The Pet Food Recall: One Year Later, Has Anything Changed?

[undergroundpanther]

Nope...
I didn't guess when I began covering this story with Gina Spadafori at Pet Connection that it would turn into the largest consumer recall in history, trigger an international trade scandal, launch congressional hearings, spur proposed legislation on food safety and get both American and Chinese businesses owners indicted. I couldn't have foreseen that the incident would put a spotlight on Chinese imports which would eventually reveal lead in children's toys and toxins in toothpaste, and prompt the recent recall of the drug heparin.

But it's equally hard to believe that after all that, the answer to the question "Could it happen again?" is probably "Yes."

The reason for that is simple: None of the changes that might prevent a repeat of last year's pet food recall have been implemented. There have been no improved inspections of pet food plants, no comprehensive overhaul of the patchwork of state, federal and industry manufacturing standards and regulations, no increased transparency and accountability — not even something as simple as printing the name and contact information of the actual manufacturer on pet food labels — and no revisions to pet food labeling laws. The Food and Drug Administration still does not have the authority to issue mandatory recalls.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/03/15/petscol.DTL

[JeffR]

1. Thanks for posting this

as sick and angry as it makes me feel.

[magellan]

2. Thanks for this

I started making my pet's food myself last year, and I've seen no reason to stop.

[lonestarnot]

3. Were you really thinking it might change?

[undergroundpanther]

7. No.

I know where pet food comes from.
The "meat" is from carcasses and it's full of -plastics,rendered,that is, cooked.When plastics are cooked it sublimates and it goes back into the ''meal'. As it cools this plastic changes into a different chemical form,and inside the bodies of our pets we have cyanuric acid and kidney stones galore from this. It isn't just a Chinese problem .People here on DU were blaming China as if they are the only source of this mess,but they are not the real source of this situation, it is an industry wide problem with rendering and it is not a simple thing to fix because of the sheer amount of dead flesh these places process..There is a problem with the rendering process itself regardless of what country the protein is rendered in.. The protein meal" from renderer's looks like brown sugar and it is put in all sorts of animal feed as a cheap source of protein..Animal by products,meat by products, protein/bone meal,it goes by a ton of names.

http://siriusdog.com/pet-food-rendering-cvma-smith.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0106-03.htm

[lonestarnot]

14. And making your own when one can barely feed yourself is well,

you know.

[ColbertWatcher]

4. So true...

...I wonder if anyone has a timeline showing the food problems of this failed adminstration starting with the first mad cow scare to the pet food recall to the recent beef recall...

[eppur_se_muova]

5. K&R. The recent heparin findings reminded me of this all over again. nt

[undergroundpanther]

8. It's not going to change

Until people face up to how foods are manufactured in all it's horrific truth,and after that we must unite in our rage in more than online rants.Only when the companies are forced,literally to change, And it may come to if need be at gunpoint. And after the profits are taken out of the equation,and these psychopath Ceo's are forced to change.They may have to be threatened to be dragged through the street by pissed off people like Mussolini was ,or pissed people can always drag out a guillotine and chop some heads outside the corporate headquarters,than, we might see a change in the way business is done..

[emilyg]

6. TY

[orleans]

9. what changed was the brand of dog food i buy

and my level of trust in the pet food/people food/all imports from china/

my faith in the bush administration was not altered

[grace0418]

10. I changed to buying organic cat food. It's more expensive but it keeps my cat's

diabetes at bay and I don't have to worry about him getting poisoned.

[Greyhound]

11. A guy I know in South Korea tells me the government is warning its citizens

not to buy food products from China, it is so bad.

[better tomorrow]

12. a picture of the Nike factory in China....

[tkmorris]

13. We now make our own dog food

It's a bit of a pain frankly, but I wouldn't even consider going back to buying canned. Even if standards were introduced which absolutely guaranteed no recurrence of the issues you mentioned, the stuff they put in those cans is NOT FOOD. It's garbage, it's offal. It is bits and scraps of animal products that cannot be sold for human consumption or other uses. It is beaks and kneecaps and gristle and bone. It is sub-standard grain and various fillers.

I believe that feeding them canned food would be the equivalent of feeding our daughters nothing but Twinkies and macaroni & cheese. They wouldn't suffer for it immediately, but over time they would develop more health problems than they should and eventually their lives would be irretrievably shortened. I wouldn't feed our girls that way and I refuse to do it to my dogs either.

[live love laugh]

15. My dog is healthier. I changed brands and my arthritic dog has not limped

since. She is much more energetic too. (I switched from Eukanuba to Wellness brand.) I notice that the local stores don't carry many of the substandard brands anymore--the store I buy from doesn't even carry Eukanuba anymore.

[RockaFowler]

16. I make my dog's food now

It's less expensive than it was before, because I give them food that we eat as well. Rice, Chicken, Carrots, Liver (well we don't eat it, but Liver is very inexpensive and very good for them), and oatmeal. They love it and I feel better giving them real food instead of processed crap.

On a side note, I have been putting garlic in their food and there are no more fleas either!!!