Current Events in May 2007

Another food safety expert is questioning the Food and Drug Administrations ability to provide safeguards for the nations food supply. This time the criticism is coming from the man who used to head the agency, Dr. David Kessler.

Simply put, our food safety system is broken, Kessler told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The hearing was called to delve into the growing number of high profile and deadly -- breakdowns in the nations food inspection system, from last falls spinach E. coli cases to the current pet food contamination.

Kessler attributes many of the problems to what he called a confluence of factors, chronic under-funding, a lack of enforcement authority, and severely outdated scientific and regulatory frameworks. Its all led, he says, to a lack of confidence in the FDA.

Kessler, who served as head of the FDA during the Clinton Administration, said part of the problem is due to globalization of markets. But the bigger problem, he argues, is todays FDA is only geared to reacting to problems, not stopping them from occurring in the first place.

We have no structure for preventing food-borne illness in this country. The reality is that there is currently no mandate, no leadership, no resources, nor scientific research base for prevention of food safety problems, Kessler said. There is no one in the executive branch with the clout and Authority to prevent food-borne illness.

Kessler traces a two-decade debate about the agencies expanding role in drug approval and safety. He says he has watched as more and more resources are allocated to the FDAs drug approval process and management. Kessler says its time to allocate more resources to food safety.

Food safety cannot be delegated to second-tier management within the agency, and the fact is that food is a second-tier priority within the FDA, Kessler charged. In addition, the current structure is fragmented in FDA. Responsibilities for food are spread across the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, the Center for Veterinary Medicine, and the Office of Regulatory Affairs.

Kessler urged the committee to work with the Administration to strengthen FDA by meeting its resources needs and by unifying and elevating food safety leadership within FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) agreed with Kessler that there were clear warning signs that the FDA is in crises. He said the committee would focus on agency budget cuts, its ability to enforce regulations and the legal authorities the agency has to do its job.

Cyber-thieves using a telescoping wireless antenna to intercept payment information may be responsible for the "biggest data breach ever," investigators theorize.

The Wall Street Journal reported that hackers in St. Paul, Minnesota, parked outside a Marshalls' department store and used the antenna to decode data between hand-held payment scanners, enabling them to break into parent company TJX's database and make off with credit and debit card records of nearly 47 million customers.

Drive-by hacking, or "wardriving," was the first major threat to Internet access over wireless connections. Wardrivers drive by or park near Wi-Fi hotspots or open networks and use various means to siphon off data from unsuspecting users.

The TJX network was alleged to have less wireless network security protection than the networks of many home users. The hackers are believed to have had access to the network for as long as two years, going back to at least July 2005.

TJX was also alleged to be using the older Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP) protocol for its network, which has been largely discredited for the ease with which it can be broken. Security researchers in Germany recently published a paper documenting how WEP can be broken in as little as 60 seconds.

Most security experts recommend upgrading to the stronger Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) protocol, but TJX was apparently slow to adopt the new system.

Although TJX refused to comment on the wardriving allegations, the company previously acknowledged that it failed to meet security procedures mandated by the credit card industry. The company admitted to transferring credit card payment information to banks without any sort of encryption, making it easier for the wardrivers to pick up the information as they surfed the TJX network.

The hackers then most likely sold the purloined customer data in the underground economy" of black-market chats that specialize in the trading and selling of personal information. Data connected to the TJX breach turned upin a Florida fraud case involving credit cards "cloned" with the stolen personal information.

The fraudsters then used the clone cards to purchase gift cards from Wal-Mart, which they then redeemed for thousands of dollars in high-priced merchandise.

Although the TJX corporation claims its strong first-quarter sales numbers show that its shoppers don't care about the data breach, the company is still fending off numerous lawsuits from state Attorneys General and class-actions from irate customers.

Most recently, a coalition of banks in Massachusetts, Colorado, and Maine filed suit against TJX for forcing them to absorb the costs of canceling and reissuing thousands of credit and debit cards exposed in the breach.

The TJX breach has also spurred numerous bills in Congress to mandate stronger data security standards for both government agencies and private companies, and to ensure affected individuals are notified if a breach occurs.

Many of the bills are flawed, however, as they preempt stronger state data breach laws and enable numerous exemptions for law enforcement agencies to delay consumer notification of breaches, privacy advocates say.

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

May 5, 2007
The Senate has approved an amendment introduced by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) to strengthen the countrys food safety system.

By a 94-0 vote, the Senate approved the measure that establishes an early warning and notification system for human and pet food, establish fines for companies that don't promptly report contaminated products, improves inspections and monitoring of imports, and provides more uniform pet food safety standards.

But one key piece from the original legislation is missing from the amendment--a proposal that would have given the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) power to issue recalls of contaminated or dangerous foods.

The FDA does not have that authority and must rely on the industry to voluntarily pull products. Durbins office told reporters the senator would address that provision later.

"With the passage of this amendment, we will make our nation's food safety system stronger on several fronts, Durbin said in a written statement. There is more work to be done to fix our food safety system, but today we have moved forward to address the growing concerns across our nation."

The FDA -- one of the federal agencies charged safeguarding the countrys food supply -- has come under fire in the wake of nationwide recalls of tainted pet food, spinach, and peanut butter.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate some 76 million people suffer from food poisoning each year, according to Durbins office. Of that number, approximately 325,000 will be hospitalized and more than 5,000 will die.

Under the new amendment, the FDA has authority to:

• Establish an early warning and notification system for human food and pet food products. The legislation directs the FDA to work with professional organizations, veterinarians, and others to release information about pet food contamination. In cases of both pet and human food contamination, the FDA will keep up-to-date recall lists on its Web site;

• Create an adulterated food registry for imported and domestically produced foods. This would improve the FDA's ability to detect problems and alert consumers of contaminants. The amendment requires the FDA to establish a registry to collect information about potentially dangerous food adulteration. Importers, domestic processors, and food manufacturers must submit information about actual or suspected food adulterations. This information would be included in the FDAs database. Durbins office said the sources of the recent human and pet food contamination were wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate imported from China. Neither shipment was inspected by the FDA; in fact, the FDA inspects less than 1.5% of imports. A database would give the FDA better information to base inspections;

• Require companies to maintain records and make them accessible to the FDA. This would prevent delays that could keep the contamination from being traced as quickly as possible. When peanut butter was recalled last winter, an FDA report showed that inspectors were denied documents when they requested them;

• Establish uniform federal standards and better labeling of pet food. Today, the standards for the pet food industry are done on a voluntary basis by manufacturers and state departments of agriculture. There is no requirement for states to adopt these practices and they don't have the force of federal guidelines. Inspections are not coordinated state-to-state and some states have standards that are different than others.

Crisis Isn't Over

Meanwhile, an animal rights group has warned dog and cat owners that the pet food crisis is far from over. And pet owners need to continue watching their animals for symptoms of kidney failure.

The warning from The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) came on the heels of Menu Foods expanded recall of more than 200 varieties of dog and cat food.

Menu Foods took that action on Wednesday after learning those products were made at the same time its plants produced foods that contained adulterated wheat gluten imported from China.

The foods involved in this latest recall, however, do not contain any of the wheat gluten tainted with the chemical melamine.

The company said it took this action to prevent any cross-contamination.

Menu Foods has received a report from a customer and has received study results, both of which indicate cross-contamination, the company said in a written statement.

That announcement prompted ASPCA to issue its warning to pet owners.

Given the fact that there is new evidence of cross-contamination in ingredients that may have been considered safe prior to this news, we need to be much more aware of where the ingredients in our pets food are coming from, said Dr. Steven Hansen, a board-certified toxicologist and senior vice president with the ASPCA. He manages ASPCAs Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) in Urbana, Ill.

Hansen added: We are strongly recommending that pet parents immediately investigate, via their pet food manufacturers Web site or by calling them directly, where the ingredients--specifically protein supplements--are sourced from.

ASPCA recommends pet owners only feed their dogs or cats products that contain U.S.-made protein supplements.

The continued expansion of the recall is extremely worrying, said Dr. Louise Murray, director of medicine at the ASPCAs Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital (BMAH) in New York City. The magnitude of this crisis leaves us frustrated as to how to best protect pets and prevent any more illnesses or deaths.

The FDA said this week that its received reports of 1,950 cats and 2,220 dogs dying from the tainted pet food.

The FDA also said its received more than 17,000 consumer complaints about dogs and cats becoming sick or dying after eating contaminated pet food.

Eighteen companies have recalled more than 5,300 pet food products since March, making this one of the largest pet food recalls in U.S. history. The companies recalled those products after learning they contained wheat gluten or rice protein tainted with two chemicals: melamine and cyanuric acid.

New Theory

A new theory surfaced this week that might explain why pets are getting sick and dying from the tainted foods.

Tests conducted at the University of Guelphs Animal Health Laboratory in Ontario revealed melamine and cyanuric acid can react to form crystals that block kidney function.

"This is a piece of the puzzle, a significant finding," John Melichercik, director of analytical services for Guelph's laboratory services, told The Toronto Star. "We have found these crystals in cats that have suffered renal failure."

Analysis of those crystals revealed their chemical make-up is approximately 70 percent cyanuric acid and 30 percent melamine. The crystals are also insolubleor cant be dissolved in liquid.

Researchers were also able to replicate these crystals when they mixed melamine and cyanuric acid in samples of cat urine.

ASPCA says this new study offers some hope to veterinarians who are trying to save pets that have eaten the contaminated food.

The fact that we have started to learn how the presence of melamine may be impacting these animals gives us a small glimmer of hope that at least we know we are on the right track when it comes to treating the animals affected, Dr. Hansen said. These findings really start putting everything else we have seen into perspective.

Now that we see that crystals are formed when melamine and cyanuric acid are combined in cat urine, it may be that the cause of renal failure is somehow related to the obstruction caused by these crystals.

The study, he said, also explains why animals whose symptoms were detected early -- and rushed to their veterinarians and put on aggressive fluid therapy -- survived. This treatment may prevent additional crystals from forming and help flush out the existing crystals from the animals urinary tracts, he said. That would relieve the obstruction and reverse the effects of renal failure.

Some pet owners who contacted ConsumerAffairs.com, however, say their animals died before they could get them in for treatment.

Thats what happened to Helen K. of Los Lunas, New Mexico.

She didnt know OlRoy had recalled some of its treats and accidentally gave them to her seven-year-old Golden Retriever and her three-year-old Pit Bull.

The next day, the young Pit Bull had twitches, but on April 27, 200, my baby Sammie (the Golden Retriever) had massive seizures and passed away -- after much agony -- after 50 minutes, she told us. She had been drinking excessive amounts of watermy vet said to bring her in for more blood work. We didn't make it.

Helen says the loss is devastating to her family.

The guilt and enormous sadness has been felt by all. My 91-year-old father with dementia cannot put this out of his mind -- nor can I or our other dog or cat. It is like losing a child (almost).

The United States, she says, should stop importing products from countries like China that have poor food safety standards.

The ramifications to our pets -- and potentially to humans -- are too dangerous, she says.

It seems that if another country wants to undermine us, they will through our pets as this country has high esteem for all, Helen says. I feel that we should never import any food products from a country that has no regard for the health and well-being of all of God's creatures. It will not be long before we will not be able to eat our own meats because of contaminated feed.

More about the Pet Food Recall ...

Now, Stanford University researchers have conducted the first in-depth study on how smoking affects air quality at sidewalk cafs, park benches and other outdoor locations.

Writing in the May issue of the Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association (JAWMA), the Stanford team concluded that a non-smoker sitting a few feet downwind from a smoldering cigarette is likely to be exposed to substantial levels of contaminated air for brief periods of time.

"Some folks have expressed the opinion that exposure to outdoor tobacco smoke is insignificant, because it dissipates quickly into the air," said Neil Klepeis, assistant professor (consulting) of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford and lead author of the study.

"But our findings show that a person sitting or standing next to a smoker outdoors can breathe in wisps of smoke that are many times more concentrated than normal background air pollution levels."

Klepeis pointed to the 2006 Surgeon General's report, which found that even brief exposures to secondhand smoke may have adverse effects on the heart and respiratory systems and increase the severity of asthma attacks, especially in children.

"We were surprised to discover that being within a few feet of a smoker outdoors may expose you to air pollution levels that are comparable, on average, to indoor levels that we measured in previous studies of homes and taverns," said Wayne Ott, professor (consulting) of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford and co-author of the JAWMA study.

"For example, if you're at a sidewalk caf, and you sit within 18 inches of a person who smokes two cigarettes over the course of an hour, your exposure to secondhand smoke could be the same as if you sat one hour inside a tavern with smokers. Based on our findings, a child in close proximity to adult smokers at a backyard party also could receive substantial exposure to secondhand smoke," he added.

Unlike indoor tobacco smoke, which can persist for hours, the researchers found that outdoor smoke disappears rapidly when a cigarette is extinguished.

"Our data also show that if you move about six feet away from an outdoor smoker, your exposure levels are much lower," Klepeis added.

The public has become increasingly concerned about the effects of outdoor smoking, Ott noted. More than 700 state and local governments have passed laws restricting outdoor smoking at playgrounds, building entrances and other public areas, according to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation.

Some of the strictest ordinances are in California. The city of Santa Monica, for example, recently banned smoking at parks, beaches, ATM machines, theater lines, open-air restaurants and other outdoor locations.

"Throughout the country, cities and counties are looking at various laws against outdoor smoking, and some of the proposals are pretty drastic," Ott said. "The problem is that until now, there have been virtually no scientific data to justify such restrictions. In fact, our paper is the first study on outdoor smoking to be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal."

Theres a new theory that might explain why thousands of dogs and cats that have eaten pet food -- made with contaminated ingredients imported from China -- have become sick or died.

Tests conducted at the University of Guelphs Animal Health Laboratory in Ontario revealed that two chemicals found in the tainted pet foods -- melamine and cyanuric acid -- can react to form crystals that block kidney function.

"This is a piece of the puzzle, a significant finding," John Melichercik, director of analytical services for Guelph's laboratory services, told The Toronto Star. "We have found these crystals in cats that have suffered renal failure."

Analysis of those crystals revealed their chemical make-up is approximately 70 percent cyanuric acid and 30 percent melamine. The crystals are also insoluble or cant be dissolved in liquid.

Researchers were also able to replicate these crystals when they mixed melamine and cyanuric acid in samples of cat urine.

This is still just a theory, but its a pretty compelling one, Tom McPheron, spokesman for the American Veterinary Medical Association (AMVA), told ConsumerAffairs.com. His organization participated in discussions with scientists about these findings. These crystals are very unique. Theyre something that scientist havent seen before, except perhaps once in a cat from Asia.

Theyre now talking about trying to replicate the crystals in the urine of dogs. The original tests were done on the urine of cats.

McPherson said scientists suspect two other melamine-related substances -- ammelide and ammeline -- may also play a role in the animals illnesses. Those chemicals are now under investigation.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed the presence of melamine and cyanuric acid in the imported wheat gluten and rice protein used to make the contaminated pet foods.

Melamine is a chemical used to make plastic. Cyanuric acid is used to chlorinate pools.

Neither is approved for use in pet foods.

The presences of these chemicals triggered one of the largest pet food recalls in history 18 companies have recalled more than 5,300 pet food products in the past six weeks.

Case Solved?

Does this latest study finally solve the mystery surrounding the deaths and illnesses of pets who eaten the tainted food?

Not at all, says Daniel Rice, director of the New York State Food Laboratory.

I dont think weve found the solution, Rice told ConsumerAffairs.com today. No one has shown a cause and effect. Weve found some things in the urine; weve found some things in the feed. Right now, its just a hypothesis.

I think people are fairly open-minded about the possibility that there might be something else at play.

In March, Rices New York Laboratory and Cornell Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine identified another toxin in samples of the recalled pet food: aminopterin.

At the time, scientists thought this toxin might be the culprit behind the kidney failure and deaths in pets that ate the recalled foods.

Aminopterin is used as rat poison in some countries and as a cancer drug in the United States.

The FDA and other laboratories, however, downplayed that finding and focused their attention on melamine.

We still stand by our results, Rice says of the discovery of aminopterin in the recalled food. And were still testing for that and other toxins. Its possible that what we found was relatively rare...one early piece of the puzzle.

He adds: We found aminopterin in two pet food samples, but we havent found it in any other samples.

Focusing the investigation on melamine makes scientific sense, Rice says.

Its the one common feature. It appears that melamine and other-related compounds have been there (in the recalled products) and thats why scientists are focusing on that angle. Cyanuric acid has been found in the food; melamine has been found in the food.

Rice predicts scientists will continue to find melamine in other foods.

Im sure there will be other instances of finding melamine where it shouldnt be. Weve definitely identified a problem.

Will scientists ever solve this current pet food mystery, though?

I hope that well get an answer, Rice says. But I dont see anything on the imminent horizon.

There are a lot of excellent people all over the country who are working on the problem and theyre very interested and passionate about figuring it out. People arent going to just let this drop at least not in the scientific community. Were not considering it a dead issue.

3 Million Chickens

In related news, the FDA estimates that three million chickens and 500 hogs consumed feed made from tainted pet food scraps.

And a small percentage of those animals entered the human food chain.

The FDA, however, said the risk of illness to humans from eating these animals is minimal.

Why?

Federal authorities say the percentage of melamine in the feed is extremely low and only a small percentage of tainted pet food was used in poultry and hog feed.

To protect humans from these increasing problems with contaminated food, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced legislation on Tuesday to revise and upgrade the nation's food safety system.

The FDA -- one of the federal agencies charged with safeguarding the U.S. food supply -- has come under fire in the wake of nationwide recalls and quarantines of tainted pork, spinach, peanut butter, and pet food.

"The product recalls that we have seen in the past few weeks - first with pet food and then with food intended for human consumption - have shown us that food-borne illness is a dangerous and real threat in this country," Durbin said in a statement issued by his office.

"There are gaps in the inspection, monitoring, notification and enforcement elements of our food system and we must act now to address them. We simply cannot afford to let consumers continue to be the guinea pigs in our food safety system."

Food Safety Agencies Asleep

Representative DeLauro added: "After the countless recalls, alerts, and advisories from the past year, along with the latest Centers for Disease Control (CDC) numbers showing increases in various food-borne illnesses, the evidence is clear our food safety system is collapsing and one of the main agencies charged with protecting it, is asleep.

"This needs to change immediately - it is time to transform the FDA from the toothless agency it has become to one that takes the proactive steps necessary to protect our food supply and the public health."

The CDC estimates as many as 76 million people suffer from food poisoning each year, Durbin and DeLauro said. Of that number, approximately 325,000 will be hospitalized and more than 5,000 will die.

Under Durbin and DeLauros proposed legislation, the FDA would have authority to:

• Issue mandatory recalls of contaminated or dangerous food. The FDA currently does not have this power. It must rely on the industry to voluntarily pull products from store shelves;

• Establish an early warning and notification system for human food and pet food products. The legislation directs the FDA to work with professional organizations, veterinarians, and others to share information about pet food contamination. In cases of both pet and human food contamination, the FDA would be required to keep up-to-date recall lists on its Web site;

• Establish uniform federal standards and better labeling of pet food. The practices that govern the pet food industry today are implemented on a voluntary basis by manufacturers and state departments of agriculture. There is no requirement for states to adopt these practices and they don't have the force of federal guidelines. Inspections are not coordinated state-to-state and some states have different standards than others;

• Improve the FDA's ability to regulate imported food products. The sources of the recent human and pet food contamination were wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate from China. Neither shipment was inspected by FDA; in fact, the FDA inspects less than 1.5% of imports. The FDA does not currently certify that trading partners have food safety standards equivalent to those of the United States. Under the bill, foreign food safety systems and plants would be inspected by the FDA prior to certification and the United States could revoke certifications and deny importation of food that presented a public health risk;

• Require companies to maintain records and make them accessible to the FDA. This would prevent delays that could keep contaminations from being traced as quickly as possible. In the recent peanut butter recall, an FDA report showed that inspectors were denied documents when they requested them.

More about the Pet Food Recall ...

Menu Foods of Canada has expanded its recall to include more than 200 new varieties of canned dog and cat food.

The action comes on the heels of its April recall of wet pet foods made with melamine-tainted wheat gluten--imported from China--and supplied by ChemNutra, Inc.

The products involved in this latest recall do not include that tainted wheat gluten, the company said. These products were manufactured during the same time that ChemNutras wheat gluten was used at any Menu Foods plant.

The company said it took this action to prevent any cross-contamination.

Menu Foods has received a report from a customer and has received study results, both of which indicate cross-contamination, the company said in a written statement.

The latest recall involves 99 varieties of cat food sold under 42 brand names, including Sophistacat, Presidents Choice, Natural Ultramix, and Best Choice. The dog foods involved in this recall include 121 varieties sold under 25 brands, including Stater Brothers, Schnucks, Nu Pet, and Hill Country Fare.

Menu Foods also added two varieties of pet food--for its European market--to its recall list.

The company estimates its out-of-pocket expenses for the total recall will be $45 million.

In March, Menu Foods announced a massive recall of 60 million containers of wet dog and cat food sold throughout North America. The company recalled those products after learning pets that ate the food suffered kidney problems or died.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has since confirmed the presence of two chemicals in the imported wheat gluten and rice protein used to make these and other pet foods now under recall.

Those chemicals are melamine and cyanuric acid. Melamine is a chemical used in plastics and fertilizers; cyanuric acid is used to chlorinate pools. Neither is approved for use in pet foods.

The presences of these chemicals triggered one of the largest pet food recalls in history18 companies have recalled more than 5,300 pet food products in the past six weeks.

The FDA says its received reports that 1,950 cats and 2,220 dogs have died after eating the tainted pet food. The FDA also says its received more than 17,000 consumer complaints about dogs and cats becoming sick or dying after eating contaminated pet food.

Grieving Pet Owners

ConsumerAffairs.com has also received scores of complaints about pets becoming sick or dying from the tainted food. The complaints are from worried and grieving pet owners across the country.

Theyre pet owners like Christine P. of Colonia, New Jersey.

My dog died in two weeks from massive body shut down, liver and heart failure, she wrote us. I was feeding her Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy that was on the recall list from Purina. She was an older dog, but healthy, and was just at the vet a couple months ago for her shots and nothing major was wrong.

Christine says she immediately stopped feeding her dog the Alpo Prime Cuts when she heard about the recall.

By that time, however, her dog was too far gone.

She refused to eat anything . . . she could not walk, was fainting, coughing, throwing up, and having loose bowels. I immediately brought her to the vet and had chest x-rays, and urine and blood sample done.

Her veterinarian recommended she immediately see a specialist. But before I could get her an appointment she died in my arms--gasping for air.

Emotionally I am a wreck. I had her for so long. She was my buddy and I cant get over it. . . I am in tears and mentally at a loss. No money can ever bring back my best friend.

Christine says tighter regulations are needed to protect the safety of human and pet food.

This should not be allowed to happen.

Nutro Max

Angelique H. of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, agrees.

Her dog--a Chow-mix she rescued off the streets--died after eating a brand of food that isnt on the recall list: Nutro Max dry dog food.

Makito was only four-years-old and died Monday, April 30, within four days of me buying a new bag of Nutro Max dry dog food, Angelique told us today. This (new bag) was the only major change in his diet and he was never out of my sight. He was fine on Sunday until 2 a.m. when he started vomiting, became lethargic, and had bloody diarrhea. By the time I took him to the hospital the next day he was in shock. His system shut down and he died around 4:30 p.m.

This needs to be stopped, she adds. The company refuses to acknowledge there is a problem, but if you search the Internet you will find many, many people saying the same thing happened to them. This food needs to be recalled now. No one should have to go through what I went through.

ConsumerAffairs.com has received a handful of similar complaints about pets becoming ill after eating Nutro Max dry food.

We left a message for the company this morning, but no one with Nutro had returned our call by late afternoon.

The companys Web site, however, states: No Nutro dry foods, biscuits, or treats are affected (in the recall).

Angelique is furious the company hasnt recalled its dry dog foodor listened to its customers.

What appalls me is that Menu Foods and Nutro have had, Im sure, many complaints like mine and theyre not doing anything. Its all a matter of dollars.

She adds: You trust that their food is going to be alright and then you find out that its not. This has been very tragic for me.

Pet owner Sondra K. understands that griefand frustration.

Her cat became sick after eating another brand of pet food thats not on the recall list.

My cat has been eating IAMS Dry Original cat food and has become ill with kidney problems, the Dallas, Texas, pet owner says. IAMS said they are not responsible (because) that dry food has not been recalled.

Sondra switched to another brandRoyal Canin. But a short time later, the company recalled that food, too.

The cat has been extremely ill and is starting to show symptoms again. He has to be checked every two weeks.

Sondra blames the pet food manufacturers and China for her cats illnessand the emotional and financial toll its had on her family.

The cat almost died and suffered tremendously after this gross act of negligence by the pet food manufacturers and the country of China.

In related news, Chinese authorities detained the general manager of one of the companies accused of selling contaminated wheat gluten to pet food suppliers in the United States, according to The New York Times.

A Chinese police spokesman told The Times that Mao Lijun, head of the Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Company, is being held in coastal Jiangsu Province, about 320 miles northwest of Shanghai.

The FDA has identified Xuzhou Anying and another Chinese company in nearby Shandong Province as the only sources of the contaminated ingredients that led to the massive pet food recall.

The Chinese government, however, said Xuzhou Anying purchased its wheat gluten from 25 different manufacturers--and the company may just be a supplier. Xuzhou Anying has said it did not manufacture the tainted wheat gluten shipped to the United States. The company said it received the tainted ingredient from other, unnamed sources.

The Chinese government also said Xuzhou Anying did not declare the contaminated wheat gluten it shipped to the United States as a raw material for feed or food. Instead, it listed the ingredient as a non-food product, which meant it was not subject to mandatory inspection by China.

Mr. Maos arrest may be a sign that China is stepping up its own investigation into the pet food scandal and show its willingness to cooperate with FDA officials, who arrived in that country on Monday.

U.S. food inspectors are in China to examine the plants that manufactured the melamine-tainted wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate.

The Chinese government had initially denied allegations that its exports could have caused the deaths in so many pets. The government now says its unlikely that melamine could cause such harm to these dogs and cats. China also banned the use of melamine in the vegetable proteins it exports or those used in domestic food.

More about the Pet Food Recall ...

Law enforcement officials say the mailing is part of a clever scheme that, while technically legal, seeks to exploit vulnerable consumers.

The solicitation, from the National Deed Service, offers to provide the homeowner a certified copy of their property deed for just $59.50.

The deed, of course, is a public record and is available at most county courthouses for fees as low as $2. National Deed Service concedes as much on its Web site.

Many government records are available free or at a nominal cost from government agencies, the company states.

The company says its clients are willing to pay $59.50 for a public document to avoid the hassle of a trip to the courthouse.

It is not an easy process to obtain public records from a governmental agency. It often requires people to travel to the recorders office, lose time from work and pay, locate the proper office, deal with the people at the office, and locate their document and wait for the document to be produced. Sometimes, the process will take two trips, and in some cities the cost of parking alone could be $20 plus each day. This is not an easy process. When considering all of the above, the service provided by National Deed Service, Inc. is a cost and time effective service, the companys Web site says.

Not true, says the people who issue those documents.

The National Deed solicitation was a big topic of discussion recently at the Recorders Association of Missouri, whose members returned home to warn local residents to be on the look out for the pitch.

In most cases, the homeowner already has a copy of the deed, provided to them at settlement when they purchased their property. Whatever they might receive from the National Deed Service is completely unnecessary, officials say.

The threat to consumers could be greater than the $59.50 fee charged for the superfluous deed. Solicitations received by some consumers in Missouri recently asked for consumers name, address and credit card information.

More Scam Alerts ...

Add chickens to the growing list of animals who have eaten feed contaminated with melamine -- one of the two chemicals at the center of the massive pet food recall and linked to the deaths and illnesses of scores of dogs and cats across the country.

The Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed chickens on 38 poultry farms in Indiana received feed made with melamine-tainted pet food scraps.

The federal agencies said these unidentified poultry farms received the contaminated feed in early February and gave it to the chickens within days after delivery.

Thirty of those chickens which came from a broiler farm have since been "processed" -- butchered and sold as food, in other words. The remaining eight chickens from a breeder poultry farm are under what the FDA calls a voluntary hold by the owner.

The agencies have not issued a recall of these chickens and say the likelihood of illness from eating them is low.

Just last week, federal authorities quarantined 6,000 hogs in eight states that were given melamine-tainted feed. The Associated Press reported meat from 345 hogs that ate tainted feed apparently entered the market.

This latest discovery about the chickens surfaced during a federal investigation of imported rice protein and wheat gluten, which the FDA has confirmed is tainted with melamine and a second chemical called cyanuric acid.

The FDA says cyanuric acid is used as stabilizer in outdoor swimming pools and hot tubs. Melamine is used in plastics and fertilizer.

"The combination of melamine and cyanuric acid is of concern to human and animal health," said Captain David Elder, director of the FDA's Office of Enforcement Office of Regulatory Affairs. "Melamine, at detected levels, is not a human health concern.

The presence of these tainted ingredients has triggered one of the largest pet food recalls in history. In the past six weeks, 18 companies have recalled more than 5,300 pet food products because they were made with melamine-tainted ingredients imported from China.

Expanded Alert

In related news, the FDA has issued an expanded import alert that allows inspectors to detain vegetable protein products imported from China and believed to be tainted with melamine.

Under this new action, inspectors can detain several products, including wheat gluten, rice gluten, rice protein, corn gluten, soy protein, and Mung Bean.

In recent weeks, there has been an outbreak of cat and dog deaths and illness associated with pet food manufactured with vegetable proteins contaminated with melamine and melamine related compounds, the FDA wrote in its alert. In response to this outbreak, FDA has been conducting an aggressive and intensive investigation ... This has been one of the largest pet food recalls food recalls in history, a recall that continues to expand.

New Figures

Buried in the text of this alert, the FDA also released -- for the first time -- figures associated with this massive recall.

And those figures confirm the crisis is more widespread than the FDA earlier reported.

Consider:

• The FDA says its received more than 17,000 consumer complaints about dogs and cats becoming sick or dying after eating contaminated pet food;

• Its received reports of approximately 1,950 cat deaths and approximately 2,200 dog deaths linked to contaminated pet food;

• Its tested approximately 750 samples of imported wheat gluten and products made with this ingredient. Of those samples, 330 tested positive for melamine and/or melamine-related compounds;

• Its tested approximately 85 samples of rice protein concentrate and products made with that ingredient. Of those samples, 27 tested positive for melamine and/or melamine-related compounds.

The FDA says its still trying to determine how melamine and melamine-related compounds contributed to the pet deaths and illnesses and determine the underlying cause of the contamination.

New Questions

The alert also disclosed information about the FDAs investigation into the pet food recall, which appears to raise as many questions as it answers:

• The melamine-tainted vegetable proteins came from two Chinese firms -- Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd. and Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co. Ltd. There is strong evidence, however, that these firms are not the actual manufacturers (of these ingredients), the FDA says in its report. Moreover, despite many weeks of investigation, it is still unknown who the actual manufacturer or manufacturers of the contaminated products imported from China are.

• All the contaminated wheat gluten has been traced to Xuzhou Anying. The Chinese government, however, says that company purchased its wheat gluten from 25 different manufacturers -- and Xuzhou Anying may just be a supplier. Xuzhou Anying has said it did not manufacturer the tainted wheat gluten shipped to the United States. The company says it received the tainted ingredient from other, unnamed sources;

• The Chinese government said Xuzhou Anying did not declare the contaminated wheat gluten it shipped to the United States as a raw material for feed or food. Instead, it listed the ingredient as a non-food product, which meant it was not subject to mandatory inspection by China;

• FDA officials dont know how widespread the problem of tainted vegetable proteins is in China. The FDA said it does not know which regions of the country may or may not be impacted by the problem, which firms are the major manufacturers and exporters of vegetable proteins to the United States, where these vegetable proteins are grown in China, and what controls are currently in place to prevent against contamination.

The FDA says it has not found melamine in food imported from China for human consumption, but it is now sampling those products as a precaution.

FDA Creates New Position

To respond to increasing problems with U.S. food safety, the FDA today announced the creation of a new position -- Assistant Commissioner for Food Protection.

The FDA appointed Dr. David Acheson to the post.

Acheson is the chief medical officer and director of the Office of Food Defense, Communication and Emergency Response at the FDAs Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

In his new role, Acheson will work with FDA product centers and the Office of Regulatory Affairs to coordinate the agencys food safety and defense assignments.

He will also serve as the liaison to the Department of Health and Human Services and other U.S. departments and agencies on food safety and food defense related initiatives.

We've seen a rapid transformation of the food safety system due to advances in production technology, rapid methods of distribution, and the globalization of food sources, said FDA Commissioner, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach.

Dr. Acheson's wealth of experience, and knowledge of the science behind food protection, will help the agency keep pace with this transformation in order to ensure that the safety and nutritional value of our food supply is second to none."

More about the Pet Food Recall ...