Pet Food Poisoning May Have Been Deliberate
"It could have been intentional, not accidental," said Senator Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said in an interview after meeting privately in his office with federal health officials. "Economic fraud is a theory" the investigators are pursuing, Durbin said. Senator Durbin has spearheaded a campaign to fully investigate how the tainted wheat gluten and rice protein complex made it into more than 100 different types of pet food in the US.
Federal investigators are now examining whether the Chinese manufacturer of the wheat gluten and rice protein complex added nitrogen-rich melamine to wheat gluten in order to raise its nitrogen level. The protein content of the product is determined by testing the nitrogen level, and the more protein the product has the higher the price the Chinese company can charge.
The FDA is now beginning to test all imports of wheat gluten from China and the Netherlands, which also received shipments from China. So far, there is no indication that the tainted wheat gluten, a product used to thicken food, has entered the human food supply.
The Wilbur-Ellis Company in San Francisco, who distribute the rice protein complex used by Natural Balance foods that was later found to be tainted with Melamine, has sealed all products received from Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co. Ltd. A bag with the word "melamine" stenciled on the side was found Sunday in a shipment of rice protein concentrate that was received from the Chinese company and tests confirmed the presence of Melamine. The tainted wheat gluten that affected foods produced by Menu Foods came from Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd.
US investigators are trying to make arrangements to visit the factories of the Chinese companies but are being stalled by the Chinese government who refuse to grant visas to the US investigators. Senator Durbin and Democratic Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro of Connecticut are attempting to contact the Chinese government to urge them to cooperate with US officials. Senator Durbin and DeLauro are co-writing legislation that will tighten oversight of pet food manufacturing to prevent this type of incident in the future. There is also talk of penalizing Menu Foods for waiting three weeks after they knew there was a problem with their food to act.
Published by Goth Diva
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- Lacing the products with melamine increased the price the Chinese companies could charge.
- Legislation is being written to tighten regulation of pet food manufacturing.
- Penalties are being considered for Menu Foods for not taking action sooner.
3 Comments
Post a CommentYou always keep me updated on the interesting news. And, i agree with Charlotte.
Again, this would not surprise me at all. I've always thought it WAS deliberate.
I hadn't heard about this yet--thanks for the update.