Importer: No Tainted Wheat In Human Food

(CBS/AP)  None of the contaminated wheat gluten that led to the U.S. recall of pet food went to manufacturers of food for humans, the ingredient's importer said Tuesday.

The Chinese wheat gluten imported by ChemNutra Inc. all went to companies that make pet foods, Stephen Miller, chief executive officer of the Las Vegas company, told The Associated Press.

Miller declined to identify what companies ChemNutra supplied. Nearly 100 brands of cat and dog foods made with the ingredient, since found to be chemically contaminated, have been recalled.

The recalled pet food apparently has resulted in kidney failure in animals across the country. The Food and Drug Administration has confirmed 15 pet deaths, and anecdotal reports suggest hundreds of cats and dogs may have died.

Meanwhile, sales are soaring for organic pet food products, which contain only ingredients approved for human consumption, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.

"Now suddenly they want to know what's in the foods, what goes in the foods, who makes them and how they're made," says Bruce Ortman, who works at PetHealthStore.

FDA testing of the wheat gluten has revealed it was contaminated with melamine, a chemical with a variety of industrial uses, including the manufacture of plastic kitchenware. As late as Monday, FDA officials had said they were uncertain if the contaminated ingredient had been used in any foods destined for human consumption.

Last week, the FDA blocked wheat gluten imports from the Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. in Wangdien, China, saying it was the source of the contaminated product. The agency had refused to identify who had imported the ingredient, used as a protein source.

"Obviously, if this ingredient was responsible, it's just very upsetting," Miller told AP.

ChemNutra said it has recalled 873 tons of wheat gluten that it shipped to three pet food makers and a single distributor who in turn supplies the pet food industry. The company said the recall applied only to wheat gluten from Xuzhou Anying, one of its three Chinese suppliers of the ingredient.

The importer shipped the product in 25-kilogram paper bags between Nov. 9 and March 8, when it learned the ingredient was suspected as the cause of the pet food problems. ChemNutra said it then quarantined its wheat gluten inventory.

Each bag of wheat gluten included content analysis and test results provided by Xuzhou Anying, ChemNutra said.

"The company is particularly troubled that the certificates of analysis provided by the above-named supplier did not report the presence of melamine," ChemNutra said in a statement.

[sclaires]

And how do we know the wheat gluten is not in the human food chain?? They will say anything to make us think our food is safe.

[ms38654ob]

This pet food thing didn't bother me as I've been cooking for my 2 Jack Russell's for 10 years. I buy a large cut of very tough (and lean) meat, chop it up into small chunks, cook that with barley, frozen vegetables and what ever else I have in the refrigerator that's salt free and low fat, freeze it and it feeds them for a quarter each per day. They are both very healthy and in good shape. The vet always comments on how great their fur is and their condition.

Everyone should be doing this. It would save quite a bit of money and also is safer, especially now.

No beaks, feet, hoofs and snouts for my dogs!

[gkc99]

Clinton was just as bad--he was globalizer #1, and enabled the loss of many of the jobs that are now in China and India. There is no reason to think his charming wife is any different. As Lou Dobbs points out, both the Dems and the Repubs are so busy selling out America's future to the highest bidder, it's not clear who might be counted on to defend US interests. I mean the interests of Americans, not of the privileged elite that now owns and operates America.

[terrapin78]

Kudos to the Bush Administration. Since they have been in power, the manufacturing base in the US has plummeted. Now that IS PATRIOTISM!!!!!!

[gkc99]

Now that the business geniuses who own America have decided that our research, manufacturing and production are best done in Asia, not in the USA, be prepared for many more such contamination incidents. People in the research business have been discovering that Chinese suppliers are sometimes less than scrupulous about what goes into their products, and more importantly, there is no regulatory oversight.