Thursday, May 10, 2007

Update On Melamine 5, What To Do With All That Pet Food

I loved this question from a CNN reporter at a media briefing Tuesday, held by the FDA and USDA. (If ever a question was leading.)
CNN REPORTER: "Okay, and follow-up question, now that the risk assessment for melamine in feed for livestock is low, does that mean that you will then allow the pet food companies to sell all their recalled food to livestock companies as long as it's used in a small amount?"

DR. STEPHEN SUNDLOF (Director, Center for Veterinary Medicine at FDA): "The answer is no, - that we consider any of the tests positive to be adulterated and could not be used to further process into feed."
Was there a contradiction there?

It makes you wonder the fate of 60 million containers of pet food contaminated with melamine and related nitrogen-rich compounds. Will it be disposed of? (Does somebody open all those individually packaged pouches and cans?) I sure hope landfill liners are intact. Although the problems posed by e-waste are probably more challenging.
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On a related note, I found this while reading. (This is a good place to mention the point Family Nutritionist makes, that melamine resin is distinct from melamine as found in pet food.)

Resin identification codes (notice number 7):1


Click for larger.
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1 From Waste Online. More information on these codes can be found on the following chart (pdf) provided by the American Chemistry Council: Plastic Packaging Resins

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