Wheat Gluten Killing Pets?

[CMCM]

I just heard on the radio that with reference to those recent tainted pet food deaths of a number of dogs and cats, they are now focusing on WHEAT GLUTEN as the culprit!!!! Here's the link:

Open Original Shared Link

[Viola 1]

I just heard on the radio that with reference to those recent tainted pet food deaths of a number of dogs and cats, they are now focusing on WHEAT GLUTEN as the culprit!!!! Here's the link:

Open Original Shared Link

It's the "contamination" of wheat gluten that's causing the problem ... not the wheat gluten itself.

[larry mac]

I just heard on the radio that with reference to those recent tainted pet food deaths of a number of dogs and cats, they are now focusing on WHEAT GLUTEN as the culprit!!!! Here's the link:

Open Original Shared Link

OMG, that is breaking news!!!! Now they're focusing on WHEAT GLUTEN??? What took them so long? Hope it doesn't take another six days to find out for sure what it is.

best regards, lm

[UR Groovy]

In the article you've sited: Open Original Shared Link

it states:

"Because wheat gluten itself wouldn't cause kidney failure, FDA investigators are examining other ingredients as possible sources of contamination. Those include heavy metals like cadmium and lead or fungal toxins. Aflatoxin, a corn fungus, sparked a 2005 dog food recall. "

2 things to say here.

The main thing that's bothering me is this:

Why can't there just be an analysis to see what the contaminant is? Don't we have sophisticated technology to determine such things? And, if so, why doesn't some independent laboratory come in and do testing? Must we constantly rely on the FDA for information? I, for one, have grown a little weary of that particular perspective. Maybe I'm wrong about this, but it seems that some simple tests would be able to show what's going on.

Also, again, it doesn't appear to be the gluten itself. They've been pretty much saying this since the story broke. Don't get me wrong, I think gluten is evil (at least, it's evil in my world), but it appears that it's more than the gluten itself. I hate to beat a dead horse, but I had to mention it again.

[psawyer]

The suspected cause, as mentioned, is contamination in the wheat gluten ingredient. The investigation is ongoing. As I understand it, Menu Foods used an alternate supplier for this ingredient for a period from December to early March at two US plants. They have since discontinued using that supplier. All of the product from that source has been used up in the manufacturing process, so it cannot be directly tested. Food manufactured using that ingredient can be tested, but it is one thing to identify the poison and quite another thing to prove where it came from.

I own a store that sells pet food and supplies, so I have been on top of this issue since it broke last Friday afternoon. The media have given it a lot of play. Here are a few facts:

1. The issue applies only to wet food, that is cans and foil pouches;

2. The issue applies only to foods which are "cuts in gravy" or similarly name styles.

3. The issue concerns products made in only two of Menu's four plants, and primarily to the one in Emporia, KS.

4. No dry food, or biscuits, or treats, of ANY BRAND are involved in the recall.

Wheat gluten is a normal ingredient in the gravy in these products, and is not itself the issue. The problem is believed to arise from heavy metal contamination in the wheat gluten, although there are some organic toxins that have yet to be ruled out.

For more recall information, Open Original Shared Link

[jerseyangel]

Thank you Peter--

I've been looking to you for my information about this. I know if anyone knows the facts here, it's you. I appreciate you keeping us posted.

[gfp]

OK, sometimes sarcasm excplains stuff best for me.... its nothing personal... and the poster could be anyone so don't be offended..Im trying to write this like a FDA official saying why

In the article you've sited: Open Original Shared Link

it states:

"Because wheat gluten itself wouldn't cause kidney failure, FDA investigators are examining other ingredients as possible sources of contamination. Those include heavy metals like cadmium and lead or fungal toxins. Aflatoxin, a corn fungus, sparked a 2005 dog food recall. "

2 things to say here.

The main thing that's bothering me is this:

Why can't there just be an analysis to see what the contaminant is? Don't we have sophisticated technology to determine such things?

Erm, what exactly do you want to analyse for? If you pay we'll find someone to analyse.

And, if so, why doesn't some independent laboratory come in and do testing?

Sure if you wanna pay.... however at the moment what exactly are you going to pay to test for? Heavy metals, fungus or mould?

bacteria? Also is it all contaminated or just some... is it contaminated at source (the supplier) or in production?

Go ahead ... take a cool million and you can screen for everything then when they work out what is is you can pay again to have it quantitively analysed????

Must we constantly rely on the FDA for information? I, for one, have grown a little weary of that particular perspective. Maybe I'm wrong about this, but it seems that some simple tests would be able to show what's going on.

Lots, once again if you are going to pay them .... indeed if you have a million spare the testing lab can easily come up with enough tests to probably find what it is.... presuming its present in the samples we get?

Then again we might waste the million... and find nothing in the samples we have but its your money....

/sarcasm off

In other words the FDA money is your money, its from taxpayers...

Like it or not a lot of tax payers would be pissed if they so the FDA spend a million testing pet food and the results are inconclusive... in perspective its not a lot per person or even per pet owner... but people get awfully upset over where tax $ go....

What is likely to happen is autopsy of the pets ... then try and pin point... is it chemical, biological or what...??

If its bacteria ... cultures take time to grow....

Another thing is what else were the pets eating.... just as an aside... millions of dog owners poision their dogs daily giving them chocolate.. this causes kidney failure... what if the gluten contamination alone isn't responsible and thee dogs had compromised kidney function because their owners were feeding them something like chocolate?

Sorry if you take offense, non is meant... I just think a snotty type FDA cover their ass answer illustrates the problem better than 20 pages of possible links and stuff????

edits:

Just saw Peter's reply. and he's obviously on top of it....

The heavy metal contamination could be one thing... but like he says

though there are some organic toxins that have yet to be ruled out.

and like I say it could be a combination of both....

I wonder what ergot does to dogs?

[UR Groovy]

Sorry if you take offense, non is meant...

Okay, Wait

[Lisa]

CNN...

Rat Poison is the source for the contaminated pet food.

[gfp]

Okay, Wait

[Michi8]

CNN...

Rat Poison is the source for the contaminated pet food.

That's sick. Pet food couldn't accidentally be contaminated with rat poison...I hope they find out who is responsible for this!

Michelle

[jerseyangel]

It's horrible...

Here's the link to the CNN report--

Open Original Shared Link

[UR Groovy]

CNN...

Rat Poison is the source for the contaminated pet food.

Thanks, Momma Goose for the info. That is just terrible.

Makes me want to turn my back yard into an organic farm & go fishing.

[blueeyedmanda]

This is horrible, if it happened to animal food...who is to say it couldn't happen to our food as well, that is scary!

I feel horrible for all those pet owners who have lost their pets or have very ill pets due to this.

[Michi8]

More info from ABC News:

Open Original Shared Link

Apparently the poison was on wheat imported from China. Pretty darned scary! What are the chances that this wheat has been used in products for human consumption as well?

Michelle

[psawyer]

I've been away for about 24 hours due to a combination of ISP technical problems with my connection, and being in the store instead of here at home.

A specific toxin, Open Original Shared Link, has been identified in samples of the affected food by an independant laboratory. This is a chemical used in some places as a rodent poison, but it is not permitted for that purpose in either Canada or the US. It is used in treatment of some cancers on a limited basis.

The source is still suspected to be the wheat gluten used in the gravy. There is an unconfirmed report on Open Original Shared Link that Menu is now recalling all products in the list regardless of production date. I have not been able to confirm this with Menu. I do know that I have been asked by Nutro to remove all affected products from sale in my store, regardless of production date, until more is known, and we removed them several days ago.

Like it was a week ago, we have breaking news on Friday afternoon, so there will be some difficulties keeping up to date on the latest information over the weekend. Menu's people are working 24/7, but are still having trouble keeping up.

Open Original Shared Link

[georgie]

Apparently the poison was on wheat imported from China. Pretty darned scary! What are the chances that this wheat has been used in products for human consumption as well?

Another good reason to stay away from wheat! You don't know where its come from. What's wrong with American wheat or even Australian wheat that we know is safe !

I try to feed my dog as little commercial food as possible. You just don't know what's in it. My thoughts are with those people that lost their beloved pets.

[shayesmom]

A specific toxin, Open Original Shared Link, has been identified in samples of the affected food by an independant laboratory. This is a chemical used in some places as a rodent poison, but it is not permitted for that purpose in either Canada or the US. It is used in treatment of some cancers on a limited basis.

Not to be sarcastic here....but does anyone else here wonder about the rationale behind using this chemical for cancer treatment? Considering the effect on animals....is anyone wondering why we're no closer to winning the "war" on cancer?

Aminopterin was used in the past for cancer treatment and was so toxic that it was eventually pulled as an anti-cancer agent (several decades ago). I see that it is back in clinical trials once more. Pathetic. Truly, pathetic.

[psawyer]

The information in this thread is more than one week old, and is no longer current. Aminopterin is no longer thought to be the problem, rather, on March 30, high levels of melamine were found in the wheat gluten in question.

Open Original Shared Link

BTW, various animals react differently to substances and differently than humans. For example, acetaminophen is a lethal poison to cats, but humans take it all the time for pain relief.

[shayesmom]

The information in this thread is more than one week old, and is no longer current. Aminopterin is no longer thought to be the problem, rather, on March 30, high levels of melamine were found in the wheat gluten in question.

Open Original Shared Link

BTW, various animals react differently to substances and differently than humans. For example, acetaminophen is a lethal poison to cats, but humans take it all the time for pain relief.

Thanks for the updated information and link. I do understand that different substances affect humans and animals differently. However, there's plenty of information of deadly toxicity attributed to aminopterin in cancer patients. And although acetaminophen is generally "safe"....if a human takes too much, it can lead to acute liver failure. We've been seeing this happening with infants and children given a combination of pain killers and cough medicines (both of which contain it)...hence the news stories telling parents not to give these meds in combination to their children.

Also, I wonder at the reasoning behind using wheat gluten in pet foods at all (besides it being economical). Back in the 50's, it was generally recognized that wheat gluten was detrimental to dogs. It was only introduced into the pet food supply when China began growing their own wheat and not buying ours that we ended up with a glut of wheat and it was put into dog food. It's also known that breeds such as the Irish Setter have been diagnosed with Celiac Disease. I wonder if other breeds have been tested?

[2kids4me]

In reply to those concerned about why testing isnt performed for everything. First of all in order to test for somethig you have to know what you are testing for....there are thousands of chemicals in this world that can contamiante food, either in growing it, transporting it or preparing it.

To provide an example to which we can all relate:

If you have celiac or lyme or diabetes or MS or lupus or sjogrens or any of the over 80 autimmune diseases but no one tests for it, they wouldnt know it was there. They do have tests for all those but they arent going to test each patient for everything. Also, those disease existed long before they were able to test for them - but without a test or knowledge of the disease they can't test for it.

When they test for contamination - like in this case, they take logical approach and look for any common items (fertilizers, fungicides, poisons) first, then they look for oddball items, but they dont just test for anything and everything all at once, the cost would be prohibitive. I heard on the news that the reason amniopterin was thought to be the culprit and later disproven had to do with the type of tests the one lab was doing and that aminopterin and an amnio acid supplement have similar fatty acid chains on analysis. (or something along those lines).

An excellent point made by previous poster - a substance not poisonous to people can be deadly to pets. Onions should never be added to pet food so if they accidently made their way into pet food - the pets would get sick, cats will die from acetominophen as well as eating Easter lilly plants (they cause kidney failure)....potatoe leaves and tomatoe leaves make pets sick

so a lab would also have to check for everything from synthetic poisons to accidental contamination with plant material that is harmful to a particular species.......

hope this helps

Sandy

And although acetaminophen is generally "safe"....if a human takes too much, it can lead to acute liver failure.

Yes that is true with water too - you can drink too much water and die. With cats, pet owners must understand that it is not an overdose that kills cat, a single dose kills them by binding the hemoglobin in therir blood and they die of a lack a of oxygen...slowly.

The thing is even after they thought they found the cause, they kept checking and found the melamine. They are being thorough.

Pet food manufacturers are becoming more concious of eliminating wheat gluten form some lines ( but not all).

An WHY are we not just as upset about all the chemicals put into foods for human consumption? Why on earth would anyone eat a twinkie?