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FDA Disputes Pet Food Pain Killer Findings

But Texas Lab Stands by Its Test Results

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com
Copyright 2007 © All Rights Reserved

June 15, 2007

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is disputing the findings of a Texas laboratory that reported it discovered the pain killer acetaminophen in some brands of pet food.

The FDA said it didn’t find acetaminophen in a handful of samples of dog and cat food it tested in the past week, according to The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

"We cannot validate their finding,” Julie Zawisza, assistant commissioner of public affairs for the FDA told the newspaper.

But ConsumerAffairs.com learned the FDA cannot confirm it tested the same lots and brands in which the Texas laboratory -- ExperTox, Inc. -- detected the pain medication.

“This case is not closed,” Donna Coneley, lab manager with ExperTox, Inc. told us. “They’re (FDA) still requesting samples and data from us. We’ve talked to them three times today. I don’t see by any means that this is over. If it was over and done with, why would they bother spending so much time with us on the phone and arranging for samples to be released?”

Asked about the FDA’s comment to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Coneley responded: “I don’t know their reasoning. What I do know is that when they told me they tested a few samples of cat and dog food, I asked them if they were the same lots and brands that we tested. And they couldn’t confirm that any of them were the same ones we tested.”

“We’re using two completely different testing instruments to detect those chemical, and the difference comes into play with the instruments and the instrumentation (used) to detect those chemical,” she added.

Coneley said her lab tested 100 to 150 samples of pet food -- and detected acetaminophen in five of those samples.

The FDA, she said, tested just a few samples of pet food for the pain killer.

“It’s easier to say that we can’t confirm something by looking at a few samples than to really investigate and continue investigating until you know something for sure,” Coneley said. “I think this might have been a quick way to get everyone off their (FDA) backs.”

"Imaginary Experts"

Could those “everyones” be the Pet Food Institute (PFI), which represents the makers of 98 percent of all dog and cat food produced in the United States and calls itself “the voice of U.S. pet food manufacturers?”

“Maybe there was pressure from them,” Coneley said.

As we reported on Wednesday, PFI cast doubts on ExperTox’s finding.

“Through our contacts in Texas, which is where the lab is located that conducted the analysis, we have learned there is genuine concern among key toxicological and analytical experts about the lab and the actual test results,” said PFI spokesman Kurt Gallagher.

Coneley questioned what experts PFI was talking about.

“They never name the experts they’re working with,” she said on Wednesday. “When someone says ‘people I know say this,’ it sounds to me like they’re trying to say there are experts who have looked into this and don’t agree with the findings. But I don’t believe there are.

“To me, it sounds like they’re talking about imaginary experts. The (scientists at the) FDA are the only people we’ve been talking to about our findings.”

Coneley told us today that her lab will continue working closely with the FDA and hopes to foster its relationship with that federal agency.

“We don’t want to build any animosity with the FDA,” she said. “It’s in our best interest to help them see what we’re seeing.”

Other Contaminants

As we reported, acetaminophen isn’t the only contaminant ExperTox discovered in the samples of pet food it tested in May.

The lab found the chemical cyanuric acid -- commonly used in pool chlorination -- in some samples.

And in other samples, it detected the chemical that triggered the March 2007 recall of millions of containers of dog and cat food: melamine.

The FDA discovered melamine in the wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate imported from China and used in the more than 5,600 products that pet food makers have recalled in the past three months.

The chemical -- used to make plastics and fertilizers -- is blamed for the illnesses and deaths of thousands of pets nationwide. It is not approved for use in pet or human food.

ExperTox did not identify the brands of food it tested because of a confidentiality agreement.

Menu Foods

But ConsumerAffairs.com confirmed one of the brands that tested positive for acetaminophen is Menu Food’s Pet Pride.

Pet owner Don Earl of Port Townsend, Washington, told us he hired ExperTox to analyze samples of Pet Pride "Turkey and Giblets Dinner" and Pet Pride "Mixed Grill.”

He says he took that action because his cat “Chuckles” suffered kidney disease and died in January after eating those flavors of Pet Pride food.

He also told us that ExperTox analyzed the same lots and styles of Pet Pride food that he fed Chuckles before she died.

We reviewed ExperTox’s findings of the samples Earl submitted, which confirmed the lab detected acetaminophen in the food.

The tests also detected cyanuric acid in the samples of Pet Pride food. Those samples, however, did not contain any melamine, the report stated.

Menu Foods declined to comment on ExperTox’s finding and referred calls to the PFI.

As usual, the FDA did not return our telephone calls or e-mails seeking comment.

Pet owner Earl, however, criticized the FDA for making what he called “unsubstantiated claims” about ExperTox and its findings.

“At the time of the article, the FDA had not tested any of the samples tested by ExperTox,” he told us today. “It is also of interest that in an attempt to get a second opinion on one of the two varieties of pet food I had tested by ExperTox, I submitted a separate sample to UC Davis, only to later find that UC Davis is a major recipient of pet food company funding. Under the circumstances, it is my firmly held belief that if the FDA is going to make these kinds of unsubstantiated claims, their methods should be publicly examined along side those on the cutting edge of these findings.”

He added: “It has been three months since the recall was announced and pet owners still don't have any hard answers as to how and why this happened, or what is safe to feed their pets.”

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