Melamine Found in Recalled Pet Food

Shannon Weidemann

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In a surprising new twist to the recalled pet food story, the FDA has announced they have found melamine in the dog and cat food. Melamine is used to produce plastic kitchenware and also used as a fertilizer in Asia. Their tests have not found the presence of rat poison in the recalled food.

In a news conference, FDA officials said that the apparently melamine-contaminated wheat gluten also was shipped to a company that manufactures dry pet food, but they would not name the company.

The FDA is attempting to determine if that company used any of the wheat gluten, imported from China, to make dry pet food, Sundlof said.

Wheat gluten, a source of vegetable protein, is also used in some human foods, but the FDA emphasized it had found no indication that the contaminated ingredient had been used in food for people.

The FDA has received over 8,000 complaints from people saying that their pets have been affected by the recalled food. The laboratory at Cornell has also found melamine in the urine of cats that ate the food. It is not known exactly what affect melamine has on animals as there has not been extensive testing.