Contaminated Wheat May Have Spread To Human Food Supply

[Nbadan]

Thanks Globalization!


Del Monte Foods has confirmed that the melamine-tainted wheat gluten used in several of its recalled pet food products was supplied as a "food grade" additive, raising the likelihood that contaminated wheat gluten might have entered the human food supply.

"Yes, it is food grade," Del Monte spokesperson Melissa Murphy-Brown wrote in reply to an e-mail query.

Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-goldstein/tainted-wheat-gluten-sold_b_44743.html)

The FDA released name of wheat gluten exporter:

Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology 3/30/07 Wheat gluten
Development Company Ltd.

Chinese farmers "willfully" contaminated their food with rat poison in order to increase wheat and grain production and my guess is -- all the poisoned food that comes into the United States from China -- is not just from one company. Rats across China eat 50 billion kilograms of grain annually, equivalent to the consumption of 100 million people. China’s People’s Daily reported (http://www.etherzone.com/2007/sarg033007.shtml) that, “In the past two years, more than 30 million hectares (74,131,614 acres) of farmland were applied with...rat poison, helping save 7 billion kilograms of grain.”

[sabar]

I welcome globalization. Wheat grown here is probably more likely to be poisoned anyways, the U.S. leads the world in developed countries with foodborne illness.

Either way melamine is non-toxic to humans in any amount that would be found in wheat. You could probably get more melamine by eating your wooden kitchen cabinent than eating tainted wheat.

[Nbadan]

I don't want to eat or feed anything to kids that can kill a dog and I doubt seriously that you do to.

[PixelPusher]

I don't want to eat or feed anything to kids that can kill a dog and I doubt seriously that you do to.
Chocolate can kill dogs too. There is a "people food vs. animal food" aspect to this story as well.

[xrayzebra]

Oh, well. Gotta be someone's fault. So lets blame Bush. He
could have stopped this by not trading with China...or maybe
declaring war on them.

[Nbadan]

Settle down Francis...


ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Tainted wheat gluten that triggered a massive nationwide pet food recall also ended up in processing plants that prepare food consumed by people, the Food and Drug Administration said yesterday. While agency leaders offered assurances that the nation's food supply remains safe, they said they cannot yet completely rule out contamination of human food by the suspect wheat gluten, which contained melamine, a chemical found in plastics and pesticides.

According to import records, the wheat gluten was shipped to the United States from Nov. 3, 2006 to Jan. 23 of this year and contained "minimal labeling" to indicate whether it was intended for humans or animals. The vast majority went to pet food manufacturers and distributors, according to the FDA. But some of the processing plants that remain under FDA scrutiny make both human and pet food.

Boston.com (http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/04/03/was_human_food_tainted_too)

ChemNutra "decline" to identify what companies they supplied.

[whottt]

Tylenol and Advil can kill dogs too...

I heard giving them wheat or maybe rye bread makes them trip like on LSD too...


Something like that.

[Nbadan]

Trust us...


None of the contaminated wheat gluten that led to the U.S. recall of pet food went to manufacturers of food for humans, the ingredient's importer said Tuesday.

The Chinese wheat gluten imported by ChemNutra Inc. all went to companies that make pet foods, Stephen Miller, chief executive officer of the Las Vegas company, told The Associated Press.

Miller declined to identify what companies ChemNutra supplied. Nearly 100 brands of cat and dog foods made with the ingredient, since found to be chemically contaminated, have been recalled.

Detroit News (http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070403/UPDATE/704030453/1020)

[Extra Stout]

They covered up most of the C-J deaths too (mad cow).

[boutons_]

The last thing the agri/food business has as a priority is the health of the consumers, which for them is a necessary evil, increasing their costs, reducing their profits. They will produce the lowest cost, shittiest, riskiest product for the highest price to maximize their profits. Then they will hire scientist whores to run tests and studies that, surprise, ALWAYS show their products are 100% safe. We end up with a food supply that justifies being treated as Hazardous Material in the home.

[sickdsm]

The last thing the agri/food business has as a priority is the health of the consumers, which for them is a necessary evil, increasing their costs, reducing their profits. They will produce the lowest cost, shittiest, riskiest product for the highest price to maximize their profits. Then they will hire scientist whores to run tests and studies that, surprise, ALWAYS show their products are 100% safe. We end up with a food supply that justifies being treated as Hazardous Material in the home.


And that's why the push is being made for organic foods, natural fed animals, premium for leaner animals, and indenty preserved crops that have become more than a niche market. Lowest cost? Can you tell me why the hell i'm paying check-off dollars for low and ultra low linolenic research? It LITERALY is for everyone's fat ass's. Scientist whores? riggghhht. That's why we had the Starlink fiasco a few years ago. How many people or animals were made sick from that again? None, it just wasn't labeled yet. Dont you think that could have been swept under the rug?


You bitch about the food supply but its a market driven world. Your more than welcome to buy expensive orgainic food to appease your worries. The american consumer dictates what they want and they want a cheap food supply.

[smeagol]

Yep, globalization sucks.

We need to go back to the Middle Ages. The lord - serf sytem, filled with castles and moats. Let's bring the manor back.

Dan, you are a genius.

[boutons_]

corps have poisoned us beyond redemption or correction

stuff like this:

Source: Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health

Date: April 24, 2007
More on:

Man-made Chemicals Detected In Newborns

Science Daily — An analysis of nearly 300 umbilical cord blood samples led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health shows that newborn babies are exposed to perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) while in the womb. PFOS and PFOA are polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs)—ubiquitous man-made chemicals used in a variety of consumer products, including as a protective coating on food-contact packaging, textiles and carpets, and in the manufacturing of insecticides. The health impact from exposure to these compounds is not fully known, but previous studies found these compounds could cause tumors and developmental toxicity in laboratory animals at doses much higher than those observed in the Hopkins study.

The analysis conducted in Baltimore, Md., detected PFOS in 99 percent of the infant samples examined and PFOA in 100 percent of those examined. The results are published in the April 20, 2007, online edition of the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Some of the study’s findings were previously reported at the Society of Toxicology workshop held in February and at the International Conference on Environmental Epidemiology and Exposure held last September.

“When we began this research we weren’t sure what we would find, because previously there was very little information about fetal exposure to PFOS and PFOA. Even though these chemicals are not bioaccumulative in fat, they are very persistent, which probably accounts for their presence in nearly every newborn,” said Benjamin Apelberg, PhD, lead author of the study and a research associate in the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology. Apelberg conducted this work as part of his doctoral research.

The researchers analyzed cord serum from 299 newborns delivered at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore between 2004 and 2005. The samples were tested for the presence of PFOS and PFOA and eight other polyfluoroalkyl compounds. PFOA was detected in all of the samples and PFOS in all but two of the samples. The concentrations for both compounds were lower than those typically detected in adults in the United States and lower than those known to cause tumors and developmental problems in laboratory animals; more study is needed to understand health effects at these lower exposure levels.

PFOS concentrations were slightly higher in Black and Asian infants compared to White infants, but no correlation was found between concentrations and the mother’s socioeconomic status, age, education, marital status or whether she lived within the city limits or not. In addition, the researchers found a strong correlation between concentrations of PFOS and PFOA even though the compounds come from different industrial sources. The finding suggests that humans may be exposed to both chemicals in a similar manner.

“This study confirms that, as we might have suspected, exposure to PFOS and PFOA is fairly universal; this is of particular concern because of the potential toxicity, especially developmental toxicity, for these chemicals and the lack of information about health risks at these exposure levels. What was surprising is how strongly they are associated with each other, given that they have very different uses. We will need additional research to understand how exposures are occurring in this region,” said Lynn Goldman, MD, co-author of the study and a professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Addition study authors include Antonia M. Calafat, Julie B. Herbstman, Zsuzsanna Kuklenyik, Jochen Heidler, Larry Needham, Rolf U. Halden and Frank Witter. Heidler and Halden are with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Herbstman, formerly a doctoral student in epidemiology at the JHSPH is now at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and Witter is with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Calafat, Kuklenyik and Needham are with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The research was supported by funding from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Maryland Mothers and Babies Study, the Cigarette Restitution Fund, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future and the Heinz Foundation.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

[RandomGuy]

I welcome globalization. Wheat grown here is probably more likely to be poisoned anyways, the U.S. leads the world in developed countries with foodborne illness.

Either way melamine is non-toxic to humans in any amount that would be found in wheat. You could probably get more melamine by eating your wooden kitchen cabinent than eating tainted wheat.


Mmmm kitchen cabinet in a creamy marianade, with a nice ceasar side salad.

Chicken fried cabinets, even better, finger lickin.... argggh...