Voluntary Hold Placed on Chickens Fed Melamine-tainted Pet Food

tags: melamine, pet food, contaminated food, chickens

Has melamine entered the American human food stream? That's what the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would like to know. Because no one knows for sure, as of yesterday, approximately 20 million chickens raised for human consumption in several states have been placed on a marketing hold to keep them out of the human food supply, after it was shown that they ate feed that contained melamine-tainted pet food.

This decision came after government officials found evidence last week that as many as 345 pigs and perhaps 3 million broiler chickens were sold for human food after having eaten contaminated feed. Additionally, last week, investigators found that approximately 5 percent of feed used at some smaller chicken production operations came from pet food tainted with the chemical melamine, said USDA spokesman Keith Williams. He added that larger manufacturers are unlikely to have exposed their animals to large amounts of the tainted pet food products because they usually use special feed for the chickens they raise or contract for raising.

Even though this hold is described as "voluntary", meat from these birds can't go into commercial use without the USDA's inspection seal, which is being withheld until completion of the government risk analysis to determine if the meat is safe for human consumption.

"Absent the risk assessment in this particular situation, USDA will not put the seal of inspection on this meat," Williams stated.

The 20 million live chickens now being held were being raised for "large, brand-name growers," noted Williams. "These are names you would know." The agencies refused to name these growers but they estimate that 30 broiler poultry farms and eight breeder poultry farms in Indiana received contaminated feed in early February, and probably more farms received contaminated feed later, the agencies added.

These 20 million chickens represent a tiny fraction of the 9 billion chickens raised each year in the United States.

Melamine-tainted pet foods have sickened and killed an unknown number of dogs and cats, and thousands of pet deaths are currently being investigated for possible links to this contamination. Since 16 March, 60 million packages of pet food from more than 100 name brands have been recalled.

Williams said the risk assessment for chickens that had eaten melamine-contaminated feed was developed by jointly by the USDA, FDA and EPA, and would involve several aspects as compared to the absence of melamine in feed used by large commercial producers;

• Melamine dosage: the dilution of the pet food with larger amounts of other ingredients in the feed
• Melamine metabolism: the state of health of those chickens that ate the feed
• Melamine toxicity to humans: the lack of evidence of harm to humans by trace amounts of melamine due to the varied human diet and other factors

Using that information, the agencies will calculate an estimate of the risks, if any, from eating melamine-tainted chickens.

Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Conn., the chairwoman of the House Appropriations' agriculture subcommittee and co-chairwoman of the Congressional Food Safety Caucus, said the link between the tainted pet food and chicken feed "highlights the egregious holes in our food safety system."

"It is time to grant the FDA and other food safety agencies clear mandatory recall and inspection authority," she said in a statement. "These initial steps would help create a modern, comprehensive food safety agency that will be capable of protecting our food supply and restoring consumer confidence."

Sources

Physorg.com (quotes)

Dallas Morning News (quotes)