Pet food recall widens! (Just how wide is this BS?)

[napi21]

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1927489220070419?feedType=RSS

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wilbur-Ellis Co. said on Thursday it was voluntarily recalling all lots of a rice protein concentrate its feed division had shipped to pet-food manufacturers.

Wilbur-Ellis said the recall was because of a risk that rice protein concentrate may have been contaminated by melamine, a chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers that can lead to illness or fatalities if consumed.

The announcement is the latest in a widening recall of dog and cat food products across the United States since mid-March. More than 100 brands of pet food have been recalled after reports of cases of pets developing kidney failure.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has received more than 14,000 reports of pet illnesses so far. Officials have confirmed just 16 deaths but believe the actual number could be higher.

You can read the entire article, but it doesn't mention any specific manufacturers or brands! I felt reasonably confortable because all I fed my dogs was rice based and contained no wheat. WTF! NOW it's rice?????

I'd like to beat the sh*t out of someone, but I don't even know who!!!!!

[Donnachaidh]

1. Who put Corporate cronies in the FDA?

Let's start with them first.

[derby378]

2. The FDA, perhaps?

I think every single activist and precinct chair should introduce a resolution at next year's precinct convention demanding stricter FDA regulation of foodstuffs of all kinds. Ever since Herr Decider took office, the FDA has gone to Hell in a handbasket.

[Waya]

3. Great......

......soon we have to feed table scraps just to be sure they'll survive their next meal.....

[Mist]

I've been feeding my 2 cats Little Friskies for their entire lives--they haven't

shown any signs of anything wrong (yet!) Seems safe, so far.

[emilyg]

12. fancy feast

has done ok and Brandon Farms dry from Kroger

[Betsy Ross]

15. And you know where your food comes from?

Much of our food comes from China. Finding contamination of human food will be next.

[Mist]

4. How the hell does melamine get into food stuffs? nt

[CrazyOrangeCat]

9. That's the big question

that no one is answering.

[whistle]

13. Ground up saw dust used as filler, except it isn't all wood so

...plastic laminates get mixed in in this case deliberately and in toxic quantities!

[jmowreader]

22. If that was the case, it really wouldn't be a problem

A lot of very inert plastics start out life as very dangerous chemicals.

The quickest example I can think of is polyethylene terephthalate, which is used in all manner of food packaging, especially soft drink containers.

PET contains two chemicals: terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol. (I know THIS because, last summer, I tried to get a job making this stuff and they showed me how the shit works.) Ethylene glycol is a deadly chemical, and terephthalic acid isn't lethal but it will still fuck you up. But react the two, and you get a plastic that's so safe you can eat off it...like you do several times a day.

Melamine is the same deal. According to http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4046937.html, there are three components to a melamine resin, one of which is, as you guessed, the chemical melamine that killed all these cats. React it out, like you would if you were making melamine-faced particle board, and the product is very safe.

Guys, I'm stickin' with my initial assertion that, somehow or another, grains were shipped in railcars that were used to carry melamine.

[whistle]

23. Would you take a tablespoon of ground up powdered malamine every day?

...Also, I will not eat food or beverages off/in plastic or with plastic utensils. I certainly won't make my pet eat from these either.

[jmowreader]

24. I'm up to probably a quarter-pound of the shit for this year alone

I cut a LOT of melamine-faced particle board and it's not possible to avoid breathing the dust with the cheap-ass dust collection system we have on our panel saw--which is just a shop vac with a long hose. So far I'm still okay.

The melamine that's contaminating the pet food is UNREACTED melamine, not melamine RESIN--huge difference between the two.

[whistle]

5. 60 million packages originally on some 40-45 brands, that is now over

....100 brands and an undisclosed number of additional packages. This is a major, major cover-up!

[orleans]

6. check this out

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x685580

one is natural balance venison & brown rice wet & dry for dogs
another natural balance green pea for cats

and menu listed another one too

[Madrone]

19. I returned my half-used bag of Venison/Brown Rice food yesterday.

Exchanged it for the Potato & Duck formula. I've always been very impressed w/ the Natural Balance foods, and hope they get this straighted out right away.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

7. I know how you feel. The lyin' bastids deserve an ass-kicking.

NOBODY messes with my babies.

:grr:

[LisaM]

8. I want to know where that rice is from. China?

I know, I, too, thought that the rice was safe. Our brand has (so far) not been on any lists, and our dogs seem OK, but every time they drink a little extra water or seem tired, I panic.

I called the FDA about this and the (nice) person I talked to said to contact my representatives to introduce legislation to have pet food regulated by the FDA.

[Gloria]

14. I do a lamb and brown rice forumula (dry) so far unaffected...with the emphasis on

SO FAR...

This is ridiculous....beyond the pale.

I feel like the entire world is in total breakdown esp. since Bushco arrived....

[orleans]

20. i read the other day (somewhere...) the rice protein concentrate

IS imported from china.

[napi21]

25. Yes, the rice protein concentrate in question is from China. I clarified that

with theDiamond foods veterinarian today. I was concerned about the Kirklandchicken rice and vegies dry food that I feed my fluffers. She explained to me that rice formula dog foods do not all contain "rice protein concentrate". That is something else all together.

[mimitabby]

10. make it yourself

i just started feeding my cats a mix of raw meats and vitamins that i got from a cat rescue group.
I just can't risk them getting sick because I was feeding them food "not fit" for human consumption. I am starting to wonder what exactly that means. If it's not fit for me to eat, why is it fit for them to eat, well, heck, it apparently ISN'T!

[rumpel]

11. Just to add a report from South Africa of contaminated corn gluten from China

in pet foods there...

http://howl911.com/

China not cooperating with US FDA inspectors - refusing to issue Visa's - Durbin Press release of yesterday also on howl911 main page....

:grr:

[napi21]

17. Ohhh, that's not good. So far, we have all been depending on

the full cooperation of all suppliers, no matter where they are!

[adigal]

16. Is Pedigree dry food OK?

Is there a place I can check? Thanks,

[harlinchi]

18. I've been checking various lists myself.

So far, Pedigree seems OK. I've read posts that assert that it isn't the best food because of poor filler quality but the food, apparently, is safe.

[adigal]

21. Thanks - right now, I am glad I feed my dog

cheap dog food. He is sick, but at least I know it is not from this.