FDA: NEW killer found in pet food -- NO rat poison found; it's Melamine

[LiberalHeart]

See this discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x539548

[LiberalHeart]

1. Please keep this kicked so people find the discussion; head on other one doesn't indicate it's NEW

[Arkansas Granny]

2. Kick

[SmokingJacket]

3. Hmmm.... do I believe the FDA, or Cornell?

Is the FDA saying that the Cornell scientists are full of shit? Very curious.

[LiberalHeart]

5. Something I found unsettling was a comment made at the FDA presser today....

They said the tainted wheat gluten hasn't been found in any human food "yet."

YET?

[Richard Steele]

13. I wonder if the B*sh FDA has even bothered to look "yet".

As if they ever will.

[Shallah Kali]

20. NYTimes says they are looking for MELAMINE in Gluten intended for Humans but not whole wheat

they are being lax especially if the gluten was not imported already processed but if it came as whole wheat. IMO they all should be checked. Two deadly poisons already found, I wonder what next they will find if they bother to look!!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/31/us/31petfood.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Additionally, F.D.A. officials said that they did not believe the contaminated wheat gluten had entered the human food supply, but that they were testing all wheat gluten imported from China for melamine.

[Pachamama]

21. "We're hoping its safe"....wow, that instills confidence...How long before we hear that its far wide

spread and in the human food supply???

Why, why with all the wheat we grow in this country, are we importing wheat gluten? I read a yahoo article posted in another thread that said 70%!!!! of wheat gluten used in Pet and HUMAN foods is imported from the EU and Asia!!!!! WTF???

I feel sick....between what we are finding out about the pet food industry and now finding out what is being imported (with what kind of oversight through all the globalization?) and used in our own food supply, I am not sure what is safe for our health.

[yardwork]

12. I trust the FDA under chimpy like I trust chimpy

[Shallah Kali]

19. Cornell found the rat poison in the food and in the cat's urine

I trust cornell before I trust the FDA run by Bush Co's loyal bushies.

[jojo54]

4. K & R.

What happened is horrible. I have 4 cats but fortunately, don't feed them any of the food brands mentioned in the story.

On another note: I ESPECIALLY don't feed them Iams, which is owned & operated by Proctor & Gamble, which has refused to stop horrific testing on animals. It's kind of assinine that they do this and have the balls to manufacture pet food. I've self-imposed a boycott against P & G for the last 10 years now. Here's a website if anyone didn't know about this murderous company: www.uncaged.co.uk/iams.htm

[Up2Late]

6. Melamine in pet food, wheat gluten from China : FDA (Reuters)

Melamine in pet food, wheat gluten from China : FDA

Fri Mar 30, 2007 10:57am ET138

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. officials said on Friday that melamine, a chemical found in fertilizers in Asia and which should not be in pet food in any amounts, has been detected in the wheat gluten used by Canada-based Menu Foods.

The FDA said the wheat gluten in question came from a company in China, and was not known to be used in any human food yet.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration official Stephen Sundlof said during a press conference that melamine was found in the urine of dead cats. Though its presence is undeniable, it has not been determined to cause sickness or deaths in pets, he said.

Melamine should not be in pet food in any amounts, Sundlof added.

(more at link)

<http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2007-03-30T164517Z_01_WEN5943_RTRUKOC_0_US-PETFOOD-MELAMINE.xml>

[NorthernSpy]

10. melamine is a plastic used as a taggant in ammonium nitrate fertilizers...

... in some countries.

It's formed from urea, and factories that manufacture fertilizers such as urea and ammonium nitrate also make melamine resin.

Urea is sometimes added in small amounts to various animal feeds to bring up the nitro content.

Putting it all together, I suspect that someone has been cheating: cleaning up condemned grain and extracting the gluten; and recovering unsafe fertilizer plant waste for use in feed.


And it looks like a pattern of deliberate behavior at Menu Foods and their suppliers, rather than an unfortunate accidental contamination incident.

[eppur_se_muova]

14. Clarification of the term "melamine": describes at least two different substances.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=538952&mesg_id=539467

[NorthernSpy]

16. oh, I know...

In your other post, you said:

Note the common motif of -NH2 groups hanging off of 6-rings with at least two N's in alternate positions. This suggests that these compounds might be sufficiently similar to compete for binding to the same enzyme(s). Also suggests a test for aminopterin might give a false positive if melamine is present.

That's interesting! Wouldn't they eventually do chromatography, or something?

Now, what I want to know is whether ingesting a melamine resin (or a melamine plastic, though wouldn't those be less likely to cause poisoning?) results in ailments like what killed the cats and dogs.

[eppur_se_muova]

17. I'm sure they would, but simple tests might have originally given false positives. nt

[Up2Late]

22. They just added Alpo Brand dog food to the list!

I just heard that on NPR.

"All sizes of Alpo Prime-cut in Gravy"

[kestrel91316]

7. My DU is broken this AM, barely running. If you are wondering where

have gone to, folks, it's because pages are taking up to 5 minutes to load.

FWIW, early thinking among vets is that the melamine, while it IS there, is a medical red herring and probably not a source of illness. Time will tell.

[Up2Late]

9. DU is working Great for me today...

...maybe you need a re-boot or a re-start on you modem or router?

I'd start with the re-boot, but if that doesn't help, shut down and unplug (power and cables) all of the hardware that connects you here for at least 30 seconds. Then plug it all back in, power up and see if that helps at all.

[kestrel91316]

11. it's fine now. My neighbor nextdoor that I probably share AT&T DSL lines

with, lol, must have been downloading something and hogging the internet.

[AnnInLa]

8. I heard something about dry pet foods as well this morning

but was rushing to get away, and couldn't listen well. Any info on the dry foods? Melamine in dry too?

[femmedem]

15. K & R n/t

[nicknameless]

18. Dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=538952&mesg_id=538952

[Up2Late]

23. They just added Alpo Brand dog food to the list!

I just heard that on NPR.

"All sizes of Alpo Prime-cut in Gravy"