As American food safety regulators head to China to investigate how a chemical made from coal found its way into pet food that killed dogs and cats in the United States, workers in this heavily polluted northern city openly admit that the substance is routinely added to animal feed as a fake protein.

For years, producers of animal feed all over China have secretly supplemented their feed with the substance, called melamine, a cheap additive that looks like protein in tests, even though it does not provide any nutritional benefits, according to melamine scrap traders and agricultural workers here.

Few people outside the agriculture business know about the use of melamine scrap. The Chinese news media — which is strictly censored — has not reported much about the country’s ties to the pet food recall in the United States. And few in agriculture here do not see any harm in using melamine in small doses; they simply see it as cheating a little on protein, not harming animals or pets.

As for the sale of melamine scrap, it is increasingly popular as a fake ingredient in feed, traders and workers here say.

Read (New York Times)

The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to use American Bullie A.B. Bull Pizzle Puppy Chews and Dog Chews manufactured and distributed by T.W. Enterprises, Ferndale, WA, because they have the potential to be contaminated with salmonella, which can cause serious infections in dogs and cats, and, if there is cross-contamination, in people, especially children, the aged, and people with compromised immune systems.

The recall is not related to the massive recall of wet dog food, snacks and other products made with contaminated wheat gluten.

It is impossible to differentiate chews manufactured by T. W. Enterprises by lot or batch numbers or dates of manufacture because packages of the firm’s chews are not coded with batch or lot numbers, and do not specify the dates of manufacture or bear expiration dates.

Consumers who have the pet treats should not feed them to their pets, but instead dispose of them in a safe manner (e.g., in a securely covered trash receptacle).

Read (ConsumerAffairs.com)

A Chinese company accused of selling chemical-tainted wheat gluten linked to the deaths of pet cats and dogs in the United States, said Thursday most of its sales are domestic, raising the possibility that people or pets in China might have been exposed to the chemical.

The announcement also underscores China’s dismal food-safety record. Mass food poisoning cases are common in China, many blamed on cooks who disregard hygiene rules or mistakenly use industrial chemicals instead of salt and other ingredients.

But there has been no reaction so far from the Chinese public to the tainted wheat-gluten and Beijing authorities have not said whether they are investigating the matter.

An official at the Chinese Ministry of Health, who refused to give his name, said the case was not an issue for the ministry and directed questions to the Ministry of Agriculture.

An official at the Ministry of Agriculture, who also refused to give his name, told the Associated Press to stop calling.

Read (AP via USA Today)