Pet Care: Crisis Within The Pet Food Industry (Part 1)

If you have been paying attention to the news, you no doubt have seen the serious health problem plaguing this nation’s pets in March 2007: poisoned petfood that is making pets sick, and dying.

Soon after consuming the poisonous food, the animals have been suffering. The animals are having serious health complications, including kidney failure, vomiting, lethargy, and even death for some animals. Though so far few animals have died the crisis has affected many pet owners, as well as.

At first, people suspected that the problem was part of rat poison, specifically the chemical aminopterin. Aminopterin is used mainly in chemotherapy. While New York officials stated this, the FDA never confirmed the matter.

Currently, the main opinion is that a distributor’s product included toxins. The toxic chemical in the wheat gluten, melamine, is used in pesticides in Asia, as well as in plastics.

Gluten is the protein part of starches like those found in flour. It is similar to gelatin, and is valuable in food manufacturing because it adapts to the texture and flavor of the food it is with. It’s used to add volume to food, and may imitate meat. It also adds elasticity and chewiness to foods, as well as act as a filler, binder, and gravy thickener.

1 2 »