POISONED PET FOOD:

MORE ON THE CAUSE:

No new recalls this morning. The day is still young. An article in Saturday's Toronto Star sheds more light on the potential mechanisms by which melamine and cyanuric acide cause kidney damage. The article quotes John Melichercik of Guelph's Agriculture and Food Laboratory on their findings of a compound formed by the reaction between the above two chemicals. Unfortunately this isn't the whole story as other substances may be involved. Melichercik is quoted as saying, "when we see some of these substances, there is other junk in there that is difficult to identify".

Meanwhile an article from CBS news also came out this morning. The title is 'Pet Food Toxin Said to be Common in China', and the title says it all. The practice of spiking feedstuffs with melamine is a very long standing one in China. Wang Jianhui, manager of the Kaiyuan Protein Feed Company in the city of Shijiazhuang says "We've been running the melamine feed business about 15 years (!!!!!- Molly) and receiving positive responses from our customers". The article above also tells more about the market for melamine in China. Well worth the read.

More later

Molly