FDA Has Melamine-Tainted Egg on Face

Pet owners are outraged that the FDA's new safety "czar," Dr. David W. K. Acheson, stated that the pet food situation is under control and consumers should no longer worry about feeding commercial pet food to their pets. The statement from Acheson came soon after the recall had been expanded even further, and just days after the USDA had announced that 20,000,000 chickens were being quarantined after consuming tainted feed. The statement also came on the heels of another announcement-- that the FDA plans to close seven testing labs.

Many pet owners feel that this latest attempt by the FDA to mitigate consumers' fears indicates that the FDA simply does not want to deal with consumers' very valid concerns about the intentional pet-food tainting. What Acheson said is, essentially, "Don't worry about it. Everything is under control now." He said this despite the fact that the contamination turned out to be a very widespread problem that goes back at least as early as 2006, and despite the fact that the FDA has yet to show exactly how they will keep this kind of thing from occurring again.

Here are some of the primary complaints pet owners have about the way the FDA has handled the recall:

The FDA delayed informing pet owners about some brands that had products tainted with melamine.

The FDA now appears to be downplaying the broad implications of this recall, despite the fact that at least 150 brands were recalled and that the contamination has been going on for a long time.

The FDA has indicated what they might do in the future to monitor food safety, but has been evasive about what they are going to do right now. Delays have already led to an unknown number of pet food related illnesses and deaths. Fluffy, Fido, and their owners do not have time to wait around.

The FDA has vastly under-reported the number of pet illnesses and deaths tied to the recalled pet food. As calls from pet owners across the nation poured in, the FDA held to their original report of 16 confirmed pet deaths. Only recently did the FDA admit that the numbers of illnesses and deaths were much higher.

Most pet owners, and especially those whose pets became ill or died after consuming contaminated pet food, feel that this contamination justifiably calls for outrage. When the food supply is compromised in any way, and certainly when the contamination was caused by intentional food tampering, the issue is a big issue. It is certainly not a non-issue.

Acheson's statement that the food supply is now safe, falls on jaded ears. The FDA has a lot more work to do than to simply issue a statement in attempt to allay fears. A lot more will have to be done to regain consumer confidence. Pet owners know that a statement that "everything is okay now" does not make everything okay. A lot is at stake here. It is going to take more than statements by the FDA to make many pet owners feel comfortable feeding commercial food to their beloved animal companions again.