SHANGHAI, China, May 9, 2007
China Makes Arrests In Pet Food Case
Top Drug Regulator Also To Go On Trial, As China Promises To Boost Food And Drug Safety
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(AP / CBS)
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In The Spotlight Pet Food Recall A complete list of products and answers to questions regarding the recall
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Calls to office numbers at the companies rang unanswered on Wednesday. The mobile phones of managers at the companies were shut off.
Police at the local, city and provincial levels declined comment. A woman surnamed Cao at the Binzhou police in Shandong province said she could not comment because of the confidential nature of the case.
There were no listed telephone numbers for detention centers in the two areas.
The general administration statement said the companies had added melamine to the wheat gluten and rice protein in a bid to meet the contractual demand for the amount of protein in the products. It said doing so was against regulations.
However, the statement indicated the companies broke the law only when they mislabeled the exported products to avoid inspection.
The general administration said it ordered stepped-up inspections in the wake of its investigation, but that checks on 173 exporters in 11 provinces and cities had not turned up additional signs of melamine tainting after tests on 399 samples.
Additional checks for melamine were ordered on related products, such as processed meats and milk powder, but no contamination was found, it said.
The administration said it passed on those results to the FDA, officials from which were in China last week to meet government officials and visit companies. No details of the trip have been released, and it is not known if they are still in China.
"The U.S. side said it hoped for closer cooperation with the Chinese side in the area of boosting animal food safety," the notice said.
Melamine has no nutritional value but because it is nitrogen rich, it raises the nitrogen level of feed. That makes it appear to be higher in protein and, therefore, garnering a better price for the makers of feed for stock animals such as pigs, chickens, and fish, as well as companies that make prepared foods for household pets such as cats and dogs.
It is illegal to add melamine to food or animal feed in the U.S., although makers of the chemical and feed companies told The Associated Press last week the chemical was widely added to feed in China. They said they knew of no rules against the practice and were not aware that melamine could be harmful.
Xuzhou Anying managers have said they have no idea how the melamine got into the gluten, which they say was sourced from other firms and sold to a third company that exported it to the U.S.
However, suspicions were raised when the company was found to have posted an advertisement on the Web site of an online market in March seeking to buy melamine.
U.S. officials say they don't believe melamine to be harmful to humans, but say they have too little data to determine how it reacts with other substances.
American media reports have suggested the pet deaths might have been caused by melamine reacting with cyanuric acid, a similar chemical usually used to help keep swimming pools clean but which is permitted by the FDA as a feed additive in carefully limited amounts.
Sales managers at four Chinese chemical companies said they were unaware of cyanuric acid's use as a feed additive, although two others said they had heard of the practice but didn't know how widespread it was.
"As far as I know, it is seldom used in animal feed," said Chai Zhixian, a salesman with the Shanghai Experimental Reagent Co.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 31 CommentsAnd we are worried about China?
So basically we need to be questioning even what our countries are putting in our pet food.
Actually we need to be questioning what is in all our food. We need to start DEMANDING that their are no chemicals and c-r-a-p in our food.
As far as China goes, why haven't they noticed their pets dying from it? Perhaps I can tell you why. It is either because they haven't been putting it in their food or when their animals die they don't give a ****. Why would they, they are going around and killing their animals anyway.
The problem with China is that after they PRETEND that they have dealt with this, everything will go back to the way it was. Maybe not with the melamine but it will be something else. We already know that there is rat poison it it, what is being done about that? All we are hearing about is the melamine.
Just remember that there could be ANYTHING in the food and the inspectors will not know that it is their unless they are specifically testing for that particular thing. And very little is actually inspected, PERIOD.
And we are worried about China?
So basically we need to be questioning even what our countries are putting in our pet food.
Actually we need to be questioning what is in all our food. We need to start DEMANDING that their are no chemicals and c-r-a-p in our food.
As far as China goes, why haven't they noticed their pets dying from it? Perhaps I can tell you why. It is either because they haven't been putting it in their food or when their animals die they don't give a ****. Why would they, they are going around and killing their animals anyway.
The problem with China is that after they PRETEND that they have dealt with this, everything will go back to the way it was. Maybe not with the melamine but it will be something else. We already know that there is rat poison it it, what is being done about that? All we are hearing about is the melamine.
Just remember that there could be ANYTHING in the food and the inspectors will not know that it is their unless they are specifically testing for that particular thing. And very little is actually inspected, PERIOD.
For companies in the US, they are already inspected, plus we have some standards.. the Chinese think nothing of adding contamination to food items on purpose or by accident as long as they get paid..
For companies in the US, they are already inspected, plus we have some standards.. the Chinese think nothing of adding contamination to food items on purpose or by accident as long as they get paid..
For companies in the US, they are already inspected, plus we have some standards.. the Chinese think nothing of adding contamination to food items on purpose or by accident as long as they get paid..
For companies in the US, they are already inspected, plus we have some standards.. the Chinese think nothing of adding contamination to food items on purpose or by accident as long as they get paid..
For companies in the US, they are already inspected, plus we have some standards.. the Chinese think nothing of adding contamination to food items on purpose or by accident as long as they get paid..
The government must 'strengthen its investigations into protein products, especially melamine.'
government notice"
What government? Maybe, like whom?
"U.S. inspectors said the tainted gluten was used to make pet food and caused the deaths of an unknown number of dogs and cats through *liver* failure."
I thought it was kidney failure. Which is it? Or is it both? Are you making this up?
"The administration said it passed on those results to the FDA, officials from which were in China last week to meet government officials and visit companies. No details of the trip have been released, * and it is not known if they are still in China *." !!!!!
Maybe you are making this up...
The government must 'strengthen its investigations into protein products, especially melamine.'
government notice"
What government? Maybe, like whom?
"U.S. inspectors said the tainted gluten was used to make pet food and caused the deaths of an unknown number of dogs and cats through *liver* failure."
I thought it was kidney failure. Which is it? Are you making this up?
"The administration said it passed on those results to the FDA, officials from which were in China last week to meet government officials and visit companies. No details of the trip have been released, * and it is not known if they are still in China *." !!!!!
Maybe you are making this up...
The government must 'strengthen its investigations into protein products, especially melamine.'
government notice"
What government? Maybe, like whom?
"U.S. inspectors said the tainted gluten was used to make pet food and caused the deaths of an unknown number of dogs and cats through *liver* failure."
I thought it was kidney failure. Which is it? Are you making this up?
"The administration said it passed on those results to the FDA, officials from which were in China last week to meet government officials and visit companies. No details of the trip have been released, * and it is not known if they are still in China *." !!!!!
Maybe you are making this up...
Police at the local, city and provincial levels declined comment. A woman surnamed Cao at the Binzhou police in Shandong province said she could not comment because of the confidential nature of the case.
There were no listed telephone numbers for detention centers in the two areas."
Funny, all this stuff is on page 2, along with other interesting facts. Hope everyone caught it.
And who is "the general administration..." they keep quoting?
Posted by djermano1
Fine, don't eat then!!
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