Tainted wheat gluten sold as "food grade"

Del Monte Foods has admitted that the melamine-tainted wheat gluten that contaminated pet foods was sold as "food grade":

The FDA announced today that it has traced the contaminated wheat gluten to a single processor, Xuzhou Anying Biological Technology of Peixian, China, but has not released the name of the U.S. distributor who supplied the product to Del Monte, Menu Foods, Nestle Purina, and Hills Nutritional. In all, more than 70 brands and over 60 million cans and pouches of dog and cat food are now part of this massive recall, as well as at least one brand of dry cat food.

Public statements have indicated that the contaminated gluten was distributed by a single U.S. company, but since the FDA refuses to name the supplier, it is not yet known if this company also supplies human food manufacturers. It is also not yet known if Xuzhou Anying sells direct to food manufacturers in the U.S. or abroad. [Horse's Ass]

Melamine is a chemical used to make plastic. The chemical is also used as a fertilizer in Asia, but it is banned in U.S. and Canadian agriculture. New York investigators say they found rat poison and aminopterin, an anti-cancer drug, in the tainted gluten. The FDA confirmed the melamine finding, but was unable to replicate the rat poison and aminopterin results. 

Comments

[Mark Nuckols]

well, considering that the US food supply chain provides approximately 300 million x 3.3 x 365 human meal equivalents a year, or just about 365 billion, and probably a quarter or a third as many pet meal equivalents, I'd say even 60 million cans (most recalled before consumption) of contaminated pet food is a small deal, and it is notable for being such a rare event. As it is, I would bet most of that pet food was, more or less, safely edible. So the moral of the story would be that businesspeople who provide us with affordable, safe, edible food (even if not always nutritious) are of more societal value than parlor intellectuals.

On contaminated food. I always thought the mad cow beef should have been shipped to Africa. If you're starving, you would be better off taking a one in a thousand chance of dying of mad cow disease than a, say, 30% chance of starving to death. But it's exactly people like you folks who make that kind of solution not feasible politically, but everyone is afraid of the hue and cry you'd raise.

Oh, a note re an earlier post. If you missed it, I was mocking The Daily Show, using them to promote a patently ridiculous concept. But they played along, as I played along with them. Spending a few hours with Sam Bee and her crew was actually a lot of fun.

[Eric Jaffa]

Can the New York investigators tell us who is putting rat poison on wheat?

[Cranky Observer]

> Can the New York investigators tell us who is
> putting rat poison on wheat?

Ever been within a quarter mile of a large grain storage facility?

Cranky

[justawriter]

Just a small point, but from what I have read aminopterin is a cancer drug that is used as a rat poison outside of North America.

[Eric Jaffa]

Cranky Observer -

As far as I know, I haven't been within "a quarter mile of a large grain storage facility."

Are you saying you want them to put rat poison on wheat because there are so many rats around the storage facilities?

[LauraJMixon]

I can't find the link, now, but one blogger has put two and two together, and believes ze knows who the distributor is...based on the fact that there are only three, and two have issued clear denials that it was them.

[John Lucid]

If you're starving, you would be better off taking a one in a thousand chance of dying of mad cow disease than a, say, 30% chance of starving to death. But it's exactly people like you folks who make that kind of solution not feasible politically, but everyone is afraid of the hue and cry you'd raise.

I don't know why the Native Americans weren't more thankful about those smallpox-infested blankets we gave them. Sure, they killed a few people. But, hey, they kept some other people warm!

Not only do I fear YOU, Lindsay; but I fear your hue and cry the most. Please don't hue and cry around me; my Depends™ can only absorb so much excrement before I get REAL gamey. Thank you kindly.

[The Phantom]

One of my best friends was born in southern China. When he heard a while back that I had purchased frozen food that was made in China, he warned me about buying any food that was made there.

Our regulatory system may at times be inadequate, but the Chinese regulatory system either nonexistent or entirely corrupt. And that is for food meant for human beings.

These imports from China were meant for dog and cat food. Anyone know what (many, not all) Chinese think about animals?

What kind of inspections do you think took place in China, best case scenario?

Does this give any pause as to the globalization of food supply?

[Dan (Fitness)]

but has not released the name of the U.S. distributor who supplied the product

Just curious, but why is the FDA withholding the name? (And why is the press ok with this?)

[revenantive]

just to be clear, we all know that rats carry food back to their nest.

let's just assume they carry poisoned food back to their nest in the grain facility somewhere.

dan (fitness)

Just curious, but why is the FDA withholding the name?

i am sure the feds are giving the company in question plenty of time to iron out the problem before they go public. surely some golden parachutes are going to be deployed.

look for stock options & perhaps some combination of court settlement/lawsuit and the usual fines associated with clumsiness of this magnitude.

this will be interesting to watch develop further.

[Hawise]

As it is, I would bet most of that pet food was, more or less, safely edible. So the moral of the story would be that businesspeople who provide us with affordable, safe, edible food (even if not always nutritious) are of more societal value than parlor intellectuals.

Business people who take shortcuts on food safety are not of more societal value. If it proves that the whole episode devolves to a supplier selling a tainted ingredient as foodgrade then that is where the problem is and not the end processor. Since the bulk food supplier is likely feeding the whole food chain and not just pet food suppliers the problem multiplies into all manufactured food products involving gluten. This is why most toxic food problems are found to have occured at the field level- irrigation problems, pesticides or herbicides, fungal or mold infestations.
As for shipping known tainted products to Africa, they actually want to create a viable food complex and not be considered the garbage dump of capitalism.

[Rose]

When the recall was announced 3 weeks ago, I looked at my Trixie's food and took out all of the Fancy Feast that contained wheat gluten. I didn't care if it was on the recall list or not, I can't take chances where Ms. Trixie D. Cat is concerned! I also checked her dry food (Deli Cat) and it's made with corn gluten. I would highly, highly recommend to anyone with a pet that they take out anything in their diet that containes wheat gluten. Based on the article here, it might be wise for us people to stop eating products with wheat gluten as well until this is sorted out.

I actually bought my Trixie some Organix, super-expensive organic cat food. She sniffed it, gave it a very dirty look and then glumly picked on her dry food! I guess at almost 15 years old, you just can't teach an old cat new food tricks!

[mudkitty]

The rat poison story was meant to throw off responsability from the American distributor.

[greensmile]

[shudder!] wheat gluten is right after soy protien on my veggie burger ingredients...I got 8 days of matzah before I have to go back to eating them.

HOW ON EARTH can a consumer trace the sources of the crap they sold?

[greensmile]

[shudder!] wheat gluten is right after soy protien on my veggie burger ingredients...I got 8 days of matzah before I have to go back to eating them.

HOW ON EARTH can a consumer trace the sources of the crap they are being sold?

[greensmile]

oops

[Rose]

Part of my outrage over this is that the FDA and the pet food companies were going to do everything in their power to minimize the scope of the problem and continue to sell potentially tainted foods because, hey, they're just animals - how much $$ are they worth in a lawsuit?

Now people are going to start getting sick from this poison as well (probably some have already, I'd be willing to bet). How long can they keep this cover-up going? Perhaps the answer is, as long as they think they can get away with it!

Heckuva job, Brownie, heckuva job...

[SamChevre]

It's probably worth noting the Melamine is poisonous to cats, but not (so far as I know or would guess) to humans. Many kitchen cabinets are coated with melamine--melamine-coated fiberboard is a great material--so I doubt it's harmful to humans. (Cats are pretty different to people; chocolate is poisonous to them.)

[Mike]

In 10 years, we'll all be eating our cats and dogs, as we'll be starving when Peak Oil finally terminates America's consumer utopia.

Come here, Fluffy! RAWRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

[Brautigan]

art of my outrage over this is that the FDA and the pet food companies were going to do everything in their power to minimize the scope of the problem and continue to sell potentially tainted foods because, hey, they're just animals

Oh, calm down. Rest assured the FDA would do exactly the same thing if the problem was tainted food meant for people.

[mudkitty]

I collect melmac from the 40's, 50' and 60' - and eat off it.

[SusanJ]

The Wikipedia article on melamine does a good job of explaining the difference between melamine and melamine resin. It is the former that contaminated the wheat gluten and the latter that is used to make dishes and a multitude of other widely-used products.

Aminopterin works as chemotherapy (or rat poison) because it has a very similar structure to folic acid and blocks an organism from properly metabolizing folic acid, which is an essential nutrient. I have no idea how hard it is to distinguish aminopterin from folic acid when doing a chemical analysis.

[Mark Nuckols]

well, I am in Beijing right now. Astonishing place. (I was also in Urumqi.) Sure, there is some corruption here, and qquality control is not yet - yet - to US or European standards. But it's a lot better than most of you think, the Chinese are rapidly approaching world class levels in many industries. And you know what? When parlor intellectuals (and worse) ran the country, you had regular famines. Now that businesspeople run the country, at least everyone in the cities has a cell phone, food, a TV and most here even have a car. Often a Japanese car.

[The Phantom]

What bothers me about China is that by everything I hear, they place zero to minimal priority to environmental issues of any kind. They are in a furious rush to modernize, which I understand, and could give a rats ass about what damage is done-- or how many coal miners die--death rates in their mines are 50 times higher than in other countries.

There are untold millions of desperate souls who can replace the dead in the mines, but by the time they get around to caring about their ecosystem, there might not be one anymore.

[j a higginbotham]

Good point mudkitty. There's a big difference between melamine and melamine plastic, just as there is a big difference between silicon and silicone, chlorine and chloride, ethylene and polyethylene, pencil lead and bullet lead, etc, etc.