Melamine Strikes Again

Melamine is raising its ugly head again, this time reports are saying traces of melamine were found in a Chinese brand of baby formula. The Canadian Broadcasting Company is reporting that 14 cases of babies developing kidney stones all from the northwestern Gansu province of China. Melamine is known to cause kidney stones. Other cases have been reported in six other provinces all across China. One Chinese baby has reportedly died.

As millions of pet owners are aware, melamine was discovered to be part of the cause of the 2007 pet food recall that resulted in the death and illness of thousands of pets. Now, babies are at risk. The FDA reports that U.S. brands of formula are safe; the CBC reports that the US is at risk from the sale of Chinese brands of baby formula, "particularly in cities with large populations of Chinese immigrants." Currently there is no information on the FDA website regarding the risk potential or recall information of any baby formula sold in the US.

It just doesn´t seem to stop; worries of contamination or mislabeled products from China. Whether mislabeling or incomplete product information is intentional or due to lack of proper quality control, the results can still be catastrophic. China executed the former head of their food quality administration last year; who will be held responsible for this, and how? I think the majority of US consumers continue to be concerned what is next from China?

The FDA reports that only 3% of all imports into the United States are inspected. They continue to tell US consumers they do not have the funding nor the manpower to properly inspect every shipment that comes across our borders. The US Customs and Border Protection reports there are 327 official ports of entry in the US. Just a quick thought, if the FDA doesn´t have the manpower to properly inspect imports at all of the 327 US ports of entry, couldn´t they close some of these ports to better man and inspect the others?

It´s been crystal clear to pet owners for over a year now that a pet food and pet treat - country of origin - labeling requirement needs to be initiated. When will the FDA ´get´ this? How many pets need to die? How many lawsuits need to be filed? And now there is the worry of Chinese baby formula. It´s time; a country of origin labeling law needs to be implemented ´yesterday´. Every US consumer deserves to know the country of origin of every product they purchase, and every ingredient in that product.

This sad incident proves that melamine is still lurking in Chinese products, not intended to contain melamine. For pet owners, please call your pet food manufacturer and ask if any of the ingredients used in the food originates outside the US. Many pet food ingredients are imported from known safe countries such as Canada and New Zealand, many other ingredients are imported from known at risk countries like China. Until the law requires pet food and pet treats to provide you with this information on the label, you will need to continue to check on every product your pet consumes.

To read the CBC story: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/09/11/baby-powder-china.html

Wishing you and your pet the best,

Susan Thixton