Posted on 04/11/2007 2:28:57 AM PDT by BagCamAddict
Dr. Richard Goldstein, associate professor of medicine at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine and kidney specialist researching the outbreak's health impact on pets, and other researchers saw what they believe is a second contaminant in the gluten and the urine of infected animals, but have yet to identify it.
Xuzhou Anying's Website said it also exports carrots, garlic, ginger, corn protein powder, vegetables and feed. Chinese officials have not responded to the U.S. government's question about whether any products other than wheat gluten were shipped here.
Under the microscope and even to the naked eye, the contaminated gluten looks different from uncontaminated samples. Researchers see melamine granules and other colored granules throughout the gluten.
Even so, they do not believe the melamine made the animals sick, although they said it is a marker for tracking the outbreak, because the crystal found in the melamine and in animals' urine and tissue is distinctive to this outbreak.
Because of a dearth of past studies on melamine exposure in dogs and cats, the only way to know for sure if it could cause the outbreak would be to feed the compound to those animals, Goldstein said, adding, "That's not an option."
More than 10 laboratories are researching the crystals and working together to develop criteria to determine which kidney illnesses were caused by the contaminated pet food. Although the link is relatively easy to establish because of the distinctive crystals, the process is expensive and time-consuming.
The labs will test urine and tissue samples from pets suspected of becoming ill from the food and possibly samples of the food. How that will be accomplished and who will pay for it has not been determined, so pet owners and veterinarians are advised to keep those samples.
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
More bad news . . . let’s hope the other ingredients being shipped from China aren’t similarly contaminated. I haven’t started making my own cat food yet, but I suspect I’ll end up doing just that.
You won’t be the only one :(
Upon reflection, it really bothers me that the scientists are reporting visible granules of contaminant in the wheat gluten. If they can see the contaminant, there must be an absolute boatload of it in the gluten. This doesn’t sound like a trace contaminant to me.
If your pets eat dry food, not on the recall list, and become ill, please notify the FDA, change foods, and take the pets to the vet immediately. As this article indicates, the FDA and the scientists still do not know what toxin is causing the illnesses and deaths.
The FDA, Cornell and other researchers found melamine in high concentrations in the gluten -- up to 6.6 percent of the product...
Unbelievable. Sounds like we need to be on the lookout for anything being shipped from China—including our own food. The bad thing is not everything is labeled. I don’t believe this is an “oops” situation. Not for a minute.
Oh wonderful, my cats science diet prescription food lists maize gluten as an ingredient.
This is obscene and unforgiveable. Did you read the story that the CFO of Menu foods sold over half his stock right before the recall was announced?
Pin
Wonder if that’s legal? Sounds like an Martha Stewart situation.
Just wow. That can’t be legal.
I wouldn’t think so, I hope it is investigated.
ping
they are also allowed to switch around the ingredients on the bag to make it look like something is being used in larger amounts than reality — like meat being listed as first ingredient, may actually not be the main ingredient in the food... we need truth in labeling for pet food at the very least.
the only way to know for sure if it could cause the outbreak would be to feed the compound to those animals, Goldstein said, adding, "That's not an option."
I'm glad to hear that's the policy at Cornell. Many vet school-affiliated research institutions DO induce illness in animals for research purposes.
Agreed. Maybe they realize there have been enough deaths due to this already, so they will have PLENTY of tissue samples to study without killing more animals. Or maybe they’re just compassionate researchers. I hope it’s the latter... but I would hope the former will convince the non-compassionate researchers to refrain from any living-organism research on this issue.
Kidney’s don’t regenerate like the liver and by the time kidney disease is diagnosed it is normally far down the pike and the best anyone can hope for is not very encouraging, very costly and takes great owner dedication... many of these dogs and cats being fed the worst of the worst foods in the first place don’t stand much chance of owners being that dedicated to formulating a diet that will keep them alive.
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