Pet Food Recall II

Today was grocery shopping day and time to stock up on dog and cat food. When I arrived at the pet food aisle, it was a pretty unusual sight. Lots and lots of empty shelves. There were only about 3 brands of canned dog food available and about the same for cats. I don’t buy canned food for Terry since her tender tummy can’t handle it. Her regular brand of kibble was there and I grabbed a bag of it thinking, “I hope this doesn’t kill her.” How wrong is that? The thought shouldn’t even be in the back of anyone’s mind, let alone front and center. Her food doesn’t contain any wheat gluten, so it seems safe.

For Abbie I needed a few cans of wet food and, I’m sure, like many other people, I’m totally not trusting that stuff right now. A good many of the cans contain wheat gluten which doesn’t seem like a very good bet at the moment because, every few days, something else gets recalled. If not for Aminopterin, then for melamine. And who knows what else will turn up.

Sooo, I wandered over to the baby food aisle and selected a few jars of pureed chicken and lamb. I’m not sure if she’ll eat them, but if she doesn’t, Terry will. Abbie likes some gravy mixed with her kibble and the pureed baby food might turn out to be an ideal replacement. And it comes with the vet’s stamp of approval. Hope she likes it.

With regard to the pet food disaster...Hill’s prescription Feline m/d dry diet joined the list of recalled foods on Friday. Their press release is interesting for this statement: “...during a two-month period in early 2007, wheat gluten for this product was provided by a company that also supplied wheat gluten to Menu Foods.” Well, we know who the originating wheat gluten manufacturer is now (see links at bottom of this post). The timing of Hill’s recall coincides with the FDA’s Import Alert.

Del Monte, on Friday, also recalled a variety of pet foods and treats for the same reasons. Items such as Jerky Treats, Ol’Roy Dog foods, and Pounce Cat treats. See their press release for their complete list of recalled products.

Purina’s Alpo Prime Cuts In Gravy Canned Dog Food (all flavors) were also recalled on Friday. For some reason the url address says Mighty Dog, but that is also a recalled product from several days ago. Purina must be scrambling like crazy with this real-life and PR nightmare. Their press release is also an interesting read.

And, of course, the question also hovering is did any of this wheat gluten find its way into human food production, since it appears to be widely used in ways that almost boggle the mind. The International Wheat Gluten Association provides a run down of wheat gluten uses and they are many. Wheat gluten is described as an economical substitute for meat protein in several instances and the stuff also simulates the texture of meat, fish (artificial cavier, anyone?), and poultry muscle. Brings to mind those cans of mystery meat. Vegan diets probably use it a lot. And oddly enough, it’s also used in the manufacture of plastic products.

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Other links:

An updated list of SAFE pet foods is available at PetsitUSA.com. They’ve been working very hard to keep up and it is one of the most comprehensive list out there at the moment. Several holistic and organic brands included that contain no corn or wheat products.

Pet Connection also recommends Pet Food Tracker for current (really up-to-date) lists of recalled foods.

A good Washington Post article giving the most current information on the pet food investigation with a dismaying statement from an FDA spokesman that says contaminant(s) in the human food supply can’t be 100% ruled out yet, though they are unaware of any currently. Cold comfort.

And then there’s this FDA Import Alert #99-26, DETENTION WITHOUT PHYSICAL EXAMINATION AND INTENSIFIED COVERAGE OF WHEAT GLUTEN DUE TO THE PRESENCE OF MELAMINE. That sounds serious. This is the Chinese company whose wheat gluten product is being detained without physical examination. I wonder if their other products are safe. (Thanks to Itchmo)