FDA Identifies Chemical in Poisoned Pet Food

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FDA Identifies Chemical in Poisoned Pet Food Agency Also Investigating to

Determine If Dry Food Is Affected

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/30/AR2007033000830.\

html?hpid=topnews

 

By William Branigin

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, March 30, 2007; 1:06 PM The Food and Drug Administration has

identified contaminated wheat gluten from China as the likely cause of poisoned

pet food that has sickened a number of dogs and cats, and the agency is

investigating to determine whether dry pet foods have also been affected,

officials said today.

In a news conference, Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for

Veterinary Medicine, said FDA and independent laboratories have found a chemical

called melamine in pet food samples, imported wheat gluten and urine and tissue

from diseased pets. He said melamine is used in fertilizer in Asia and in

plastic products but is not registered as a fertilizer in the United States.

 

 

 

 

" Melamine is an ingredient that should not be in pet food at any level, "

Sundlof said. Nor does it have any approved use in food for humans. He said the

FDA is not aware that any of the contaminated wheat gluten went into human food,

but said he could not confirm this " with 100 percent certainty. "

Sundlof and FDA investigative officials said a company that was found to have

imported the contaminated wheat gluten manufactures dry pet food as well as

" wet " or " moist " food similar t

previously identified as the source of the illnesses. However, they said,

investigators have not yet determined whether any of the wheat gluten has been

used in any dry pet food.

The officials declined to name the pet food company or the supplier pending

the outcome of the investigation.

" The company that received the gluten that we found to be positive for

melamine has been notified, " said David Elder, director of the FDA's Office of

Enforcement. " We have investigators in the plant today to determine what, if

any, finished products were made from that adulterated wheat gluten. "

The FDA previously was focusing on " cuts and gravy " pet food manufactured by

Ontario-based Menu Foods, which earlier this month recalled more than 60 million

cans and pouches sold under 95 brand names, including Safeway, Wal-Mart and

Giant. The recall did not apply to dry pet foods.

Sundlof and Donald Smith, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at

Cornell University, told the news conference that their testing has not been

able to confirm the previously suspected culprit in the poisoned pet food: a

toxin known as aminopterin that is used in China and other Asian countries to

kill rats but is not permitted for such use in the United States. The chemical,

which can cause kidney damage in dogs and cats, was identified last week by New

York agriculture officials as the suspected cause of the pet illnesses resulting

from contaminated food.

Sundlof said the FDA so far has received more than 8,000 complaints about

sickened pets, many of them from owners who said they fed their pets only dry

food. But he said the agency has not yet been able to confirm that any more than

14 or 15 pets actually fell ill because of contaminated pet food, leading to

confusion and consternation among many owners.

Pressed by reporters on what advice the agency has for worried pet owners,

Sundlof said, " We want to encourage the public to continue to use pet food that

is not subject to the recall. " He referred consumers to recall information on

the FDA's Web site.

However, he acknowledged that it is " possible " pet owners could still be

feeding their animals bad food even if they discard the recalled brands.

" This is very early " in the investigation, Sundlof said. " It may turn out that

the shipment we know went to one manufacturer of dry dog food was not even used

in the pet food. "

 

 

He pledged that as soon as anything definitive is known, the public will be

alerted immediately.

The recall earlier announced by Menu Foods covered cuts and gravy style dog

and cat food produced at the company's plant in Emporia, Kan., between Dec. 3,

2006, and March 6, 2007. The products are sold in the United States, Canada and

Mexico, the FDA said.

 

Virginia Greene, a food chemist at the New York State Food Laboratory,

prepares samples to be tested for aminopterin in Albany, N.Y., Monday, March 26,

2007. Scientists at this laboratory on Friday identified aminopterin as the

likely culprit in a poisoning scare that prompted the recall of 95 brands of

" cuts and gravy " style dog and cat food. (AP Photo/Mike Groll) (Mike Groll - AP)

 

 

 

The agency urged pet owners to consult with their veterinarians if their dogs

or cats consumed the suspect food and showed signs of kidney failure, such as

loss of appetite, lethargy and vomiting.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an international animal-rights

group based in Norfolk, Va., last week called for an emergency expansion of the

recall to include dry pet food products that have been the subject of consumer

complaints. The group issued the call after receiving a complaint from a

Pennsylvania resident who said her cat suffered kidney failure and had to be

euthanized although he was fed only dry pet food.

At today's news conference, Sundlof said it was still not entirely certain

that melamine was the " causative agent " in the reported pet deaths from

contaminated food. And he said that " at this time we do not know how melamine

got into the wheat gluten " in the food.

Gluten, a sticky mixture of proteins found in wheat and other grain, gives

dough its tough, elastic quality.

Asked to explain the earlier identification of aminopterin by New York state

authorities, Sundlof said, " As in any investigation, information comes in, and

that information often changes over time. . . . At this point, none of the

independent laboratories . . . have been able to confirm the presence of

aminopterin in those samples, and therefore we're now focusing on the melamine. "

He said laboratories at Cornell and the FDA were involved in the testing that

failed to confirm aminopterin.

Michael Rogers, director of the FDA's Division of Field Investigations, said

the agency is " initiating a 100 percent review of and sampling of all wheat

gluten from China to look for melamine. "

Sundlof said melamine was originally identified by one of the affected pet

food companies -- not Menu Foods -- and that the FDA and Cornell then also found

the chemical in wheat gluten and finished pet foods.

 

 

 

 

 

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