ROCKVILLE, Maryland: Pet owners are living in fear after a third ingredient used to make domestic animal food was found to be contaminated with an industrial chemical.
It is now more than a month since a wave of domestic animal deaths forced the recall of more than 100 brands of dog and cat food containing contaminated wheat gluten.
However the latest pet food recall has extended the crisis. A week ago a second pet food ingredient, rice protein concentrate, was found to have been contaminated with melamine, according to The Houston Chronicle.
And now, according to the Voice of America, the Royal Canin operation in South Africa has recalled products following reports of animals dying after eating food made with corn gluten that contained melamine.
Royal Canin USA has announced it will no longer use Chinese suppliers for any of its vegetable proteins, and has voluntarily recalled some dry food products which may contain corn gluten. However the company says it has not received any confirmed reports of illness in pets.
Pet food manufacturer Natural Balance Pet Foods recalled its Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Foods, following reports of animals vomiting and experiencing kidney problems. Natural Balance said it does not use wheat gluten.
Officials are unable to say when national pet food supplies will be given the all-clear, or even whether other basic pet-food ingredients have also been contaminated.
Calls are now being made for a wide-ranging review of standards, procedures and safeguards behind the quality of all food imports (including those for humans) ito the US.
The Chronicle has reported that both the wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate ingredients were imported from China. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has since blocked Chinese imports of both food ingredients.
The pet food recall crisis began on March 16, 2007 when manufacturer Menu Foods recalled 60 million cans of dog and cat food.
Here is a complete FDA list of all the pet food brands recalled so far.
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“Oregon's public health veterinarian has tracked 117 suspected cases, including 45 deaths.”
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The recall was prompted by reported cases of cats and dogs in the United States developing kidney failure after eating contaminated products. According to the Guardian Unlimited, FDA testing showed that melamine was found in wheat gluten imported from China.
Wheat gluten is used in pet products to thicken food gravy. Melamine is a molecule that has a number of industrial uses, including use in manufacturing cooking utensils and as a plastic derivative used as fertilizer in some countries (although not the US).
The FDA has so far confirmed only 16 deaths due to the melamine contamination. However annecdotal reports have put the number of animal poisonings and deaths in the thousands. The Oregonian reports that Oregon's public health veterinarian has tracked 117 suspected cases, including 45 deaths. The website petconnection.com has received more than 4000 reports of deceased pets.
“Pet food manufacturers will see a huge hit to their profits due to this," said Pet Shed veterinarian Dr Sally Gardiner.
“Pet owners are now nervous because it has hit so many brands and so many types of food, they aren't sure where it will all end. Add to this the inability of the authorities to pin down the exact cause of the contamination and the number of products affected.
“Consumers have been burned badly and it will be a long time before they can trust some of these products again.” she said.
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“Consumers have been burned badly and it will be a long time before they can trust some of these products again.” Dr Sally Gardiner
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The FDA said it received over 14,000 calls in four weeks from pet owners and veterinarians reporting illnesses that may have been associated with the contaminated pet food—more than twice the number of complaints typically received in a year for all of the products the agency regulates.
Royal Canin has joined other pet food companies, including Natural Balance Pet Foods, Menu Foods, Del Monte Pet Products, Hills Pet Nutrition, Nestlé Purina PetCare Company, The Blue Buffalo Company and Sunshine Mills, Inc. on the list of manufacturers which have recalled products.
According to the pet food manufacturing trade association the Pet Food Institute, even though the amount of pet food actually recalled seems quite large, the affected products only amount to approximately one percent of the total pet food available for purchase.
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“We encourage the public to continue to use pet food that is not subject to the recall.” Stephen F. Sundlof, FDA
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"There remains an ample supply of safe cat and dog food available at stores throughout the United States," says Stephen F. Sundlof, Ph.D., Director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM).
"We encourage the public to continue to use pet food that is not subject to the recall."
Experts have warned against pet owners boycotting traditional pet foods and making their own meals for their pets, as dogs and cats have dietary requirements which differ greatly from those of humans.
I just can't believe that this thing keeps getting bigger - where will it end? Those guys responsible for checking food imports really have a case to answer. What have they been doing? Stupid bureaucrats
I am scared every time I buy food for my puppy babies now. I don't know what is safe. What if what I feed my pups today is declared poisonous tomorrow. But what can I do?
What it all amounts to is big industry is trying to produce a product as cheap as possible no matter who it hurts, just so they can get bigger bonuses.
I lost my beloved cat Ginger almost three months ago to "kidney failure". My vet never even suggested that this could have been due to what I was feeding him. The vet took blood to work out that his kidneys were damaged, but we never looked any further into why they were damaged - it is common in older cats apparently. I wonder now, could it have been contaminated food? I don't want to have any CSI body chopping up on Ginger's remains to check for the poison, but I will always wonder if he and many more pets have really been affected by this. Have there only been so few deaths tied to this because nobody looks for the reason why pets get sick or die?
All I can say on this particular matter: Yeah, some big brands were included on this massive recall. Some of these brands you pay big money for, but the bottom line is these companies are outsourcing cheap (now at risk) ingredients for no other reason than to pad their big fat wallets a little more. Now they are worried because they got caught. Do the research on pet food, there are more surprises than you think!
You are discouraging us from makeing our own pet foods. As I understand it, a dog's nutritional perfection comes from meat. And, even the best dog foods have only 45-50% meaat. I use Iams for both my cat and dog because the first ingredient is meat.......If I made my own of meat with a few potatoes and carrots, would that not be acceptable and healthy. I've not yet decided to do this yet, but have been tempted.
I am a pet lover with 6 kitties and one dog of my own. When I first became a pet Mama, I used to buy inexpensive over the counter petfood products. Then I "upgraded" to veterinarian formulas like Science Diet and also would purchase Eukanuba and Iams. When I made a lifestyle change for myself last year to organic and chemical-free, I began researching petfood ingredients and was horrified what I learned is put in these petfoods and that I'd been feeding my babies this stuff for years. I began realizing that if it wasn't human-grade consumption quality, why should my pets eat bird beaks, feathers, contaminated meat and more. There are numerous good books on petfood and how it is not regulated well. It's no different than our human-grade conventional food full of chemicals, long words on the ingredients list that we can't even pronounce careless know what they are. I changed my pets diet to high premium, organic and chemical-free quality foods I buy at specialty shops that you'll not find over-the-counter in dept. stores or conventional grocery stores and I must say, my pets look and act healthier than ever. Plus they are not ingesting chemicals that don't belong in them.
I returned over 20 cans of 9 lives sliced Veal in Gravy after my cat DIED last Nov. before the recalls came out! I waited weeks before returning the cans of food to (retailer's name removed: Editor), Made by DEL Monte Pet Products!!! And it wasn't on the list THEN. Thank God for Pet Shed!! This is my first time seeing this name.
But I do know my cats kidneys shut down fast!! It took 3 days over the weekend for him to die! He ate a total of 7 cans prior to his death, because I always wash out the cans before putting them in the trash can.
I tried to tell the Manager at (retailer's name removed: Editor) to please throw it away! And she said "I'm going to put it back on the shelf"!!! I begged her not to! I even offered to buy it back!
So therefore, someone else's cat got very sick or died! I will write to PetsMart and the FDA about this.
This is completely appalling!
First of all: To all of you who have lost a pet as a result of this debacle- you have my sympathies.
I can't believe it- I would think that the reason I shell out a few extra dollars to get better quality food for my pets is because I'd like to be sure I'm giving my pets a brand I can trust.
I hope Petshed can give us some more information about feeding our pets- I wouldn't mind mixing my own batch of food for my pets if I only knew how. Thanks Petshed for giving us a heads up- but it seems this is only just the beginning. As long as these big companies resort to using substandard ingredients, we will never see the last of this!
How can these companies be so irresponsible with their products? This is the reason why I pay top dollar to get high quality dog food and I expect the same respect from their end. To think that their prices are a lot more expensive than the normal kind of dog food. Shape up or ship out!
it's absolutely horrible. i've heard that they've used some sort of weird extenders to make it look like there's more protein in the food.
not only are our pets in danger of getting poisoned. nowadays, even people are in danger especially with various products coming from China like toothpaste and other stuff. what is our world becoming into? people are more concerned with making money rather than making sure that their products are safe to use.
that's the problem with some companies. it's as if they've compromised their future, their brand, their research, their reputation all because they've got a bottom line to protect like this month or this year. china's example just showed they don't care for customers, just profits.