http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/hea...out603892.html Pet Food Recall Expands Again
04.19.07, 12:00 AM ET
THURSDAY, April 19 (HealthDay News) -- The massive recall of pet foods expanded again Thursday with the recall of products containing rice protein concentrate imported from China.
Blue Buffalo, of Wilton, Conn., said it was recalling all of its Spa Select Kitten dry food labeled "Best Used By Mar. 07 08 B. The reason for the recall: The foods are contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers that can lead to illness or fatalities in animals if consumed.
Melamine is the same chemical that was initially found in pet foods in March that were manufactured by the Canadian company Menu Foods. That recall began with moist pet foods made with contaminated wheat gluten from China. The recall has been extended to more than 60 million packages of food, including dry foods and dog biscuits.
On Wednesday, Natural Balance Pet Foods, of Pacoima, Calif., recalled all its venison dog products and dry venison cat food after discovering they were contaminated with melamine. The company believes the melamine was in the rice protein concentrate.
"Natural Balance tested the food after customers reported dogs and cats suffering kidney failure," Dr. Stephen F. Sundlof, director of FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, during a teleconference late Thursday.
The rice protein concentrate involved in this week's recall was imported by Wilbur-Ellis Co. of San Francisco from Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co. Ltd. in China.
Wilbur-Ellis told the FDA it had shipped the rice protein concentrate to five U.S. pet food manufacturers. The FDA declined to identify the manufacturers during the Thursday teleconference. But Blue Buffalo was identified as one of the manufacturers after it posted details of the recall on its Web site.
Sundlof did not say how much food is involved in the latest recall.
So far, the FDA has not said how many cats and dogs have become sick or died from contaminated food. To date, the FDA has received more than 15,000 calls reporting sick or dead pets, Sundlof said.
In the shipment of rice protein concentrate to Wilbur-Ellis, one bag was pink and was stenciled with the word "melamine," Sundlof said.
The FDA continues to sample all wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate coming into the United States from China, Sundlof said. "Additional products will be added as we receive information," he said.
Sundlof said more recalls of pet food are expected and consumers should check the FDA Web site before buying any pet food.
In another development, it appears that some of the contaminated rice protein concentrate made its way in to hog feed. The extent of the problem isn't known. It's also not known if hogs fed the contaminated food have made it into the human food chain, the FDA reported.
"We do understand that one of the companies that was manufacturing pet food had some pet food that was unfit for pets and it made its way into some hog feed," Sundlof said. "We are following up on that."
Meanwhile in South Africa, melamine has been found in Royal Canin pet food company's Vets Choice and Royal Canin dry dog and cat food sold exclusively in South Africa and Namibia. The source of the melamine appears to be from corn gluten imported from China, according to published reports.
The FDA believes that the pet food product contamination might be intentional. Melamine can make it appear that the protein content of the wheat or corn gluten or protein concentrate is higher than it actually is.
"We are aware that melamine can increase protein content," Sundlof said. "It's still a theory, but it seems to be a plausible one. The motivation would be economic in that you can take a product that is low in protein and would not qualify for the designation as protein supplement and make it appear that it has a high protein content so it can be sold at a higher price."
FDA representatives are hoping to go to China to investigate the manufacturers of these products. However, they have not yet been able to clear the diplomatic hurdles that would make the trip possible.
More information
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U.S. Food and Drug Administration.