Today’s Update on the Pet Food Recall—5/4/2007

The general manager of the Chinese exporting company that sold the contaminated wheat gluten that made its way into pet foods has been “detained” by the Chinese government:

SHANGHAI: The general manager of one of the companies accused of selling contaminated wheat gluten to U.S. pet-food suppliers has been detained by the Chinese authorities, according to police officials here and a person who was briefed on the investigation.

The general manager, Mao Lijun, who heads Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development, is being held in Jiangsu Province, about 500 kilometers, or 310 miles, northwest of Shanghai, although a police spokesman in Pei County declined to say on what charges.

In an interview by telephone a few weeks ago, Mao denied any knowledge of how melamine, an industrial chemical, had tainted pet-food supplies sold under his company label this year. He also insisted that his company had never exported any wheat gluten and that his products were only sold in the domestic market.

But regulators in the United States named Xuzhou Anying and another company, Binzhou Futian Biology Technology in Shandong Province, as the only sources of the tainted ingredients that led to one of the biggest pet-food recalls in U.S. history.

I don’t think we should take our eyes off the ball here. There are plenty of reports that the practice of adulterating wheat gluten with melamine is widespread in China and has been going on for some time. This is less a case of a single unscrupulous guy (or company) than of finally getting caught in a practice which is in all likelihood contributory to Chinese wheat gluten displacing domestically produced wheat gluten in the U. S. market.

The ASPCA has spoken out, cautioning pet owners to be vigilant in observing their pets:

The ASPCA continues to warn pet parents to stay extremely alert to the situation. “Please stay abreast of recall news, which you can do via our Pet Food Recall Resource Center on our website, and remain extremely vigilant to your pets’ wellbeing. If they have eaten any of the recalled foods or show any of the signs generally attributed to kidney failure—or illness in general—please take them to your veterinarian immediately,” urged Dr. Murray.

The results of the contamination may be with us for some time.

1 comment… add one
  • Hi,interestic article, thanks for your informations. I want to add some things about for the
    article, first time i want to sayying; i like cooking so much and eating food. But i like more
    vegetable food for health an for my body. I know many special food with special things. example
    i can cooking 10-15 king fish food. 🙂 who want to know more things about fish cooking i can help.

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