Maybe It's Not China Killing Our Pets After All

Right on the heels of the contaminated milk scandal in China is another pet food recall. The Chief of China's Food And Quality Agency was forced to resign as they arrested 19 people suspected of intentionally spiking the country's milk system with melamine, an industrial chemical made from coal that is normally used in the production of plastics and fertilizer. Melamine is the same contaminate that was found in the pet food recalls of 2007. I'll tell you after the way they executed the head of the State Food and Drug Administration, Zheng Xiaoyu, in July of 2007 for corruption and dereliction of duty, I don't think this job is one I would have applied for. LOL.

As of Sept. 12, Mars Petcare US has voluntarily recalled any food distributed from their plant in Everson, PA and temporarily closed down the facility until they locate the nature and source of Salmonella Schwarzengrund. Salmonella was randomly linked to two people who got quite ill after they handled contaminated food. The brands this included were:

Country Acres, Retriever, Doggy Bag, Members Mark, Natural, Ol' Roy, Special Kitty, Paws & Claws, Pedigree, Wegman's, Pet Pride, PMI Nutrition and Red Flannel

Last year when Menu Foods did their recall of their pet foods, Iams, Eukenuba, and several other trusted pet foods that are too numerous to list here, the contamination was blamed on Melamine coming from products from China. When this recall came about I just assumed it was from China also. As it turns out China may have nothing at all to do with it.

Our scientists were extremely puzzled as to how ill the pets had gotten and the pet deaths that occurred. They felt the melamine was not harmful or at harmful levels to have caused the chaos that it did. According to articles I found on the internet, there appears to be an ongoing battle with Menu Foods because there seems to have been ancetometaphin (like Tylenol) and cyanuric acid found in their foods as well. According to a current lawsuit, it was these ingredients or these ingredients reacting with melamine that caused the deaths of over a quarter of a million pets.

The class action lawsuit against Menu Foods et al has grown to over 6000 cases and they expect that number to grow by quite a few by the time the deadline hits in Nov. of this year.

A fascinating website about what is going on from the person to bring about a major suite against Menu Foods can be found here. Evidently he has also now filed against the FDA for not investigating the claims properly and not protecting our pets from this happening in the future.

I love my little critters (pictured here) as I'm sure you do also. All I've been able to think is that I'm glad I was introduced to Nutripet years ago. A lot of people have taken to cooking their own dog or cat food, but Richard Goldstein, associate professor of medicine at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine warns against doing this as they may not get the all the nutrients they need. NUTRIPET dry dog and cat foods contain antioxidant vitamins A, C, E, and beta carotene to support your pet’s healthy immune system.”Added DHA*, found in mother’s milk, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids* have been found to improve your pet’s well-being. NUTRIPET dry dog and cat foods also contain a unique blend of fruits and vegetables to naturally round out your pet’s diet. If you would like to know how you can get Nutripet natural food for your animals, please feel free to contact me. My email address is in my profile. Nutripet is not found in grocery stores.

* Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO dog food or cat food nutrient profiles.