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Pet Food Recall
Pet food recall programs happen on occasion, but the latest was a tragedy that could have been prevented. Although the products involved
were shipped the world over, inspections in North America could have alerted authorities more quickly. Unfortunately, Federal agencies did
not have the required resources to identify the problem. As it stands at the moment, North American authorities only inspect less than one
percent of all food items entering North America. This is not less than one percent of animal food products. This is less than one percent
of all food stuffs entering North America.
Affected manufacturers
Although most of the affected manufacturers have pulled their products from the food store shelves there were over 75 manufacturers selling
tainted pet food recall products during the initial crisis. To see which manufacturers were on the original listing visit http://www.avma.org.
In the end, 5,300 products were recalled. While not diminishing the loss of beloved pets the problem could have been quite a bit worse.
What to look for
Pet food recall issues happen every once in a while. But what if you're pets were to be poisoned by a chemical agent, one that could kill or
permanently scar it. There are a few things to look for in determining if your pet has been poisoned. They include: A change in normal
behavior, the pet appears drowsy, vomit, unusual drooling or salivation, unsteady walk, strange odor from mouth or skin or changes in
gum color. Each of these is only a potential symptom and could be mistaken for normal activity so there is no need to over react. Calling
your veterinarian, however, would be a good idea just to make sure. Do not, however, induce vomiting.
If there are some symptoms look for a potential cause. There are a few items past the standard cleansers that may cause problems. These might
include: glow sticks, school glues, pencils, markers and charcoal briquettes.
Cause
While an official cause of the pet food recall has yet to be determined the current thinking is that the presence of melamine in the affected
food was the reason for the crisis. Pet food recall work continues although a full accounting is unlikely.
A positive
If there were one possible positive effect to the pet food recalls, it would be the alarms that were set off regarding the possible contamination
of the human food supply. Given that China supplies just about everything to everybody around the world it is not that far of a leap to assume
that there may be issues in this regard to uncover.
As it turns out, there have been other instances that were uncovered as a result of further investigation and sickness. Tooth paste from China
has sickened people from North America to Panama. Given the Spanish labeling on the tooth paste it is assumed that other incidences will occur
in Spanish speaking countries as a result of the tooth paste.
A pet food recall in of itself is a good thing. Although pets and people were sickened or killed an awareness of the issue was raised for at
least a short time. Possibly the pet food recall awakened a few soles that have the power to do something about the issue. The pet food industry
is no small business and people in power do sit up and notice when something is amiss. Unfortunately, it is likely that pet food recall programs
will be enacted again as unscrupulous manufacturers try to scrape out every last possible penny from their products. All that the uninitiated pet
food owner can do is to either buy from a very reputable organic food seller or roll the dice. Pet food recall actions are likely to, unfortunately,
remain.
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