Newsletter for Cat Lovers April 2007 vol. 2 no. 4
Cat news from
Yuck... nobody likes the taste of plastic, especially when you're expecting salmon!
Check the manufacturer sites for recalled brands:
Cat Lover Gifts World
at
"Excuse me... are you going to read that??"
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In cat food it can mean a lot. I'm sure everyone's aware by now of the furor and anxieties being raised over suspected melamine poisoning found in Menu Foods pet food brands (now nearly 100 labels long), and with others joining in the recall, i.e. Purina and Hill's Pet Nutrition, the entire pet food industry is coming under some overdue scrutiny.
It's naively assumed by many that the pet food industry is a regulated industry just like the USDA oversees the foods produced for human consumption in the U.S. At the Federal level there's a division of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) called the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) that is charged with enforcing the the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act which states that pet foods contain no harmful ingredients and be truthfully labeled. That's it. There's little enforcement or even a code for enforcement. Individual states have their own regulations and Department of Agriculture who oversee the sale of pet foods within their own borders. Needless to say, oversight is widely divergent from state to state, with some states, like California, not even budgeting for pet food production oversight. The end result is that there's no single agency to provide regulation enforcement (what regulations there are) over the entire industry. Passing the buck was never this easy.
What is this melamine, anyway? Let's look at Wikipedia's definition:
"Melamine is used combined with formaldehyde to produce melamine resin, a very durable thermosetting plastic, and of melamine foam, a polymeric cleaning product. The end products include countertops, fabrics, glues and flame retardants. Melamine is reportedly used in China as a fertilizer. This use appears inappropriate since it is not soluble in water and nitrogen would only be released if a heat source were present". Providing a nitrogen rich soil is the main purpose of most fertilizers.
And Merriam-Webster calls it:
"a white crystalline organic base C3H6N6 with a high melting point that is used especially in melamine resins".
Melamine is used in the production of 'thermosetting plastics', that is, plastics that are hard and don't melt in the presence of heat, such as your laminated kitchen counter top. Apparently, it's used as a fertilizer (throughout Asia, but not in the U.S.) making it likely for melamine to contaminate food sources, such as wheat gluten which is used in the production of pet foods. Melamine is used as a fertilizer because it has a high nitrogen content in the molecule, it's insoluble and has a low leaching potential making it a promising stimulant for plant growth. What is required for it to be successful is the presence of microorganisms in the soil to metabolize it and free up the nitrogen at sufficient rates for adequate plant growth. At this point it seems melamine is not efficient as a fertilizer because the microorganisms don't break down the molecules fast enough to be useful for the growing plants. I'm not even certain if the nitrogen (NH) compounds that result are themselves useful to the plant. Assuming the micro-biotic breakdown wouldn't occur fast enough for the molecule to disappear, whole molecules of melamine could be absorbed by the (wheat) plant, show up in the gluten, be used in the manufacture of cat food, and then be ingested by your cat. Unfortunately, there is little or no testing data identifying the risks of melamine to animals, or people for that matter. It's generally assumed that consumption of melamine has toxic effects.
Ahhh... the joys of a global economy. Ain't it grand? China is predicted, rightfully so, to be the next big economic superpower. Trouble is, it's growing so fast it can't keep up with itself. Just look at the problematic management challenges of its vast land areas and the myriad regional populations it has to draw it's resources from. All being done with infrastructures that are either antiquated or in fast-track development. And, there's an embedded bureaucracy that's always looked to scalp for itself a comfortable lifestyle at the expense of the little guys. Let's not even talk about an evolving social structure that apparently is dumping Maoist Communism for some form of open market economies. It makes Iran's 'truck without any brakes' look like a broken Tonkaź toy.
Without the incentive or ability to test every component of every product for every possible contamination that comes to market from another country, companies must, to a great degree, rely on any particular nations 'good faith' that they'll self-regulate what they send overseas. Maybe the Chinese company that sold the contaminated wheat gluten to the North American pet food manufacturers did so in good faith. What they may not have taken into consideration is that melamine, though acceptable as a fertilizer in China, is not allowed for that purpose in this country, precisely because it's not efficient as a fertilizer, considered poisonous to people, and its potentially fatal effects on small animals is unknown. But, there's that cultural thing coming into play. What is acceptable for the Chinese could be highly frowned upon by Americans... or Canadians, for that matter. I know in this country pets have a role in family life that makes them nearly kin. Other countries see pets at best as a good meal during lean times. Obviously, when a manufacturer of pet food in North America is procuring ingredients from sources outside this continent, strict guidelines regarding quality should be set and demanded of the supplying country. Of course, it would help if there was an active oversight agency with a clearly defined mandate watching our own industry. Big corporations are like spoiled children. They will do whatever they can to get what they want. And, what they want is a good looking bottom line.
It's almost certain, now, that there'll be calls for stronger regulation on the pet food industry, maybe even rivaling laws which regulate food for human consumption. It may not be so wise to create another expensive bureaucratic overlay that'll just cause a need for more limiting legislation. There's a good argument for not over-regulating the pet food industry which goes simply that if they don't produce a good product, nobody's going to buy it. That's o.k. to a point. Consumers would be better served if there were at least strong labeling requirements and testing of label claims by a licensed independent or dedicated government agency at the Federal level. Then when you pick up a can of cat food and read its label you can feel confident that what you read is really in the can and that there aren't any bad things for kitty in her meal. Right now no one, or at best a very few at some state levels, looks at cat food labels or tests those labels for accuracy. Moreover, consumers need to become pros at reading labels if for no other reason than to be able to tell the difference between chicken breast meat (good) and chicken by-products (not so good). People also need to keep in mind that cats, or any pets, don't care about glitzy packaging. Cute pictures with catchy names are for people. All pets care about is what's in the can or bag. There's a lesson in that approach for people. Don't be fooled by marketing hype or jazz. We should care about the content of our cat's food with the same emotion the endearing advertising touches us with. That means getting some legislative punch behind the enforcement of truth in advertising and labeling just like there are for people foods.
Until this situation is resolved, that is, when the problem is correctly identified, and until meaningful oversight is established, many people are turning to small independent cat food producers (who are more often organic or raw food purveyors) or even preparing their own cat food from scratch. Preparing food for your cat can be a bit tricky. What cat food manufacturers do generally well is to provide the necessary nutrients in the form of added vitamins and minerals, etc. a cat needs to maintain good health. If they didn't, your cat would get sick, or worse, and you'd stop buying that product. If you're going to make your kitty's food, you'll need to know what to fortify her food with so that she receives the essential amino acids, essential fats, omega 3's, vitamins and minerals needed for her to maintain good health. You'll want to know what foods, especially foods that people consume, are NOT good for her, also. Further, you'll need a formulae based on her age, activity level and present state of health. Of course you'll find yourself in the realm of being a holistic, organic food provider since you'll not need the fillers and stabilizers that large manufacturers use to make their products economical to mass produce and be shelf stable. But, believe me... your cat will love you for it. Here are 3 good references for producing your own food:
- Manual for Veterinary Dietetics - This is a comprehensive compendium good for those who want understand dietary requirements from a veterinarian's point of view.
- The Whole Pet Diet - User friendly, this book will guide you through assessing your cat's dietary needs based on her lifestyle and present state of health.
- Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats - An easy-to-read guide for holistic, raw diets to feed your pets.
Providing home-made food for your cat will require some time and effort on your part. So you'll want to make it in batches that will be lessen your work load, but not so large a batch that it will go bad before it's used. What might be more economical, both time-wise and financially, is to organize a food making group of like-minded cat owners to share the work involved in a home-made food producing campaign. Don't forget your veterinarian. Veterinarians should always be included in your decisions involving the manufacturing of your own cat food and should be the final authority of your recipes. Ultimately most people will want to be able to trust the large manufacturers to produce safe, healthful cat food that can be conveniently purchased at your local market. But, for the moment, people are scrambling to find a way to feed kitty and not have to worry about it harming her.
The furor is going to go on for a while until the source of the contamination, whatever it is, is identified and isolated. The finger pointing will go on even longer. Unfortunately, I believe this problem is going to be with us for a while until some accountability is established on the part of pet food manufacturers. Otherwise, sometime down the road another problem will appear to threaten our pet's well being. As you know... children will be children where their bottom line is concerned.
See you next time
Robert J Gallegos
References for this article:
Metabolism of Melamine by Klebsiella terragena
CNN.com - China Looks into pet-food links (This link has been discontinued by CNN)
CNN.com - Food scare prompts pet owners to retreat to own kitchens (This link has been discontinued by CNN)
Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine
The Oregonian - Policing the Nation's pet food
Little Big Cat - Pet Food Regulation
Maybe
I should start looking for my own dinner... well grasshopper?
There're
some that don't need anyone to prepare their food. They're quite capable of
doing it on their own
I wouldn't
do that if I were you. You don't know where that wheatgrass has been!
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