Canada Free Press -- ARCHIVES

Because without America, there is no free world.

Return to Canada Free Press

Poison pet food scare

How pet food makers get their supplies a tawdry tale

By Judi McLeod

Friday, April 6, 2007

Tawdry is a fitting description of events tracing the source in the current poison pet food scare.

Even with respected veterinarian associations stating otherwise, officials leave the death count of family pets due to contaminated pet food at 16.

Vets are saying that the number is already up to several thousand and growing.

"Emilio DeBess, Oregon's state public health veterinarian said he had tallied altogether 106 cases of poisoning believed arising from pet food, far more than federal health authorities had reported in the three-week old scandal." ( www.breitbart.com, April 5, 2007).

Somewhere out there are the 873 tons of wheat gluten that were shipped to three pet food makers by a Las Vegas-based company.

It's an ongoing tawdry tale where denials are coming in from all sides.

How is it possible that "a very small office on Durango and Charleston" in the City of Las Vegas without even a sign on the door, is headquarters for the company allegedly at the core of a continent-wide pet food recall?

That's how www.lasvegasnow.com described the head office of ChemNutra, the company that this week recalled the entire stock that it brought in from a Chinese supplier and shipped out to at least three pet food manufacturers.

"Here is ChemNutra's role in the recall. The Las Vegas-based company is now recalling all wheat gluten it imported from a supplier in China. It shipped wheat gluten to three pet food manufacturers and a distributor."

Apparently it was on March 8 when ChemNutra learned from one of its customers the wheat gluten it sold them was a potential problem. Shortly after that, the Toronto area Menu Foods recalled 100 brands of dog and cat food made with wheat gluten, the ingredient found to be chemically contaminated with a plastic resin called Melamine.

According to lasvegasnow.com, ChemNutra's CEO Stephen Miller declined to go on camera, but the company released the statement that reads in part, "The toxicity of melamine is not clear. However, since melamine is not approved by the FDA for food it should absolutely not have not been in wheat gluten. ChemNutra is extremely concerned about the purity of all its products. The company is particularly troubled that the certificates of analysis provided by the supplier did not report the presence of melamine.

Although Miller has declined to identify what companies ChemNutra supplied, and one pet food maker refuses to name its supplier, consumers can fill in the dots.

On its website, ChemNutra describes itself as an importer of nutritional and pharmaceutical chemicals from China to the United States. The company lists manufacturers of food, pet food and nutritional ingredients as its client base, and it focuses on importing amino acids, preservatives, antioxidants, nutritional minerals, proteins, flavor enhancers and sweeteners.

This is a company supplying pet food makers whose licence seems to be in dispute.

Reviewjournal.com reports that ChemNutra has an active business licence in Las Vegas, but the company has not filed as a Nevada corporation.

"A search of public records found that ChemNutra filed for incorporation in California on Aug. 1, 2005 with a Pasadena address and Miller as its agent for service of processes. The company also incorporated in Delaware on Oct. 27, 2003.

"No one answered the door at Stephen Miller's Summerlin home, at 10396 Noontide Ave., near Charleston and Hulapal Way. The two-story stucco home is assessed at more than $470,000 by the Clark County assessor's office.

"California listed ChemNutra's incorporation status as "surrender", which means the company "has voluntarily surrendered its right to transact business in the state of California". Records called up on line did not reveal ChemNutra's incorporation status in Delaware.

ChemNutra said it has recalled 873 tons of wheat gluten that it shipped to three pet food makers and a single distributor who supplies the pet food industry. The company said the recall applied only to wheat gluten from Xuzhou Anying, one of its three Chinese suppliers of the ingredient.

On March 30 the FDA ordered its field personnel to detain wheat gluten imported from China's Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. because it contained melamine.

"The wheat gluten ChemNutra recalled was all shipped from China in 25 kg. paper bags, and distributed to customers in the same unopened bags. The bags were all labeled "Wheat Gluten Batch No.---- Net Weight: 25 kg. Gross Weight: 25.1 Made in China," states the FDA in a press release.

The denials of responsibility are already coming from top authorities in the Communist People's Republic of China.

China's General Administration of Quality Supervision inspection and Quarantine denied that the country had exported contaminated pet food ingredients, according to the official People's Daily newspaper.

"The poisoning of US pets had nothing to do with China," the report said.

Pet deaths have also been recorded in Canada, who counts China as its second biggest business partner, after the United States.

Meanwhile, how can the consumer trust a billion dollar pet food industry where pet food manufacturers buy supplies from a company with not even a sign on its door?

Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com


Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2018 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2018 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement