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http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/04/pet_food_future.html

 

 

More Food Poisonings to Come, Expert Warns

FDA 30 Years Behind, Unable to Deal with Globalization

By Mark Huffman

ConsumerAffairs.Com

 

April 28, 2007

Food Safety

 

 

The traumatic pet food contamination that has sickened and killed

thousands of animals over the last few months, is not an isolated

incident, according to an agriculture expert. Rather, it's indicative

of a serious breakdown in the system.

 

" Uncontrolled distribution of low-quality, imported food ingredients

is a great threat to U.S. public health, " said Dr. Gary Weaver, of the Program on Agriculture and Animal Health Policy for

the University of Maryland's Center for Food, Nutrition, and

Agriculture Policy.

 

The problem, says Weaver, is the U.S. has very little direct, hands-on

control over the pet food industry.

 

Incidents like pet food contamination will continue, he says, until

the U.S. completes an effective overhaul of its food safety programs.

 

" FDA appears to be some 30 years behind as they use pre-global economy

border food inspection strategies in our new global economy world of

massive international food trade from many countries with food safety

standards much lower than ours, " Weaver said.

 

" Billions of dollars' worth of foreign ingredients that Americans eat

in everything from salad dressing to ice cream get a pass from

overwhelmed FDA inspectors, despite a rising tide of these imports

from countries with spotty food safety records. "

 

Not All Accidental

And it's not just substandard manufacturing standards and less than

optimum workplace conditions that can result in toxic ingredients

ending up in food products. Weaver maintains that some contamination

is actually by design.

 

" Unscrupulous people know that adding the industrial chemical,

melamine, to food products and ingredients can make that food product

and ingredient test as having a higher protein content, " he said,

 

So how did that melamine get into animal food?

 

In the most recent case of pet food contamination, several hundred

tons of melamine-contaminated wheat gluten was purchased by an import

company in Nevada from an animal feed exporter in China. The animal

feed exporter mixed together multiple batches of wheat gluten that had

been purchased from several unidentified wheat gluten producers in

China.

 

In the U.S., the Nevada-based company that imported the melamine-

contaminated wheat gluten sold it to several pet food manufacturers

including the Canadian firm, Menu Foods, which manufactures pet food

sold under more than 100 brand names sold in Canada, the U.S., and

Mexico.

 

Chinese officials have since told the FDA that these several hundred

tons of Chinese wheat gluten were solely intended for industrial use.

It was never meant for animal or human consumption as food. Later,

Chinese officials told the FDA that they never sold any wheat gluten

to the U.S.

 

Why Wasn't It Screened?

Why wasn't the wheat gluten screened for toxic substances?

 

Historically, FDA has never routinely screened food ingredients like

wheat gluten or rice protein concentrate because they have not usually

been contaminated. Also, Weaver says, FDA focuses on microbial - not

chemical - contamination of food products and ingredients.

 

That could be a problem in the future.

 

Weaver and other U.S. experts say there are many other potential food

ingredient melamine-tampering targets for unscrupulous sellers

including whey protein isolates, soy protein isolates, soy protein

concentrate, soy grits and soy lecithin.

 

Globalism Blowback

The pet food contamination is an example of one of the downsides to

the global economy. The U.S. now imports many food products and

ingredients including cheap wheat gluten from the global marketplace

where food safety standards are oftentimes lower than what Americans

are accustomed to and will accept.

 

Many of these imported food products and ingredients can and do change

ownership many times, far away in distant lands, before arriving in

the U.S.

 

Many of these particular food products and ingredients are virtually

untraceable once things go wrong in the U.S. marketplace. It all adds

up to an attractive environment for anyone who wants to cut corners

and fatten the bottom line.

 

Weaver says FDA considers both wheat gluten and rice protein

concentrate melamine-contaminations as aberrations because the food

ingredients wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate historically

have been contaminant-free, but it's clear he doesn't agree.

 

Without fundamental changes, he maintains, the hellish scenario of the

last few weeks will happen again and again ... and not just to

animals.

 

" The Congress should adequately increase FDA's regulatory authority,

budget, and workforce so that the FDA can properly protect all of the

US food supply, " Weaver said.

 

" Currently FDA lacks authority to force a disclosure, a recall, or a

plant closure except with extreme circumstances including FDA

personnel actually finding a hazardous batch of product, " he warned.