Pet Recall Update - 99% of all Pet Food is Safe!
WASHINGTON, April 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pet Food Institute,
the trade group representing companies that supply more than 90 percent of
the pet food on store shelves today, issued the following facts about the
current concerns over pet food following the deaths of 16 pets.
The FDA and the Pet Food Industry Are Working Together to Protect Pet
Owners
-- The pet food industry and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have
worked closely together since the very first reports occurred about
possible adulteration in pet foods. The industry-government partnership
continues as investigators seek to determine the exact cause of the
adulteration and work to ensure that it never happens again.
-- Because FDA had key information from the industry about the
manufacturing process, including lot numbers, shipping dates and
ingredients, FDA was able to narrow its search and determine the source
of adulteration. Now investigators are trying to determine how the
adulteration could have occurred.
-- It is imperative not just that we determine what is sickening and
killing pets but also how this adulterant entered the pet food supply.
That is why the ongoing process is so deliberate and painstaking. While
the FDA confirms only 16 pets have died as the result of ingesting the
adulterant, if only one pet dies, then it's one death too many.
What We Know About the Source of the Current Pet Food Recall
-- The FDA has identified Melamine, a plastic derivative used as
fertilizer, as the probable adulterant responsible for the pet food
recall. Further, the FDA has identified the source as the Xuzhou Anying
Biologic Technology Development Co., a Chinese manufacturer whose wheat
gluten tested positive for melamine. Products from that company have
now been blocked for U.S. import by the FDA.
-- Melamine is not used in any way shape or form in pet food manufacturing
and the pet food industry had never seen it before. The substance is
completely foreign to the process and shouldn't have been found on
wheat gluten.
-- Now that the FDA and the pet food industry have experienced this event,
we will know what to look for and how to test for this adulterant in
the future.
More Than 99 Percent of Pet Food Remains Unaffected
-- It's important to remember that more than 99 percent of pet food has
been unaffected by the voluntary recalls by pet food companies. In
fact, consumers can buy with confidence the pet food that is for sale
on shelves today.
-- While episodes like the one we have just gone through sometimes occur,
they are extremely rare and the pet food industry and FDA regulators
are doing everything humanly possible to ensure that it doesn't happen
again.
The Pet Food Institute, the trade group representing companies that
supply more than 90 percent of the pet food on store shelves today, is a
clearinghouse for information about the current recall. To stay updated on
the recall and link to the web sites of companies that have been affected,
consumers are encouraged to visit PFI's web site at
https://www.petfoodinstitute.org