- Washington, D.C., April 25, 2007: "There has been
a good deal of underground interest and concern over the so-called 'pet
food poisonings.' This is considered to be a red hot topic in certain official
circles here and as almost all the current press reportage comes directly
from official Food and Drugs Administration concocted press releases, it
might be instructive here to outline a history of this terrible happening
and show how a politically dangerous subject is dealt with by a government
and its friends in the media. This study is only concerned with the issue
of contaminated pet food and does not explore the thesis of deliberate
contamination of food in American restaurants and on farms. That will be
covered in a later study.
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- Firstly, a listing of the course of events in the poisoned
pet food matter:
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- In March of this year, reports began to surface in the
American media about pets, cats and dogs, dying or becoming very ill from
eating commercial pet food,. This date is not fixed because there are now
more reports surfacing that indicate that this poisoning began as early
as December of 2006 and went on, sporadically, through January and Februay
of 2007. This new information has been emerging from reports of American
veternarians.
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- As of March 20, 2007, reports indicated that at least
ten dogs and cats had already died and that many more were considered to
be critially ill due to kidney failure
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- As of March 22, 2007 the death toll has risen nationally
to 16 confirmed dead pets:
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- 15 feline, one canine. It is speculated by vetenary organizations
that the actual death toll is probably much higher.
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- On March 23, 2007: As of 1pm the New York State Agriculture
Department (which, incidentially, has one of the best labs in the US for
determining food contamination--the FDA frequently relies on NY Ag Dept.'s
own advisories for issuing its own recall notices) has announced the poison
identified is aminopterin. Aminopterin is a folic acid antagonist which
in the 50's and 60's was used as cancer chemotherapy (and, illegally, to
induce abortion) until it was replaced by the less toxic drug methotrexate
(and seeing as methotrexate is probably one of the most toxic drugs in
the anticancer arsenal, this is telling you something; typically humans
receiving MTX (much less its chemical cousin aminopterin) receive leucovorin
to "rescue" them from the effects of folic acid depletion). Aminopterin
is used in some countries as a rodenticide
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- .. On March 24, 2007 : Per a medical advisory aimed at
veterinarians from the American Veterinary Medical Association, it appears
that aminopterin is causing kidney failure due to the drug crystallising
in the kidney tubules (thus destroying the kidneys); the medical advisory
also notes that there is still testing going on for other agents besides
aminopterin (advising caution to vets) and also notes the risk of other
health problems as a result of aminopterin poisoning (specifically the
fact that the drug depresses bone marrow; a close "chemical cousin"
of aminopterin, methotrexate, is used in humans and dogs with various blood
cancers (leukemias and lymphomas) and in lower doses as a "last-resort"
drug in humans with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis (both of which are
autoimmune diseases) specifically for its bone-marrow suppressing effect,
and methotrexate is used in very high doses to destroy bone marrow in preparation
for stem-cell and bone marrow transplants).
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- As of March 27, 2007,:; the Veterinary Information Network
(a veterinary medicine association that, among others, sponsors continuing
medical education for vets) has reported that there are 471 cases of kidney
failure linked to aminopterin- ( a commercial rat poison) tainted Menu
Foods products that their association is aware of including 104 confirmed
deaths (11 canine, 93 feline); this same report notes that PetConnection.com
has ancedotal reports of 1792 more deaths (1018 feline, 774 canine) attributed
to contaminated pet food
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- On March 30, 2007: The FDA has now officially discountaed
the use of aminopterin as the agent causing pet deaths and now states,
officially that the actual cause is the inclusion of melamine their analysists
state they have found in suspect pet food. Melamine is a urea-based chemical
that is used widely in the manufacture of plastics (especially floor laminates
and oven-proof dishware); it is also (due to its urea base) used in several
countries as a fertiliser. Of note, FDA-originating news reports that melamine
has been found in the kidneys of a cat who died of Menu Foods related poisoning
and the NY Ag Dept. lab which first detected aminopterin in the pet food
has also confirmed the melamine finding., but has not confirmed FDA statements
that melamine is capable of causing deaths of pets or humans The FDA press
releases claim that "As melamine is a urea-based chemical it could
be a missing link as to why the poisoning is so severe--certainly, melamine
*cannot* help with aminopterin-caused kidney failure. One of the known
effects of melamine intoxication in humans is kidney stones, and (combined
with the known mechanism of kidney toxicity with aminopterin, specifically
crystallisation in the kidneys) the two chemicals likely have a synergistic
effect. In particular, it's uncertain how melamine is toxic to the kidneys
of cats, who generally have better filtering systems for urea and uric
acid derivatives (thanks to the fact cats are obligate carnivores
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- On March 30, 2007: The FDA has issued an emergency order
stating that they now believe Chinese-originating wheat glutin to be the
agent contaminating pet food as well as to specifically block import of
any wheat or wheat gluten products containing melamine and to step up surveillance
and testing of all wheat and wheat gluten products entering the US. Per
a website also following the pet food scandal, one shipper of the allegedly
"tainted wheat gluten" is now known to be Xuzhou Anying Biologic
Technology Development Company Ltd. and the FDA releases stress that "anything
using wheat or wheat gluten from this company should be considered potentially
tainted." The FDA neglects to mention that wheat glutin is used extensively
in the preparation of food for human consumption throughout the world and
also that no known cases of human kidney failure or infection have been
noted.
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- As of April 1, 2007, 2,822 deaths of pets have been officially
reported: 1,557 feline, 1,265 canine.
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- On April 2, 2007: FDA press releases stress that there
is " a strong possibility other manufacturers in China are also sources";
reportedly Xuzhou Anying Biologic has claimed they are in fact buying wheat
and wheat gluten from "many" companies within China. The second
firm linked to contaminated grain has been officially identified as Suzhou
Hengrun Import & Export Corp., Ltd.; Suzhou Hengrun is quite a major
import/export company in China, with a great deal of their trade involving
pharmaceuticals, specifically antimicrobial drugs.
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- As of April: 3, 2007 168 dead (1,700 feline, 1,468 canine)
and 9,203 total pets reported to their database as either sick or dead
from contaminated pet food; the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association reports
104 suspected cases of poisoning due to contaminated feed (68 feline, 36
canine) reported to the state public health veterinarian, of which at least
38 are known to be fatal (23 feline deaths, 15 canine); a survey of Michigan
vets from the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association shows 135 suspected
cases of poisoning in that state (100 feline, 35 canine) with 29 of those
cases as being fatal (no breakdown as per species, though both canine and
feline cases reported); the same article notes that 41% of vets responding
to the survey have treated caes of kidney failure possibly related to the
tainted feed, and some sources are reporting "hundreds" of deaths;
if similar numbers are occuring with veterinary reporting nationwide, this
would back up the petconnection.com numbers.
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- On April 4, 2007: An FDA press release alleges that tne
shipper of " tainted wheat products from Xuzhou Anying (and possibly
others) seems to be ChemNutra Inc"., The FDA states that ChemNutra
is now recalling suspect ingredient. ChemNutra is an import/export company
specialising in import of Chinese-source ingredients (including, notably,
wheat gluten) for the food (including pet food) and pharmaceutical industries.
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- On April 4, 2007 and onwards: Official government (via
FDA releases) de-emphasis on aminopterin being a culprit (two Federal labs
were "unable to confirm the aminopterin findings") yet it is
uncertain how melamine could be sickening cats in particular.
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- On April 6, 2007 it has been officially reported : 9,378
dead or ill, 3,242 dead (1,731 feline, 1,511 canine); Iowa's state veterinary
college reports 43 cases of suspected poisoning, 18 fatal which backs up
numbers from state veterinary associations.
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- On April 6, 2007 there is emerging the very disturbing
possibility voiced from numerous professional but unofficial sources (and
hotly denied or ignored by the FDA) that the contamination of pet food
that has killed thousands of animals may have been deliberate--specifically
involving aminopterin possibly as an act of domestic sabotage.
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- On April 6, 2007: Now up to four manufacturers other
than Menu Foods affected including Del Monte Foods (makers of Pounce cat
treats, among others) and Sunshine Mills (makers of Ol' Roy pet food and
pet snacks); Del Monte is on its second round of recalls, in fact, despite
assurances from the FDA the day before that this would be the last of the
recalls.
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- On April 10, 2007: 3,730 dead (1,938 feline, 1,792 canine),
11,703 dead or critically ill total; Veterinary Information Network (which
covers approximately half of the veterinary practitioners in the US) estimates
"hundreds, if not thousands" dead based on its own survey of
veterinarians and possibly up to 10,000 pets suffering kidney failure as
a result; Banfield (largest pet care clinic chain in North America, largely
based in PetSmart stores) has issued very worrying statistics that state
that 3 out of 10,000 pets who have eaten contaminated food and been treated
at their hospitals have gone on to develop kidney failure, that kidney
failure cases are up 30 percent, and that over 39,000 cases of kidney failure
related to contaminated feed are expected.
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- On April 12, 2007: 4000 pets have been officially reported
dead because of officially "unidentified causes":: 3,973 dead,
2,058 feline, 1,815 canine; 12,419 total sickened or dead
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- On April 12, 2007: Cornell University's veterinary forensics
lab may have identified a secondary contaminant (or possibly a tertiary
one; aminopterin has been identified in samples, and this could either
be a confirmation of aminopterin or a finding of a third contaminant) which
has been found both in pet food and in tissues of poisoned pets. It is
presently unknown what the additional contaminant found was.
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- On April 17, 2007: The FDA now announces that "Contaminated
rice gluten now found as well. Suspected source is from a second Chinese
company, and the discovery is especially disturbing in light of rice (which
is the major alternative to wheat or corn) being potentially contaminated--the
pet food recall is likely to expand dramatically. FDA press releases now
state authoratatively that " Contaminated rice gluten now found as
well--Natural Balance (which had been previously listed as safe) has recalled
food found contaminated with melamine from rice gluten." The FDA now
insists that: "All Chinese-origin foodstuffs should be considered
suspect"
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- On April 18, 2007: Death toll is 4,211 dead with nearly
an even split of canine and feline cases, 12,820 cases of food-related
illness
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- On April 18, 2007. The FDA press releases identify alleged
"Chinese origin" has been 'confirmed" as the source of "contaminated
rice protein" specifically Binzhou Futian Bioloy Technology Co., Ltd.
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- On April 18, 2007: The "contaminated rice protein"
is also alleged to originate from a second Chinese company, indicating
that the problems are in fact system-wide in the Chinese food supply. There
are a number of FDA-spopnsored articles appearing in the American media
ctiticizing Chinese food safety (or more properly, the lack of it) and
how China's food safety issues are an international concern. Among other
things, the FDA only inspects 1.3% of all imported human food in the US
(and, while not mentioned in the article, the FDA actually largely relies
on state agencies to issue recall notices based on what their state agricultural
boards have found in their labs--many of the FDA food recalls are based
on test results from the New York Department of Agricultre, among other
things
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- On April 18, 2007: Veterinary Information Network notes
that they have informal reports of possible poisoning from five other products
not presently recalled, including (in even more disturbing news) two medical
products--HeartGard chewables (a heartworm preventative) and Pill Pockets
(used for dosing animals needing medication).
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- On April 20, 2007: The FDA now states that there is at
least one known case of a human being sickened by contaminated pet food
(specifically a woman who ate Iams pet food to convince her pet to try
some; both she and her dog ended up in hospital) the idea that humans could
get sick from eating contaminated dog food is not far fetched.) However,
the victim is not otherwise identified. The FDA now issued has a specific
hold-and-detain order in regards to allegedly contaminated wheat or wheat
gluten from Chinese sources. Further, the FDA cannot in fact state they
can guarantee none of the tainted grain entered the human food supply and
due to the fact that the FDA has revealed the Chinese supplier (Xuzhou
Anying Biologic) but has so far not identified the US-based importers and
distributors who would have bought the gluten from Xuzhou Anying Biologic
and ultimately distributed it to food producers.
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- On April 21, 2007: With recent discoveries of contamination
entering the human food chain via pigs fed contaminated products, the FDA
is finally making a federal case out of this debacle--a criminal probe
has been opened re the food contamination and in particular pigs being
fed contaminated food and subsequently entering the human food chain.
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- From an FDA press release of April 26, 2007: 'The contaminated
food recall is no longer restricted to wheat or wheat glutin but also includes
imported rice and corn glutin products from China and all of these should
be considered highly suspect. There is also the danger that this contamination
of American food products may expand in the future and for this reason,
the importantion of Chinese-originating wheat, corn and rice products will
be interdicted.,"
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- Conclusions: While there is no question that a mass-poisoning
of American pet food has occurred, the real question is why the FDC has
frantically been downplaying the known use of commercial rat poison in
American pet food and even more frantic attempts to blame the Chinese for
this disaster. The answer, which can easily be found on internet search
engines such as Google, is that for some time, American agricultural interests
have been howling to anyone in the Bush administration that would listen
to them that the Chinese products are selling in this country for far less
than American produce.
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- One of the most deliberately ignored aspects of this
tragedy is the issue of American companies purchasing huge amounts of Chinese
wheat, rice and corn products even though they are natively produced in
the States and the United States a net exporter (and in fact, with corn,
there are considerable price supports). A Boston Sun article points this
out very clearly in a series of interviews with the Kansas Association
of Wheat Growers which clearly indicates that American companies would
dearly love to sell their produce, wheat, corn and rice, to US companies
but are being severely undercut by Chinese imports--and the savings are
only something like twenty cents or less per pound.
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- Further, allegations that underpaid illegals working
in the food industry, to include restaurants and food processing plants,
might be involved in a protest against draconian Republican anti-immigration
projects, is a subject not to be addressed and severely discouraged of
discussion in the media. The reason for this is not compassion for illegal
workers but the pragmatic view that if the American public were to realize
that it was possible for hostile elements to introduce bacteria such as
E Coli into human food, that, coupled with the wave of pet deaths would
unlease an enormous outrage among the frightened public.
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- Because there is absolutely nothing the regulatory agencies
of the government could do in the face of this storm but physically remove
all Latino workers from any aspect of the food industry, this would be
a logistic and economic disaster so it is much easier to convince a growingly
restive public that the evil Chinese, the pet enemies of Bush and Cheney,
are responsible for the deaths of beloved pets due to carelessness than
to even begin to address deliberate poisonings by dissatisfied minorities."
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