WASHINGTON Several hundred of the 6,000 hogs that may have
eaten contaminated pet food are believed to have entered the food
supply for humans, the government said Thursday. The potential risk
to human health was said to be very low.
The government told the three states involved it would not allow
meat from any of the hogs that ate the feed to enter the food
supply.
No more than 345 hogs from farms in California, New York and South
Carolina are involved, according to the Agriculture Department. It
appears the large majority of the hogs that may have been exposed
are still on the farms where they are being raised, spokeswoman
Nicol Andrews said.
Salvaged pet food from companies known or suspected of using a
tainted ingredient was shipped to hog farms in seven states for use
as feed.
The government will compensate farmers if they kill those hogs,
said Kenneth Peterson of department's Food Safety and Inspection
Service. The department knew of no countries moving to suspend
imports of U.S. pork products.
Also, a poultry feed mill in an eighth state, Missouri, also
received possibly contaminated pet food scraps left over from
production. The fate of the feed made from that waste was under
investigation.
The pet food sent to the farms later was discovered to have an
ingredient, rice protein concentrate, imported from China that was
tainted by an industrial chemical, melamine. Testing also revealed
other related and similarly banned compounds, including cyanuric
acid. Food and Drug Administration inspectors were preparing to
visit China as part of the agency's investigation.
Melamine is not considered a human health concern. But there is no
scientific data on the health effects of melamine combined with the
other compounds, said David Elder, director of enforcement for the
FDA.
Still, the FDA and Agriculture Department believe the likelihood of
someone becoming ill after eating pork from hogs fed contaminated
feed is very low. Meanwhile, the University of California, Davis,
is developing a test to measure melamine levels in tissue, Andrews
said.
Since mid-March, pet food companies have recalled more than 100
brands of dog and cat food and treats; more recalls were announced
Thursday. An unknown number of cats and dogs have fallen ill or
died after eating products made with contaminated rice protein
concentrate or a second tainted ingredient, wheat gluten.
Some pet food, while unsuitable for sale for that purpose, was
still considered safe for animals to eat as it had not been
recalled at the time it was forwarded to hog farms. Its use at hog
farms raised the possibility that melamine entered the human food
supply.
The department on Thursday released the following state-by-state
breakdown of its investigation into farms thought to have received
the contaminated pet food for use as hog feed. The farms were not
identified.
Notice that the pig food came from
China? 
