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WASHINGTON - An industrial chemical that led to the nationwide
recall of more than 100 brands of cat and dog food has turned up in
a second pet food ingredient imported from China.
The discovery expands the month long cascade of recalls to include
more brands and varieties of pet foods and treats tainted by the
chemical.
"This has exposed that the safety standards for pet foods are not in
place in any significant way and the kind of drumbeat, day after
day, of recalls has shaken consumers' confidence in the pet food
industry's adherence to food safety standards," said Wayne Pacelle,
president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the
United States.
The chemical, melamine, is believed to have contaminated rice
protein concentrate used to make a variety of Natural Balance Pet
Foods products for both dogs and cats, the Food and Drug
Administration said Wednesday.
The FDA has there is no evidence so far to suggest any of the rice
protein went to companies that make human food, said Michael Rogers
(news, bio, voting record), director of the agency's division of
field investigations. But the FDA has not accounted for all the
imported ingredient.
Previously, the chemical was found to contaminate wheat gluten used
by at least six other pet food and treat manufacturers.
Both ingredients were imported from China, though by different
companies and from different manufacturers.
The FDA on Wednesday began reviewing and sampling all rice protein
concentrate imported from China, much as the agency has been doing
for wheat gluten, Rogers said.
A lawmaker said Wednesday the Chinese have refused to grant visas to
FDA inspectors seeking to visit the plants where the ingredients
were made. An FDA spokesman later said the visas were not refused
but that the agency had not received the necessary invitation letter
to get visas.
"It troubles me greatly the Chinese are making it more difficult to
understand what led to this pet food crisis," Sen. Dick Durbin,
D-Ill., told The Associated Press after meeting with the FDA
commissioner, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach.
A message left Wednesday with the Chinese Embassy in Washington was
not immediately returned.
Natural Balance said it was recalling all its Venison and Brown Rice
canned and bagged dog foods, its Venison and Brown Rice dog treats
and its Venison and Green Pea dry cat food.
The recalls now include products made by at least seven companies
and sold under more than 100 brands.
The Pacoima, Calif., company said recent laboratory tests showed its
recalled products contain melamine. Natural Balance believes the
source of the contaminant was rice protein concentrate, which the
company recently added to the dry venison formulas.
A San Francisco company, Wilbur-Ellis Co., began importing the
ingredient in July from a Chinese company, Futian Biology Technology
Co. Ltd., according to Wilbur-Ellis president and chief executive
John Thacher.
It resold the ingredient to five pet food manufacturers, including
Diamond Pet Foods Inc. of Meta, Mo. Diamond manufactured the dry dog
and cat foods recalled by Natural Balance, Diamond Pet Foods
spokesman Jim Fallon said.
Thacher declined to identify his company's other four customers,
except to say two tested the ingredient and found no melamine.
Wilbur-Ellis has not heard from the other two, both of whom received
limited amounts of the ingredient, Thacher said.
The FDA's tests detected melamine in a rice protein sample; the
agency would not disclose the sample's origin.
The source of the melamine remains unclear. It may have contaminated
the rice protein through the reuse of dirty bags used to ship the
products.
Thacher said an April 4 delivery from Futian Biology included 146
1-ton bags of rice protein concentrate. All were white except for a
single pink bag, which was stenciled "melamine."
Wilbur-Ellis isolated the entire shipment at a Portland, Ore.
warehouse and sent out samples for testing. The pink bag's contents
tested positive for melamine while the two white bags tested were
negative, Thacher said.
Futian Biology later told Wilbur-Ellis that a damaged bag was
replaced with a clean one, Thacher said. The company then "certified
the product was all fine," he added.
The Las Vegas importer of the contaminated Chinese wheat gluten,
ChemNutra Inc., that led to the original pet food recall has
suggested that spiking a product with melamine can make it to appear
to be richer in protein during tests, thus increasing its value.
ChemNutra also imported rice protein concentrate from China, though
from another source. Spokesman Steve Stern said the company is
testing those shipments.
The recalls began March 16 when Menu Foods recalled 60 million cans
of dog and cat food after the deaths of 16 pets, mostly cats, that
had eaten its products. The FDA said tests indicated the food was
contaminated with melamine, which is used in making plastics and
other industrial processes.
Five other companies later recalled pet products also made with
wheat gluten tainted by the chemical. The FDA has since blocked
Chinese imports of wheat gluten.
Menu Foods continues to add more varieties to its recall list. Menu
Foods spokesman Sam Bornstein did not know if the Streetsville,
Ontario-based company also used rice protein concentrate as an
ingredient in its pet foods, sold under more than 100 different
major and store brands.
A House committee is holding a food safety hearing Tuesday and is
expected to discuss the pet food recall.
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