Food Recall

What is the status of the pet food recall?

The March 16, 2007, recall of a very large number of pet foods by Menu Foods has impacted a considerable number of pets and people across the nation. Since that time surveillance for the suspected toxins, melamine and cyanuric acid related compounds, have taken place and more types of food have been recalled, including some aquatic animal and ferret foods. All of the recalled foods have been removed from the supply.

Congressional testimony has taken place about the pet food recall. In that testimony, University of Guelph researchers said they found that a combination of melamine and cyanuric acid react to form crystals that appear to be identical to the crystals found in animals that ate the food. The current theory is that these chemicals, seemingly nontoxic individually, react in the animal’s body to form crystals that primarily damage the kidneys.

The source of the toxins has been traced to "wheat gluten" (essentially processed wheat protein) and "rice protein concentrate" that was imported from China by ChemNutra. These products are imported as a source of protein as a basic ingredient for many pet foods because it is cheaper to import them. In the United States our primary source of starch is corn, in other parts of the world the primary source of starch is wheat. This means that more of the wheat protein is left over and available for other uses.

On May 8, 2007, the FDA announced that these products were actually wheat flour. During the congressional hearings, Stephen Miller, the CEO of ChemNutra, "testified that they believe someone added melamine to the ‘wheat gluten’ on purpose. Melamine is high in nitrogen, which could increase the protein reading during analysis of an ingredient. "We believe it was because of fraud in China that this happened." (JAVMA Vol. 230, No. 11, June 1, 2007, p 1602) There is a move to try to make the food supply safer. There has been a call to increase inspections of foreign food suppliers. If a system of annual qualifying inspections of food suppliers, similar to Europe’s, were adopted in the U.S., the supply would be safer.

At this point, the true number of animals who have become sickened or died because of this problem remains unknown, and we may never know. This number is far from small, and the amount of stress to owners has been considerable. As a pet owner, I feel confident that the pet food supply is generally very safe, and I will continue to purchase the high quality foods my pets deserve. For more information on the pet food recall visit www.avma.org and search for "pet food recall". A complete list of recalled foods can be found at www.avma.org/aa/petfoodrecall/products.asp.

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