CBS 21 Community

Some questions, Mr. FDA -

How is it that we were told there were no traces of melamine in any of the chickens, pigs or fish that ate the contaminated food, yet it's stated here it was in fact found in these catfish?  http://www.swtimes.com/articles/2007/05/23/news/news10.txt

It is comforting to know it will not hurt humans (one day it was illegal for human consumption, and today it will not hurt us - it's all relative - just depends on whose pockets are padded the thickest).  But please try to remember this food fiasco came about by Fluffy dying.  And Fluffy eats fish, and that's what we thought we were feeding him. 

How is it the melamine/cyanuric acid trail ended with the vacating of Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development and Binzhou Futian Biology Technology?  Certainly such large quantities of the substance can easily be tracked back to the facility that manufactured it?  And certainly the manufacturer that sold it to these two companies would know by now where it ended up?  Certainly if one of OUR American companies such as Borden Chemicals  had sold it somewhere that resulted in thousands of deaths (whichever species), would come forward to assist in the dead-end investigation, because we're different here in America - aren't we? 

But we will get to the bottom of who killed Fluffy, because in his case the medical/pharmaceutical/insurance companies cannot profit from his illness and death - yet.  Once they can, there will be no resolution since a sick and dying pet would equal the profits of a sick and dying human.

They're gaining on us, however:  http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=425846

A one month's supply of Prozac runs about $200, and the cost to make such Prozac is about 11 cents.  If we can get Fluffy into the DSMR, and buy off the vets like we have our Medical Doctors (you see the commercials - Viagra - ask your doctor) - the billions the pharmaceutical companies are raking off the unregulated US human drug industry will quadruple.  But vets are vets because they had the brains to do so.  Many medical doctors flunked out of veterinarian school because they did not have the brains or the ethics.  So let's pray they cannot be bought also.

We all understand our medical profession in this country are the pharmaceutical companies' whores.  And the FDA is their pimp, pure and simple.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So now it's been disclosed melamine is in "made in the USA" animal feed.  By Tembec.  http://www.scorecard.org/env-releases/facility.tcl?tri_id=70775JMSRVENDOF#pollution_rank_health_impact - obviously a company who ranks human health, safety and well-being their prime concern.

And the FDA says it poses no threat to humans.  http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/ME/melamine.html

It is in our food.  It is being tracked, trust me.  Any wonder our FDA refuses to allow clearly-defined labels indicating "Gluten free"?  Any wonder MDs won't suggest IGe or IGG testing and the insurance companies won't pay for it?  And if/when it is done, it clearly states on the test results "for statistical purposes only, not approved by the FDA"?  Hasn't anyone wondered why all of the sudden we're sniffing when we eat foods, bloating stomacs, itchy necks and palms - when we all felt wonderful on Atkins?  No glutens.  No wheat.  No profits. 

 

C'mon now.

 

 

 

 

In the US alone, there are 73 million dog owners, 90 million cat owners, 200 million fish owners and
16 million bird owners.

All of whom have most likely purchased toxic foods for their pets, and many of whom still most likely are through no fault of their own.  The FDA has dug their head so deep in the sand with high hopes the American citizens will forget the pet food poisoning had ever happened. 

The previous postings here most likely reflect the sentiments of the majority of pet owners in this country, yet all questions answered in these posts have gone unanswered.  Deaths have resulted and will continue to result in these regulatory agencies' indifference.  There is no trust left in America - that once was something that set us apart from other Nations. In retaliation, the US now has begun halting imports from other countries, when the irony of it is the majority of the "toxic" ingredients were most likely made here in the US, further capitalizing on our fears.  We are simply becoming a land where the gap between the rich and impoverished grows all the wider.  We have all been taken for suckers.  And will all continue to sicken because the US will continue to pollute our environment, our foods and our minds.

Great posts - great insights.  The one problem we're all missing, also, is that most likely the "toxic" ingredients that were used in the tainted pet foods and are also currently being used in human foods imported from other nations are manufactured and sold to those nations by American industries.  They can't sell it here for use in human and pet foods, but they know China, Mexico and the likes can - so they simply sell it to them to get it right back into foods distributed in the US.

Commerce doesn't take precedence over our well being?  Our FDA & USDA has our best interests as their priority?  China was the scapegoat for the tainted food deal, but we need to pay a bit more attention to how our foods in the US are processed.

The Iowa Quality Beef Supply Cooperative meatpacking plant in Tama, Iowa, has been negotiating with investors from the Middle Eastern country of Qatar who are interested in purchasing the facility.  The investors from Qatar are interested in the plant because it is equipped to process cattle according to Islamic law.  Would that include severing the cattle's head while blindfolded on national TV before giving the USDA stamp of approval?

 

 

It's almost humorous that our FDA and USDA as well as Toys R Us are all pointing fingers at China, when Beijing refuses to import our pork - for some silly reason they don't like the leanness-enhancing feed additivePork?  Go organic.our FDA approved to be used in our meats back in 1999.  There have been no long-term studies on humans on this drug.

Pigs:  Ractopamine is a phenolethanolamine ß-adrenoceptor agonist that
    is used for the improvement of weight gain, carcass leanness and
    feed efficiency in pigs.

All animals tested:   Alopecia

Mice:   In males, a decrease in testicular weights.  Both males and
    females in the 1250 mg/kg bw/day group had increased absolute and
    relative heart weights.

Dogs:  http://www.aafp.org/afp/20020415/1581.html, increased heart rates.

Rats:  Clinical signs such as pallor, apparent hypothermia, thinness,
    dehydration and rough hair coat occurred with the highest frequency
    in the neonatal and postnatal progeny of the 2000 ppm group.
    Seventy-three pups of the F_1a generation from the 2000 ppm group
    were either born dead or died during the lactation period. Gross
    external and internal examinations of the pups revealed that 13 of
    these pups had abnormalities which included oedema (8), cleft
    palate (7), limb abnormalities (5), brachygnathia (3), protruding
    tongue (3), open eyelids (3), omphalocele (2), clotted blood in the
    lateral ventricles of the brain (1), microphthalmia (2), and
    enlarged heart (1).

Monkeys:  In the anaesthetized state, despite elevated heart rate (about 150 beats per min) present before ractopamine infusion, heart rate was further increased by ractopamine to approximately 214 beats per min by the end of the 10-min infusion period. Thereafter, heart rate declined, yet it remained elevated for the duration of the 40-min monitoring period.

Humans:  Adverse effects of prolonged therapeutic use of beta-agonists including tachycardia, vasodilation, skeletal muscle tremor, nervousness, metabolic disturbances, and beta-adrenoceptor desensitization are pharmacologically predictable, dose-related and potency-related. Non-pharmacological effects include airway hyper-responsiveness and increased airway inflammation. The incidence and severity of adverse reactions may vary for any given compound. The impact of the R- and S-enantiomers of beta-agonists on adverse effects remains unclear (Hoffman, 2001; Sears, 2002).

Tachycardia, decrease in blood pressure, and occasional palpitations are common adverse effect of systemically administered beta-agonists that are considered to be clinically most relevant. In patients without cardiac disease, beta-agonists rarely cause significant arrhythmias or myocardial ischaemia. However, patients with underlying coronary artery disease or pre-existing arrhythmias are at a much greater risk. Rhythm disturbances may occur more frequently with fenoterol than albuterol.

Feelings of restlessness, apprehension, and anxiety were reported side-effects after the use of various beta-agonists, particularly after oral or parenteral treatment.

When given orally or parenterally, beta-agonists may increase the concentrations of glucose, lactate, and free fatty acids and decrease the concentration of potassium in plasma.

There is some evidence suggesting that regular use of beta₂-selective agonists may cause increased bronchial hyperreactivity and deterioration in disease control.

Observations in humans treated with beta-agonists suggest that the adverse effects generally are not problematic at therapeutic doses, except perhaps in the presence of hypoxia or co-morbidity (e.g. heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias, coronary disease, diabetes).

From the World Health Organization:  Long-term/carcinogenicity studies:  No infomation available.

Paylean, as it's called, is manufactured by Elanco, which is owned by Eli-Lilly - a pharmaceutical company. The company spent $3,700,000 for lobbying in 2006. $720,000 of this total went to eight outside lobbying firms. 

^{We're worth more to them sick.}

Pork?  Go organic.
   

 

 

 

It is also interesting that since China has refused to import our hormone/chemical-laden beef and pork with bone fragments and transgenically engineered grains that cannot meet THEIR standards that we have now begun this witch hunt to strong arm them  into resuming meat imports since Americans now have begun to see the ramifications and effect of what it is doing to our health and our children.  We gotta get rid of it somewhere.  So we turn the screws tighter on China and publicize this witch hunt so our ignorant consumer pawns will reject their goods, and they'll blink.  And start buying our meats again since Americans are now rejecting it as well.  How about we test our American made foods and toys and do a side-by-side?

Nah, they made Bush mad, and he's from Texas -  Texans don't take too kindly to foreign folks not wanting their meat, therefore the counter attacks have begun.  It's all about money in their pockets, not about our health and well-being.  We are just too blind to see it.

 

Food Fight! 

China's list of suspended U.S. meat plants growing

By Tom Johnston on 8/17/2007 for Meatingplace.com

The list of U.S. meatpacking plants China has delisted has grown to 15, including eight plants delisted between August 7-17, according to USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service. Earlier this week, USDA confirmed China had recently delisted eight plants after discovering pork shipments containing traces of ractopamine. (See China suspends imports from eight U.S. pork plants on Meatingplace.com, Aug. 17, 2007.) The following plants are currently barred from exporting meat and poultry to China: Swift Pork Co., Worthington, Minn. John Morrell & Co., Sioux Falls, S.D. (effective August 15, 2007) Cargill Meat Solutions, Beardstown, Ill. Cargill Meat Solutions, Ottumwa, Iowa (effective August 7, 2007) Tyson Fresh Meats, Waterloo, Iowa (effective June 1, 2007) Farmland Foods, Denison, Iowa, (effective August 15, 2007) Farmland Foods, Crete, Neb. (effective August 15, 2007) Farmland Foods, Monmouth, Ill. (effective August 15, 2007) Hatfield Quality Meats, Hatfield, Penn. (effective August 15, 2007) Peco Foods, Bay Springs, Miss. (effective July 13, 2007) Tyson Foods Inc, Nashville, Ark. (effective June 6, 2007) Sanderson Farms, Hammond, La. (effective June 11, 2007) Indiana Packers Corp., Delphi, Ind. (effective August 15, 2007) Smithfield Packing Co., Tar Heel, N.C. (effective August 15, 2007) Sanderson Farms, Moultrie, Ga. (effective June 1, 2007.) Two of the plants have been suspended since 2005. Additional plants are under 45-day warnings. They can still export product but must go 45 days without incident or also be suspended, according to USDA. USDA Press Secretary Keith Williams told Meatingplace.com that the agency doesn't, as a policy, publish the names of plants under warning. The agency considers a warning only as a claim, which "might certainly be subject to some additional facts we or the plant brings forward that then refutes the claim, or that resolves the issue," he said.   Time to trash more Chinese toys!  This is gonna get good.

 

Researchers are developing transportable pyrolysis units that will convert poultry litter into bio-oil.  According to this article http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/08/transportable-p.html, the United States alone produces 5.6 million tons of chicken litter containing bedding, feathers, manure and spilled feed (most likely containing the melamine/cyanuric acid tainted recalled pet food), and that is currently marketed to produce cattle feed.  There are some concerns about land & water pollution, mad cow disease and avian flu introduction into the food chain as well (aka, Chicken Mcnuggets with a side of penicillin) since we do consume large quantities of non-organic hormone-laden beef in the US that most other nations are refusing to import already.

Since the corn-fed car idea hopefully seems to be fizzling out due to inflated skyrocketing food (and Bourbon) costs resulting from the Monsanto God taking over US crops, maybe this one isn't such a bad idea.  Think about it - when selecting your fuel grade at the gas pump it would only be Original or Crispy.  And since China is now also rejecting Tyson chicken products we need to figure out something to do with those pesky chickens again.  Dropping bushel bags of wheat to tsunami victims is one thing, but I don't think we could pull off that gesture with chickens without raising some suspicions. 

Three problems with that process:  1. Peta;  2. An avian flu epidemic might result in us all having to take the bus provided it isn't fueled by chicken droppings as well, and  3.  We would need to mass produce chickens by the billions, and instead of Monsanto forcing farmers everywhere to produce their transgenic grains, it would be chickens - everywhere.  That won't go over big in Kentucky.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chicken+***

 

According to this article, strongarming China is exactly what Washington has been doing to persuade them to accept our meats.  Apparently, we need to expand the obesity, food allergies & alarming miscarriage and stillborn rates we've seen in the past decade with other Nations and share the joy.  I would not be one bit surprised if we introduced the melamine into the products that were exported from China, after all, Borden Chemicals did set up plant out there and they have an extensive interest in melamine.  Interesting we have heard nothing again about the tainted pet food and the companies that supposedly supplied the melamine and cyanuric acid have disappeared.  Since Americans have begun rejecting our hormone laden meats as well, Washington is now looking to peddle it to what they believe are consumers more ignorant than the US.

Beef News

Washington pushing U.S. beef on Beijing

By Tom Johnston on 8/23/2007 for Meatingplace.com

Amid the hoopla surrounding tainted Chinese imports, U.S. trade negotiators and cattlemen are trying to convince Beijing to resume imports of U.S. beef. Terry Stokes, CEO of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, reiterated Washington's message: China should adopt guidelines established by the World Organization for Animal Health, which essentially deemed U.S. beef safe. "We are very disappointed in the progress that has been made over the last year since they announced that they would resume trade with the United States," Stokes told reporters. China technically opened its border to U.S. beef in June 2006, but the two countries have yet to agree on trade-resumption conditions. U.S. negotiators recently visited Beijing to try to get the ball rolling, Steve Norton, spokesman for the Unites States Trade Representative, told Meatingplace.com. China represents a major business opportunity for U.S. producers. "China has more than 100 cities with more than 10 million people," Stokes said. "That creates a great opportunity as their economy improves for U.S. grain-fed beef."

 

And Korea has banned our beef, also.  We'll most likely be going after "Made in Korea" toys also:

Beef News

S. Korea pulls trade permit from Swift plant

By Tom Johnston on 9/4/2007 for Meatingplace.com

South Korea revoked the trade permit of a JBS-Swift & Co. plant after it sent to Busan a 39.4-pound box of beef containing banned ribs. Seoul only just resumed quarantine inspections of U.S. beef, and at the time warned that future violations of its import protocols would result in further suspensions. (See S. Korea resumes quarantine inspections of U.S. beef on Meatingplace.com, Aug. 27, 2007.) Seoul called the Grand Island, Neb., plant a "repeat offender." It also had shipped a box of ribs on July 31. JBS-Swift spokesman Marco Sampaio told Meatingplace.com the revoked trade permit wouldn't affect the company because two of its other plants are still shipping to South Korea and can pick up the slack. An anonymous official quoted by Yonhap News indicated that sanctions on the plant will remain until Seoul and Washington agree on new import guidelines under which bone-in beef could be admissible. South Korea suspended quarantine inspections of U.S. beef early last month after receiving a box containing banned spinal tissue from a Cargill beef plant in Friona, Texas. Seoul subsequently revoked the plant's trade license.

 

 

And now South Korea has banned Cargill meats as well - the Food Fight is alive and well:

 

Now, when I first read this article, I thought it had to be a joke.  Apparently it is not, and this is the stance Washington is taking in the China Food Fight.  To spare you the agony of reading the entire absurdity, I'll give a quick review of some choice (not USDA) quotes.  We have bought and eaten what our corrupt Government and meat industry is selling us, but China so far has not.  It will be interesting to see if they have a price.  Washington did, and will most likely do more in the way of imported recalls to attempt to bring them to their knees and say Uncle to accept the chemical saturated meats we are buying and swallowing with no questions asked.

On the issue of China's zero-tolerance for traces of RACTOPAMINE in pork, Keenum said the U.S. delegation reiterated the growth-enhancing feed additive's safety under international standards.

"They've got it confused with another compound in the same family of chemicals…they are mixing apples and oranges," said Keenum. China's response? "They said, well, we don't see it that way."  American consumers are confused as well.  The compound has not been studied for long-term effects on humans but causes defects and cancers in lab animals.

Ractopamine is safe." 

Keenum said his team emphasized that beef exports to China are a high priority in Washington and on President Bush's agenda. That explains the sudden rash of Chinese toy recalls, but what happened to Bin Laden?

How can you produce poultry without traces of salmonella? It's killed when you cook it," So is the chicken, but it doesn't mean it's safe.

**************************************

U.S. and China spar on beef, pork and poultry

By Janie Gabbett on 9/7/2007 for Meatingplace.com

U.S. and Chinese officials met in Beijing last week for agricultural trade talks, but failed to see eye-to-eye on issues related to beef, pork and poultry trade. "I was disheartened. It was frustrating, I admit," USDA's Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Mark Keenum, who led the U.S. delegation, told Meatingplace.com in an interview. Pork On the issue of China's zero-tolerance for traces of ractopamine in pork, Keenum said the U.S. delegation reiterated the growth-enhancing feed additive's safety under international standards. "They've got it confused with another compound in the same family of chemicals…they are mixing apples and oranges," said Keenum. China's response? "They said, well, we don't see it that way." Asked if Smithfield's recent agreement to ship a small amount of ractopamine-free pork to China was a way forward, Keenum said, "It's not the position of the industry to develop such a product and it's not the government's view either. Ractopamine is safe." Beef The U.S. team also again pushed China to adhere to international standards that allow U.S. beef exports from cattle over 30 months of age. The United States is not currently exporting beef to China, which only accepts beef from cattle younger than 30 months. Keenum said his team emphasized that beef exports to China are a high priority in Washington and on President Bush's agenda. Nevertheless, there was no movement on the issue in the context of last week's talks. Poultry The two sides also discussed China's zero-tolerance for salmonella in raw poultry. "How can you produce poultry without traces of salmonella? It's killed when you cook it," said Keenum. As for China, "They simply reaffirmed their position," he said. Conversely, however, Keenum said USDA is working to produce rules that would allow China to export cooked chicken products to the United States. China's list Meanwhile, the Chinese delegation came to the table with its own list of complaints about U.S. food products, including imported meat, seafood, fishmeal, soybeans, cotton, potato chips and vitamin C. He said labeling problems, falsified certificates and poor quality were among their complaints. Next week, Wei Chuanzhong, vice minister of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine (AQSIQ), will lead a delegation to Washington for bilateral talks on food safety with USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Richard Raymond. Asked if he had any reason for optimism, Keenum replied, "I am an optimist," adding he's hoping the issues will be resolved before December's cabinet-level Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade meeting between the two nations.

 

So China now gets their pork without Paylean from Smithfield.

We in the US do not want it either.  Where do we go from here?   How is it that China can control what goes into their diets but we cannot? 

 

 

This one came from Pennsylvania, not China:

http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/oct07/071001r.asp

Excerpt from "Pet food might have link to human illness"

The CDC is collaborating with public health officials in Pennsylvania and other states and with the FDA to investigate a potential link between an outbreak of Salmonella Schwarzengrund infection in humans and an undisclosed brand of dry pet food made by Mars Petcare that may have been produced at a single plant in Pennsylvania.

As of Sept. 4, 62 persons infected with the same strain of Salmonella Schwarzengrund were reported to the CDC from 18 states. Cases continue to be reported. There have been no related reports of illness in pets, although the outbreak strain was isolated in fecal specimens from two dogs that ate dry pet food in the homes of two of the ill persons.

Investigations are ongoing to determine why human illness, especially among infants, may be associated with dry pet food. Factors under investigation include handling and storage of dry pet food, hand-washing practices, exposure of children to dry pet food, and location in the home where pets are fed.

 

From the CDC:  http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/schwarzengrund.html

As of September 4, 2007, 62 persons infected with the same strain of Salmonella Schwarzengrund have been reported to CDC from 18 states: Pennsylvania (26 cases), New York (8 cases), Ohio (6 cases), Massachusetts (5 cases), Maine (2 cases), North Dakota (2 cases), Virginia (2 cases), Alabama (1 case), California (1 case), Delaware (1 case), Illinois (1 case), Kentucky (1 case), Maryland (1 case), Michigan (1 case), Minnesota (1 case), New Jersey (1 case), North Carolina (1 case), and Wisconsin (1 case). Of the ill persons for whom an age is available, 39% were one year of age or younger. Of ill persons for whom clinical information is available, 32% developed bloody diarrhea and 10 (25%) were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

Transmission and Clinical Features

Salmonella bacteria live in the intestines of many food animals, such as cows and chickens, and commonly contaminate foods of animal origin. People get Salmonella infection by ingesting these germs, usually in contaminated food or water, but also by putting objects or fingers contaminated with these germs into the mouth.

Most people infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12–72 hours after infection. Infection is usually diagnosed by culture of a stool sample. The illness usually lasts 4– 7 days, and most people recover without treatment. Infants, elderly persons, and people with impaired immune systems are more likely than others to develop severe illness. In severe infection, Salmonella spreads from the intestines to the bloodstream and then to other body sites, and death can occur if the person is not treated promptly with antibiotics.

Advice to Consumers

• Wash hands for at least 20 seconds with warm water and soap right after handling dry pet foods and treats.
• Wash hands before preparing food and before eating.
• Keep infants away from pet feeding areas. Do not allow them to touch or eat dog food.
• Follow the Food and Drug Administration's Safe Handling Tips for Pet Foods and Treats
  http://www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/petfoodtips080307.html