POISONED PET FOOD AND TAINTED TOOTHPASTE TOO:

The Pet Food Recall Facts site has been diligently following the results of lab analyses conducted by private parties, as opposed to corporate or governmental agencies. They have recently released their results as to some pet foods that are contaminated by acetaminophen (Tylenol), something quite separate from the melamine/cyanuric acid contamination so far discussed around the pet food recalls. Acetaminophen would be particularly toxic to cats. Here is a list of the brands that have so far been found to contain this chemical. The reader should note that none of these have as yet been recalled.

Pet Pride Turkey and Giblets Dinner (also positive for cyanuric acid)

Hill's Science Diet Dry Cat Food

Hill's Science Diet Light Adult (also contained cyanuric acid)

Go to the link above for more details. Also note that the Itchmo Blog has set up a system whereby you can test the food that your pet is eating without going through the government- as if they'd do it anyways.

Meanwhile, as Molly implicated earlier on shrimp food exported from the USA that was found to contain melamine, China is hardly the only offender as to food product quality. A report in the Itchmo Blog says that independent testing has confirmed that Country Value Dry Puppy Formula exported from the USA to South Korea has been found to contain melamine. The product was made by Diamond Foods of the USA in September, 2006. One wonders how many more American bags of pet food are floating around the world today. One should also note an article in yesterday's Forbes Magazine about how China has rejected American shipments of raisins and vitamin pills because the levels of bacteria and sulphur dioxide were too high, violating Chinese safety standards. Pirate capitalism is the same in the USA as it is in China.

Finally, there was a very interesting article in the June 6th edition of the Financial Post entitled 'China's Deadly Fakes'. This article puts the whole matter of poisoned pet food into the context of the Chinese "pirate capitalism" that fakes matters far and beyond that of food products. An interesting read for sure.

Molly has to conclude this blog with an observation. Most of the articles quoted in this blog on the matter of melamine contaminated pet food have been from the business sections of the daily press or from specifically business sources. Molly would say that this follows a general pattern. The business section of newspapers is generally a lot more truthful than the regular news sections- and often more important. Food for thought.