Pet food scare - When will it stop? 08 May 2007
Author: Emmy Koeleman
Everyday I receive around 50 news alerts about the massive pet food recall in my email box. Most of them are the same though, but it is obvious that this subject is currently the hottest item in the North American online commodities. Although it is getting more complex each day, the details are starting to come to the surface.
The whole pet food scare doesn't include only pets
anymore, it has spread to pigs and poultry and who knows what more! And when
will it stop?
China: the source of the
contamination
I try to browse through all the pet food news items, but
I must say it is hard to keep up. As more brands are being recalled and more
contaminated ingredients are found also more questions rise. When US officials
visited the source of the contamination –China- it was concluded that the use of
melamine in raw materials (intended for animal
feed and pet food) was normal. How can the use of a toxic ingredient for live
animals be normal? I would like to know if these ingredients are tested or
certified and if so, who checks it. Obviously, there is a huge gap in the chain
here.
Recalled petfood sold as livestock
feed
But what hits me most is that after all the panic, pet
food companies did not destroy the pet food. No, that would be a waste! They sold it to companies that make pig and poultry
feed . Is it just me that is missing an important part here?
The conclusion is that the toxic melamine entered the human food chain
not by accident, but deliberately. Dogs and cats die from eating the product,
but apparently it is ok to give it to livestock and humans.
The recalled
products have been used in pig and poultry feed because officials did not see
any risks in mixing the pet food in animal feed. For me, this is a bit strange.
Contamined feed enters human food
chain
The huge panic still fresh in my memory, I now realise
that US health officials do not mind that the contaminated feed enters the human
food chain. They say the health risks are minimal , but how do they
know and where is the real data backing up this statement? In all the news items
that I see, I miss the part when they talk about how the toxic compound behaves
in the animal's body. Does it deposit in meat and eggs and what is the real risk
of eating these animals?
I must
confess, I am starting to worry about my own cats as well. Although I buy food
for my pets in Dutch stores, I know that anything can happen, especially because
ingredients for feed and food are shipped around the world. Maybe I have to
start delving into culinary
pet recipes
, to make at home before the same happens in Europe.
Related news items:
- New Zealand screens Chinese food imports Pet food scare may have been intentional Woolworths denies causing cat deaths
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