More recalls possible... Beware any rice protein/gluten

ORIGINAL: dyan

I'm not looking for another recall. I'm looking for information about who might be selling contaminated food. It should be my decision to buy it or not if there is question.  THEN recall if you must.
I just read an article this morning about how the FDA knew for a long time about the Peanute Butter and Spinach thing last year. They do not have enough people to regulate all of this. Darn, if I find it again I will post it.

The FDA can't release who might be using tainted food.  If they are wrong they just buried a company who did nothing wrong.  I agree it sucks to not know, but the government can't go around spreading false information.

how can we even beware foods with these things in them if the companies aren't even listing them as ingredients?  

If ingredients are derived from China, we should be able to know that.  It needs to be clearly stated on the label.
Things that say, made in USA are actually not truly all made in USA.  And what is coming from where needs to be put right there in black and white.  This should not be some detective sport between FDA, manufacturers, distributers, and consumers. 
 
This whole issue is BS.

I am sure not for making a company go under because of false information..... I spent more than enough time trying to stick up for Diamond Co. after their recall and after they cleared things up.  

 
"We have learned that in addition to Wilbur-Ellis, a second United States company imported a shipment of rice protein from China that is also likely to be contaminated with melamine," the senators wrote. "We request the FDA identify this second importer as well as those manufacturers to which it may have sold the contaminated product."

This is the paragraph that I see BIG TIME. I think we have the right to know who it is and which companies could be using these ingredients.  Are they going to sit on it for a few weeks or months while we  possibly poison our pets?
The FDA is supposed to be working for us, right?

"...how the FDA knew for a long time about the Peanute Butter and Spinach thing last year. They do not have enough people to regulate all of this."
 
You know what, the spinach issue was nothing new.  Apparently that same grower(forget the town, but it is in S. CA) has had the same problem in the past, not all that long before. So, I think that the importance of knowing, and having the labels clearly stating exactly where your product came from, is going to need to be tracked. FDA must not put out much of a scare to enforce correction.
 
 It is not good for us to be purchasing anything that you can not trace all of its origins.  From, food,clothing, to your medicines... 
 
When recalls occur, it should not be necessary to do all this (back) tracking. This  should already be a known.  And let the people discern for themselves if they want any product made or grown in China or anywhere else. 

They sure put a warning out in a hurry about the hogs that were fed the melmaline scrap food and it got into the pork.  No reason to not do the same with any of the companies.

Durbin is my new hero [sm=clapping%20hands%20smiley.gif] [linkhttp://durbin.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=272877]http://durbin.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=272877[/link]

I don't expect it to do any good, but it's a valliant effort.

Repeatedly, American pet owners have been told that products not on the recall list are safe for their pets, only to discover that the recall has expanded and that their pets may still be vulnerable. In order to prevent further contaminated food from reaching our shelves, we are requesting the following of the Food and Drug Administration:

1. Wilbur-Ellis Co., the San Francisco-based company that imported the shipment of contaminated rice protein has said that the shipment was distributed to five pet food manufacturers. Three of those manufacturers have revealed themselves and recalled food, the other two have not. Given the strong possibility that these two pet food manufacturers also received contaminated rice protein and that they have failed to implement voluntary recalls, we believe the FDA should release the names of these manufacturers and require them to trace and recall any pet food made with the potentially contaminated rice protein. If FDA is unable to reveal this information, we ask for a detailed legal explanation.

2. We have learned that in addition to Wilbur-Ellis, a second United States company imported a shipment of rice protein from China that is also likely to be contaminated with melamine. We request the FDA identify this second importer as well as those manufacturers to which it may have sold the contaminated product. Again, we request the FDA closely track this shipment and immediately press the affected companies to recall any food containing the imported rice protein.

3. The FDA has engaged in significant testing and sampling of wheat gluten. Given we now know contaminated shipments of both rice protein concentrate and corn gluten have also been exported from China, we ask the FDA to begin comprehensive testing and sampling of rice protein concentrate and corn gluten immediately.

4. We have seen this recall expand dramatically, both in terms of the number of brands and different products recalled, and in the number of ingredients contaminated. In light of the strong possibility that these protein sources were purposefully contaminated for economic purposes, we are concerned about the safety of other imported pet food ingredients and the possibility of them being contaminated. Accordingly, we ask the FDA to proactively respond by:

Identifying and inspecting all suspect pet food ingredients imported by the U.S. from China and other countries;

Studying the feasibility of testing protein-based pet food ingredients imported from China and other countries for melamine;

Taking steps to work with the Chinese Government and other foreign governments to inspect their facilities and provide technical assistance to improve their food safety standards.

Approximately 63% of Americans own a cat or a dog. The FDA owes the American public their best effort to prevent contaminated food from getting to store shelves and to remove contaminated food that is already on shelves before more pets die. We look forward to the Food and Drug Administration's prompt and complete response to this letter.

Sincerely,
Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator

Maria E. Cantwell
United States Senator

Approximately 63% of Americans own a cat or a dog. The FDA owes the American public their best effort to prevent contaminated food from getting to store shelves and to remove contaminated food that is already on shelves before more pets die. We look forward to the Food and Drug Administration's prompt and complete response to this letter.

The last paragraph sums it up totally!
Durbin in my new hero also!

 Here's the fourth company that bought the rice gluten from Wilber-Ellis; SmartPak. The product they're recalling is LiveSmart Weight Management Chicken and Brown Rice; [linkhttp://www.smartpakcanine.com/PetFoodRecalls.aspx]http://www.smartpakcanine.com/PetFoodRecalls.aspx[/link];


On Friday, April 20, SmartPak initiated a voluntary recall of a single production run of the LiveSmart Weight Management Chicken and Brown Rice Dog Food.
The particular lot of food recalled included rice protein concentrate that was supplied by Wilbur-Ellis, the same company that supplied rice protein concentrate contaminated with Melamine to Natural Balance. This was the first time that our supplier purchased and used rice protein concentrate from Wilbur-Ellis. No previous lots were affected, nor do we use rice protein concentrate in any other formulas of LiveSmart dog or cat foods.
Thankfully, the product was just produced, and only a very limited amount of product had left our facility prior to the recall (less than 1200 pounds). We have notified every affected pet owner via both phone and email.

I'll bet SmartPak contracted the food from another manufacturer. They're a very reputable company, but their primary business is custom packaging of other products, not manufacturing. I LOVE the SmartPaks concept they developed. FABULOUS idea. They've been around for horses for at least ten years, we used them at the barn I rode at during show season (too pricey to use year-round). It was SO convenient to have everything sealed and premeasured with the horses name on it. I didn't realize they did dog stuff, too.

[Deleted by Admins]

ORIGINAL: dyan

Yes.... amd here is a very interesting article in our newspaper today.  
A warning! It talks about vitamins.   John from Eagle touched on this in a conversation a few weeks ago.  
This fellow is a management consultant to many large food ingredient companies.
[linkhttp://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/othercolumns/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1177414236266170.xml&coll=2]http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/othercolumns/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1177414236266170.xml&coll=2[/link]

 
maybe John from Eagle was trying to tell you something with really saying it (see below from
[linkhttp://www.thepetfoodlist.com/petfoods_pg1.htm]http://www.thepetfoodlist.com/petfoods_pg1.htm[/link]
 
[linkhttp://eaglepack.com/]Eagle Pack[/link] (verified by company 4/19/07)

• Brands include Eagle Pack Holistic Select, Eagle Pack Super Premium, Hy-Ration, [link>http://www.prismpetfood.com/]Prism[/link][/size]
  
• Loaf style canned food is made by Menu Foods to Eagle Pack's unique formulas, but not part of the recall.
  
• Dry foods manufactured in Eagle Pack's plant in Mishawaka IN.
  
• They do not use any ingredients that are common to the recalled product.
  
• Products contain no wheat gluten.
  
• The only gluten we use is corn gluten and it is from in Hammond, IN and Iowa. .
  
• Only ingredients from China are glucosamine and taurine (a pet food and human food industry standard).
  
• Vitamins sourced from BASF, a recognized & respected vitamin source. However, even they must buy some vitamins from China, as do the other respected vitamin companies.
  
• Duck Meal is from Europe and is EU Certified. Anchovy and Sardine from the Humboldt Current area (This can vary slightly but they are from clean ocean waters and the meal is preserved naturally).
  
• Salmon from the Pacific Ocean. Lamb meat is imported from New Zealand and/or Australia.
  
• Onsite lab tests incoming ingredients and finished food
  
• USDA/APHIS inspected and EU approved

 

maybe John from Eagle was trying to tell you something with really saying it

 
Actually that is exactly what John told me.
If you read that article from the newspaper... the last vitamin C plant in America...close its doors last year.   Most of the vitamins come from China.   These are vitamins that we take AND vitamins that are put in our foods and drinks,,baby formulas etc etc.

i meant to say "WITHOUT" really saying it.  Maybe he was giving you a heads up that some of the ingredients that Eagle uses originate from China.
 
sorry just really paranoid now with the pork and chicken thing happening

He was talking about vitamins and the fact that most come from China.
And if you read the link that I posted before of the newspaper article talking about all the vitamins that come from China.
Now that you brought up the pork and chicken issue... we can all worry about the glutens AND chicken or pork in our dogs food.
And our own.