Animal feed scandal (2007)

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The 2007 pet food scandal was triggered by pet food for dogs and cats in which wheat gluten contaminated with melamine was processed. The melamine was supposed to simulate a higher protein content in the gluten. This affected feed that was sold in the USA and Canada and in which gluten of Chinese origin had been processed. The resulting pet food recall was the largest product recall in US history.

background

In September 2006, contaminated wheat gluten from China was imported into the United States by Las Vegas-based ChemNutra, Inc. In November 2006 they were processed in two plants of the Canadian feed manufacturer Menu Foods for the production of pet food. The gluten came from the Chinese company Zuzhou Anying Biolic Technology Development Company .

After the first reports of pets that became ill after consuming certain feeds were received by the manufacturer Menu Foods in February 2007, the manufacturer carried out feeding experiments with test animals. Symptoms of illness could also be observed in the test animals. Menu Foods then had feed samples tested in a laboratory at Cornell University and the New York State Food Laboratory . In addition, on March 16, 2007, the company issued a voluntary US-wide recall for certain batches of dog and cat food produced between December 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007 at the two affected Canadian plants. This recall affected a total of 60 million packs of wet food that had been sold under almost 100 different brand names, including premium brands such as Iams and private labels from various supermarket chains. Although the recall affected only about 1 percent of the pet food available in the US market, it was one of the largest product recalls in US history.

On March 21, 2007, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) , the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) , confirmed the deaths of 14 animals after consuming the affected feed; 5 animals were privately kept pets, the other 9 were test animals from Menu Foods that had perished in the feeding experiments. The exact cause of the kidney diseases observed could not be identified at first. Menu Foods published the suspicion on March 21, 2007 that wheat gluten, which was used in the affected products to thicken the sauce, was identified as the likely cause of kidney failure.

Two days later, the New York State Food Laboratory announced that aminopterin , a rat poison, and cytostatic had been found in food samples . From the beginning there were doubts as to whether this contamination could actually be the cause of the diseases observed, since the symptoms described did not match the known side effects of aminopterin.

On March 24th, Menu Foods extended the recall to numerous other affected products, this time all products in stock and not just certain batch numbers were recalled. On March 30, 2007, the FDA announced that melamine from wheat gluten had been identified as a possible cause of the diseases observed and imposed a US-wide import ban on gluten from the Chinese manufacturer Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development , from whose production the contaminated shipment came, and ordered all gluten shipments to the US to be tested for melamine. At the same time it was announced that dry food could also be affected in addition to moist food. Other pet food manufacturers, including Hill's Pet Nutrition , Del Monte and Nestlé Purina , also called back wet and dry food.

Number of pets affected

The media coverage of the contamination of animal feed and the resulting diseases in pets caused great uncertainty among pet owners in the USA and Canada. The information on the number of illnesses and deaths among domestic animals is partly contradicting, as numerous owners reported cases in which no reliable causal connection could be established with the feeding of feed contaminated with melamine.

While the Veterinary Information Network estimates the number of affected animals at 30,000 to 50,000, the animal welfare organization PetConnection, which had already set up an online database on March 18, in which affected pet owners could register, registered 4,867 deaths. The FDA, the US agency responsible for the control of pet food, received a total of 17,000 reports of sick animals, including 3,150 deaths in dogs and cats, in which owners or veterinarians suspected a link between the disease and the consumption of the contaminated food .

The American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD), which evaluated reports from American and Canadian veterinary clinics and laboratories for a study, recorded 347 cases of kidney failure, 235 cases in cats and 112 cases in dogs, in which the disease was clearly identified the feeding of the contaminated feed was due. There were mortality rates of 61% in cats and 74% in dogs.

The actual number of animals sick and deceased from the animal feed contaminated with melamine is still unknown.

Pathophysiology of melamine poisoning

Melamine molecule
Melamine (green) and cyanuric acid (red) form insoluble crystals through hydrogen bonds (dotted blue)

Melamine (2,4,6-triamino- s -triazine ) is a heterocyclic aromatic compound with a high nitrogen content. The colorless substance is used as a raw material for the production of melamine resins, which are used in the production of adhesives and thermosets . Melamine is also used for surface coatings on cooking utensils and, due to its high nitrogen content, also as a fertilizer.

With the protein determination according to Kjeldahl , which is common in food analysis, the nitrogen content of a sample is determined and its protein content is calculated from this. The high nitrogen content in melamine simulates a higher protein content in the sample in analyzes, which is why it was used to stretch raw materials and foods that contain protein.

Melamine itself has only a low toxicity. After melamine had been detected in several feed samples, it was therefore initially not possible to explain the pathomechanism of the diseases observed. Only with the detection of cyanuric acid in the affected feed samples, which is a breakdown product of melamine, could the development of renal insufficiency due to melamine be explained. In combination, the two substances form hydrogen bonds , creating insoluble crystals that precipitate in the renal tubules or in the renal pelvis . The kidney tubules are misplaced and damaged, which can lead to kidney failure.

In veterinary medicine, the renal insufficiency associated with melamine intoxication is referred to as melamine-associated renal failure (MARF). Chronic interstitial fibrosis can be detected patho-histologically in the affected organs.

Effects on food for humans

A small proportion of the contaminated gluten was also used in the production of feed for livestock and fish. The meat of the animals fed with it was used to produce human food. Experts saw only a very low risk for consumers in the consumption of these foods. Even so, this food was also recalled and destroyed.

In 2008, in China, infants developed kidney stones and kidney failure after being fed powdered milk stretched through melamine. This food fraud, known as the Chinese Milk Scandal , affected nearly 300,000 children.

Legal consequences

In the United States, more than 250 pet owners sued Menu Foods for damages and more than 100 class action lawsuits have been filed.

As part of a court settlement, it was agreed that Menu Foods, together with other affected feed manufacturers, would provide US $ 24 million for compensation payments. About half of this money was paid out to livestock owners whose animals were sick from the contaminated feed. Animal owners who had their animal examined by a veterinarian as a precaution could also claim these costs, even if no disease was found. In total, compensation was paid in 20,229 cases from the USA and Canada.

ChemNutra Inc. was fined $ 35,000 by the US District Court of New Jersey in February 2010. The two business owners were sentenced to a fine of US $ 5,000 each and three years probation. In addition, the company had previously participated in the animal feed industry's compensation fund to an unknown extent.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ MH Gao: The 2007 Chinese Pet Food Crisis: On US Media's Coverage and US Pet-owners Reactions. In: Journal of Emerging Knowledge on Emerging Markets. Vol. 3, 2011, pp. 411-426
  2. ^ MH Gao: The 2007 Chinese Pet Food Crisis: On US Media's Coverage and US Pet-owners Reactions. In: Journal of Emerging Knowledge on Emerging Markets. Vol. 3, 2011, pp. 411-426.
  3. ↑ How pet food recall unfolded. US today, May 4, 2007, accessed December 7, 2014.
  4. ^ Melamine Contaminated Pet Foods - 2007 Recall. ( Memento of the original from December 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the FDA homepage, accessed December 7, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.accessdata.fda.gov
  5. ↑ K. Bell: Menu Foods Fund Plunges After Recall of Dog, Cat Food. On: Bloomberg.com. March 19, 2007, accessed December 7, 2014.
  6. ↑ K. Zezima: Toll From Tainted Pet Food Is 14; FDA Is Focusing on New Gluten. New York Times, March 21, 2007, accessed December 7, 2014.
  7. ^ E. Weise: Nestlé Purina, Hills join pet food recall. In: USA Today. March 30, 2007, accessed December 7, 2014.
  8. ^ Nestlé Purina, Hills join pet food recall. In: USA today. March 30, 2007, accessed December 7, 2014.
  9. ↑ E. Lau: Sentences handed down in pet-food poisoning criminal case. On: Veterinary Information Network VIN. February 9, 2010, accessed December 7, 2014
  10. ^ MH Gao: The 2007 Chinese Pet Food Crisis: On US Media's Coverage and US Pet-owners Reactions. In: Journal of Emerging Knowledge on Emerging Markets. Vol. 3, 2011, p. 414.
  11. ↑ Katie Burns: Researchers examine contaminants in food, deaths of pets - Survey, case definition, studies implicate combination of melamine and cyanuric acid. AVMA , accessed December 7, 2014
  12. ^ Melamine Pet Food Recall - Frequently Asked Questions. on the FDA homepage, accessed December 7, 2014
  13. ↑ T. McPheron: Melamine and cyanuric acid interaction may play part in illness from recalled pet food. American Veterinary Medical Association press release , May 1, 2007.
  14. ↑ Cianciolo et al .: Clinicopathologic, histologic, and toxicologic findings in 70 cats inadvertently exposed to pet food contaminated with melamine and cyanuric acid. In: J Am Vet Med Assoc. 233, No. 5, 2008, pp. 729-737, PMID 18764706 .
  15. ^ CA Brown et al .: Outbreaks of Renal Failure Associated with Melamine and Cyanuric Acid in Dogs and Cats in 2004 and 2007. In: Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investestigation. 19, No. 5, September 2007, pp. 525-531.
  16. ↑ Melamine Pet Food Recall of 2007. FDA, accessed December 7, 2014.
  17. ↑ Baby milk scandal: China arrests dozens of suspects. On: Spiegel online. August 21, 2010, accessed December 7, 2014.
  18. ^ J. Schmit: Tainted pet food suit settled for $ 24 million. In: USA Today. May 23, 2008, accessed December 7, 2014
  19. ↑ E. Lau: Pet owners receive $ 12.4 million in melamine case. On: Veterinary Information Network VIN. October 12, 2012, accessed December 7, 2014.
  20. ^ B. Philips: Business owners sentenced for distributing tainted pet food ingredient. ( Memento of the original from February 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Office of the United States Attorney Western District of Missouri press release, February 5, 2010, accessed December 7, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.justice.gov