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The Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorney, recently released news that owners of ChemNutra pleaded guilty in federal court “to distributing a tainted ingredient used to make pet food.”  How many more cases of intentional pet food ingredient contamination are there?

The US Attorney press release stated that Sally Miller and husband Stephen Miller “admitted that melamine was substituted wholly or in part for the protein requirement of the wheat gluten so as to make it appear the wheat gluten was better or of greater value than it was. They also admitted that the labeling of the wheat gluten was false and misleading because the wheat gluten was represented to have a minimum protein level of 75 percent, when in fact it did not. The labeling was also false and misleading because melamine was not listed on the label as an ingredient.”  http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/news2009/miller.ple.htm

Forgive me for being pessimistic.  The above admission of guilt only leaves me with more questions.  One got caught; how many more instances of intentional pet food ingredient tampering have slipped through the gaping holes in pet food regulations?  How many pet food ingredients have been tampered with to save money despite the potential risk?  When will the next intentional pet food ingredient tampering happen, and will they get caught like ChemNutra?

The FDA is currently seeking comments on the ‘Reportable Food Registry (RFR) Guidance’.   “The RFR applies to all FDA-regulated categories of foods, including animal feed.”  http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm167267.htm 

Not that my words are heard by the FDA, however my comment submitted to them is below.

An effective Reportable Food Registry must include provisions for industry whistle blowers.  The US recently got lucky with the admission of guilt for intentional ingredient tampering of ChemNutra.  This guilty plea begs the question how many other instances of ingredient tampering has fallen through regulatory cracks?  Please include in the FDA’s Reportable Food Registry Guidance provisions to solicit information from industry insiders, and to provide for their protection when they ‘blow the whistle’ on industry.  Excluding availability for insiders to anonymously report to the FDA on industry misgivings is only extending the opportunity for intentional food tampering and intentional food violations to occur. 

If you would like to submit your comment to the FDA regarding the Reportable Food Registry, visit http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm167267.htm  Comments will be accepted until July 27, 2009.

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Truth about Pet Food
Petsumer Report
www.TruthaboutPetFood.com

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