Melamine in Corn Gluten from China

[medilla]

At the following website: http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2101493,00.html

Pet-food poison from SA firm
19/04/2007 16:23  - (SA) 

More bad news for pet owners

Johannesburg - Tests have confirmed that Vets Choice and Royal Canin dog and cat dry pet-food products contained corn gluten contaminated with melamine, says the manufacturer.

The contaminated corn gluten was delivered to Royal Canin by a South African third-party supplier and appears to have originated from China.

Those products subject to the present recall were manufactured by Royal Canin South Africa in its Johannesburg plant between March 08 2007 and April 11 2007 and were sold exclusively in South Africa and Namibia.

The company said all other Vets Choice and Royal Canin products (including those made in South Africa before March 8 2007 and products made outside South Africa) were not affected and could be fed to pets.

Managing director Gregory Watine said: "We will continue to co-operate totally with the relevant public authorities, vets , customers and pet owners to help them by all means possible.

Condolences

"They can rest assured that Royal Canin remains committed to putting the interests of pets and their health and nutrition first."

He said the company wanted to express their support and offer condolences to pet owners whose pets may have fallen ill or died as a result of eating the contaminated food.

Sales of all Vets Choice products were suspended on April 11 2007 and all affected products were being recalled from the market.

Measures had been taken in co-ordination with the South African Veterinary Association (Sava) and the Pet Food Institute (PFI) to ensure this contamination did not happen again.

Royal Canin South Africa Call Centre can be contacted on 011 446 1025.

[MissLori]

Itchmo.com has info on this as well.  If you haven't already, eliminate any foods that list ANY glutens as an ingredient.

[willyagogo]

I had a feeling a while back that this wasn't going to be just a "wheat gluten" thing and it's not because I'm a genius or anything.....I just had a strong feeling that once a lot of testing was going to happen...that it would be like opening Pandora's Box and a lot was going to be exposed.

It's also my true gut feeling, that this really isn't something new.....I'm sure glad that I'm lucky enough to have 2 doggies who are easy to cook for and not finicky...I'm actually enjoying it because come feeding time....they are excited and start spinning around and whining when they know they are about to be fed...it's pretty funny!!!

I know that home-cooking may not be for everyone....but given the latest updates...I hope that everyone finds a safe food for their pets...and that with some research (believe me...I did piles!).....many will find comfort in home-cooking for their pets...at least till they feel comfortable putting their pet's lives in someone elses hands!........I know I sleep better since I've taken this route!

[garypen]

The common thread in all of these tainted ingredients is CHINA. Just something to think about.

[Cindy Nevarez]

My husband has taken many business trips to China in the past, and has had to stay there for extended periods of time during those trips. He said the businesses are not run anywhere near what we have come to be familiar with here in the US. There are no board of directors, or chains of command like here. It is more like government run in each company. The ingredients these companies are using are grown all over the country. Each of these companies have access to all these same grains from the same growers he said. What we have to figure out is where/who amoung their educated leaders involved in these companies found the technology to boost the nitrogen levels in the grain. Maybe this is the reason they are denying visas to the FDA. Maybe they don't want the scientist or whoever responsible for ulitilizing this technology to be exposed. I think there is a lot more lying underneath the surface of this thing that will blow our minds even more than we can stand. Personally, whatever 'it' is...I don't think I'll be able to handle it.

[Lisa C]

I know that mid March seems like forever ago, but remember back to when the recalls were first announced.  Remember how when melamine first came up there was some confusion because melamine isn't supposed to be that toxic?  I still think that whoever added the melamine to the gluten thought they wouldn't get caught because it wouldn't cause enough harm to be noticed.  Which is not to say that they thought it was harmless, just that they didn't realize that the toxicity would be so high that it would be readily apparent that their ingredients were to blame.