Pet Food Recall - Food Causing Death: Update from Dr. Jon

Contaminated Animal Feeds

April 22nd, 2007, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that they continue their investigation of imported rice protein concentrate which was found to be contaminated with melamine and melamine-related compounds. FDA determined the rice protein was used in the production of pet food and a portion of the pet food was used to produce animal feed. Based on information currently available, FDA and USDA believe the likelihood of illness after eating pork from swine fed the contaminated product would be very low.

At this time, we have no evidence of harm to humans associated with the processed pork product, and therefore no recall of meat products processed from these animals is being issued. Testing and the joint investigation continue.

United States food safety officials stated on May 7th that there was a very low risk to human health from consuming meat from hogs and chickens known to have been fed animal feed supplemented with pet food scraps that contained melamine and melamine-related compounds. For more information on this, go to Joint Update: FDA-USDA Update on Tainted Animal Feed

Updated List of Recalled Pet (Dog and Cat) Foods

For information or an updated list, call Menufoods at 1-866-895-2708 or go to http://www.fda.gov/ora/fed_state/recalls/Recall.xls

If Your Suspect Your Pet Has Been Affected

If you suspect your pet has been affected by the food – please read these steps to help your veterinarian with your pet's diagnosis Advice to Pet Food Owner After National Recall. This article gives recommendations and resources for veterinarians. If your pet has been affected, please print both articles and take them with you when you see your vet.

To report a pet food problem to the FDA, go to this article for a list of phone numbers by state. Go to How to Report a Pet Food Complaint to the FDA.

The FDA has had an ongoing active investigation. For more information on how they are handling this, please go to What is the FDA Doing to Investigate the Pet Food Contamination?

I sincerely hope that your pets are not affected. If you have any questions, send them to me. I won't be able to respond to every email but I'll try to include answers to your questions in my next update.


Regards,

Dr. Jon


P.S. If you have any comments or have had problems resulting from these foods, I'd love to share your comments with other PetPlace.com readers. Email me!