaminated wheat until they perform their own tests); among other things, there are worrisome signs that the problem may not in fact be restricted to one plant (the FDA is in fact inspecting two US-based plants Menu Foods operates) and if (as now suspected) the problem is in fact contaminated wheat the problem may extend not just to products using wheat gluten but wheat in general.
24 March 2007: Per a medical advisory aimed at veterinarians from the American Veterinary Medical Association, it appears that aminopterin is causing kidney failure due to the drug crystallising in the kidney tubules (thus destroying the kidneys); the medical advisory also notes that there is still testing going on for other agents besides aminopterin (advising caution to vets) and also notes the risk of other health problems as a result of aminopterin poisoning (specifically the fact that the drug depresses bone marrow; a close "chemical cousin" of aminopterin, methotrexate, is used in humans and dogs with various blood cancers (leukemias and lymphomas) and in lower doses as a "last-resort" drug in humans with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis (both of which are autoimmune diseases) specifically for its bone-marrow suppressing effect, and methotrexate is used in very high doses to destroy bone marrow in preparation for stem-cell and bone marrow transplants).
30 March 2007: An additional contaminant has been found by FDA labs in Menu Foods product--specifically, melamine. Melamine is a urea-based chemical that is used widely in the manufacture of plastics (especially floor laminates); it is also (due to its urea base) used in several countries as a fertiliser. Of note, news reports that melamine has been found in the kidneys of a cat who died of Menu Foods related poisoning (an important forensics finding), and the NY Ag Dept. lab which first detected aminopterin in the pet food has also confirmed the melamine finding.
As melamine is a urea-based chemical (yes, it's based on uric acid, and both get their name from urine) it could be a missing link as to why the poisoning is so severe--certainly, melamine *cannot* help with aminopterin-caused kidney failure. One of the known effects of melamine intoxication in humans is kidney stones, and (combined with the known mechanism of kidney toxicity with aminopterin, specifically crystallisation in the kidneys) the two chemicals likely have a synergistic effect. (Whilst focus is shifting to melamine as the predominant toxic agent, I'm not sure this is appropriate; both melamine *and* aminopterin are known to be renotoxic and the two combined are likely worse than either alone. In particular, it's uncertain how melamine is toxic to the kidneys of cats, who generally have better filtering systems for urea and uric acid derivatives (thanks to the fact cats are obligate carnivores); IMHO (and I am not a vet here, mostly a medical geek) this possibly points to *both* chemicals being responsible.)
30 March 2007: The FDA has issued an emergency order to specifically block import of any wheat or wheat gluten products containing melamine and to step up surveillance and testing of all wheat and wheat gluten products entering the US. Per a website also following the pet food scandal, one shipper of the tainted wheat gluten is now known to be Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Company Ltd. and pretty much anything using wheat or wheat gluten from this company should be considered potentially tainted.
2 April 2007: There is strong possibility other manufacturers in China are also sources; reportedly Xuzhou Anying Biologic has claimed they are in fact buying wheat and wheat gluten from *other* companies within China. The second firm linked to contaminated grain has been identified as Suzhou Hengrun Import & Export Corp., Ltd.; Suzhou Hengrun is quite a major import/export company in China, with a great deal of their trade involving pharmaceuticals, specifically antimicrobial drugs.
4 April: Tne shipper of tainted wheat products from Xuzhou Anying (and possibly others) seems to be ChemNutra Inc., based on an FDA press release of ChemNutra recalling suspect ingredient. ChemNutra is an import/export company specialising in import of Chinese-source ingredients (including, notably, wheat gluten) for the food (including pet food) and pharmaceutical industries.
4 April onwards: de-emphasis on aminopterin being a culprit (two labs were unable to confirm the aminopterin findings) yet it is uncertain how melamine could be sickening cats in particular.
6 April: Now up to four manufacturers other than Menu Foods affected including Del Monte Foods (makers of Pounce cat treats, among others) and Sunshine Mills (makers of Ol' Roy pet food and pet snacks); Del Monte is on its second round of recalls, in fact, despite assurances from the FDA the day before that this would be the last of the recalls.
10 April: Additional contamination found in non-recalled food, per Marin (CA) Independent Journal; this specifically includes Nutro canned cat food (pouched Nutro has been recalled, but not canned) which is implicated in a kidney failure case and which has tested positive for melamine. The same article notes that the FDA has received at least 21 pet food samples from customers (who have made complaints) which have also tested positive for melamine.
12 April: Cornell University's veterinary forensics lab may have identified a secondary contaminant (or possibly a tertiary one; aminopterin has been identified in some samples (but not others), and this could either be a confirmation of aminopterin or a finding of a third contaminant) which has been found both in pet food and in tissues of poisoned pets. It is presently unknown what the additional contaminant found was.
17 April: Contaminated rice gluten now found as well--see below. Suspected source is from a second Chinese company, and the discovery is especially disturbing in light of rice (which is the major alternative to wheat or corn) being potentially contaminated--the pet food recall is likely to expand dramatically.
18 April: The Sacramento Bee reports further on the latest recall (and now firmly places Diamond Foods in the *unsafe* category; all food packaged at Menu Foods *and* at Diamond must be considered suspect). Among other things, up to five other food products not yet recalled may be affected by the latest contamination discovered.
18 April: A recent horsesass.org post indicates a regular writer may have gotten a tip that not only rice but potentially corn gluten is affected. (Folks, if you are at all of a spiritual or religious bent, you may well want to pray that the bit on "corn gluten" is NOT true. Corn gluten is used in practically all pet foods that rice or wheat are not ingredients in (with the exception of a very, very few holistic brands that do not use grain at all or use potato flour)--if corn gluten is found to be contaminated, that's effectively all three major grains used in pet food contaminated and is essentially the end of safe pet food altogether. Due to the extensive use of corn and corn by-products in the States, that will also bring up the real risk of contamination of the human food supply.)
20 April: News24 in South Africa may have just confirmed the biggest fears of all of us watching this--apparently corn gluten, too, is also contaminated (the recall re Royal Canin products is related to contaminated corn gluten per the press release).
As of this moment, apparently there may not be safe dry pet food anymore, and the safe wet/moist pet food may be reduced substantially. The "safe" list is being amended to reflect this.
As it turns out, melamine may have been a marker for the *real* poisons--per this article additional poisons have been found, the most likely culprit being cyanuric acid; cyanuric acid is used as a pool chemical and derivatives are used as industrial disinfectants. Of particular note, cyanuric acid is also a breakdown product of melamine, hence the presence of melamine as a marker. Amilorine and amiloride, also breakdown products of melamine, were also found in analyses of contaminated food.
Also, there is frightening info that human pork products may have been contaminated with the same poisons effecting pets (more info on that below).
29 April: Disturbing news has come to light that 45 humans may have eaten contaminated pork and are at risk of poisoning as a result. More below.
Also, the actual mechanism of poisoning may have been discovered; researchers at the University of Guelph (Canada) have found a synergistic reaction between melamine and cyanuric acid occuring at normal urine pH causing crystallisation in the kidneys. Cyanuric acid is known to be a breakdown product of melamine (specifically, when melamine is broken down by Pseudomonas bacteria and other urea-liking bacteria), so it's very likely that this may be the ultimate culprit here.
Recall announcements (last updated 29 April):
30 March 2007: the recall may be expanding to dry food not produced by Menu Foods--specifically Hill's Science Diet is recalling some of its dry food as well as at least one variety of Hill's Prescription Diet due to the fact the wheat gluten used was from the same company as Menu Foods and melamine has been detected in these food products as well. (This is the first confirmation of news that dry food may be affected as well other than ancedotal reports on pet-care forums.)
31 March 2007: There are reports that Purina separately purchased wheat gluten from the same supplier (specifically involving a recalled lot of Alpo pet food which was not processed by Menu Foods), and even Purina's non-Menu Foods product must be considered hazardous. In addition, Del Monte, a third non-Menu Foods pet food manufacturer, is recalling several varieties of pet food due to use of contaminated grain. It is becoming more and more apparent that the contamination of wheat gluten may well affect practically every variety of pet food sold in North America containing wheat or wheat gluten and as a result all food containing wheat or wheat gluten must be considered as potentially contaminated. (This is especially the case now, considering that grain from the Netherlands is now also considered officially suspect and the Chinese company linked to the tainted gluten is now claiming they bought the wheat and wheat gluten from other manufacturers within China--meaning pretty much almost *all* Chinese-sourced grain could be potentially risky.)
4 April: Now up to four manufacturers other than Menu Foods affected including Del Monte Foods (makers of Pounce cat treats, among others) and Sunshine Mills (makers of Ol' Roy pet food and pet snacks); Del Monte is on its second round of recalls, in fact, despite assurances from the FDA the day before that this would be the last of the recalls.
4 April: ChemNutra, an import/export agency linked with the contaminated gluten (see below), is also recalling product.
6 April: Per news reports Menu Foods has now expanded the recall to cover all pet food made between 3 November 2006 and 6 March 2007 (which would be in line with my own advisory that pretty much all pet food containing wheat or wheat gluten made after 3 November should be treated as suspect).
10 April: Kroger Inc. is now taking very similar action to what we've suggested in our own advisories (namely, avoiding all pet food with wheat or wheat gluten); specifically, Kroger's (and its affiliate store chains) have removed all pet food containing wheat or wheat gluten "until we can assure that it is safe for our customers and their pets". Kroger has also removed all pet food that was packaged at Menu Foods, whether or not it was packaged or processed at plants affected by the recall (notice here) and is accepting returns and offering refunds for food purchased, no questions asked. (Kroger Co. is the largest grocery store chain in North America, and operates a huge number of stores besides the Kroger chain proper (a short list of regional brands Kroger owns includes Fred Meyer, Fry's, Food4Less, Owens, King Sooper's, and many more). Odds are, there is probably a Kroger-affiliated brand in your area who is pulling this stuff off the shelves, and Kroger is to be commended for its proactive stance in protecting pets.)
12 April: Nutro announces recall of all products containing wheat or wheat gluten due to discovery of contamination at a Canadian Menu Foods facility and due to deaths linked to Nutro products packaged outside of the two plants previously implicated. (This is also why I have been specifically warning all along to avoid any pet food who packs at Menu Foods--I suspected there would be (at minimum) other plants implicated, and possibly problems throughout the company or with other companies.)
Publix and Winn Dixie are also recalling store brands, and the first round of recalls not covering pet food containing beef is also occuring (specifically with wet tuna pet food sold for cats).
17 April: Contaminated rice gluten now found as well--Natural Balance (which had been previously listed as safe) has recalled food found contaminated with melamine from rice gluten. All Chinese-origin foodstuffs should be considered suspect at this point; I have updated the safe foods list appropriately and will be conducting a more in-depth review of ingredients tomorrow on listed product. Diamond Foods as well as Menu Foods should particularly be avoided (yes, I realise this means the vast majority of pet food makers in the US).
Also, reportedly Natural Balance does in fact process through Menu Foods and Natural Life Vegetarian has specifically been recalled (I had previously listed this as potentially unsafe).
Royal Canin now included in recall, including a total recall of all product in South Africa and recalls of the Medi-Cal sub-brand sold in Canada. This is especially bad news, as this effectively means that all the manufacturers of prescription pet foods may well have contaminated product.
22 April: Royal Canin announces further recalls; also, Royal Canin has officially announced that effective immediately they will no longer source grain or grain products from China (thus as of this update, Royal Canin, Blue Buffalo, and Nutra are "on quarantine" until it can be confirmed that non-contaminated product is in the pet food retail chain and they are no longer using potentially contaminated product). Of note, Royal Canin has been particularly hard hit, as apparently they've found that all *three* grain products they use have been contaminated.
24 April: SmartPak also recalls pet food with note re suspected melamine doping.
27 April: Blue Buffalo expands recall to its entire line of products and also adds the very disturbing news that a third US-based pet food company must now be treated as "all products contaminated"--specifically American Nutrition (the *other* major wet pet food producer in the US other than Menu Foods, and the one major producer of dry foods other than Diamond). Now, all of the "Big Three" pet food processors in the US must be considered contaminated; the "safe food list" *should* remain the same, but additional info will be added to avoid pet food processed by this company. (Specifically, it seems that American Nutrition has been adding rice gluten to pet food *without notifying pet food contracting companies*.)
Largely due to the recent American Nutrition revelations, Chicken for the Pet Lover's Soul is formally recalled (I had recommended avoiding them due to associations with Diamond for their dry food) and Diamond itself is recalling more pet food; in addition, Kirkland's (the "store brand" of Costco warehouse stores) is also recalled. Natural Balance is also recalling more product due to this adulteration.
Drs. Foster and Smith is recalled due to contamination.
29 April: Harmony Farms and Mulligan Stew also recalling product; this is related to American Nutrition's adulteration of pet food with potentially contaminated rice gluten without notifying pet food makers.
MAJOR UPDATE WITH POSSIBLE IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN HEALTH (most recently updated 30 April):
Note: Multiple human food products are now confirmed contaminated and it has also been confirmed that humans have eaten contaminated food product with possible serious consequences for health. There is also the very strong possibility this has been going on for years. See below.
Per CNN, the FDA is working to rule out any possibility that the contaminated wheat or wheat gluten may have entered the human food processing system. (This is why I say "Even if it's 'human grade' pet food, if it has wheat gluten or wheat, it's risky"--we STILL do not know how far the contaminated grain has been spread in food processing chains, and the news that the FDA is now worried about potential contamination of stuff in the human food processing chain is incredibly distressing indeed. As there is at least one known case of a human being sickened by contaminated pet food (specifically a woman who ate Iams pet food to convince her pet to try some; both she and her dog ended up in hospital) the idea that humans could get sick from eating contaminated grain is not far fetched.)
The fact that the FDA has a specific hold-and-detain order in regards to potentially contaminated wheat or wheat gluten further points to them being very worried this could have entered the human food chain, but we need confirmation on this--if you are worried about any wheat or wheat gluten products you are using in your household, you *may* well want to ask the makers if they either import from China or if their supplier sources wheat or wheat gluten from China (or even potentially the Netherlands).
Part of the reason that there is now concern that tainted products may have entered the human food chain is because information has since come out that the tainted wheat gluten was specifically sold as "human food grade" product; many higher-end pet food manufacturers (including Nutro) advertise that they only use human-grade ingredients in their pet food, but (as I've noted all along) "human grade" is no guarantee of safety. (As I've also noted below, China has a long history of rather severe problems with food safety, especially concerning contamination of grain products with pesticides and fertilisers which are either illegal worldwide (including in China) or are legal in China but illegal in the US due to known health effects. The problem with Chinese food safety has been highlighted in the Time Magazine article China's Unhealthy Taste For Toxins which details just how common it *is* for Chinese food products to be contaminated.)
A great deal of the concern relates to the fact that the FDA cannot in fact state they can guarantee none of the tainted grain entered the human food supply and due to the fact that the FDA has revealed the Chinese supplier (Xuzhou Anying Biologic) but has so far not identified the US-based importers and distributors who would have bought the gluten from Xuzhou Anying Biologic and ultimately distributed it to food producers. Interestingly, it is thanks to one of the companies that bought the contaminated products (Del Monte Foods) that we even know that the product being imported from Xuzhou Anying Biologic is in fact "human food grade" gluten--otherwise, we'd be in the dark on that, too. (Update 2 April--Menu Foods has also confirmed that the gluten used was "human food grade" --fer) (Update 4 April--the importer, ChemNutra, also deals in human food ingredients and has now issued a recall notice --fer)
In addition, it is extremely likely (based on a press conference from Xuzhou Anying) that quite a number of companies are involved; as noted above, a major import/export company has also been implicated, and by Xuzhou Anying's own admission they were shipping wheat and wheat gluten products purchased from a large number of other companies in surrounding provinces of China. (Again, this points back to the severe problems with Chinese food safety.)
The Boston Globe has also reported that part of the worry re potential human food contamination involves minimal labelling of the product. ChemNutra has for its part claimed none of its product ended up in human food (ChemNutra imports wheat gluten only for pet food), however, it is still unknown how many companies imported from Xuzhou Anying Biologic or any of the companies Xuzhou Anying imported from (again, Xuzhou Anying partly acted as a regional importer of grain products in China, and there are other import/export companies that purchase from Chinese companies besides ChemNutra).
At any rate, the FDA is sufficiently worried that contaminated gluten could have entered the food supply that they are doing "across the board" testing of all human food products containing wheat gluten and some stores (Safeway among them) are either holding products for testing or (WinCo among them) pulling products already even without the threat of a formal recall.
Persons concerned re implications for human health are advised that one of the higher-risk groups (if this stuff has entered the human food chain) are probably vegans; this article (which also notes a lot of the same grave misgivings I have on PETA in general) notes that wheat gluten is heavily used in meat-substitutes for the vegan market, particularly Seitan. (Interestingly, you folks unlucky enough to have celiac may be the safest of all of us!) Per the Wikipedia article on wheat gluten, particularly high-risk foods may be wheat-based breads (or any bread containing wheat gluten--again, read the ingredients) and vegetarian "meat substitutes" (including tofurkey--despite the name, the meat is largely seitan, *not* tofu); mock duck (sold in Asian groceries and stores selling goods for macrobiotic diets) is particularly risky in this regard, as it is almost entirely Chinese-sourced and almost entirely made of wheat gluten. Potato bread may be an alternative to wheat-based bread products so long as it does not contain wheat gluten as a solidifier. Gluten-free diets may be considered for folks who are very concerned about this.
17 April: Contaminated rice gluten also found--this is of very major importance, in part because a different import/export agency and a different exporting company seems to be responsible. (This in part highlights the rather severe problems with food safety in China in general.)
18 April: The contaminated rice protein is also from a second company, indicating that the problems are in fact system-wide in the Chinese food supply.
There are a number of articles of interest in regards to Chinese food safety (or more properly, the lack of it) and how China's food safety issues are an international concern. Among other things, the FDA only inspects 1.3% of all imported human food in the US (and, whilst not mentioned in the article, the FDA actually largely relies on state agencies to issue recall notices based on what their state agricultural boards have found in their labs--many of the FDA food recalls are based on test results from the New York Department of Agricultre, among other things)--China is quite consistently the top leader in FDA "hold without inspection" and even "destroy upon discovery" orders due to contaminated food. The US isn't alone in detecting problems with imported Chinese foodstuffs; South Africa has had to recall honey contaminated with chloramphenicol (an antibiotic used in beekeeping in China which has been linked to aplastic anemia--a disorder in which the bone marrow essentially shuts down and fails to produce red blood cells, which often must be treated by bone marrow or stem cell transplant; chloramphenicol is considered a "last resort" human drug for most indications in the US due to this risk).
There is also an interesting article in regards to how the FDA has been gutted--in a partisan manner, and in almost identical method to practically all non-military federal agencies--during the Bush administration and how this could have been a factor in the contaminated pet food tragedy. (Yes, folks, you HAVE heard this before--hurricane_fema is a community in regards to the results of similar bouts of favoritism and budgetary butchering which resulted in a "disaster within a disaster" with Hurricane Katrina. I have a very bad feeling, and have had such a feeling for a time, that a remarkably similar bout of clusterfuckage (similar to what happened with Katrina, what is happening with the debacle in Iraq and Afghanistan (where our soldiers aren't even getting sufficient body armor, they're now trying to recruit mentally ill people to avoid a draft, oh, and the Taliban are happily taking Afghanistan back over :P), etc. is in progress--save for anything promoting an explicitly dominionist political agenda, the present administration has done a remarkable job of being a "reverse Midas" by turning gold to shit. :P)
20 April: The news alert we all feared: possible human food chain contamination due to the Chinese Clusterfuck. Specifically, melamine (and presumably the other toxins found in pet food known to have made pets violently ill) has been found in hog feed and at least one hog farm has been quarantined as a result. The FDA is taking this so seriously now that they are launching a wide investigation as to whether pork products may be contaminated--so now not only do we have pretty much *all* dry pet food and most moist pet food as potentially poisoned, but also our ham and bacon and sausage. (This hits home for me. I have bacon usually every morning for breakfast :P) There is not yet a press release from the FDA on this, however.
21 April: As a recent reader noted, "This just gets worse and worse"...human food contamination is now confirmed as pigs fed contaminated food products have entered the human food chain. Reportedly over 100 pigs were fed contaminated slop and were shipped to slaughterhouses before rice gluten was recalled; the pigs were apparently slaughtered at one particular slaughterhouse in California for private individuals and a presently-unnamed "licensed facility" in California (presumably a human food producer, perhaps for frozen dinners and the like--fer).
23 April: Four facilities now confirmed to have slaughtered pigs fed contaminated slop.
24 April: The more that comes out, the more horrifying this is...there is now evidence that contamination of pork may be quite widespread, as pork products produced in six states (California, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, and Utah) are being recalled and potentially "thousands" of pigs may have been contaminated. (More info on the North Carolina hog contamination here.)
As if this weren't bad enough, a poultry farm in Missouri may have fed contaminated product and the FDA is *finally*--fully a month after revelations that "human grade" food products may have been contaminated--beginning testing of human food products for melamine and cyanuric acid (in the country, this is what we call "shutting the barn door after the cows have got out", but that's neither here nor there).
26 April: More disturbing news--upwards of ten separate companies may have been selling contaminated pet food as animal feed, leading to the spectre of widespread contamination of the meat supply as well; in addition, it's suspected the contamination has been ongoing since at least summer of 2006.
27 April: USDA announces contaminated hogs not to be allowed into human food supply and that farmers will be compensated for contaminated hogs destroyed. In addition, an emergency culling has begun of potentially contaminated hogs.
29 April: Expect all manner of hell to break loose soon--per the Chicago Tribune, 45 people in California alone are now confirmed to have eaten contaminated pork from pigs fed melamine-laced pet food (there are probably many, many more in the food chain--"surplus" and "remainder" pet food are a very common ingredient of slop sold to pig farms in the US) and the newspaper article describes this as now turning into a "full-fledged public health scare". (For those having problems seeing this article, use BugMeNot. Per the same article, the FDA is also investigating a report of potentially contaminated rice gluten used in human food products in Illinois.
30 April: International Herald-Tribune (the international division of the New York Times) has done a horrifying expose (noted below) to the extent melamine doping may have been widespread in animal feed for years--meaning that there may have been human food contamination for Gods-only-knows how long.
Pet Food Safety Issues/The "Blame Game" (last updated 30 April):
Sadly, there is quite the game of "Not Me!" going around (those of you who read "Family Circus" as kids know all about Jeffy's little friend "Not Me"...) where ChemNutra is saying "Not Me! It was Xuzhou Anying!", Xuzhou Anying saying "Not Me! It was suppliers from surrounding provinces! A-And we never shipped our grain over there anyways!" and even the Chinese government officially stating "Not Me! We didn't ship any grain over there!" (despite the fact there is very good evidence through the existence of multiple import/export companies that Chinese-origin wheat gluten is shipped Stateside). Sen. Durbin's investigation is welcomed in this light.
22 March: There is rather disturbing information that points to Menu Foods potentially having covered up the deadly pet food for upwards of a month (or possibly closer to three--see below) pre-recall and only announcing the recall after pets were ending up in vets' offices with kidney failure or dying.
24 March: Per Menu Foods' website pretty much all food from 3 December 2006 to 6 March 2006 should be considered suspect; in other words, contaminated food by Menu Foods' own admission has been in the retail chain for nearly four months at the time of this writing--and Gods only knows how long in truth. Based on this, it is *very* likely that pets have been getting deathly ill from this stuff from early December on; I will actually be surprised if people aren't charged for criminal negligence as a result at this rate.
31 March: There have been reports from an ex-employee of Menu Foods detailing quality control problems at the company, including at least one failed USDA inspection and a possible history of dodgy ingredients used.
5 April: Sen. Durbin notes that Menu Foods plant, and possibly other plants involved in recall, were not FDA inspected (FDA relies on state agencies). See below.
6 April: There is the very disturbing possibility that the contamination of pet food that has killed thousands of animals may have been deliberate--specifically involving melamine possibly having been added to fortify protein content. (Hence the very enthusiastic game of "Not Me!" above--this definitely could count as "food adulteration" and subject all those responsible to trade bans or even FDA sanctions.)
Many people have asked "Why are we importing wheat and wheat gluten from China, anyways?" Even though the US is a net exporter of grain and there is plenty of domestic product to be had, the sad reason is that it's for much the same reason as jobs are outsourced overseas (including manufacturing and IT jobs)--specifically, companies do it because getting Chinese product is cheaper than supporting the local economy. Unfortunately, though, cost-cutting all too often comes at the expense of human and pet health. (There is a very similar controversy going on now re costs of high-fructose corn syrup (linked to obesity and possible problems with glucose metabolism) versus sugar (which is tariffed at a high rate); HFCS is primarily used in the US as a sweetener as (until recently) it's been cheaper than sugar, though the increased use of ethanol in fuels is changing this). For that matter, the severe problems with Chinese food safety are largely due to "cost-cutting measures" done by companies, selling contaminated product that would otherwise lose money, using illegal pesticides, etc.)
12 April: More disturbing info indicating melamine may have been deliberately added to the wheat gluten as an adulterant to increase protein has come out--specifically it appears that Xuzhou Anying apparently has been purchasing large quantities of melamine, including via online vendors, over the past few months.
Also, interestingly (and in a move claimed to be coincidential) the CEO of Menu Foods sold half his shares in the company shortly before the beginning of the recall.
17 April: Contaminated rice gluten found as well. This time, per media reports, importer of contaminated rice protein concentrate was Wilbur-Ellis; no info yet on the specific Chinese company they imported from, but it may be a different company than Xuzhou Anying.
18 April: Veterinary Information Network notes that they have informal reports of possible poisoning from five other products not presently recalled, including (in even more disturbing news) two medical products--HeartGard chewables (a heartworm preventative) and Pill Pockets (used for dosing animals needing medication).
18 April: Chinese origin has been confirmed for the contaminated rice protein--and it *is* a different company than Xuzhou Anying; specifically Binzhou Futian Bioloy Technology Co., Ltd. seems to have been the source this time around. There is also increasing speculation that melamine may have been added deliberately to both as a form of "nitrogen doping" (to make food appear to have more protein content than it actually does).
18 April: There are now highly disturbing reports coming out to the effect that the Chinese government is actively refusing to let US investigators into the country to trace down sources of contaminated grain. More below.
20 April: Corn gluten is added to the list as well; presently, there is no info from Royal Canin as to the Chinese manufacturer.
Also, melamine has shown up in hog feed, leading to serious concerns about contamination of the human food supply.
One of the most disgusting aspects of this tragedy--one which has been noted here before--is the issue of American companies purchasing Chinese wheat, rice and corn products even though they are natively produced in the States and we are a net exporter (and in fact, with corn, there are considerable price supports). As noted, it is largely a costcutting measure; a Boston Sun article turns a new light on this; interviews with the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers indicate that American companies would *love* to deal with US companies but are being undercut by Chinese imports--and the savings are only something like twenty cents or less per pound.
Yes, you're reading this right, folks--the health of our pets, and quite possibly ourselves as well, is literally being sold for twenty pieces of silver. :P
24 April: In further indications of continuing issues with Chinese food safety (and further indications this is system-wide), a second import-export company is known to have imported contaminated rice gluten. So far, the FDA has refused to identify them (just as they have refused to identify the two remaining companies that got contaminated rice gluten from Wilbur-Ellis but have not yet enacted recalls).
24 April: One wonders if China isn't the only country with spotty food security--as it is, our own FDA has essentially admitted it has known about food safety issues for years but has been unable to do anything about it. One of the most shocking failures revealed has been the fact that the FDA literally does not have the legal authority to push for a recall on its own--it literally can only notify manufacturers, and it is dependent on manufacturers alone to actually initiate any recalls relating to food, even if public safety is involved (it can prevent a product from ever entering the human food chain, but once it's in, it's in unless Congress specifically bans it). There is now a major push for the FDA to have authorisation to name names and initiate recalls and bans on its own (similar to how the South African or EU equivalents to the FDA can push for mandatory recalls).
27 April: Lordy lordy but do we have a slew of updates:
The FDA, as per usual, is blissfully unaware of pet food companies recalling product (specifically with the recall of Costco's store brand). (This is, in part, why I've been using sites like Itchmo and PetConnection for news updates--they are literally breaking this upwards of a week before the FDA is announcing things on their website, and the FDA in fact has to be notified by recalling companies before they can announce it on their website.)
Menu Foods is now suing ChemNutra for selling them contaminated product. One wonders when ChemNutra will sue Xuzhou Anying or the Chinese government. (One wonders when we'll be sensible and stop importing the damned stuff from China in the first place.)
China finally bans melamine (of course, I expect this to be about as effective as, oh, the Chinese bans on TETS which are linked to many poisonings a year in the country despite it being quite banned) and does a bit of interesting finger-pointing at the FDA ("Well, you bastards let it in because it wasn't marked pet food grade, neener neener neener!").
And finally, one of the pet food companies hit by this is ironically a hero (otherwise we would probably still have no idea what the hell was going on)--it was Iams Company who finally stood up to Menu Foods and triggered the recall (they were noticing complaints of sick and dying pets from customers, and told them flat out that even if Menu Foods didn't recall their products, Iams would recall theirs, by God). Kudos to Iams for doing the right thing; now let's hope they get away from Menu Foods altogether.
30 April: Category 5 Sh*tstorm about to hit--the International Herald-Tribune has put out an incredibly horrifying article involving interviews with Chinese feed producers. According to the article, melamine doping is not only widespread in China (including for the import/export markets) but apparently has been occuring for quite some time (years) and is so common that practically all products containing grains--including soy--are routinely "doped" (and thus have become a major area of profit for melamine-producing regions of China).
Legal Action/Governmental Action/Etc. (last updated 29 April):
22 March: reportedly no less than two separate class action lawsuits have been filed in Canada.
29 March: First of national class actions in the US filed.
31 March: There is a Yahoo Groups mailinglist for people interested in a potential class action against Menu Foods and the other parties involved; also numerous personal lawsuits filed.
5 April: In Sen. Durbin's press conference (in which he announced he will be forming a congressional committee to investigate the pet food recall) some rather distressing info came out re Menu Foods' plants in particular; apparently Menu Foods (and possibly other pet food plants as well) are in fact not required to be inspected by the FDA if they have a state agency that does inspections, and Menu Foods' plants (including the plants linked to contaminated feed) have apparently never been inspected, even by state agencies. (Most states that have inspection programmes tend to be very understaffed and have them run by the state agriculture department (the same agencies inspect weights and measures at gas stations and rides at amusement parks and fairs, areas which also have had noted shortcomings); New York's state ag department is a notable exception.) This is completely in contrast to FDA's monitoring of human food, which requires plants to be FDA inspected (including "spot" inspections of plants unannounced). Part of the Senate investigatory committee will in fact focus on the FDA's inaction in this tragedy per the senator's website.
6 April: Per news reports over 200 people are also suing Menu Foods for fraud).
10 April: A bill has been proposed in the New Jersey legislature that would hold companies responsible in cases of food contamination and would essentially act as a statewide Pure Foods Act for pet food.
10 April: We also know some more info now on possible testimony at Sen. Durbin's hearings--one person expected to testify is a former executive of Hill's Pet Food, who will be discussing the extremely lax state of pet food safety laws at present.
12 April: Senate hearings on pet food safety begin today.
18 April: A highly disturbing press release from Sen. Durbin's office notes that the FDA has attempted to get investigators into China (starting from 4 April) but that the Chinese government has refused to issue visas or allow inspectors into the country. In response, Sen. Durbin has written a very stern letter to the Chinese ambassador to the US.
20 April: Federal investigators are now pondering the possibility that wheat, rice and corn products from China may have been deliberately "doped" with melamine to boost the apparent protein content. (With three separate grain products in two countries now being found to be contaminated, there IS the very strong possibility of doping.) Dick Durbin is also pushing for the FDA to set up national inspection standards for pet food and human food factories, rather than relying on state agencies (which are typically underfunded branches of state agriculture departments). The Washington Post has a separate article on the matter as well.
Also, South Africa shows us how a food recall for something this serious *should* be done--South Africa has blocked imports of all gluten and grain protein products from China effective immediately, and also has stated officially that pet food producers had best either recall potentially contaminated food (and note it publically) or the government will happily out those companies and warn that their food is potentially contaminated. Interestingly, the South African death toll is higher than the "official" death toll in the US despite South Africa having a smaller pet population. (This is an extremely welcome change from the FDA, which still will not officially admit more than 15 pets dead, will *still* not reveal the names of two pet food manufacturers who received contaminated rice protein, and has lagged upwards of a week (compared with independent bloggers and pet food companies' recall sites) with such basic things as recall announcements.)
21 April: With recent discoveries of contamination entering the human food chain via pigs fed contaminated products, the FDA is finally making a federal case out of this debacle--a criminal probe has been opened re the food contamination and in particular pigs being fed contaminated food and subsequently entering the human food chain.
22 April: More info on South Africa's regulatory action here; the head of South Africa's pet food industry coalition has even officially stated Chinese product is risky due to the problems with contamination and food safety in that country.
In yet another sign that--quite unlike the US--South Africa's government is handling the matter as the serious issue that it is, the government is expressly warning people not to dump contaminated pet food to prevent contamination of the rest of the food chain or of water. (Again, quite unlike the US, where contaminated pet food was in fact sold as pig slop and which has now contaminated an unknown portion of the human food chain through prey-based contamination.)
24 April: China finally cries uncle, allows US inspectors in.
29 April: Canada is now testing all Chinese-origin vegetable protein for potential contamination.