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Zoneboy

04-25-2007, 05:31 PM

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/04/pet_food_recall36.html

Thousands of Hogs May Have Eaten Contaminated Feed
Pet Food Scraps Containing Melamine Fed to Hogs in Six States

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.Com

April 25, 2007

Thousands of hogs in the United States -- in at least six states -- may have eaten livestock feed contaminated with the chemical melamine, the Food and Drug Administration said.

And health officials are now investigating the possibility that humans may have consumed food containing the chemical that triggered a nationwide recall of pet food.

California officials confirmed hogs at a farm in that state ate the contaminated food -- described as salvaged pet food or pet food scraps. Officials were also trying to determine if hogs in five other states -- New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, and Ohio -- ate the tainted food.

The FDA has confirmed the urine of some hogs in California, North Carolina and South Carolina tested positive for melamine.

When asked if any of the hogs had entered the human food supply, FDA's Chief veterinarian Stephen Sundlof said: "At this point, I don't have a definitive answer other than to say that the issue is being addressed."

FDA officials are working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and several states to investigate the now-quarantined farms and determine if those hogs were slaughtered for human food.

"I don't have the numbers on that right now, but it potentially affects thousands of hogs," Sundlof said. "Some of the hog operations were fairly sizable."

USDA spokesman Steve Cohen, however, said the tainted feed was sold to smaller and independent hog farms.

Poultry Also Suspect
The FDA also said a poultry farm in Missouri may have received the melamine-tainted feed. Tests have confirmed the wheat gluten and rice protein used to make pet food in the United States -- and blamed for the deaths and kidney problems in scores pets across the country -- was tainted with melamine. Officials in South Africa also discovered the chemical in the corn gluten used to make pet food in that country.

Melamine is commonly used in plastics and fertilizers, but is not approved for pet food. The World Health Organization does not classify melamine as a carcinogen for people, but says there's little research about the chemical's effect on humans.

Also on Tuesday, the FDA said it discovered a second, related chemical called cyanuric acid -- used in swimming pool chlorination -- contaminated rice protein samples.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that researchers identified three other contaminants in the urine and kidneys of animals sickened or killed after eating the recalled pet foods. The paper identified those contaminants as cyanuric acid, amilorine, and amiloride -- all byproducts of melamine.

One researcher told The Tribune-Review that cyanuric acid is what most likely made the pets sick.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site described the long term or repeated exposure to cyanuric acid as: "When ingested in large amounts the substance may have effects on the kidneys, resulting in tissue lesions."