Petfood Toxins – Is Your Cat Or Dog Healthy? (Part 1)

If you’ve been watching the news recently, you’ve seen the epidemic health problem plaguing this nation’s cats and dogs in the early part of 2007: infected pet food that is sickening pets, killing a number.

Very soon after consuming the tainted food, the animals have started suffering. The animals are having serious problems, such as kidney failure, vomiting, lethargy, and death for some animals. Though so far few animals have died (a couple dozen) the crisis has affected many dog and cat lovers, and others.

Originally, people were concerned that the problem was part of rat poison in the food supply, namely the chemical aminopterin. Aminopterin is used for chemotherapy. However, while New York officials found this, the FDA did not confirmed the matter.

At present, the main opinion is that a food distributor’s product included toxins. The poisonous chemical in the wheat gluten, melamine, is also used in pesticides in Asia, as well as plastics.

Gluten is the protein part of starches such as found in flour. It is similar to gelatin, and is valuable in food manufacturing because it adopts the texture and flavor of the food it is in. It’s used to add volume to products, and can imitate meat by taking on the texture and flavor as well. It can also add elasticity and chewiness to products, plus works as a filler, binder, and thickener.

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