Posted by s on 3/22/07

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IF MOLD IS NOT A PROBLEM WITH CONNECTION TO HEALTH... THEN
WHY THIS FROM THE FDA?

Killer in recalled pet food may be mold, FDA says Bill
Curtis By: Bill Curtis 2:07 PM Wednesday, March 21st, 2007
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The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that five
family pets had died as a result of eating contaminated
food that is the subject of a national recall. A total of
14 animals have died after eating the food, said Stephen F.
Sundlof, director of the Center for Veterinary Medicine,
which is part of the FDA. The agency said that included
nine animals that died as a result of taste tests
administered by the manufacturer, Menu Foods.

Sundlof said that to his knowledge such tests were
routinely administered to make sure that pets like the
taste of the products.

Sundlof said the agency had been flooded with calls, some
reporting that pets died after eating. He said he believed
that the official toll would increase.

The agency says it does not know what contaminated the
nearly 100 brands of wet food.

It is focusing on wheat gluten, a filler that gives the
cuts-and-gravy-type food in the recall its gelatinous
consistency.

Menu Foods, of Ontario, said the illnesses started with the
introduction of a new supplier of wheat gluten to plants in
Emporia, Kan., and Pennsauken, N.J. The FDA has not
released the name of the supplier. Dry pet food does not
use the gluten.

"One of the things we're looking at is that toxins produced
by mold potentially contaminated the wheat gluten," Sundlof
said. He added that chemical contamination was also being
investigated.

Sundlof said the agency believed that the problem was
confined to the recalled products and that other types and
brands of food have not been affected.

"The problem is limited to those products identified by
Menu Foods in that recall," he said. Most of the
contaminated lots originated at the Emporia plant, which is
fully operational, Sundlof said.

It never had an agency inspection before the recall, he
said, as such plants are usually inspected only for cause.

The New Jersey plant was inspected last year under the
mad-cow-disease program because it produces feed for zoo
animals.

The New York Times

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