Does FDA spell FEMA? (The "food grade" wheat gluten debacle)

[pnwmom]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20070404/cm_huffpost/044935

SNIP

"To date, we have nothing that indicates it's gone into human food," said Dorothy Miller, director of the FDA's Office of Emergency Operations . "We have a bit more investigation to do."

They certainly do. But the FDA should have acted as if the human food supply was at risk from the moment Menu Foods notified it that test animals were dying, presumably sometime before March 8. Tainted wheat gluten was always the prime suspect, and anyone given the facts and a little familiarity with our food processing and distribution system should have heard alarm bells. Yet the federal regulators charged with safeguarding our food supply seemed more concerned with protecting the interests of the corporations involved, then in giving consumers the facts they needed to make informed decisions on their own.

While the FDA focused on pet food, it was left to persistent bloggers and journalists to slowly tease out the full scope of this potential public health disaster. Wheat gluten is not an obscure feed stock, but rather a common ingredient widely used in a large number of processed foods and baked goods. And while federal regulations distinguish between "food grade" and "feed grade," the overwhelming majority of wheat gluten distributed in this country is sold as the former. MGP Ingredients, the largest U.S. manufacturer of wheat gluten, only produced and distributed "food grade" product, shipping to Menu Foods the same high quality wheat gluten meant for human consumption until 18-months ago, when they lost the business to cheaper, Asian imports. And responding to an e-mail query, a spokesperson for Del Monte Foods quickly confirmed that it was "food grade" gluten that led to its own recall.

The FDA always knew the tainted wheat gluten was sold as "food grade," but never offered this information to the public. And even now they continue to obfuscate the matter.

SNIP


Note: And if that wasn't enough bad news, you should also be aware that the only way to be sure you're avoiding wheat gluten is to avoid any food that is labeled as containing "wheat." This is because the labeling law doesn't require that "gluten" be labeled. Some manufacturers do that voluntarily, but the food industry has strongly opposed regulations requiring the labeling of gluten.

[Rhiannon12866]

1. This is an important story. K&R.

And one that we should be following. I spoke with my vet about this and he also holds the FDA responsible...:scared:

[pnwmom]

2. All the evidence seems to point to the fact that Bush's aim

has been to eviscerate federal agencies, across the board. It's infuriating.

[TZ]

4. No regulation is good regulation in his book and

he's doing a good job. I think it must be frustrating for the people at lower levels (those not fired or railroaded out) that have been there for years watching their agencies slowly crumble....

[pnwmom]

7. I'm sure you're right.

[Rhiannon12866]

10. Also, he seems to have a knack for appointing the worst person possible,

every single time... That's equally infuriating and explains a lot...:eyes:

[pnwmom]

11. it's about his only talent, other than brush clearing. n/t

[Rhiannon12866]

17. I agree. So much brush, so little time... *sigh*

That's the only "hard work" that he does. As for research and reading up on this stuff, like realizing that there were Sunnis and Shi'ia and Kurds in Iraq, centuries old enemies, but he never learned this until a few weeks before the invasion (Super Bowl weekend, when he learned about this from a Middle Eastern guest at his Super Bowl party), far too late, when he already had anything in place. I already knew this, but I didn't need to, so why didn't the commander in chief?!:shrug::grr:

[pnwmom]

30. The scariest thing is to know that either you or I would

be a better President, if we had to be, than the current person in office.

[Rhiannon12866]

32. I agree. I've often thought about how much I've learned,

and I have several friends who have been following all of this for a lifetime, unlike me. Most of us on DU seem to be better informed than Bush*, which is a most frightening thought...:scared:

[cassiepriam]

36. There is no longer any regulation. It is about making money, not protecting the public.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. And let's not forget homemade bread.

That contains wheat gluten too.

[pnwmom]

8. Not unless you make it with wheat flour.

Which I don't, since I've got Celiac.

[SidDithers]

22. Gotta love that Xanthum Gum!...

:hi:

Sid

[pnwmom]

29. Oh, for the days when xanthum gum

sounded like something a little bit unnatural and suspicious.

How old is your daughter with CD? I think my mom must have had it as a kid, but no one got diagnosed until I did as a middle-aged adult.

[SidDithers]

33. Just turned 9, she was diagnosed at 5...

we knew something was wrong because she wasn't growing and thriving. She was the typical Celiac kid, with the big, distended tummy and short, fine hair. It took about 3 years and several doctors before CD was identified and then confirmed. All is good now, tho. She's mostly caught up to her classmates in size and energy level, and there are enough gf treats and snacks to keep her happy. We can still do McDonald's, 'cause their fries and burger patties are OK. Birthday parties are still rough, but we've finally found a gf pizza that she seems to like. Her younger brother has also been tested, but he's in the clear.

Given some of the alternative theories the docs were considering, like cystic fibrosis and cancer, we feel lucky that the final diagnosis was CD.

Happy and healthy now!:


Sid

[pnwmom]

34. Wonderful!

Two beautiful and healthy children! :bounce: :bounce:

I'm glad your son is in the clear, at least now, but if the situation ever changes you'll know what to do.

And I totally agree with you about the sense of relief . . . they were looking at cancer for me, too. Compared to some of the other possibilities, Celiac is nothing.

[kestrel91316]

5. Delete. I need to do homework befoe flaming you.

[pnwmom]

9. Good idea.

:hi:

[kestrel91316]

14. I totally misread part of the post.

[pnwmom]

15. Are most vets having a lot of stress about this issue?

Have you seen patients in your practice with this?

[kestrel91316]

18. Still no victims here..........things are slowing down for vets with most the bad

product off the shelf and most owners knowing not to feed it.

Some have had entire households come in sick, 5 animals at one fell swoop, with not all surviving. I'd call that stressful. Some have lost their own pets or hospital mascots.

I'm lucky, or rather my clients are. I told them not to feed generics or anything with fish. It apparently paid off.

[Rhiannon12866]

21. Thank you for the glimmer of good news, kestrel.

I spoke about this with my vet a week ago, and he had a whole lot to say about this, explained why the numbers were being underreported, told me the hoops that both owner and vet have to go through to report a case, and told me how he thought this could had happened, since he's spent time in China, studying acupuncture. It doesn't look good, from what he said, and he also blames the FDA, but he hasn't had many cases, either, and I'm certainly glad that you haven't. This is heartbreaking for anyone who has had to deal with this, since I know so many people who have tried to give their pets the best, and then were confronted with this, like my friend in rescue, who placed two dogs with me. Her two dogs, who are both older, got sick in January but are, fortunately, okay now. Thanks for all that you're doing...:-)

Rhiannon:hug:

on edit: typo

[hang a left]

16. I suspect it is not the gluten at all.

kestrel, are you any closer to figuring out what it is.

[kestrel91316]

20. It is, of course, not gluten per se that is the "killer". Gluten is a perfectly

safe food additive in pet food, but the bad batch of gluten was CONTAMINATED with Melamine, which may or may not be the "killer". There is some other chemical contaminant that has still not been identified.

But we DO KNOW that the contaminated gluten was how the "killer" got into the food.

Very little is known about the toxicology of melamine in animals, especially cats. Somebody on the vet site wryly commented that there is probably a PhD thesis in there somewhere.........

[Rhiannon12866]

24. That's exactly what is going on.

I subscribe to "Vegetarian Times," have for years, and wheat gluten is often used on vegetarian recipes. It's used to make a faux turkey, for Thanksgiving, for example. But the fact that this is contaminated is the problem, since wheat gluten is inherently safe both for animals and for humans. :shrug:

According to my vet, who has studied acupuncture in China, what he believes happened is that the wheat fields there were surrounded by rat traps, poisoned with aminopterin, which is a poison only used in China and Europe, and he thinks that some of the rat traps and the poisoned rats may have been caught up in the harvest. *sigh* And we know that they don't value pets as we do, and don't have the standards that we do, either. There are probably numerous PhD theses in there, somewhere, but this just seems to get worse, heard of a local case, just yesterday. This is very frightening and I appreciate all you are doing, for your animals and to educate us.:hug:

Rhiannon, Meneken & Jack :hi:

[kestrel91316]

25. We're at least REALLY CERTAIN of one thing now: there WASN'T

any aminopterin. That was a red herring, something only one lab thought they found.

The melamine they are finding in kidneys of dead cats, urine of sick cats, the suspect wheat gluten supply, the actual lot numbers of pet food recalled, so it's pretty much settled. Melamine may just be a marker, however.

Jury's not in yet on what the real killer is........there appears to be ANOTHER unidentified contaminant.

[Rhiannon12866]

38. Thanks for the update and the information,

though it's far from reassuring. *sigh* I made chicken and rice for my dogs, since my vet's had me do this before when they needed to be on a bland diet and they like it. Even though their food hasn't been on any list *yet* and none of it contains wheat gluten, I feel better about doing this until this horrific situation is resolved.:scared:

Thanks for keeping us up to speed on this!:hi:

[pnwmom]

27. And haven't they been having round-ups -- and killings -- of their

own dogs in some cities?

[Rhiannon12866]

37. There have been mass killings of pet dogs in China because

of fear of rabies. They can't seem to get it together to just inoculate them, like we do. I've signed more petitions on this than I can count...;(

[hang a left]

26. I didn't mean gluten...

I meant the poison that is in the gluten or perhaps something else. I have read several articles regarding the melamine. No one seems to think that it is toxic enough to have caused any illness or death.

So I think that you are correct in assuming it is another toxin we aren't being told about.

Has it absolutely been nailed down to wheat and what is in it??

[supernova]

6. I seriously removed wheat from my diet

about a month ago because I suspect I have a sensitivity to WG.

So, my thoughts for everyone who is still eating this stuff. I've given up a lot of packaged stuff too, since like HFCS, WG is in almost everything.

[caligirl]

12. the one time i am glad we can't have gluten(wheat barely or rye) in our diet.

Never thought i'd be relieved we have celiac disease in our house. at least our family knows how to identify sources for gluten in foods.

[pnwmom]

13. Me, too. n/t

[SidDithers]

23. My daughter has some of this stuff...

http://www.silly-yak.com/

Cool stuff, especially for kids.

Sid

[antigop]

19. Speaking of the FDA.....

don't miss this article by the Center for Public Integrity

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=585712&mesg_id=585712

[pnwmom]

28. Thanks, I just recommended it. n/t

[Rex]

31. Systematic destruction of the infrastructure.

Break, hire, not really fix but charge lots of money, overcharge, charge, charge, charge, break, do study on how much it will cost to fix, compared to breaking, fix, break, charge.

[pnwmom]

35. I think that IS what's going on all over the government, at the top levels. n/t