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Barnyard Buddies:  Tainted pet food found in US livestock feed!  |
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Tracey
True Blue Farmgirl
766 Posts
Tracey
State of Confusion
USA
766 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 21 2007 : 12:56:21 PM
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Yet another reason to be self sufficient!
Tainted pet food found in US livestock feed
By Charles Abbott
Fri Apr 20, 8:22 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pet food tainted with the chemical melamine was found in feed rations on a California hog farm and may show up on other U.S. farms, state and federal officials said on Friday.
Used in plastics and fertilizer, melamine has been found in imported wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate and is suspected of causing pets to fall ill and die. More than 100 brands of pet food have been recalled after reports of pet kidney failures.
California officials said Diamond Pet Foods sold pet food to American Hog Co., which used it as a feed ingredient. Tests found melamine in feed at the farm and in urine from the hogs.
Richard Breitmeyer, the state veterinarian, said it was "not uncommon" for pet food makers to sell scrap material to feedlots.
"In the course of our investigation, we may find similar situations in other parts of the country," said Stephen Sundlof, head of the Center for Veterinary Medicine at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, referring to sales of scrap pet food.
Sundlof said five pet food makers including Diamond Pet Foods had received shipments of rice protein concentrate.
State and U.S. Agriculture Department officials said there was no evidence that pork products from the farm entered the food supply but that they were still tracking the whereabouts of all the hogs produced there since April 3. Some 126 of the hogs are known to have been slaughtered for meat.
During a news conference in Sacramento, California, state officials said Diamond Pet Foods sold the food to the hog farm before melamine was linked to rice protein concentrate imported from China.
Sundlof said the FDA believes it has accounted for all of the imported wheat gluten that may contain melamine. Some of it went to a rendering plant. "We have inspectors at the rendering plant," he said, to see what happened to the gluten.
Royal Canin USA said on Friday it was recalling all of its dry pet food products containing rice protein concentrate, because a melamine derivative was found in them.
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2007 : 3:32:39 PM
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When things like this happen it is amazing to see the chain of effect. It reminds me of the elementary school experiment where you put a cut piece of leafy celery in a cup of water with blue dye in it. Then over a course of hours you watch the celery draw the blue dye up its veins. In this case the dye is the melamine and it just goes to show the flow of food with in our country. It's amazing to see how different things are in contact, and it just makes it scarier when contamination happens.
Alee
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 03:45:33 AM
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WOW
Amazing how all this has indeed mushroomed over the past few months.
Very scary indeed, and a badly needed wake-up
I am a label reader....even more now. Was grocery shopping last night and put back a few items that had gluten and a bad preservative called BHT......in Kool-Aid no less!
I'm relieved we are in an upswing as far as garden planting goes. Trips to the store will become less and less as it gets warmer and more stuff grows to be eaten
I feel badly for you city farm girls who can't utilize the earth's resources as readily |
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 07:48:24 AM
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This is so sad. It seemingly goes on and on, doesn't it?!?!?!
I am becoming more and more attached to the "grass-fed" model of livestock. I'm not sure about hogs, though, never having raised them, but is seems like the mass-marketed feed is becoming less and less appealing and safe...
XOXO, Libbie
"All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar..." - Helen Hayes |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 3:27:31 PM
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I saw a local ad where someone wanted the contaminated food to recondition their soil?! I hope they aren't using it for gardening. You aren't supposed to put meat into your garden because it fosters a dangerous strain of bacteria.
Alee
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goneriding
True Blue Farmgirl
1599 Posts
Winona
Central Oregon
USA
1599 Posts |
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BamaSuzy
True Blue Farmgirl
138 Posts
Alabama
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - Apr 27 2007 : 06:48:54 AM
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This should all be a major wake up call to all of us concerning our OWN food and it's safety! We need to be growing as much of our own food as possible (or buying it from other nearby farmers that we KNOW, and who we KNOW about their farming methods.)....
If you don't know how to can or dry foods, this is a good reason to learn....if I can learn to do it, anybody can! I learned to pressure can about eight years ago (and am still learning!) and I learned mainly from the canning books and from reading Jackie Clay in Backwoods Home magazine and on the BWH forum...
No matter how much our government tries, it can't regulate ALL the food that is imported and all the food that is grown on the huge farms...We must be responsible for our own families and our own families' food supply!
You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt! |
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MariaAZ
True Blue Farmgirl
203 Posts
Phoenix
AZ
203 Posts |
Posted - Apr 27 2007 : 11:04:10 AM
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When the news first broke about the contaminated pet food, I told my family it was just a matter of time before it turns up in the human food supply.
The pet food issue has brought to the forefront exactly how dependent the US is on imported foodstuffs. We like to think we are the world's bread basket, but it is quickly becoming apparant that our own agricultural system provides a lot less of our edibles than we thought.
I like to believe every cloud has a silver lining. Hopefully this tainted feed tragedy will raise the public's awareness of where their food comes from. My biggest hope is that this issue encourages more interest in and support for our own farmers and their crops! Maybe we'll see less farmable land being covered in concrete and asphalt.
Visit my blog at www.craftyfool.net |
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Apr 28 2007 : 09:30:05 AM
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Ugh. I just heard that a pet food manufacturer or distributer (I don't remember which) in Utah was implicated in this. There was melamine in some rice product that they used. It is so darn scary - I hardly know what to feed my dog and cat. Do any of you know if there is a "safe list" anywhere for pet foods?
XOXO, Libbie
"All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar..." - Helen Hayes |
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Reepicheep
True Blue Farmgirl
78 Posts
78 Posts |
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Apr 29 2007 : 06:58:39 AM
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Reepicheep - THANK YOU! We're almost out of dog food and I just didn't know which one to get...
XOXO, Libbie
"All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar..." - Helen Hayes |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Apr 29 2007 : 08:55:30 AM
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I go with the Dick Van Patten's Natural Choice. Each of their foods only has a limited ingredient list with no weird fillers. I can pronounce everything in the ingredient list so it makes me feel better :)
Alee |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Apr 30 2007 : 03:31:32 AM
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| For those who hadn't heard...malamine is also found in stuff like throwaway plastic cutlery!! ye -gads!?! |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Apr 30 2007 : 5:10:05 PM
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I saw a set of Melamine dishes at Costco and thought "Are you serious?!" LOL
Alee |
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Barnyard Buddies: Tainted pet food found in US livestock feed! |
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Tainted pet food found in US livestock feed!
