Pet Food Recall leaves bitter taste (speculation that undeclared GMO wheat is culprit)

[Shallah Kali]

http://www.animalwellnessmagazine.com/art/aV93_62.htm

“A blood test and urinalysis can assess kidney damage – whatever its cause,” explains veterinarian Dr. Jean Hofve, a nutritional expert and former advisor to the American Animal Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). “A few veterinarians tested all their patients who were eating the recalled foods, whether or not they were sick. All of them – even those who seemed perfectly normal – had signs of
kidney damage on the tests.”

snip

“Neither melamine nor aminopterin are likely to be the real cause of the illness – the symptoms of toxicity don’t match either one,” says Dr. Hofve. “Toxicology data on melamine suggests that it can cause kidney stones and other chronic effects, but acute renal failure does not really accord with that. Some are calling melamine a ‘marker’ for something else that hasn’t yet been determined.” Theories abound as to how melamine got into the wheat gluten. Federal Drug Administration veterinarian Stephen Sundlof told CNN that it could have been added as a “cheap filler”. But according to Michael W. Fox, B. Vet. Med, Ph.D., D.Sc., M.R.C.V.S, melamine is “not cheap” and costs about 50% more than wheat gluten. “I believe the China contaminant is the tip of the iceberg, and could become the scapegoat,” says Dr. Fox. In fact, he speculates that the Chinese wheat was genetically engineered or modified (GMO), and this is the source of the problem.

“It most probably was,” he states, “since it was not imported for human consumption, and was possibly an experimental crop with anti-fungus blight and viral disease genetic insertions that could have gone haywire as a result of ‘overexpression’. Melamine, the parent chemical for a potent insecticide cyromazine, could possibly have been manufactured within the wheat plants themselves as a genetically engineered pesticide.” Alternatively, the culprit could be glyphosate, says Dr. Fox, an herbicide that is absorbed by crops that are genetically engineered so that they escape harm while the weeds in the field around them die.

To date, the FDA has not stated whether or not the wheat is GMO. Mark Ullman, legal counsel for ChemNutra, the company that imported the wheat gluten told Animal Wellness that the wheat gluten “was not supposed to be but that ChemNutra did not specify non-GMO on its order” so in fact it may well have received a genetically engineered product. Thus far, GMO wheat has been frowned upon for human consumption in North America, but the FDA does not regulate its presence in pet food or animal feed. Furthermore, as with human products, genetically engineered foods do not have to declare their “altered” status on North American labels.

BTW the USDA is about to dilute Organic standards. Organic foods can't be GMOs so please sign the petition linked here if you want to keep the Organic standards strong:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/bytes/ob109.cfm#1

Also if you support mandatory country of origin labeling for food go to the link below. You can always add in a comment about mandatory labeling of GMOs as a precautionary measure just in case all the untested and unlabeled GMO foods turn out to not be as perfectly safe as their corporate creators swear: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x30718

[Shallah Kali]

1. GMO Rice Protein From China Used in EU Animal Feed (bt63

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/41604/story.htm

The European Commission has expressed concern to China over unauthorised imports of genetically modified rice protein for use in animal feed, Britain's food safety watchdog said.


Britain's Food Standards Agency said in a statement issued late Thursday that the GMO line Bt63 had been found in rice protein concentrate imported from China via the Netherlands.

snip

Much of the feed had, however, already been used or sold earlier this year before the alert was issued.

[Buzz Clik]

2. So, we're ignoring a growing body of evidence to foster more GMO fear? Why?

Melamine/cyanuric acid are clearly the problem. This has been demonstrated twice.

We don't need to invoke the GMO boogeyman.