Contaminated ingredient: not wheat gluten or RPC

avma.org posted this yesterday:

"SCHAUMBURG, Ill. ? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined
that the contaminated wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate imported
from China?associated with the deaths of at least 16 dogs and cats and the
recall of hundreds of dog and cat food brands-was mislabeled and was really
wheat flour contaminated with melamine and melamine-related products."

Specialty foods formulated to avoid wheat allergies use RPC instead of
wheat gluten ... at least, that's what was supposed to happen. In fact,
the food contained wheat flour.

It goes on and on.

On May 9, 4:13 pm, Roby wrote:
avma.org posted this yesterday:

"SCHAUMBURG, Ill. ? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined
that the contaminated wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate imported
from China?associated with the deaths of at least 16 dogs and cats and the
recall of hundreds of dog and cat food brands-was mislabeled and was really
wheat flour contaminated with melamine and melamine-related products."

Specialty foods formulated to avoid wheat allergies use RPC instead of
wheat gluten ... at least, that's what was supposed to happen. In fact,
the food contained wheat flour.

It goes on and on.

Pardon my ignorance, but I don't get it. What was the intended use for
the with the wheat flour,
had been labeled correctly?
(Just a suggestion, but it would help if you'd provided a link to the
entire story)

Sherry

Roby wrote:

avma.org posted this yesterday:

"SCHAUMBURG, Ill. ? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined
that the contaminated wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate imported
from China?associated with the deaths of at least 16 dogs and cats and the
recall of hundreds of dog and cat food brands-was mislabeled and was really
wheat flour contaminated with melamine and melamine-related products."

Specialty foods formulated to avoid wheat allergies use RPC instead of
wheat gluten ... at least, that's what was supposed to happen. In fact,
the food contained wheat flour.


What's RPC? Are you saying that wheat flour was used instead of RPC?

I wish newspapers would quit repeating the "16 dog and cat deaths" phrase
because it's more like 1400.

Joyce

on Wed, 09 May 2007 21:13:55 GMT, Roby wrote:

avma.org posted this yesterday:

http://avma.org/press/releases/070508_petfoodrecall.asp

This is crazy. Any idiot should be able to tell the difference between
flour and gluten on visual inspection. This tells me that not only are
these pet food mfgs not testing their ingredients, THEY AREN'T EVEN LOOKING
AT THEM!

[deleted string of expletives]

--
Lynne


"We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly
We are brave enough to bend to cry
And sad enough to know
We must laugh again"

~ Nikki Giovanni, 4/17/2007, Virginia Tech

wrote:

Roby wrote:

avma.org posted this yesterday:

"SCHAUMBURG, Ill. ? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has
determined that the contaminated wheat gluten and rice protein
concentrate imported from China?associated with the deaths of at least
16 dogs and cats and the recall of hundreds of dog and cat food
brands-was mislabeled and was really wheat flour contaminated with
melamine and melamine-related products."

Specialty foods formulated to avoid wheat allergies use RPC instead of
wheat gluten ... at least, that's what was supposed to happen. In
fact, the food contained wheat flour.


What's RPC? Are you saying that wheat flour was used instead of RPC?

I wish newspapers would quit repeating the "16 dog and cat deaths" phrase
because it's more like 1400.

Joyce
RPC = rice protein concentrate; a non-wheat vegetable protein that is used
in diets where wheat allergy is a problem. Using any wheat product there
is bad news.

The FDA says it happened. I've been reading the transcripts of the FDA
news briefings at http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html
It's a real mess.

Roby wrote:

What's RPC? Are you saying that wheat flour was used instead of RPC?

RPC = rice protein concentrate; a non-wheat vegetable protein that is used
in diets where wheat allergy is a problem. Using any wheat product there
is bad news.

I think the news about rice protein being contaminated has been out for a
while. I guess, though, if what the FDA is saying is true, it wasn't rice
protein at all, but wheat flour. Either way, it was contaminated - I haven't
been buying anything with the words "rice protein" on the can for weeks now,
regardless of what was actually *inside* the can.

The FDA says it happened. I've been reading the transcripts of the FDA
news briefings at http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html
It's a real mess.

It sure is!

Joyce

On Wed 09 May 2007 05:51:05p, Lynne wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
om:

http://avma.org/press/releases/070508_petfoodrecall.asp

This is crazy. Any idiot should be able to tell the difference
between flour and gluten on visual inspection. This tells me
that not only are these pet food mfgs not testing their
ingredients, THEY AREN'T EVEN LOOKING AT THEM!

Oops, sorry, didn't see the link at the top of your post. I guess
everyone found it already.

--
Cheryl

On Wed 09 May 2007 08:14:24p, wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav
:

I think the news about rice protein being contaminated has been
out for a while. I guess, though, if what the FDA is saying is
true, it wasn't rice protein at all, but wheat flour. Either
way, it was contaminated - I haven't been buying anything with
the words "rice protein" on the can for weeks now, regardless of
what was actually *inside* the can.

The infuriating thing is that foods like Hill's Prescription ZD
(Hypoallergenic food) is formulated to avoid common allergens, and
wheat is a common allergen. Not saying that the RPC they used in
their food is really mislabeled wheat flour, but I think there was
another hypoallergenic food that was recalled. Just think that
someone may have ruled out a wheat allergy because kitty still had
symptoms.

--
Cheryl