Melamine in pet food, wheat gluten from China: FDA
U.S. officials said on Friday that melamine, a
chemical found in fertilizers in Asia and which should not be in pet food in any
amounts, has been detected in the wheat gluten used by Canada-based Menu
Foods.
The FDA said the wheat gluten in
question came from a company in China, and was not known to be used in any human
food yet.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration official Stephen
Sundlof said during a press conference that melamine was found in the urine of
dead cats. Though its presence is undeniable, it has not been determined to
cause sickness or deaths in pets, he
said.
Melamine should not be in pet food
in any amounts, Sundlof added.
Last week,
New York state officials said aminopterin, a substance used in rat poison, was
found in the tainted pet food. Aminopterin is forbidden for use in the United
States since it is known to cause kidney failure in cats and dogs. It is also
known to cause cancer and birth defects in
humans.
The FDA, however, has still not
confirmed the presence of that toxin in the recalled pet food, the agency said
on Friday.
Menu Foods has recalled
millions of pounds of wet pet food in the past two weeks after it was associated
with kidney failure in pets and deaths of at least 14 animals.
Posted: Friday - March 30, 2007 at 10:44 AM
