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May 4th / 6th, 2007
"Bad Menu"
News of the tainted pet food scandal seems to get worse with each passing
week.
Earlier this year we learned that aminopterin (a drug used to kill rats) had
found its way into canned food made by the Menu Foods Income Fund company.
But scientists at Menu initially reported that there was no proof their
products had caused rapid kidney failure in cats and dogs.
Not long after that, the company announced that the offending substance was
really melamine, a chemical used in fertilizer. Soon, over 60 million cans
of pet food were recalled as a result.
Then, several weeks ago came the news that tainted wheat glutin from China
was also used by Menu, and in more than just wet food products. Suddenly,
the recall was expanded to include dry food and dog biscuits.
And just last week, the recall was expanded again, this time to include all
foods containing rice protein which, it seems, was also laced with
melamine-filled wheat glutin.
In one four week period alone, the FDA received 12,000 complaints of
sickness and death due to the toxic food, and those numbers are still growing.
Meanwhile, veterinarian hospitals nationwide have reported that over 40,000
animals have been affected.
The problems with this tragic saga are as numerous as the serious questions
they have generated, among them:
- How could rat poisoning and fertilizer compounds get into pet food in the
first place?
- Why was wheat glutin being imported when America is a leading producer of
wheat?
- How could one company (Menu Foods) make essentially the same product and put
100 different labels on it?
- How could premium brand pet foods such as Iams and Eukanuba defraud and
deceive consumers for years about their supposed unique blend, without the FDA
investigating ?
- And, how could veterinarians hawk these fake premiums brands as a means to a
healthy lifestyle without knowing that it was the same product as hundreds
of other cheaper brands?
Congress should compel Menu Foods, Iams, and others to answer these and
other questions, and , if their answers are suspect, the offending parties
should, at the very least, stand trial for multiple counts of animal cruelty.
In some sense, ill-conceived trade agreements are to blame for the imported
wheat glutin. According to the Associated Press, since 2001, American food
makers looking for bargains on imported ingredients have more than doubled
their business with low cost nations such as China, Mexico, and India. And
those countries have a horrendous track record when it comes to quality control.
Meanwhile, FDA inspectors admit that incoming products, not individual
ingredients, have been their priority, thus the reason for tainted shipments
reaching our dinner tables and our pets’ food bowls. That’s why Congress should
immediately impose a moratorium on all food products from China and other
offending nations. Then, Pelosi and company should strip President Bush of his
Fast Track authority when it expires in June so that future trade agreements
are required to pass majority muster.
As to the tainted pet food specifically, our government should also be more
attentive to the relationships between manufacturers and distributors. That’s
because the real villains of this drama are the hundred or so lazy, greedy,
deceptive companies who for so many years have sold their pet food without
advertising that they didn’t actually produce it, and now are shocked to learn
what is in it.
The bottom line is we should be able to trust brand names, not fear them.
That’s why I am also calling on Congress to pass legislation requiring food
companies to actually manufacture the products they sell.
Animal cruelty comes in many forms, but there may be no worse example of it
than big companies who profit from cutting corners on ingredients and
inspections. It’s time to bite the hand that feeds us.
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