April 25, 2007

 

Hogs in California farm quarantined after consuming contaminated pet food

 

 

Officials from the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) confirmed that hogs at some farms in California ate the contaminated products but were uncertain if the hogs have entered the human food chain.

 

The FSIS was also trying to determine whether swine in New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Ohio have also eaten the tainted feed.

 

The chemical melamine--which is proven to cause kidney stones, cancer and reproductive damage to animals--was discovered in pet food coming from China and was distributed to hog producers in California who blended it with their swine diets.

 

Melamine is largely used in manufacturing plastics and inks.

 

Hogs that were confirmed to have eaten the infected feed through rice protein concentrates were processed at a federally inspected facility in California, FSIS spokesman Steven Cohen said.

 

The Food and Drug Administration said the urine of some hogs tested positive for melamine in North Carolina and South Carolina as well as California.

 

Stephen Sundlof, the FDA's chief veterinarian said a poultry farm may also be involved.

 

The California Agriculture Department said it was trying to contact 50 people who bought pork that may have come from pigs fed food containing melamine. The state's health department recommended consumers not to consume the meat but said any health risk was minimal.

 

The WHO also does not classify the chemical as a carcinogen for people.

 

The FDA also said it planned to begin testing a wide variety of vegetable proteins at firms that imported the ingredients to make everything from pizza dough to infant formula, and protein shakes to energy bars. The ingredient list includes wheat gluten, corn gluten, corn meal, soy protein and rice bran. 

 

Investigators believed the chemical possibly was used to skew analyses that measured the protein content of the ingredients, wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate.

 

Dr. David Acheson, the chief medical officer within the FDA's Centre for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition said they will conduct analyses for food and animal feed producers this week.  Acheson stressed that though there was no evidence any of the other vegetable proteins had been contaminated, the FDA wanted to "get ahead of the curve" and raise awareness among manufacturers.

 

The agency will also conduct tests for melamine and related compounds in all wheat gluten, rice protein and corn gluten coming into the United States from China.  The agency said however it had no intention of banning imports of wheat gluten, rice protein or similar proteins from China.