Chinese Rat Poisoned Wheat used in US Breadbasket Factories?!?

[NAO]

Well, now that they know that (at least one major) reason the recalled food is killing pets was that the Chinese were using a banned rat poison on their wheat crops.

Ok, the tainted food was made by a Canadian company - but it was manufactured in US Factories. Iams and Eukanuba tainted food was manufactured in Emporia, Kansas. KANSAS Can someone tell me why wheat is being imported from China to be used in Kansas?

If it is cheaper to ship wheat ACROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN than to get it from a farm 20 miles away, I think we have a problem.


****MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE PET RECALL SITUATION****

** For updates on the Pet Food Recall, or to enter an incident into the National Database, go to Pet Connection **

Pet Connection
http://www.petconnection.com/index.php

** Detailed inside information from veterinary practitioners **
Vetcetera
http://catmanager.wordpress.com

** Medical info, historical research (including Iams 13 year exclusive contract w/Menu Foods, Menu Foods annual reports, fact that Menu Foods CEO also CEO of toxic waste disposal company with multiple violations, etc) from Itchmo **
Itchmo
http://www.itchmo.com

**Updated News Links on Pet Food Recall News Stories**
Howl 911
http://www.howl911.com

**DU'ers Blog with SUMMARY Informaton, LINKS**
2 Black Cats
http://2blackcats.wordpress.com


From the PetConnection.com database. Thursday March 22, 2007 11:20 a.m. PT:

Total reports of sick or dead pets: 1715
Deceased pets: 845

Of those:

Cats, deceased: 500
Dogs, deceased: 345


Menu Foods Knowledge/Action (INACTION) Time-line

t = 0 days (Feb 20): When the first cases were reported.
t = 7 days (Feb 27): When Menu Foods started testing.
t = 7-18 days: When their test cases were dying (one in six we now know).
t = 25 days (Friday, March 16): When they finally issued the recall.

The Associated Press just moved a story with more than a hint of what could have happened if things had been handled differently:

As many as one in six animals died in tests of suspect dog and cat food by the manufacturer after complaints the products were poisoning pets around the country, the government said Monday.

OK, pets have been reported dead, so Menu Foods decides to feed the foods to their own in-house animals:

Menu Foods told the FDA it received the first complaints of kidney failure and deaths among cats and dogs from pet owners on Feb. 20. It began new tests on Feb. 27.

During those tests, the company fed its product to 40 to 50 dogs and cats and some seven animals — the mix of species was not immediately known — died, Sundlof said. The contamination appeared more deadly to cats than to dogs, he said.

Time-line … almost a MONTH AGO the company was getting reports of pet deaths. THREE WEEKS AGO, they tested the product and found one in six pets died in their own laboratories.

And the product was recalled … when? Oh yes, March 16. According to the AP, that’s almost a month after pets started dying.

Here’s the rest of the story. And this piece (thanks, vetcetera) reveals that the widely reported “10 confirmed dead” were the animals who died the testing. Yes, I know that’s because those animals had their variables controlled, but still …

[leftofthedial]

1. Gotta love Capitalism at work

eh?

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Especially that free market kind of capitalism. This is exactly what

Adam Smith envisioned . . .

[porphyrian]

3. China is the reason we aren't eyebrows-deep in Great Depression yet.

They've been covering our debt for some time now. Lot's of bad deals will be cut with them to pay off this debt, they've got us over a barrel of shit.

[sandnsea]

13. MSNBC won't mention China

In their report on the wheat and dog food, they didn't even utter the word China. That says it all to me. The corporate big wigs are protecting friggin' CHINA. We are truly a country of mushrooms. I bet they got more information in the soviet union than we get now.

[porphyrian]

20. Actually, I think they do.

It may not last, though, if their own right-wing-movement-ironically-disguised-as-socialism continues as happened in Israel, and the similarities may not be coincidental.

[roody]

38. Or would that be a barrel of wheat?

[porphyrian]

40. Same difference, apparently. - n/t

[CrazyOrangeCat]

4. so much for free trade.

bastards.

[shadowknows69]

5. Be a good way for China to kill a whole shitload of us someday

or they could just rig all of our Walmart DVD players to blow.

[Bjornsdotter]

6. Wondering

...does the size of the animal play any roll in this?

I'm asking because more cats were effected than dogs and I'm wondering if the majority of dogs that were effected were on the smaller size?

Any ideas....

Cheers

[libnnc]

9. In a word, yes. There have been several threads

in GD and LBN about this and one DUer who is a veterinarian has offered some very informative posts.

[Bjornsdotter]

14. Thanks!

I'll go back and look for them.

Cheers :toast:

[NAO]

17. DU'er Blog summarizing critical info from threads here, web sources

**DU'ers Blog with SUMMARY Informaton, LINKS**
2 Black Cats
http://2blackcats.wordpress.com

[NAO]

15. Yes, size is a factor. Of dogs, mostly small breeds. Also very young and old animals.

Yes, pet body weight is a factor, as is age, and how much/how long they were fed the tainted food.

****MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE PET RECALL SITUATION****

** For updates on the Pet Food Recall, or to enter an incident into the National Database, go to Pet Connection **

Pet Connection
http://www.petconnection.com/index.php

** Detailed inside information from veterinary practitioners **
Vetcetera
http://catmanager.wordpress.com

** Medical info, historical research (including Iams 13 year exclusive contract w/Menu Foods, Menu Foods annual reports, fact that Menu Foods CEO also CEO of toxic waste disposal company with multiple violations, etc) from Itchmo **
Itchmo
http://www.itchmo.com

**Updated News Links on Pet Food Recall News Stories**
Howl 911
http://www.howl911.com

**DU'ers Blog with SUMMARY Informaton, LINKS**
2 Black Cats
http://2blackcats.wordpress.com

[Bjornsdotter]

18. Thanks!

...for the information and all of the links.

Fortunately we were spared here and at my sister's house.

Cheers :toast:

[kestrel91316]

16. Definitely dose-related. Mg of toxin consumed per Kg body weight,

with the added variables from intermittent versus continued feeding of the bad product, and length of time from initial exposure.

Vets are seeing liver issues and even some anemia with this. It was causing a great deal of confusion, but now the picture is getting clearer.

[Bjornsdotter]

24. Thanks

...for the update, I know you must be very busy.

Cheers :toast:

[NAO]

28. Should asymptomatic pets who ate some still be tested?

Thanks for all the info and sympathy. Without your posts most of us would likely still be completely in the dark. It's wonderful that you took time out from your (most likely overwhelmed) practice to post info here. Thank you.

Do you think pets who (most likely, we don't have the containers to check codes) ate a small amount of the food but who are currently asymptomatic be tested for kidney function?

I think many vets are poo-pooing this, under the motive of "not wanting to start a panic", but I'm afraid for my pets, esp my older Maltese who got horrible diarrhea (resolved in 2 days, was 2 months ago) right after we got our kitten and he ate some of the cat food. I don't want CRF 6 months down the road.

[tblue37]

33. I posted this below, but this is to make sure you see it.

I have read that there can be subclinical renal damage that won't show up right away but that could affect the animal by shortening lifespan or by causing chronic kidney disease. So if I were you, I would take your precious friends in for a blood test and continue to do so for a while at least, to make sure they aren't suffering from chronic subclinical damage.

That is what I would do anyway.

[kestrel91316]

37. YES. At the very least a urine specific gravity. Best to look at a

mini renal blood panel, too. Play it safe.

[tblue37]

21. Apparently risk is associated with the ratio of amount

of food to weight of animal.

[Bjornsdotter]

25. Thanks! n/t

[tblue37]

32. I have read, though, that there can be subclinical renal damage that won't show up

right away but that could affect the animal by shortening lifespan or by causing chronic kidney disease. So if I were you, I would take your precious friend in for a blood test and continue to do so for a while at least, to make sure he isn't suffering from chronic subclincial damage.

[Bjornsdotter]

35. Will do!

.....we've called the vet and are trying to get Bailey in next week.

Cheers :toast:

[DURHAM D]

7. Good God - imported wheat from China shipped to Kansas !!!

Are we insane. Aren't we still giving farmers welfare checks if they don't put their land into grain production?

Un f**king believable.

[Kagemusha]

10. Yes, so that those farmers can get higher prices selling wheat to humans.

I had not been under the impression there had previously been a problem with that with the farmers financially benefiting from the arrangement. They're not interested in lowering their prices just so that they can sell wheat fit for human consumption to pet food manufacturers.

[SoCalDem]

34. and of course, NO oil was necessary to complete the transaction..

:sarcasm:

THIS is what's wrong with "globalization".. Stuff used to be shipped all over the world from countries who made/grew it to countries that did NOT...but now it's all just a massive shell game with people swapping the same stuff...the only ones making tons o' cash are the middleman corporations who sell, arrange for transit and of course our old pals...the oilmen who have a stake in EVERY part of production these days..

Here in CA we have IMPORTED from Chile...grapes

and imported from Mexico...tomatoes

Our OWN get sold & shipped to somewhere else in the world..

[sandnsea]

8. I have that stupid dog food

I have cans that are very closely numbered to the ones recalled. I won't feed any of these brands to my dog. This just makes me furious. We lose jobs because foreign manufacturing is cheaper and ignore what we're getting in return is killing the planet and killing US. But the holy free market and blessed corporations - can't challenge them, oh no. Can there be a stupider bunch of people than conservatives. :grr:

[kestrel91316]

11. Well, we can find comfort knowing THIS situation won't last forever:

".......If it is cheaper to ship wheat ACROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN than to get it from a farm 20 miles away, I think we have a problem......."

Shipping is getting much more costly as oil goes up. Perhaps that's a GOOD THING, as Martha would say.

[shaniqua6392]

12. We need to keep on this story.

Thank you for the links!

[Nikki Stone1]

36. yes

:kick:

[Bitwit1234]

19. Now are we afraid to eat bread

If they used imported wheat to make the cat food, are they using imported wheat to make our daily bread.

[geardaddy]

22. Because they're not paying the farmers to grow

wheat? Probably want them to switch to more environmentally unfriendly corn for ethanol.

edit: spelling

[gatorboy]

23. Thank Wal-mart for this.

You really do get what you pay for these days...

[eppur_se_muova]

26. What would happen if the rice crop in China were contaminated?

Oh, wait ... maybe it already is ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4440817.stm

Liu Haiying, programme director for Greenpeace in Beijing, said campaigners bought rice and seeds that had been engineered to produce the protein product of the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). The protein is toxic to insect pests.

He said the Bt-GM rice was being sold at markets in Wuhan and a nearby suburb, and in two cities in Hubei.

[RamboLiberal]

27. Wonder where the wheat gluten in our food comes from

That I would like to see investigated. Entree I ate for lunch today had wheat gluten in the fettucine noodles.

[Double T]

29. Another example of corner cutting by the corporate criminals.........

and their wall street overseers and enablers. Eventually, 'WE' will be next!!

[loudsue]

30. We already are, I think.

It seems everyone I know has been getting cancer in the last 3 or 4 years. I really wonder how much of that is directly attributable to the corporations (foreign & domestic), under republican rule, totally ignoring laws that were put in place to protect people (and KIDS! ), and their pets from being poisoned.

:kick::kick::kick:

[Double T]

31. 100% attributable to rethug LACK of oversight and regulations on............

ALMOST EVERYTHING!!!!

[Codeine]

39. The Chinese make wheat gluten by the ton.

It's the gluten, which they invented and specialize in, that we import, not wheat. They produce it on a such a scale that it is more efficient to import it for the limited number of ways we use it.