USDA: 20 mln birds on farms may have had bad feed

[Shallah Kali]

Source: Reuters

A USDA official said the birds must be held until the government can complete a risk assessment to determine if they can be processed. The results could come as early as Monday.

The birds were among those believed to have been given contaminated feed with pet food containing melamine, a chemical used in plastics and fertilizer. It is uncertain how many chickens have been processed.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070504/us_nm/food_fda_livestock_dc_2

---

On May 1st they announced that 'up to 3 million chickens' ( http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20070501/hl_hsn/fdamillionsofchickensfedcontaminatedpetfood ) had been fed feed containing melamine. They were making the farms hold those chickens and were making plans to destroy them yet were making no plans to recall any chickens already processed. My brain still hurts when I try to figure out the logic that these chickens are too dangerous to be let into the food supply and the farmers will be paid off with our tax dollars in return for not selling them and yet it isn't worth the effort to see if any of the sold chickens were not eaten.

Add to that I can't find if anyone is doing anything to make sure that the melamine contaminated chicken and hogs really haven't done damage to the people who ate them other than the FDA asking the CDC to see if there is a rise in kidney failure. I would think that they would want to check to for lower levels of damage that mean trouble down the road since the people were exposed to lower amounts of the melamine, cyanuric acid and the other chemicals found in the poisoned pet food.


BTW as of March 30 ( http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/2007-04-30-chinese-imports-usat_N.htm ) the FDA with it's new mandatory testing of glutens from China had found "330 positive for melamine or melamine combined with another substance. It also found 27 positives out of 85 samples of rice protein concentrate and products made with rice protein concentrate." They are still trying to see contaminated food to America!

[acmavm]

1. 20 million. The idiots in this administration is killing all the protection set

up so we don't get caught up in shit like this.

They've sure hurt a lot of poultry farmers, haven't they.

We have a guy at work who goes to China all the time. Not making light of this mess but he said that they send all their 'best' stuff to us. He says you wouldn't believe what they do to their own people.

[Shallah Kali]

2. From what little i have read the food safety over there is horrifying w/constant outbreaks of illnes

due to food poisoning. One recent scandal was fake baby formula that killed several babies because it had no nutrition in it. Plus there was an article saying 10% of their farmland is dangerously contaminated with everything from heavy metals to solid waste. So if the stuff they send us the very best I honestly pity the people living over there. It's their officials that let or cause this to happen I hold in contempt.

[lovuian]

3. China has been flooding the markets to destroy our

agriculture here and I must say with the poisoned feed they sent they have done an amazing job at it

[Shallah Kali]

4. Why invade when one country could control another by being their major source of food & daily goods

putting aside the issue of possible deliberate poisoning vs. greedy scum making a mistake and adding too much adulterants - buy their constant underselling of food and other goods we use every day we are massively dependent upon a hostile foreign power. Exactly how much trouble would we be in if they cut off trade tomorrow? Would America be able to feed and cloth itself?

[Shallah Kali]

5. Longer version of the OP articles - AP & Reuters

20 million chickens held because of feed
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070505/ap_on_he_me/pet_food_recall_28

USDA: 20 mln birds now on farms may have had bad feed
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070505/pl_nm/food_fda_livestock_dc_5

As many as 20 million chickens currently on U.S. farms in several states may have been fed contaminated feed, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Friday.

"We have learned that larger commercial contractors purchased and they used the (contaminated) feed," said USDA spokesman Keith Williams.

USDA said it is in the process of notifying farms and states where the facilities are located. However, USDA declined to release specific details, adding the department is still establishing how long the contractors had been using the bad feed, contaminated with pet food that contained the industrial chemical melamine.

somehow I can't help but wonder if all the slowness in tracking down the contaminated pet food sold to hog farms and chicken farms - as well as the pet food itself - isn't deliberate foot dragging. the longer they take the lesss likely they are to find anything because it has already been sold and eaten.

and isn't it just wonderful that the farms and factory farms will get paid with US tax dollars to distroy any remaning suspect animals instead of those who put that freaking melamine, cyanuric acid and FDA knows what else in the food to begin with plus the pet food makers if they sold it off after the recall started.

and intead of speculating that this meat is safe why not test the blood and urine of those who are known to have eaten contaminated pork and chicken? See if they have melamine and/or cyanuric acid instead of waiting to see if there is a sudden rash of renal failure?

[StarryNite]

6. But outsourcing is good for 'merica

This attitude is coming back to bite them in the ass. Too bad we have to suffer.

U.S. News
Bush economic report praises 'outsourcing' jobs

Tuesday, February 10, 2004
By Warren Vieth and Edwin Chen, Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON -- The movement of U.S. factory jobs and white-collar work to other countries is part of a positive transformation that will enrich the U.S. economy over time, even if it causes short-term pain and dislocation, the Bush administration said yesterday.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04041/271362.stm

Outsourcing is killing us and our little dogs too, literally with poisoned food.

[highplainsdem]

7. It might be contaminated glycerin, a biodiesel byproduct fed to poultry.

I saw this story about the 20 million chickens earlier on the Itchmo site (I'd seen it mentioned here for the pet food recalls), and they had a story about the FDA's press release today about diethylene glycol (DEG) contamination of glycerin: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01628.html

There's a reply at Itchmo saying glycerin is being fed to poultry.

It's a byproduct of the biodiesel industry. There's a surplus of it now.

Here's a web page about it - http://www.worldpoultry.net/ts_wo/worldpoultry.portal/enc/_nfpb/true/tswo_portlet_news_singleeditorschoice1_3_actionOverride/___2Fportlets___2Fts___2Fge___2Fnews_singleeditorschoice1___2Fcontent___2FshowDetailsList/_windowLabel/tswo_portlet_news_singleeditorschoice1_3/tswo_portlet_news_singleeditorschoice1_3channel/2205/tswo_portlet_news_singleeditorschoice1_3id/14809/_desktopLabel/worldpoultry/_pageLabel/tswo_page_news_content/index.html

That warns against possible methanol contamination. But DEG is also used in biodiesel production.

[Sabriel]

8. And WHY aren't they saying who's affected?

This makes no sense to me:

"Which states have chicken producers affected by the hold will be announced later, Williams said. State agriculture officials as well as chicken manufacturers were being contacted as the agencies determine the extent of the problem, he said, adding that many farms in several states probably were involved."

Why not put out a preliminary list? I've got about 10 lbs. of chicken I just bought. What the hell am I supposed to do with it?

[Shallah Kali]

10. They haven't recalled any chicken yet the USDA is going to 'compensate' chicken producers

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01621.html

The FDA refused to announce the names of pet foods they tested and found contained melamine and cyanuric acid. They refused to name the hog farms. They have refused to name the 2nd rice protein concentrate importer inspite of repreated requests from Sen. Durbin. And now they won;t tell use where the tainted chickens are. Factory farmer corporations deserve compensation. Consumers deserve to eat 'safe levels' of poisons.

[OneBlueSky]

9. so can we impeach them yet? . . . please!?! . . . n/t

.

[RamboLiberal]

11. New Melamine Scare: As Many as 20 Million Chickens Tested

Source: ABC News

A senior U.S. Department of Agriculture official confirms that as many as 20 million chickens may have eaten feed contaminated with melamine, the chemical added to protein shipments from China that has killed U.S. pets.

The chickens are still on U.S. farms in several states. The USDA has ordered the birds to be held out of the human food supply until testing can be completed to confirm suspicions that the birds actually ate any of the tainted feed.

USDA officials plan to work through the weekend and hope to have test results as early as Monday.

The official emphasized that even if the birds had eaten the feed, the USDA has "no evidence that this is a human health concern. & This is just about the animals."



Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=3142252

[Hekate]

12. The Bush admin really doesn't give a flying bat about human life

It just boggles the mind.
They need a :kick: in the head.

Hekate

[Kool Kitty]

13. Well, this just keeps getting better and better.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

14. Think I'll be making Moroccan Chicken tomorrow night...

without the chicken.

I know it's late here on the East coast and I'm beat, but how in God's name are 20 million chickens tested? Where's Upton Sinclair when you need him?!

[Stargazer99]

15. I keep telling you LEGALIZED MURDER

Free trade and all. When I was a kid in the 50's you NEVER heard of anyone dying from bad food unless they had left if out of refrigeration. Why does Joe Citizen put up with this?

[AndyTiedye]

18. 'Cause If We Don't Eat ANYTHING We Die Too

[mzmolly]

16. Ahhh, the old "there is no evidence" meme again.

Comforting. NOT!

[MannyGoldstein]

17. Free Trade is Sooooooo Kewl

That's why so many Democrats want to put another 'free' trader in the White House.

Yeah!

[kurth]

19. "This is just about the animals"

What are we? MINERALS? VEGETABLES?

[CrazyOrangeCat]

20. evidently.

well, 30-percenters are veggies . . .

[fed-up]

21. um, hasn't there been a problem w/feed for several months? what happened to those chxns??? nt

[NYC]

29. They were eaten.

I think 3 million were already eaten. I don't know how many hogs.

[havocmom]

33. The rest will probably go to pet food manufacturers

Moving poisonous foods from one consumer population to another seems to be the only recycling corporations are into. They aren't about to take a loss by tossing out any bad batches.

[NYC]

34. So instead of eating melamine directly,

the pets will be eating livestock that ate melamine.

Wonderful. Profits above all.

[aquart]

22. Bell and Evans says their chickens are melamine free.

They're the only ones I found with an announcement on their site. I checked and wrote to Tyson's, Barber Foods, Murray's, and Perdue. I asked when they planned to announce the all clear that their chickens are safe to eat again.

[StarryNite]

23. I called Sanderson Farms

and they said their chickens don't eat the tainted feed. But yet I still wonder and worry.

[aquart]

27. I just post the reply from Murray's chickens below.

They don't use anything from China. Their food is American grown and they say where.

[Babsbrain]

28. Why call it pet food?

What concerns me is that the tainted feed is NOT being called animal feed, which is what chickens and pigs, etc. are fed.

Is it too crazy to think that the contaminated cat and dog food was sold to major chicken and pork producers?

Nothing would surprise me. Tyson and Purdue (top chicken producers) have issued a statement that they do not buy China-supplied feed. But how did Tyson turn up with melamine-infected pork?

[nolabels]

36. Should of asked them if the sky is blue

Honestly, oh dear gawd, please tell me I didn't just read that :crazy

Mostly the only things chickens won't eat (if you haven't raised any) is things that taste exactly like things that came shooting out their other end a few moments ago. Otherwise, well you know the rest................

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnivorous

[aquart]

26. The reply from Murray's Chickens:

We would like to take this opportunity to address recent concerns about the source of the grains used to feed our poultry. This in response to the contamination of certain grain-based feed imported from China.

The contaminated wheat gluten contained the chemical melamine which is used in fertilizers in Asia and forbidden in pet foods. The grains have made their way into chicken feed used on a number of farms in Indiana. FDA officials have confirmed that the melamine contaminated found in that chicken feed was imported from China. In a joint statement, the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration announced officials first learned of the link between the chicken feed and tainted pet food as part of the investigation into imported rice protein concentrate and wheat gluten that have been found to contain the industrial chemical melamine and related compounds.

Please rest assured that Murray’s Chickens receive a 100% antibiotic-free, vegetable diet comprised of corn and soybean meal. Both ingredients are grown in exclusively in the United States, namely, the grain in Eastern Ohio, South New York and Pennsylvania and the soybean meal in Iowa. We do not use imported feed or grains to feeds our chickens.

I am confident this information will take away any concerns you may have had. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Very truly yours,

Dean Koplik /s/

Dean Koplik
Vice President, Operations

[Acadia Blue]

24. This is the result of the CORPORATE GOVERNMENT. And its

going to get worse and worse. They are too F-----g cheap to test each batch of filth they buy from China and the rest of the filthy corrupt third world.

[brazil]

25. The solution is simple, really

When a company wants to import goods from a country that doesn't have decent quality controls on food and merchandise, they should pay to have the goods inspected. Every batch should be inspected, not 1% or 5% or 20%. And the taxpayers should not be picking up the bill.

If the true costs of globalization are priced into products (and not hidden in our tax bills) then maybe outsourcing our food supply won't look quite so good to corporate accountants. Saving pennies on Chinese wheat gluten instead of buying an American product simply wouldn't make economic sense.

Also, it's time for country-of-origin labels on every food product. If a company wants to save money by using Chinese wheat gluten, and they go through the above-mentioned inspection process, fine. But I, as a consumer, have a right to know what I'm buying. If it's for my children or my pets, it's not just a right, but a responsibility.

Regardless, it's going to take some major environmental reforms in China before I trust any food product with ingredients of Chinese origin.

[NYC]

30. Medicine, too.

In 1937, Massengill put diethylene glycol in medicine. People died.

This is not something new and unknown. In 1995, Haiti put diethylene glycol in cough syrup. People died.

2006, Panama put diethylene glycol in medicine. People died.

http://cbs2chicago.com/health/health_story_286180553.html


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2835813


An examination of the two poisoning cases last year — in Panama and earlier in China — shows how China’s safety regulations have lagged behind its growing role as low-cost supplier to the world. It also demonstrates how a poorly policed chain of traders in country after country allows counterfeit medicine to contaminate the global market.

[Shallah Kali]

32. Vitamins too! Lead found in Chinese vitamins - they make 80% of the worlds vitamins

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660215681,00.html

"Food safety is a bipartisan issue: Congress and the administration must work together and move aggressively to devise stricter standards. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, has deplored dangerous levels of lead in vitamin products originating in China"

---------
http://www.charlotte.com/127/story/97981.html

Most of the world's vitamins are now made in China. The last U.S. plant making vitamin C closed a year ago. Given China's cheap labor, artificially low prices and the unfair competitive climate it has foisted on the industry, few Western producers of food ingredients can survive much longer.

Western companies have had to invest heavily in Chinese facilities. These Western-owned plants follow strict standards and are generally better managed than their locally owned counterparts. Nevertheless, 80 percent of the world's vitamin C is now manufactured in China -- much of it unregulated and some of it of questionable quality.

[NYC]

35. I read that.

I will never take another vitamin. If it's not lead, it will be something else.

I read that in China, 300 million people a year get food poisoning.

How many people live in the United States? 300 million.

They poison the equivalent of our entire population every year.

Some standards.

If I don't know what country food came from, I won't eat it.

[BrightKnight]

31. I wouldn't eat anything from China - n/t