Tainted pet food could still be on store shelves

Tainted pet food may still be on the shelves of America’s stores, federal officials told lawmakers Thursday at a hearing into the contamination that has killed at least 16 pets and sickened thousands.

The problem prompted a recall by several companies of about 100 brands of pet food in recent weeks, and Food and Drug Administration officials testified before a Senate subcommittee that more recalls may be ahead. They also said they have no clear idea how many animals have been affected.

“This is one of the largest pet food recalls in history, if not the largest,” said Dr. Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine. “Pet food is generally ... a very safe product. This is quite disturbing because it’s so unusual and we’re dealing with a substance we’ve never encountered before.”

The hearing, punctuated by lawmakers’ musings about their own pets and the special place animals hold in owners’ lives, highlighted holes in the system meant to ensure pet food safety.

Pet food manufacturers are not regularly inspected, and there are no penalties for a firm’s failure to promptly report problems to the FDA. Also, the federal government has no authority to recall a faulty food product intended for humans or pets; instead, it must rely on voluntary compliances by the private sector.

The pet food scare echoes a host of problems the FDA has struggled with in recent years that have heightened concerns about the regulatory agency.

Prescription drugs have been found to cause dangerous side effects after they have been approved for market, and two popular foods -- spinach and peanut butter -- have recently undergone major national recalls.

“This is the story of food safety in America,” said Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), who plans to introduce a bill to improve regulation of pet food. Durbin said heightened public awareness about food safety could make it easier to get legislation passed.

“From E. coli spinach to pet food, it raises the same issues over and over,” Durbin said.

The hearing was prompted by the announcement last month that a Canadian company, Menu Foods, was recalling wet pet food produced at its plants in Kansas and New Jersey after animals that ate the food developed kidney failure and died.

Officials traced the problem to Chinese wheat gluten, a binding agent used in human and animal food, that was contaminated with the chemical melamine.

It is not clear how melamine was introduced into the wheat gluten, and FDA officials said they have asked China to help with the investigation. The crisis and its implications for food safety could have a significant impact on burgeoning Chinese agricultural imports to the U.S.

Sundlof said the FDA was working with state agriculture departments and had 400 employees assigned to the investigation, checking retail stores nationwide.

He added that the agency is uncertain if it has retrieved all the tainted food. “We continue to identify small shipments of wheat gluten that may have gotten into pet food,” he said. “We know where all the shipments went, but we’re trying to account for it.”

And he advised consumers to visit the FDA’s website, www.fda.gov, to check if any products they had bought were listed.

Sundlof said he could not predict when the uncertainly surrounding pet food would be over.

Duane Ekedahl, president of the Pet Food Institute, the industry’s trade group, told lawmakers that pet food is “perhaps the most highly regulated product on store shelves.” It is overseen by the FDA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state agriculture agencies.

But Durbin challenged the adequacy of the process, citing the three-week delay between the first indications Menu Foods had of the contamination and when it contacted the FDA.

Holding up a can of dog food, Durbin said, “It’s questionable that a company that makes contaminated pet food has to report to anyone about adverse affects if a dog has died. It’s hard to conclude this is a highly regulated product.”

Lawmakers who commented about their own pets included Sen. Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah), who said he owned “a multitude of cats and dogs before coming to Washington.”

Durbin recalled his dog “Mama Cass,” who died 10 years ago, and Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) dwelt at length on the Shih Tzu that accompanies him to the office every day.

Early in his remarks, Byrd offered a clue to lawmakers’ interest in the subject, recalling former President Truman, who famously said, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.”

nicole.gaouette@latimes.com