You who have participated in the diaries on the pet food recall by Jhritz, Christie Keith, Abby Kelleyite, Goldy, and myself know that -- seven weeks in -- scientists are still trying to figure out what has killed thousands of cats and dogs, has entered the human food supply, and has been fed to 20 million chickens who are still on U.S. farms (not counting the slaughtered chickens sold to Americans in February) as well as tens of thousands of pigs.
We all know now that most of the adulterated food ingredients are coming from China. And we also know that the Federal Drug Administration has been extremely slow in reacting to the poisoning of thousands of pets and millions of farm animals and, in turn, exposing humans to tainted grain and meat products.
Today, there are two key articles that point to NEW RISKS from poisoned medicine while the FDA cuts back on labs, and that I urge you to read:
- "Plan to close labs drawing fire -- Critics: FDA proposal will hurt the agency" in the Modesto Bee.
- "From China to Panama, a Trail of Poisoned Medicine" at the top of today's New York Times.
POISON IN OUR MEDICINES: Yesterday, Goldy of HorsesAss.org blog noticed a new FDA alert for "glycerin," and shyly suggested he might be "paranoid" for wondering if "fake" glycerin, contaminated with diethylene glycol, might not factor in to the pet food recall crisis:
I was scanning the FDA website for information regarding the ever expanding pet food recall and food safety crisis, when I noticed a press release advising manufacturers “to be especially vigilant in assuring that glycerin, a sweetener commonly used worldwide in liquid over-the-counter and prescription drug products, is not contaminated with diethylene glycol.” The press release states no reason why they would issue such a warning at this time.
Hmm. Glycerin is an ingredient sometimes used in pet food. Diethylene glycol is a poison used in antifreeze, that is known to cause renal failure. Thousands of dogs and cats have died from renal failure, supposedly due to melamine, an industrial chemical not previously known to be highly toxic.
Goldy's post "rang a bell," and I found a comment I'd read earlier by Nonie323 here at Daily Kos, quoting an April Consumer Affairs article:
“The suspicion of international contamination is eerily similar to past incidents in China,” Barton said. “A dozen years ago, 89 children in Haiti died after taking cough medicine made with, believe it or not, poisonous antifreeze that was traced back to China. The world never got an answer from the Chinese on how this crime occurred.
“In an investigation started in 1998 when I was the chairman of this subcommittee, we found that 155 Americans were sickened by impure gentamicin sulfate made by a Chinese firm,” Barton continued. “We never got a definitive answer on how this unapproved, impure drug ingredient got into that particular product.”
I started to wonder if, like Goldy, I was getting paranoid. Then I checked out today's NYT site, and was floored to see its top article today:
"From China to Panama, a Trail of Poisoned Medicine"
The kidneys fail first. Then the central nervous system begins to misfire. Paralysis spreads, making breathing difficult, then often impossible without assistance. In the end, most victims die.
Many of them are children, poisoned at the hands of their unsuspecting parents.
The syrupy poison, diethylene glycol, is an indispensable part of the modern world, an industrial solvent and prime ingredient in antifreeze.
It is also a killer. And the deaths, if not intentional, are often no accident.
Over the years, the poison has been loaded into all varieties of medicine — cough syrup, fever medication, injectable drugs — a result of counterfeiters who profit by substituting the sweet-tasting solvent for a safe, more expensive syrup, usually glycerin, commonly used in drugs, food, toothpaste and other products.
Panama is the latest victim of the Chinese adulteration of products -- In Panama, government officials "unwittingly mixed diethylene glycol into 260,000 bottles of cold medicine — with devastating results. Families have reported 365 deaths from the poison." And that's in Panama alone. Where else has this been sold?
The NYT story also traces the long routes -- in the story and in an interactive graphic -- that this counterfeit medicine takes, and that there is NO testing along the way.
Is diethylene glycol a factor in the thousands of pet deaths? Or is the main cause still a combination of melamine -- which mimics protein, but isn't -- and cyanuric acid?
By the way, Abby Kelleyite has been doing great investigative work on melamine and cyanuric acid, and she believes that the "fake" protein added to the low-grade grains exported from China to U.S. pet food plants is actually the product of the "waste water" from melamine production. Abby is posting her findings at Wikipedia.
In other words, the Chinese have found a DEADLY, NEFARIOUS use for what was once industrial "waste." In an e-mail to me, Abby explains further:
As David Barboza has reported in the NYT/IHT pieces [Susan's NOTE: See "Filler in Animal Feed Is Open Secret in China," April 30, 2007, NYT], what he has been describing has been a waste product created in melamine monomer production (not production of the melamine resin that is used in making plates and such). What this reference demonstrates is that a mixture of melamine monomer, cyanuric acid, ammelide, ammeline (and trace elements) is a known waste product of melamine monomer production where the waste water is crystallized before being released. These are exactly the same chemicals found in the crystals in contaminated ingredients and in the animals themselves per Guelph, et al. They are dumping the industrial waste from melamine production into the protein concentrates and that explains why it is so cheap. It had no known use before this.
Update [2007-5-5 16:16:4 by SusanHu]: See Abby's contributions to Wikipedia at "2007 pet food crisis" and "Melamine." Also, last night, Abby wrote a diary here, "True Protein, an idea whose time has come."
THE FDA's CUTBACKS:
Given the expanding direct health risks to untold millions of people and their pets and livestock, it is astounding that the FDA claims that it is doing a great job, and that it will cut back the number of its laboratories. From McClatchy Newspapers and the Modesto Bee:
A Food and Drug Administration plan to close seven of 13 field laboratories has angered some lawmakers, government workers and safety advocates, who fear the move will chase away skilled veteran employees and hurt the FDA's ability to respond to public health emergencies.
The FDA's field labs inspect and analyze food, drugs, animal medications and feeds, medical devices and other health products.
This McClatchy article illustrates perfectly how the Bush administration is purposely starving regulatory agencies. That’s why Bush appointed Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach, because he knows von Eschenbach will abet the dismantling of federal safety regulation, which is a pain in the ass to big business.
IMMEDIATE SOLUTIONS:
My current favored solution is the Durbin/DeLauro Food Safety Act which would create a whole new regulatory agency for food safety, and give it both teeth and money to do its job. And, until that happens (it’s pending), we have Durbin/Cantwell’s “emergency” amendment to the FDA Revitalization Act which will empower the FDA with more money and staff.
I wrote a diary here about the emergency amendment introduced and passed this week in the Senate: "[UPDATED] URGENT: HUGE Recall Expansion + Durbin/Cantwell Food Safety Amendment."
We must write our senators and representatives, and ask them to support the amendment and the pending Food Safety Act.
Until 2009, when we get a new president (hopefully a Democrat!) who appoints new commissioners, we’re stuck with von Eschenbach unless somehow he’s exposed, and his story becomes as big as AG Gonzales’. In the meantime, all we can do is HELP Congress force the FDA to do its job.
We also need to enact COOL (Country Of Origin Labeling) -- nationwide! -- as described in yesterday's recommended diary, "Americans Deserve Fair Trade and Safe Food" by Ron Sparks, a commissioner in Alabama.
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NOTE: I’ve been writing about the administration’s dismantling of regulatory agencies -- from the FDA to the EPA, and on and on -- since 2005. Here’s a summary of the administration’s plan: “Dead By Sunset: Kill it, and make it look like an accident.”
For the latest pet food recall news, visit Itchmo.com and PetConnection.com.