http://www.swnebr.net/newspaper/cgi-bin/articles/articlearchiver.pl?160497
Interesting reading, this is. For those not wanting to read it in it's entirety, basically it appears that it is not illegal, to date, to sell livestock which has eaten the contaminated pet food "scraps", however the USDA won't put their USDA stamp of approval on pigs that ate the food.
So these pigs can certainly be sold for food and not have any legal repercussions other than the USDA seal on the cover, like buying a counterfeit copy of Windows XP, basically - the "Pork Genuine Advantage".
"Potentially" 6000 hogs were fed what we know to be adulterated food, but let's remember the national slaughter number for swine is over 100 million. Would that be per annum? Per month? "So that's the context". Kind of like when kids were stealing out of a farmer's 50 acre watermelon field. Frustrated with the thefts, he put up a sign which said, "To those stealing my watermelons, please be advised I have poisoned two with arsenic - you guess which two" - so THAT's the context.
And the FDAs tally on dead pets remains at 17 OR 18.
This was the FDA's original recall notice:
Interesting reading, this is. For those not wanting to read it in it's entirety, basically it appears that it is not illegal, to date, to sell livestock which has eaten the contaminated pet food "scraps", however the USDA won't put their USDA stamp of approval on pigs that ate the food.
So these pigs can certainly be sold for food and not have any legal repercussions other than the USDA seal on the cover, like buying a counterfeit copy of Windows XP, basically - the "Pork Genuine Advantage".
"Potentially" 6000 hogs were fed what we know to be adulterated food, but let's remember the national slaughter number for swine is over 100 million. Would that be per annum? Per month? "So that's the context". Kind of like when kids were stealing out of a farmer's 50 acre watermelon field. Frustrated with the thefts, he put up a sign which said, "To those stealing my watermelons, please be advised I have poisoned two with arsenic - you guess which two" - so THAT's the context.
And the FDAs tally on dead pets remains at 17 OR 18.
This was the FDA's original recall notice:
FDA posts press releases and other notices of recalls and market withdrawals from the firms involved as a service to consumers, the media, and other interested parties. FDA does not endorse either the product or the company.
ChemNutra Announces Nationwide Wheat Gluten Recall
Contact:
Devon Blaine/Lisa Baker
310-360-1499
Devon Blaine/Lisa Baker
310-360-1499
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE --Las Vegas, NV -- April 3, 2007 -- ChemNutra Inc., of Las Vegas, Nevada, yesterday recalled all wheat gluten it had imported from one of its three Chinese wheat gluten suppliers – Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd.
The wheat gluten ChemNutra recalled was all shipped from China in 25 kg. paper bags, and distributed to customers in the same unopened bags. The bags were all labeled "Wheat Gluten Batch No.: _______ Net Weight: 25 kg Gross Weight: 25.1 kg Made in China". The batch numbers included in the recall are 20061006, 20061027, 20061101, 20061108, 20061122, 20061126, 20061201, 20061202, 20061203, 20061204, 20061205, 20061206, 20061208, 20061221, 20070106, 20070111, 20070116, and 20070126. Each ChemNutra shipment had the certificate of analysis information from the supplier, including batch number and the supplier's content analysis and test results. ChemNutra shipped from its Kansas City warehouse to three pet food manufacturers and one distributor who supplies wheat gluten only to the pet food industry. ChemNutra's shipments commenced November 9, 2006 and ended March 8, 2007. ChemNutra did not ship to facilities that manufacture food for human consumption, and the distributor ChemNutra shipped to supplies wheat gluten only to pet food manufacturers. The total quantity of Xuzhou Anying wheat gluten shipped was 792 metric tons.
ChemNutra learned on March 8 from one pet food manufacturer that the wheat gluten it had sold them – all from the Xuzhou Anying - was among ingredients suspected as a potential cause of pet food problems. ChemNutra immediately quarantined its entire wheat gluten inventory and assisted this customer's investigation.
After that manufacturer issued a pet food recall, the FDA immediately commenced a thorough investigation of ChemNutra's wheat gluten, including documentation analysis, inspection, and laboratory testing. ChemNutra cooperated fully with the FDA and immediately notified its other three wheat gluten customers about the FDA's investigation. Those customers had all purchased smaller amounts of the Xuzhou Anying wheat gluten commencing in January, 2007.
On Friday, March 30, the FDA announced they had found melamine in samples of the wheat gluten ChemNutra had imported from Xuzhou Anying. The FDA did not inform ChemNutra of any other impurities in the Xuzhou Anying wheat gluten, nor of any impurities in the wheat gluten from ChemNutra's other two Chinese suppliers.
The toxicity of melamine is not clear. However, since melamine is not approved by the FDA for pet food, it should absolutely not have been in wheat gluten. ChemNutra is extremely concerned about the purity of all of its products. The company is particularly troubled that the certificates of analysis provided by the above-named supplier did not report the presence of melamine.
ChemNutra wants to ensure its products are safe. Consequently, in addition to its ongoing cooperation with the FDA, ChemNutra will be conducting its own independent, analytical tests of wheat gluten from all of its suppliers.
Yesterday ChemNutra sent recall notices to all four of its direct customers. If any other company received bags of recalled wheat gluten from the lot numbers referenced above, please call ChemNutra at 702.818.5019.
Consumers who have questions about the pet food they should go to the FDA's website atwww.fda.gov/FDAgov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2007/ucm108871.htm. This website lists all brands of petfood involved, with links to the manufacturer who should be contacted with questions.
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