CBS 21 Community

http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-mattel22sep22,0,3156433.story?page=1&coll=la-headlines-pe-business

So Mattel apologizes to China, although it appears though the article is worded to "save face" for China, yet there is no specific reference to what, exactly, Mattel apologized for.  My guess is their manufacturing engineers didn't do their job in either specificying lead-free materials.  I don't see how this could be an "oversight" - Mattel got caught, pure and simple.

We in the USA owe China an awful amount of money - last I'd heard it was 3 billion or some such thing.  So taking our toys and going home may not have been a good idea, and Mattel knew this.

What Mattel doesn't think we know is that there are simple Household Lead Check do it yourself testing kits sold for under $10 at Home Depot (can be purchased online also), of course this does not replace lab-tested materials, but those are available to consumers, also.  http://www.leadtesttoys.com/ They can be ordered online as well.

Since we do not see any comparison lead testing on US made products, consumers might want to do this themselves.

But no one's still answered the question what do we do about pencils??? 

 

 

When do the apologies come to the consumers who have purchased millions of dollars of products in good faith for friends, family members, children and companion animals who trusted them???

Mattel, it is wonderful that you made the "face saving" gesture to China.  Did you forget about your consumers - the ones that actually put the money in your pocket that you bank most of as profits while you have given us the short end of the stick by outsourcing to people who make a dollar a week?  And you apologize to China?  What about US????   You have not said what it is you did wrong.  I do not see any accountability or responsibility acknowledged. 

If I have a carpet cleaner do my rugs, I ask up front what chemicals are used, and I research each and every one of them that may be potentially toxic, and ask for all documentation up front before it's done to ensure the safety and well being of my loved ones and pets.  You greedy poor excuse for a high-profile children's interest mega conglomerate - you apologized to CHINA????  

You knew up front very well what you designed, specified an ordered from overseas, and would have continued to do so had you not got caught lead handed.

No apologies from Menu Foods and Chem Nutra who have caused the deaths of a somehow "unknown" number of companion animals.

No apologies, accountability and responsibility from all the US food processors who have introduced bacterias, botulisms, cancers and parasites into most of our bodies and our childrens' bodies, killing those with weakened immune systems.  And Americans are expecting the clowns in Washington to protect them? 

The Italians have gestures for you, the likes of Mattel, Menu Foods, Bravo, Dupont, Borden, Graco, Simplicity, Castleberry, Smithfield, Monsanto, ConAgra...the list goes on to infinity:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVCuyrPk7P4

Our parents gave us pots and pans to play with, and large cardboard boxes with doors cut out.  Colored paper, crayons and glue.  One doll.  One ball. They made us games.  Played with us.  Showed us how to be creative to entertain ourselves, spoke to us, taught us, showed us how to socialize with respect, and participate in activities that encouraged emotional development rather than playing with the toxic mindless trash you are sending your kids to Harvard with while our kids may die from it.  You have made your fortune from us, and you apologize to China.

Foks, time to get out the pots, pans and boxes (just make sure the pans aren't Teflon coated).

*** you, Mattel.

According to the article below, the FDA has "warned" Tembec not to use melamine in food additives anymore.  Sweet.  Warned them.  The public was made aware of Tembec's adding these toxic compounds back in May of this year (see article in this thread on that date), and at that time the FDA said it posed no health threat to humans.  Tembec says basically if they can't use it, they will take THEIR toys and go home - hopefully they'll have come from Mattel.

Warned them?  Shut the arrogant bastards down!

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

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. food regulators warned Tembec Inc (TBC.TO: Quote) about violations at an animal feed plant, including use of unapproved additives linked to cat and dog deaths from tainted pet food.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in a letter posted on its Web site on Tuesday, cites Tembec's Toledo, Ohio, plant, which makes feed-binding agents containing additives, including significant levels of melamine.

Melamine is an industrial chemical used to make plastics and has also been found to improve binding of ingredients used to make food pellets. It is not approved as a food additive.

In an unrelated case, melamine has been linked to animal deaths traced to pet food from China.

The FDA letter, dated September 11, also cited several other food additives not approved as safe, and faulty cleaning of equipment used for both industrial-grade resins and animal feed products.

Officials at Tembec were not available for comment.

The company, primarily a wood products producer, has told the agency it will stop making products regulated by the FDA, the letter said.

The agency asked for official confirmation in writing that Tembec will stop making feed binding agents, the FDA said in the letter.

In May, Tembec recalled livestock and fish feed due to the contamination issue.

 

Good for Japan!

 

Another Japanese ag minister, another cold shoulder for U.S. beef

By Tom Johnston on 9/26/2007 for Meatingplace.com

The latest installment in Japan's agriculture ministry's top post said political pressure from the United States won't persuade Tokyo to change its current policy on U.S. beef imports. Agriculture Minister Masatoshi Wakabayashi, who on Tuesday became Japan's fifth farm chief this year when new Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda selected his cabinet, reiterated his government's stance after Acting U.S. Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner called on Tokyo to raise its age limit on U.S. beef imports. (See Like Mike: Conner calls on Japan et al to relax limits on U.S. beef on Meatingplace.com, Sept. 25, 2007.) "If the U.S. uses political pressure to solve [the issue], that would be in vain," the 73-year-old Wakabayashi told reporters at a news conference, adding that Japan would only base its decision on scientific facts, Reuters reported. Japanese officials have been reviewing data supplied by Washington to decide whether U.S. beef from cattle of all ages is safe — the same data the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) reviewed before deeming the United States a "controlled-risk" region for bovine spongiform encephalopathy in May.

This is how deceitful our USDA and FDA are.  Now Russia has also rejected our poultry as well as our beef and pork, because apparently every other nation knows our food supply is governed by crooks and corruption, and the only one that doesn't appears to be American citizens.  So even though we attempt all within our powers to feed our families with good intentions and pay up the wazoo for it, we're still getting crap added.  And growth hormones.  And antibiotics.  And Salmonella.  And eColi.  And Listeria.  And Botulism.  And CANCER.....ad infinitum....

American Grassfed Association opposes USDA grass-fed marketing claim

By Ann Bagel Storck on 10/19/2007 for Meatingplace.com

The American Grassfed Association on Wednesday rejected the standard for grass-fed claims announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA's standard is set to go into effect Nov. 15. (See Grass-fed marketing claim standard to go into effect next month on Meatingplace.com, Oct. 17, 2007.) In a news release, AGA claimed that because the USDA standard only required that animals have access to pasture during the growing season, animals could be kept in confinement for long periods. It also argued that because the standard allows incidental supplementation of the forage diet to ensure the animal's welfare, animals could be fed grain and still marketed as grass-fed. "By focusing exclusively on feed, the USDA standard leaves the door open for an industrial model of agriculture that absolutely goes against public expectations for grass-fed products," said AGA Director Carrie Balkcom. AGA is partnering with Food Alliance, a national nonprofit certification organization, to promote a separate standard and certification program for grass-fed livestock. The program's criteria, which will be listed on Food Alliance's Web site, will blend aspects of Food Alliance's existing sustainable agriculture certification with grass-fed criteria developed by AGA.

 

Thank you for contacting us about Glad Press N Seal Regular. We always appreciate hearing from our consumers.

The chemical composition and formulation of Glad Press N Seal is proprietary and can not be divulged.  We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause you, but it is a trade secret and must be protected.

 

Again, thank you for contacting us.

Sincerely,

Brian Donley

Consumer Response Representative

Consumer Services

If you have additional questions or comments, please click here to respond to this email

"Thank you for contacting us about Glad Press N Seal Regular. We always appreciate hearing from our consumers.

The chemical composition and formulation of Glad Press N Seal is proprietary and can not be divulged.  We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause you, but it is a trade secret and must be protected.

 

Again, thank you for contacting us. "

Sincerely,

Brian Donley

Consumer Response Representative

Consumer Services

If you have additional questions or comments, please click here to respond to this email

Please do not buy this product until they make full disclosure of what it is we will be having leech into our foods.

 

And now they're packaging our meats with carbon monoxide?  Did we know this?

Hormel and Cargill - you can take this meat and shove it.  Tofu's starting to look better every day.  Heck, you can even brown it and season it so it darn near looks like meat - mix it with some veggies and you can make a nice burger.  Repulsed me for a long time, but it's looking better by the minute.  Go ahead, raise your meat prices some more.  Then you need to start lobbying congress to find a way to make pigs into fuel because it won't be long before consumers will refuse to eat it.  We actually do care about our families, you know.  And the alarming increase in autism rates and stillborns and men with infertile sperm we've seen over the last decade doesn't make for good future consumers for you.

Rotten crooks.

 

 

Legal/Regulatory News

FSIS reassessing data after e-mails raise more questions about meat packaging

By Tom Johnston on 11/14/2007 for Meatingplace.com

USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service said it would review data that weighed in its decision to allow adding carbon monoxide to meat packages after the emergence of internal e-mails from employees at major meat processing companies suggesting the data was faulty. A congressional subcommittee hearing held Tuesday revealed e-mails in which workers employed by Hormel Foods and Cargill Meat Solutions questioned data that lawmakers contend was used by government reviewers when they allowed the practice in 2004. A Hormel employee indicated he was "puzzled" the data didn't demonstrate a "clear correlation" between microbial counts, gas and odor in tested meats as expected, responding to another e-mail in which a Cargill worker asked why meat emitting more odor had microbial counts akin to meat with less odor, USA Today reported. Hormel Vice President Phil Minerich, according to the newspaper, contended that the data showed that the packaging kept microbial growth at bay beyond initial expectations. Randy Huffman, vice president of scientific affairs for the American Meat Institute Foundation, agreed with Minerich's assessment. "It appears that what [Congressman Bart Stupak] pointed out as a problem was just exactly the oppposite, based on what I heard and understand of the data," he told Meatingplace.com. "Through shelf life of the product, the bacteria declined." Amanda Eamich, a spokeswoman for FSIS, told Meatingplace.com the agency had no knowledge of the e-mails or the concerns expressed by Hormel and Cargill before they were raised at the hearing. "FSIS will go back and look at the data we were provided in 2004 to see if it is the same as the committee identified at the House Energy and Commerce hearing on [Tuesday]," she said. "FSIS will then complete a thorough reassessment of the data."

Interesting article here below.

Wonder how much we paid off the WHO?

 "He further noted that the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has declared that U.S. beef from cattle of any age is safe." US pork is "safe", yet pork workers are being plagued with brain disorders.  US chicken is "safe", yet TYSON claims their products are antiobiotic free, when they are not.  US claims their wheat is "safe", yet our citizens are now in a wheat allergy epidemic due to the transgenically engineered grains being forced down our throats with produce that is bred to blow up in an insect's stomach. US pre-schooler girls and boys are now growing breasts and entering puberty because of the growth hormones we pump our into steriod laced cattle like Barry Bonds.

The FDA claimed our pet foods were safe after the intial recall, yet there are still companies that have been notified their products are tainted yet with more sustances toxic to pets, but the names of those companies have not been disclosed and the US public has not been notified. 

The US agencies responsible for ensuring our food safety are crooks, pure and simple, and the only remaining culture that DOES trust them is the US citizens like a worm in the proverbial bottle of horseradish that knows no other world outside their own. 

 Hey, maybe Japan simply just doesn't trust us? Imagine that. Wonder why?

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

 

http://www.meatingplace.com/MembersOnly/webNews/details.aspx?item=19409

Japan's proposal to ease age limit on U.S. beef not good enough: U.S. official

By Tom Johnston on 12/7/2007 for Meatingplace.com

Washington's headaches with Tokyo continued when Japanese officials indicated amid technical talks Friday that it might allow imports of U.S. beef from cattle aged 30 months or younger. While a budge from its current protocol, limiting imports of beef from cattle younger than 21 months of age, it's not exactly what Washington has in mind. USDA Undersecretary of Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Mark Keenum told reporters that the United States, "Quite frankly does not see this is based on anything that has to do with science." He further noted that the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has declared that U.S. beef from cattle of any age is safe. "U.S. beef is entitled to unencumbered market access to any WTO (World Trade Organization) member nation regardless of the age," Keenum said, adding, "We strongly urge Japan to move forward." However, OIE standards are not enforceable and Japan is playing by its own rules. "Japan maintains its current position of restricting U.S. beef to (meat from cattle) no older than 20 months," Noriyuki Shikata, a foreign ministry official working on U.S. relations, told reporters. "No change whatsoever has been made." U.S. Meat Export Federation President and CEO Phil Seng told Meatingplace.com it comes as no surprise that Japan is mulling a move to 30 months, which has been in the works for more than a year. Other steps, including lifting a requirement that 100 percent of its cattle be tested for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, demonstrate a process in Japan, he said. "This is all part of a methodical approach by Japan," Seng said. "The Japanese obviously believe in doing this in steps, not one big step." However, Seng noted that U.S. meat exporters are collectively losing $100 million a month by not having full access to Japan's market, which is why the industry supports Washington's position on the issue.

Re:  Undeclared allergen prompts recall of beef and chicken base products (below)

By Ann Bagel Storck on 12/7/2007 for Meatingplace.com

Now, we have to see the humor in the below article.  Surely the FSIS does, right?

"FSIS has received no reports of illness due to consumption of these products"????   That would mean that a person taken ill would need to visit their physician and charged $200 for 7 minutes. That would mean their physician would actually have to take longer than 7 minutes to actually diagnose the complaints correctly rather than saying it's a bug (which antibiotics most likely would not help anyway) and prescribe antibiotics, or say it's stress and prescribe Xanax. That would mean IF the one in a million odds hit the lottery and that physician actually ordered bloodwork, the patient took time off work to get, once they got to the lab the physician forgot to tell them they needed to fast before the bloodwork, and the lab refused to do it but couldn't get them in for another two weeks. By that time the illness would have worked itself out, and case closed, or the lab didn't give a rat's ass and did the bloodwork anyway and the results would be invalid, but hell, who would know and who cares anyway.   See my point?     Custom Culinary Inc. in Oswego, Ill., is recalling approximately 990 pounds of beef and chicken base products because they may contain undeclared allergens. The beef base product contains milk and soy, which are known allergens. Jars of the beef base product may be mislabeled as chicken base, which does not declare these allergens on the label. The following products are subject to recall: Cases of 16-oz. jars of "US LOW SODIUM BEEF BASE PASTE NO MSG ADDED*." Each case bears the product codes "191806" and "30381E" and the lot code "72108122481," as well as the establishment number "EST. 2016" inside the USDA mark of inspection. 16-oz. jars of "US LOW SODIUM CHICKEN BASE PASTE NO MSG ADDED*." Each jar label bears the product codes "191805" and "10381E" as well as the establishment number "P-1278" inside the USDA mark of inspection. The lot code "72108122481" is printed on the lower side of the jar. The beef and chicken base products were produced on April 12, 2007, and were shipped to distribution warehouses in California, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Illinois, New Jersey, North Dakota, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. These products were intended for foodservice and restaurant use and are not expected to be available for purchase in retail establishments. The problem was reported to the company by a customer. FSIS has received no reports of illness due to consumption of these products.

Imagine that.

Most of the drugs pushed by the pharmaceutical pimps and pushers are made overseas.

Get used to it.  It is our own ignorance. apathy and acceptance  that has done this to us.

What did we expect?

 

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico —  The first warning sign came when a sharp-eyed worker sorting pills noticed that the odd blue flecks dotting the finished drug capsules matched the paint on the factory doors.

After the flecks were spotted again on the capsules, a blood-pressure medication called diltiazem, the plant began placing covers over drugs in carts in its manufacturing areas.

But the factory owner, Canadian drug maker Biovail Corp., never tried to find out whether past shipments of the drug were contaminated — or prevent future contamination, according to U.S. regulators.

Thirteen of the 20 best-selling drugs in the United States come from plants on this island. But an investigation by The Associated Press has found dozens of examples over four years of lapses in quality control in the Puerto Rican pharmaceutical industry, which churns out $35 billion of drugs each year, most of it for sale as part of the $300 billion market in the U.S.

An AP review of 100 pages of Food and Drug Administration reports shows even modern drug plants here under the watch of U.S. regulators have failed to keep laboratories sterile and have exported tainted pills.

"People would be shocked to find this whole variety of contamination," said Dr. Sidney Wolfe of the Washington watchdog group Public Citizen. "The common denominator of all these is there's really poor quality control."

FDA officials say the problems in Puerto Rico are proportionate with the large number of pharmaceutical plants here and generally no worse than those on the U.S. mainland.

Consumer advocates say they demonstrate the regulatory agency does not sufficiently monitor the industry across Puerto Rico and in the mainland.

The FDA issued a warning letter to Wyeth in May 2006, after consumers reported finding machinery pins inside bottles of Effexor, a leading depression treatment, and the heartburn drug Protonix. The letter expressed concern that the plant was not "able to detect that the affected equipment was missing some of its parts." The Madison, N.J.-based company faulted mistakes by workers who packaged the drugs.

In another case cited in a June 2006 FDA inspection report, a plant owned by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries exported drugs — including the diabetes treatment metformin — even though they were known to contain small amounts of metal particles. The company had also received at least six consumer complaints of dark residue inside bottles or foreign material embedded in tablets, according to the report.

Teva's quality-control unit said the presence of some metallic material was to be expected because the manufacturing equipment is made of metal, according to the report.

Teva recalled 21 different drugs as a result of the inspection, according to FDA officials, and the Israeli drugmaker announced two months later it was closing the plant, citing a restructuring.

Denise Bradley, a Teva spokeswoman, insisted the medicine from the now-closed plant was safe and effective despite the contamination.

The reports obtained by AP were produced by FDA inspections from 2003 to 2007 of 13 pharmaceutical plants — roughly half the total in this U.S. territory, a Caribbean island with one of the world's highest concentrations of drug makers.

Several are closing or downsizing as the expense of updating decades-old plants to meet regulations adds to struggles with rising energy costs and tightening tax breaks.

The FDA often hesitates to crack down at the first sign of problems because manufacturers can chalk them up to isolated mishaps, said John Scharmann, a former FDA administrator for the Denver district now associated with a watchdog group.

That appeared to be the case at the Biovail-owned factory in the San Juan suburb of Carolina where the sharp-eyed worker noticed the foreign specks of blue.

"Incident was considered an isolated event ... even when the employee reported having observed the same particles before," the report said.

David Elder, director of enforcement in FDA's regulatory affairs office, said pharmaceutical companies generally fix problems on their own and issue recalls if necessary once notified.

"They're making products that save or support lives, so it's not in their interest to make products that are unsafe or ineffective," he said. "I think they're good corporate citizens by and large and want to do right by their patients."

Four of the plants described in the reports closed or announced plans to do so after the discovery of significant quality-control problems, but none of them cited the discoveries as a reason for closing.

One of those four, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, produced tablets of the popular antidepressant Paxil CR that split apart, potentially causing patients to take incorrect dosages.

When the company would not recall all the affected pills, U.S. marshals raided the plant in March 2005 in the largest drug seizure in FDA history and also collected tablets of the diabetes treatment Avandamet after some were found not to have accurate doses of the active ingredient.

Some plants in Puerto Rico are three decades old, built when the territory's pharmaceutical industry took off thanks to tax incentives aimed at developing more high-tech manufacturing.

The industry here has faded somewhat. Companies have shed more than 3,000 jobs in the last 18 months and closed several plants for a variety of reasons, including the loss of federal tax breaks and cost-cutting.

Still, this island turns out some top-selling drugs on the U.S. market, including cholesterol drugs Lipitor and Zocor, the blood-thinner Plavix, anemia drugs Aranesp and Epogen and the antidepressant Zoloft.

The FDA's San Juan office has 22 inspectors who devote about a quarter of their time to pharmaceutical plants. They typically visit the factories once every two years, more often if there are consumer complaints or the company has repeated infractions.

Factories confronted with violations often make extensive changes. The Biovail plant invested $5 million in equipment upgrades and addressed problems including errant metal particles from cleaning spatulas. A follow-up FDA inspection found no problems, said Gilbert Godin, executive vice president of the Ontario-based company.

Scharmann, a consulting editor for the watchdog publication Dickinson's FDA Review, said the FDA is concerned by anything that affects drug quality but considers the likelihood that the companies may file legal challenges to enforcement actions.

"There's a fairly broad latitude that is allowed," Scharmann said.

Elder contends inspections are rigorous.

"The folks doing this work aren't just regulators. That's our job, but we're also consumers of these products," he said. "It's personal to us to make sure these products are in compliance."

Top 20-selling drugs in the U.S. made in Puerto Rico, with manufacturer and purpose:

1. Lipitor (Pfizer) -- high cholesterol

3. Zocor (Merck) -- high cholesterol

5. Plavix (BMS Sanofi) -- blood thinner

7. Aranesp (Amgen) -- anemia

8. Zoloft (Pfizer) -- depression

9. Epogen (Amgen) -- anemia

10. Enbrel (Amgen) -- rheumatoid arthritis

11. Procrit (Amgen-x) -- anemia

14. Norvasc (Pfizer) -- high blood pressure

15. Neulasta (Amgen) -- low white blood cells in chemotherapy

16. Effexor XR (Wyeth) -- depression

17. Zyprexa (Eli Lilly) -- schizophrenia, bipolar disorder

20. Risperdal (Janssen) -- schizophrenia, bipolar disorder

x-Amgen says it manufactures Procrit in Colorado, but Ortho Biotech, which distributes the drug, performs filling and finishing work in Puerto Rico.

Source: Pharmaceutical Industry Association of Puerto Rico

 

To whomever - my sincere thanks for indicting Chem Nutra.

To whomever - my sincere thanks for checking our prescription drugs.

 

Now, question - anybody else have a funny tingling in their legs?

Which of the above drugs did you take?

Ask your doctor.  Chances are he does not know what compounds are in your medications.  Unless he's one in a million that knows his stuff, and they are out there - you just have to swim through 20 miles of **** to get to them.

Ask your pharmacist.  Chances are they do not know what compounds are in your medications.  Unless they're one in a million that knows their stuff, and they are out there - you just have to go to Alaska to find one.   : )

Or learn to not only read but understand what you are reading.  We cannot depend on most experts.  Just depends on who you ask and what you read.  And if your legs start falling off and your chest hurts and you have no balance and you cannot think and your eyes go blurry or  you see double and you get F-14 Tomcat fighter jets in your head (not bugs), start to pray.  Because nobody's listening.

 

Why is it that no one will acknowledge the wheat glutens were and still are added to pets' food to stimulate the appetite?

This is a good start.  But it is simply a good start - years overdue, but still good. 

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2008/02/04/daily41.html

And no one has yet answered the question why Purina was not on the original list of recalled pet foods?  Wouldn't have anything to do with Novartis or Gerber Baby Foods, would it?  Nah......

My two cats died within a month of each other..  I saw their health declining and could not determine the cause, nor could the vet - I gave them intravenous fluids twice daily to attempt to keep them hydrated as well as daily injections, medications and TLC, but they both died after a brave fight.  My significant other held both their paws while the vet gave the final injection and I cried, when neither could stand up any longer and had no quality of life left and their will to live was gone.  Those cats kept me alive for 13 years.  I am sorry I could not return the favor. 

 

Wednesday, February 6, 2008
       

Indictment pegs KC as entry point for tainted pet food ingredients

       
        Kansas City Business Journal - by Steve Vockrodt Staff Writer
                           
Federal prosecutors in Kansas City indicted executives at a pair ofChinese businesses and another business in Las Vegas that investigatorsthink were responsible for importing tainted pet food ingredients intoKansas City that then were sold to pet food manufacturers.

 The indictment is tied to last year's massive pet food recallduring which 150 brands of pet food were recalled and more than 4,000cats and dogs were thought to have died as a result of eating thetainted food.

 Prosecutors charged executives at Las Vegas-based ChemNutra Inc. --owner and CEO Stephen Miller and his wife and company president SallyQing Miller -- with 13 charges of distributing adulterated food and 13more charges of distributing misbranded food, as well as an additionalcharge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

 ChemNutra allegedly distributed wheat gluten that was laced withmelamine, a polymer used in the production of plastic utensils andcleaning solutions.

 "It's emphatically not intended for human or animal consumption,"said John Wood, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

 The indictment claims that the company knew the wheat gluten wasmisbranded by Chinese companies so it would pass inspection beforeexportation, but falls short of establishing that ChemNutra executivesknew the gluten was riddled with melamine.

 "The indictment does not allege that they were aware that theproduct itself was adulterated, so we charged them only withmisdemeanor offenses regarding the misbranding and adulteration of petfood," Wood said.

 A spokesman with ChemNutra couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

 The Food and Drug Administrationsearched ChemNutra's offices in April 2007, at which time the companyissued a statement denying that it knew anything about melamine in theproducts it was selling.

 Meanwhile, executives at China-based Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd.were accused of introducing the chemical into the wheat gluten to makeit appear as though the product contained a sufficient level of proteinand was ready for distribution.

 

 

 

And to date the number of pet deaths listed above (4,000) is not even close to the true number.  I've heard estimates of over 40,000 - that have been recognized as being due to the pet food recall.

If they can't count dead cats and dogs, what makes us think they can count at all  (the government wouldn't, the lawyers are trying - Banfield gets a big thank you for doing the best job), what makes us think WE count?

PS - with regard to the meat recall - it's a simple equation:

Profit > Risk.

The above was acknowledged by the meat industry nearly a year ago to the best of my knowledge when there was a discussion regarding allowing BSE'd beef  into the US from Canada. 

I did at least take remedial Algebra 101.  Aced Geometry though.  Never did like numbers.  But I can count.

 

 

 

While we're interested in Statistics, can we please see the MALE/female birth statistics (and infant survival rate as well as birth abnormalities) broken down by State?

Of course, some states eat a lot of pork and some states smoke more than others. But how about mesothelioma? How about we send Rubbertown to California so they can do it for the Hopis?

CDC? Anybody out there?

Also, Mr. FDA, why is it now that prescription drug information given by a well known pharmacy might say, ""Do not take this medicine if you have had an allergic reaction to it, or other ACE inhibitors, or if you are allergic to any idgredient in this product, yet the specific ingredients to the product are listed *nowhere* on this sheet? Why is there nothing about what the ingredients are on this sheet? And why does this sheet say to have certain blood levels taken at regular intervals, yet my MD is not doing this?

Why does our local "supermarket" pharmacy not give comprehensive information about the prescriptions they give out?

Don't know about the rest of you, but the lack of communication between the pharmacies and MDs is killing me. But apparently the pharmaceutical companies are doing just fine.

Hu's running this country, anyway?

I think it's Purina.