POISONED PET FOODS:

LOOSE ENDS AND A POSSIBLE HUMAN CONNECTION:

As promised earlier Molly has more breaking news to report on the contaminated pet food scandal. First of all, for those interested in the wide range of products exported by the latest Chinese company Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Company Limited implicated click the above link to see what they make. rather scary actually. According to a report by the Associated Press the FDA is now suspicious that the melamine was deliberately added to the wheat gluten to raise its "apparent" protein content. The American FDA is still waiting for Chinese approval for visas for inspection tours of the implicated plants in China. The Chinese authorities meanwhile are wavering between their original "deny everything" position and a new spin that the wheat gluten "was an industrial product not meant for pet food". Now Molly has to call a halt here. Obviously the Chinese government is fumbling for an explanation as it is finally dawning on them how damaging this event will be for China's trade. Besides the obvious point of saying two different things at the same time there is something else here. If the gluten was "not meant for pet food" what in the name of the sweet Lord Jesus WAS it meant for ??? Axle grease maybe ? Computer chips ? Come on now !!! Only the tiny minds of people working their way up in a Communist bureaucracy overseeing a cutthroat capitalism could imagine that this is an "explanation".

Anyways, there are other matters that have come out in the last 24 hours. Laboratories in Guelph, Ontario, Cornell University and Michegan State have found three other compounds in the tissues and urine of affected animals. These are cyanuric acid, amilorine and amiloride. The latter two are potassium sparing diuretics of low potential toxicity. The finding of cyanuric acid is considered the most significant as it can lead to crystals that can potentially damage the kidneys. Molly, however, thinks that this may not be the whole story as her search on cyanuric acid seems to indicate that it is also of low toxicity.

In another disturbing development Fox News has reported that some of the contaminated rice protein concentrate was diverted into hog feed at the American Hog Farms facility in Stanislaus County in California. The farm is presently "under quarantine" while the California Department of Food and Agriculture investigates their sales records. This facility is a "custom slaughterhouse" where people generally come in to "buy the whole hog". The surplus concentrate was apparently sold to the pig plant by Diamond Foods. Customers of American Hog farms have been advised not to consume any pork purchased from them until further notice.

Over at the Itchmo Blog there is now an online petition demanding that pet food manufacturers and the distributors be held financially responsible for medical costs related to their foods and that all pet foods include the name of the manufacturer, not just the brand. Drop over to this site to sign the petition. On the politico front Dave Lazarus, an advisor to US Senator Durban who has been active in investigating this matter is soliciting comments and suggestions as to the content of new legislation governing the pet food industry. What Durban is proposing includes an "early warning systems" that would identify problems more quickly, mandatory processing and ingredient standards, additional inspections of processing plants, adverse events reporting standards and penalties for tardy reporting, international pet food standards and a mandatory recall authority. You can reach the senator's advisor at David_Lazarus@durbin.senate.gov .

More later

Molly