After the dust from the 2007 pet food recalls settled down, officials from the FDA and the USDA conducted widespread investigations into the cause and source of the contaminants that killed thousands of animals. They concluded that a number of substances were to blame, including rat poison, cyanuric acid and melamine.
It turns out that the latter is an industrial component used in plastic. This same ingredient is also commonly but illegally used in food products to mimic the presence of higher protein content (since it is nitrogen-rich). Remember the baby formula and chocolate recalls that followed shortly thereafter? For years, this toxic substance was even mixed into cattle feed, and then in late 70s, studies finally proved that cottonseed meal might be a better protein source. Ay carumba!
Renal failure occurs when when melamine and cyanuric acid are absorbed into the bloodstream, crystallize, block the renal cells and ultimately cause the kidneys to shut down. This was the fate of over 8000 pets in the U.S. after eating melamine-contaminated food made by brands that modern day society has long trusted.
As I mentioned in a recent blog post, when trust is violated (as it has by many corporate giants in control of our food supply), people need to start taking matters into their own hands and look out for themselves. We can no longer be naive about our health and well-being, even though massive regulatory agencies are entrusted to watch our backs.
Following the pet food recall mentioned above, the FDA and the USDA acknowledged that between 2.5 and 3 million people in America had consumed chickens and other animal sources that had eaten contaminated vegetable protein from China. Melamine-contaminated vegetable protein. Their official reps had this to say:
"There is very low risk to human health from consuming meat from hogs and chickens known to have been fed animal feed supplemented with pet food scraps that contained melamine and melamine-related compounds."
Very LOW risk? How about NO RISK...that's what I'd prefer to hear! Countless online references state that whether you swallow, inhale or absorb melamine through the skin, it may cause cancer or reproductive damage among other unpleasant health complications. How could this possibly happen? Where are the controls? How about the system of checks and balances that are supposed to protect us?
It is the middle of 2009 and I just found out about this now. How does this type of information somehow remain under the radar (just like cloned beef and genetically modified organisms in our food supply)? I'd love to hear everyone else's perspective on this topic. Are you as bothered by this as I am? What can we do to protect ourselves?
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