Pet Poisoning -- Deja Vu All Over Again by Dr. Robert Jay Russell

[Guest guest]

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PET POISONING -- DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN

 

by Robert Jay Russell, Ph.D., CTCA President

_CotonNews_ (CotonNews)

_www.CotonClub.www_ (http://www.cotonclub.com/)

 

March 26th, 2007. As that great zen master of the diamond, Yogi Berra, is

wont to say: " it's deja vu all over again " ...

 

In late 2005 through early 2006, Diamond foods distributed dog food under

several brand names in more than 30 countries that sickened and killed dogs. At

least 120 dogs died in the US, and potentially tens of thousands suffered

life-shortening liver disease. The agent of damage was corn and corn gluten that

had been contaminated by the mold poison aflatoxin in storage. Sadly, the bags

of contaminated dog foods remained on store shelves for many months--some may

still be on shelves to be sold today!--so the exact dimensions of this mass

poisoning incident may never be known.

 

I append here a small part of a detailed report published on the web by a

concerned distributor of pet foods. It is a report that I think will open many

eyes to the dangers of commercial pet foods. While it details problems at

Diamond Foods, it must be remembered that Diamond is marketed as a premium food

company and that its corporate behavior should be considered " average " for the

industry. Like Menu Foods, Diamond manufactures food at several plants in the US

and supplies a number of different brand names with product. The full report

may be seen at:

_http://www.aplus-http://www.ahttp://wwwhttp://www.apluhttp://www_

(http://www.aplus-flint-river-ranch..com/define-diamond-recall.php) .

Below is a small section of the report:

 

The FDA's Report on the Diamond Pet Foods Recall

 

An investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was launched after

Dec. 20, 2005, when Diamond Pet Foods recalled about 1 million pounds of dried

pet food made Sept. 1 through Dec. 7 (bearing use-by dates of March 1, 2007,

through June 7, 2007).

 

The FDA recently released a report of its findings on the Diamond Pet Food

case, wherein Federal regulators found widespread failure to test corn and other

ingredients that went into the dog food made in the fall of 2005 at Diamond

Pet Foods' plant in Gaston, South Carolina. Following the report's release,

Diamond Pet Foods admitted that it failed to follow its own testing guidelines.

 

In the report, U.S. FDA investigators determined:

 

Tests could not be verified for more than half the corn samples arriving at

the plant during the critical periods of September and October because the

samples were missing. The samples were either lost or never taken, according to

the FDA. Without them, the FDA was unable to determine exactly how much

aflatoxin (if any) wound up in the dog food that used these batches of corn

 

Among the samples that were kept, FDA tests found aflatoxin ranging from 90

parts per billion to 1,851 ppb — four to 90 times the FDA's limit of 20 parts

per billion for human and pet foods. Those samples represented four truckloads

of corn the company tested and cleared and used to make dog food

 

In 16 samples of batches of dried dog food, aflatoxin was found at levels

beyond the government's limit

 

The S.C. Department of Agriculture has provided aflatoxin testing to farmers,

food manufacturers, and others free of charge as a public service; however,

the test is not required by state or federal law. Diamond Pet Foods did not

take advantage of the department's free aflatoxin testing service.

 

The inspection also found that Diamond accepted shipments of wheat flour,

rice bran, and chicken byproduct meal between Jan. 3 and 17, despite testing

that

found most of the ingredients did not meet the company's own content

specifications for protein, moisture, fat, ash, and fiber.

 

Of 21 shipments of wheat flour accepted during the two-week period, 17 failed

testing of three or more of the five specifications. All five accepted

shipments of rice bran failed on four of five specifications, and six of seven

accepted shipments of chicken byproduct meal failed four specifications tested.

 

The FDA's findings did not carry any penalties. Diamond Pet Foods reports it

has taken the necessary actions to prevent these oversights from happening in

the future.

 

Dr.. Russell continues:

 

The Diamond poisonings of 2005/2006 pale in view of the present Menu Foods

disaster. Nonetheless, the reasons for the poisonings--The Diamond poisonings of

2005/2006 pale in view of the present Menu Foods disaster. Nonetheless, the

reasons for the poisonings--<WBR>contaminated basic ingredients that were never

quality tested--are exactly the same. Most important, the pet food industry

is unregulated and iniquitous conduct presents no civil or criminal penalties,

therefore gross malfeasance can actually yield profits. Apparently, the US

government and the pet food industry hasn't learned a t

 

Finally, let me conclude here with a comment from a former commodities market

trader regarding the purchase of Chinese wheat by the pet food industry:

 

Think about it. China imports much more food than most nations... one of

their biggest problems is keeping a food surplus. Why would Chinese wheat

suddenly

go on the global market and not be picked up for in-border consumption?

 

Answer: The wheat was " dumped " after the contamination was spotted by Chinese

inspectors..Answer: The wheat was " dumped " after the contamination was

spotted by Chinese inspectorsA Such products are routinely moved in the

commodities

market for a great many industrial uses, everything from building materials

to cosmetics. I suspect the pet food people snapped it up and were thinking

what a good deal they had landed. If the product had been labeled " unfit for

animal consumption " they probably would have passed.

 

Pet food is routinely made with low grade or below standard protein

products... meats and even dairy products of some really nasty origins in

particular..Pet food is routinely made with low grade or below standard protein

products...

meats and even dairy products of some really nasty origins in

particular..<WBR>. (I used to buy and sell various food commodities) MM

----

©2007 Dr. R. J. Russell & the CTCA

 

 

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Dianne

Ravette-Jodevin Collies

Owner/Co-Founder: " _JstSayNo2Vaccs_

(http://tech.jstsayno2vaccs/) " @

Owner/Founder: " _HolisticGroomer_

(http://pets.HolisticGroomer/) " @

 

" It's not enough to rage against the lie...you've got to replace it with the

truth. " - Bono