China Opens Investigation
I’ve heard of two more pet food and treat products in the last few days that are being recalled. And I have also heard that the company that I cited as responsible for the production of the contaminated wheat gluten is not taking responsibility for what happened.
This is a big mess, getting bigger all the time. Even this morning, Kathleen reported a rash of suspected kidney failure cases at a local vet’s office. At 8 AM the total was seven cases and they were still coming in!
But the Chinese government, realizing that it must protect trade ties to the west, has stepped in and will try to get to the bottom of this.
From Xinhua Net comes this report:
BEIJING, April 6 (Xinhua) — China is carrying out a nationwide inspection on the quality of its wheat gluten after the United States claimed that the pet food at the origin of a number of cat and dog deaths used tainted wheat imported from China. The probing targets melamine, a chemical used to make plastic and discovered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the pet food recalled by Ontario-based pet food maker Menu Foods following a rash of animal sickness and deaths.
U.S. citizens are taking this very seriously. Over the last twenty years, pets have become increasingly important to family life. And manufactures and pet stores have taken a huge business hit.
I hope that the Chinese authorities find out what happened, and if there was criminal intent, prosecute. Even if it was a simple accident, having that revealed would go a very long way to restore credibility and trust in these products.