Holy crap!

[ebonlock]

The FDA has expanded the warnings regarding vegetable protein from China:

IA #99-29, 4/27/07, IMPORT ALERT #99-29,

"DETENTION WITHOUT PHYSICAL EXAMINATION OF ALL VEGETABLE PROTEIN PRODUCTS FROM CHINA FOR ANIMAL OR HUMAN FOOD USE DUE TO THE PRESENCE OF MELAMINE AND/OR MELAMINE ANALOGS"

TYPE OF ALERT: Detention Without Physical Examination (Countrywide)[...]

PRODUCTS: Wheat Gluten Rice Gluten Rice Protein Rice Protein Concentrate Corn Gluten Corn Gluten Meal Corn By-Products Soy Protein Soy Gluten Proteins (includes amino acids and protein hydrosylates) Mung Bean Protein

PROBLEM: Poisonous or Deleterious Substance Unfit For Food Unsafe Food Additive

PAF: PES COUNTRY: China (CN) MANUFACTURER/SHIPPER: All

CHARGES: "The article is subject to refusal of admission pursuant to section 801(a)(3) in that it appears to bear or contain a poisonous or deleterious substance, which may render it injurious to health [Adulteration, section 402(a)(1)]"

Me and my veggie friends and relatives are so completely and utterly fucked by this I can't even begin to tell you. Oh and I wouldn't recommend getting that protein boost at Jamba if I were you either.

And on the animal front it's looking even worse, according to the Feds:

This has been one of the largest pet food recalls in history, a recall that continues to expand. Thus far, 18 firms have recalled product, 17 Class I and 1 class II, covering over 5,300 product lines. As of April 26, 2007, FDA had received over 17,000 consumer complaints relating to this outbreak, and those complaints included reports of approximately 1950 deaths of cats and 2200 deaths of dogs.

The Pet Connection blog is an excellent place to read more about this, they've been covering the story from the beginning and were predicting the much higher numbers of fatalities we're seeing today while everybody else was talking about a few deaths here and there. Scary stuff.

Comments

[tavella.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was buying cat food this weekend, and I had to wander around staring at ingredient lists. I know that Felidae is all US ingredients, but they didn't have any in the store.

Finally ended up buying California Natural Herring and Sweet Potato (!)

Good luck finding safe protein!

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

The local farmer's market is your new best friend!

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

So far the most comprehensive list of unsafe foods is available here:
http://www.thepetfoodlist.com/

Looks like Natura (the company that produces the pet food you purchased) is one of the few reliably safe brands left. I'm going to try to pick up some myself tonight. I just don't feel like I can trust any of the others.

I swear right now if either of the cats acts even the slightest bit weird I start freaking out and thinking about taking them to the vet. I think Pye could survive exposure if it happened but Kage's elderly and I'm terrified of her getting sick.

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

Apparently so, I should also start eating a lot more beans and nuts by the sound of things.

[eilonwey.livejournal.com]

Argh! I wonder if I should throw away things like veggie sausage patties, etc. So scary. Thank you for posting this.

[senatorhatty.livejournal.com]

Mother%@#$@!& the anti-protectionists in this great country of ours are the same people who want looser restrictions on manufacturing here.

Loose restrictions can kill.

[senatorhatty.livejournal.com]

Also I had a protein boost on Saturday. How will I know if I am dying?

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Big hints are the cessation of breathing and the complete lack of a heartbeat.

[eilonwey.livejournal.com]

Also, I'm going to repost this in my journal if that's okay with you...we really need to get the word out about this.

[eilonwey.livejournal.com]

The more I think about this the more upset I get...how the heck are we supposed to know if the vegetable proteins in a given product have been imported or not?!!!

Sorry for commenting so much. I worry about Asher.

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

Economic darwinism, baby. It's just a bit ridiculous that we've turned capitalism into a goddamn religion in this country. The whole concept that the free market will correct itself is kind of like expecting the Black Plague to take care of overcrowding issues. It will, for sure, but you probably won't like stepping over the bodies along the way.

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

Actually humans, because their diet is so varied, are at low risk. It's animals restricted to nothing but this protein that are in danger. Of course vegetarians are in a much higher risk category than the rest of the population...lucky us.

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

Please spread this far and wide, the more people who understand what the hell is going on the better!

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

You have to keep an eye on the FDA's page and/or contact them directly. They actually tried to quietly sneak this warning through, you really had to go looking for it to find it. And as of a couple of days ago they were still saying that only about a dozen or so animals had died in the press. Expect to see the same kinds of lists for human foods as you currently do for pet foods in the not too distant future.

They've already destroyed a lot of pigs who were fed this stuff because that was one way for it to get into the human food stream, but there are literally thousands of products that include plant-based proteins.

[phillipalden.livejournal.com]

NOT my beloved Jamba Juice!

Say it ain't so!

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

Dude we may have to switch to vita boosts for a while...