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China Blocks U.S. Inspectors Seeking Answers to Pet Poisonings

Rice Protein Suspected in Latest Round of Recalls

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

April 19, 2007
The Chinese government has blocked requests from the Food and Drug Administration to inspect the facilities suspected of producing contaminated products that triggered a massive pet food recall in the United States.

Rice protein concentrate Source: Binzhou Futian Biology Technology, Ltd. Web site

That action prompted U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Il) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) on Wednesday to send a letter to the Chinese Ambassador to the United States urging his country to immediately issue visas to U.S. food inspectors.

"It is unacceptable that the Chinese government is blocking our food safety inspectors from entering their country and examining facilities that are suspected of providing contaminated pet food to American consumers," Durbin said.

"We have asked for two things in our letter today -- that the Chinese government allow our inspectors in and that the Chinese ambassador to the United States meet with Congresswoman DeLauro and me to discuss the larger issue of contaminated food being sent to the U.S. These are reasonable requests and we hope that we can find a level of cooperation with the Chinese."

Durbin and DeLauro learned about China's refusal to grant the food inspectors visas during a meeting Wednesday with FDA Commission, Andrew von Eschenbach. The Capitol Hill meeting focused on the latest pet food recall -- announced by Natural Balance earlier this week after the company learned some of its products contained rice protein tainted with the chemical melamine.

That chemical is used in plastics and fertilizers, but is not allowed in human or pet food, according to the FDA.

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U.S. importer Wilbur-Ellis said it bought the rice protein concentrate from a Chinese company called Binzhou Futian Biology Technology, Ltd. That company's Web site says it processes a number of agricultural product and byproducts, including granule corn gluten meal, powdery corn gluten meal, and 30,000 metric tons of rice protein concentrate.

It also states its rice protein is "mainly used to feed the animals. The rice protein concentrate, which is the by-product of rice starch, is rich in nutrition. It plays an important part in helping animals grow and against illness. It is a good additive, so the animals can grow stronger and eat more."

Durbin: Safety First

Back on Capitol Hill, Durbin said the FDA has tried since April 4, 2007, to get its food inspectors into the Chinese facilities suspected of making the tainted products.

"At a time when China is exporting more foods into the U.S., the Chinese are refusing to allow our inspectors in to the country to investigate the source of the pet food contamination," DeLauro said. "The FDA needs to be allowed to investigate this so we can better protect our pets and identify the source of the source of the problem. While we have a significant trade relationship with the Chinese, the investigation of the contaminated product comes first."

The FDA says the Chinese company Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd., is the source of the melamine-tainted wheat gluten.

Menu Foods of Canada and other pet food makers have recalled 60 million containers of dog and cat food -- sold under nearly 100 brands -- that contain the tainted wheat gluten.

At least 16 pets have died -- and scores of others have suffered kidney disease -- after eating the contaminated pet food, the FDA says. The actual numbers, however, are likely much higher; anecdotal evidence suggests the numbers may be in the thousands.

Durbin and DeLauro said it is imperative that China allow U.S. food inspectors into the facilities suspected of making the melamine-tainted products.

"This incident has brought suffering to pet owners who have seen their animals fall prey to illness or death, and caused significant economic losses to U.S. companies that believed they were importing wholesome products," they wrote in their letter to the Chinese Ambassador to the United States. "Last year, the United States imported more than $2.1 billion of agricultural goods from China, up from nearly $1.8 billion the year before. Clearly, this is an important trading relationship."

Last week, Durbin and Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) held a special hearing on the pet food recall. The hearing pitted FDA representatives and pet food lobbyists against the bipartisan Appropriations Subcommittee.

"Many cats, dogs and other pets, considered members of the family, are now suffering as a result of a deeply flawed pet food inspection system," Durbin said. "The FDA's response to this situation has been wholly inadequate -- we need to establish standardized inspections, impose penalties on companies who delay reporting health problems and increase communication between the FDA and the state inspectors so that we can catch problems more quickly. These sound like basic steps but the FDA has failed to put them in place."

After the hearing, Durbin told ConsumerAffairs.com that he is working on legislation to address this problem, but he did not specify the scope of his pending legislative action.

A North Carolina pet owner has one suggestion. She wants pet food manufacturers to be required to disclose the following information:

• The sources of their ingredients, including the country of origin;
• The names of the contract manufacturers for these companies;
• The names of the companies and countries they receive their products from.

"China is one of the most polluted and corrupt places in the world and the thought of any food products coming from there makes me want to gag," pet owner Aleda R. of Durham, N.C. told ConsumerAffairs.com. "There is no accountability."

This pet food debacle has struck a personal cord with Aleda.

"My dog has been eating IAMS dry food," she says. "She is a Chinese Crested, a small dog, who had a physical in October, with no problems. Because of the (pet food) scare, I just had her blood work (done) over again, and she has now experienced some 'off the chart on one of her kidney enzymes.'"

More about the Pet Food Recall ...

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