It would have helped if you had read the article instead of just jumping right into China-bashing. If people in this country (with all their supposedly advanced medicine and technology) can't figure out what the problem is, why do you think the Chinese should be able to figure it out? Unless, of course, you consider that their medicine and technology is ahead of ours.

The Chinese are businessmen too. The last thing any of them, except for the most stupid among them, is to kill off a market through bad publicity. And its not just the market that they kill --- the Chinese government would consider it a criminal offense and people would go to prison instead of like here where they just get big bonuses.

I ike the you way you think, to often in our fast paced quick to judge lives we don't think for just a moment and be objective. Thanks for hearing your reply

I was feeding my dog chicken jerky treats which I had purchased from Costco. Don't know if they had been made in China...to make short of the story, I stopped feeding them to my dog when he became violently ill after eating them. A week later my dog had no more sickness and I gave him a jerky treat. He vomited violently for over 4 hours. I threw out the jerky treats. He will only get Holistic treats from now on.

Chris, you might want to read this:

or this:

It is not new news that food products from China have been tainted, even intentionally. It's not ignorant to be suspicious of food products from China; it would be foolish not to be.

@Chris: It's because the Chinese are widely known for not only taking short-cuts and ignoring safety precautions & guidelines, but also to sell goods & products that they know may be detrimental to the end user. Read up on the milk scandal from a couple years back if you need to find out more. If that's not enough then look up the China Airlines crash where the entire tail section snapped off a Boeing 747 mid flight (and be sure to find out why). If you still want more then look up the toxic Chinese dry wall that was used in home construction in the U.S. None of this is to say that a chinese factory worker or business owner would want anyone to be hurt by their product; it's either that they're ignorant of the importance of safety standards, or they're willing to take the chance in the name of earning a buck.

One of the links I tried (and failed) to post was a Wikipedia article. Search for "Food Safety incidents in the People's Republic of China."

The Chinese have a history of HIDING their tricky manipulations to their food processing to save money and serve a substandard product. We should assume they know because simple jerky chicken would not get an animal sick. They KNOW what they are doing that is altering the process or ingredients. In America we are now trying to analyze a product with the chemical or process the Chinese did hidden and the chemical end result possibly something they don't know how to test for. We should blame the Chinese because they are the source of this problem not us.

anyone who deals with china in buisness knows they will do anything and they cannot be trusted. just becuase we cannot figure out why they treats are causing problems doens't mean the chinese don't know what toxins they put in their product. We have recently started making the chicken jerky treats ourselves for our two dogs. they look and smell identical and I know they have no toxins added. THey are easy to make and no more expensive.
If you are trying to defend the chinese you obviously have not dealt with them enough. It's not racist... the ones that live over here are not like that at all. its a cultural difference in morals and buisness ethics that is just unimaginable to most americans.

shouldn't we also blame the importer of these products? McDonalds quickly dropped one of their major egg suppliers after news about severe animal cruelty. Hold the distributors and importers responsible and boycott them until they stop selling these products.

just as an example to those who have never dealt with them. I needed to buy a large quantity of insulated copper wire from china. They sent me samples and they passed fire regulations. Once I got the full shipment over I re-tested and the wire went up in a huge fireball. They just don't care. AND THEY WILL CONTINUE TO NOT CARE AS LONG AS WE KEEP BUYING FROM THEM.

I ended up paying significantly more for american made product that I could trust. We all need to learn this lesson. the sooner the better.

simple solution:

don't buy anything for your pet that comes from China

Chris what is it about China you respect so much, we have had nothing but problems with their garbage they sell to bus personally from experience if it says made in China on it I can live just fine without it besides my dog is worth a extra $ for some quality. Personally I think we should stop all trade with china until they get their $hit together then only trade in certain items and no food imports. what have we got from them Poison dog food ,poison treats, poison baby food, poison wheat gluten, poison tooth paste, led paint on baby toys and children's toys, contaminated fish & products, the only reason they don't sneak dog meat into the market is because they eat allot of dog. but don't be surprised if someday they will try that.

"FDA officials say they have not been able to find a cause for the illnesses. Extensive chemical and microbiological testing has failed to turn up a specific contaminant and officials did not identify a specific brand of treats."

I have always been suspicious of these treats, and I do not give them to my dear little companion. It does not surprise me at all that they can find no "specific contaminant." A visual of this product is all the proof one needs. I saw them as the equivalent of chicken bones, which cause splintering and tearing as they travel through the digestive system. THINK sometimes, for goodness sake!

Any kind of jerky or rawhide is dangerous to feed your pets unless it is the chopped and pressed.

Pampered Pets in Alpine, CA, makes a bulk dog cookie/treat that Costco sells occasionally - I stock up when it's on the shelf. The treats are a bit more expensive if bought by small package at a natural grocery store. They are wheat free, and actually smell like a human oatmeal cookie (to me).

I stopped feeding my dog boy the chicken jerky treats after I noticed that they had been irradiated. All of the meat treat products from China are irradiated. My limited understanding of the process is that it damages the DNA of the meat, and any pathogens on it, so badly that the cells can no longer replicate, basically sterilizing the food. On one hand that sounds like a simple way to increase shelf life but on the other, how they irradiate the food sounds terrifying. There are four different processes, but the most popular is using Gamma rays-Cobalt 60-that is held in water tanks and the food is lowered into the solution for minutes or hours depending on what it is.

Cat foods that have been irradiated have been banned in Australia, after a number of cats died after eating irradiated food. Irradiated dog food is still allowed, but the bags have to have "Do not feed to cats' printed on it. I don't understand the logic but there you go.

I'm not bashing China. I loved China when I was there in the 1990's. I'm questioning their food handling safety measures and business practices on what they export. I also question the current business practices in the US and it is totally the US corporations fault that they skip quality and safety for increased profits. I just buy free range organic meat from the farmers and make my own. It's the only way to be sure these days and he's worth it.

Even though our huskies love them, we stopped the pig ears because of the package warning: WASH HANDS THOROUGHLY AFTER HANDLING THIS PRODUCT. Regarding the China bashing, American Big Pharma has been gratuitously poisoning us for generations for profit as have so many other American corporations, KNOWINGLY. And it's NOT the Chinese who are importing and retailing this crap despite the deaths, it is American corporations (Costco?). And WE continue to feed this poison to our pets for convenience. If YOU wouldn't eat it, how do you justify feeding it to your best friend?

Heads up - the company's selling this crap to us, lie about where it comes from! They will say made in USA when it is only packaged here! (oh, I'm sorry we need to get the regulators off business's back!)

Oh yes, let's talk about bad crap from China. We bought a brand new house in 2008 and it's filled with chinese drywall. we have a lawsuit going and I will tell you our lives have been hell. I simply cannot tell you how this has affected our lives. Thousands and thousands of homes are made with this crap and I balmed the importers for not making sure what they were selling is grade A drywall as they claim. I am in a Republican state where the judges always rule for the corporations and screw the little guys and this has gone on and on and if it goes to the Republican state supreme court where we live we may as well just walk away from our us. pretty soon, if people don't wise up, no one will be able to sue anybody for selling crap.

rule of nine

Heads up - the company's selling this crap to us, lie about where it comes from! They will say made in USA when it is only packaged here! (oh, I'm sorry we need to get the regulators off business's back!)

me no likey regulators....everything safe....you get good deal...buy from trusted seller...best quality for you

For those of you who like chinese food, might wanna check your ethyl glycol levels (if you are chemistry challenged; that would be anti freeze). Even more scarier, that *beef* fried rice could be actually *dog* fried rice.....anything to get a quick buck! That extra soy sauce ya keep askin for, is extra anti freeze!

No f*ckers do things to cut costs like these chinese, and of course the freagin Teapubs....

Chinese chips are available in lead flavor.

"The Chinese are businessmen too. The last thing any of them, except for the most stupid among them, is to kill off a market through bad publicity"

And yet time and time again they've done precisely that, half-wit.

I normally only buy organic treats for my dog but last week I got a coupon at the grocery store for a free bag of Milo's Kitchen chicken jerky so I grabbed a bag because it was free. When I got home I gave one of the treats to my dog and she threw up a half hour later. I threw them out immediately and thank god I only have her one piece. I was horrified after I read this article. They should re-call all dog food products from China immediately and everyone should boycott Milo's kitchen and their owner Del Monte foods.

My dogs got very sick eating PURINA DRY DOG FOOD. I switched food and they are doing better. As some have mentioned much of the ingredients that are in these pet foods are not coming from within the USA. Also, many are not aware but much of our beef we eat is not coming from the USA anymore, it is being brought in from countries such as Mexico, China etc. Scary!!!!!!! I refuse to buy grocerys at WalMart, since most of its products are produced in China.

The could not find any contaminates in it, did they find any chicken? Could be a solyant green scenario? You might just be feeding your dog, dog.

Keep it USA made, and natural (organic preferably).

Why should you give your dog something you wouldn't eat?

I'm nervous now although I've never had any issues with the Wagon Trai Chicken Tenders that I give my dog. He adores them and they're made by an American company so I never thought anything of it. After reading this on FB (posted by one of my fav authors) I checked the label and they are made in China.

We're careful only to feed him Blue Buffalo and Wellness brands because they are higher quality ingredients. I wish there was a list of the brands that are having this problem.

@Tofu's Mom - my pup adores the Wagon Train treats too, and like you, I assumed they were American-made since it's an American company. I just bought 2 big bags last week... money down the drain now, I guess. Even though we've never had a problem, it's not worth the risk.

(And coincidentally, we feed our girl Blue Buffalo and Wellness brands, too!)

Years ago when China was forced to destroy millions of chickens because of the bird flu epidemic, they could not bear to loose all the profit from those birds. So they burned and buried a few for the cameras then processed the rest for pet food...primarily the "New" chicken jerky that appeared on the market shortly thereafter. Of course it was never used for human consumption so how could it be wrong to use the meat for animal consumption? Like mad cow disease when we forced the cows to eat their own butchered body parts ground into meal. I read this story in some report at least seven years ago I think.

What do you expect from a nation who skin live cats and dogs and display their tortured bodies on tables to be sold as food for the Chinese? It was on a television documentary that showed the poor animals. It has never left me. Check the dates when the chicken jerky hit the market.

Maybe our investigators need to check for bird flu that made it thru the radiation treatment? Maybe the radiation changed the disease. But first we need investigators who are not paid off by China. That may not be easy

If Chris wants to ignore history and defend the Melamine Baby Milk Company, have at it. I'm comfortable with my suspicions.

The frightening part of this, is the last time, (article referred to back in 2007/2008), pet illness was just the tip of the iceberg and it is what called into question all the other things that are noted in this thread. Without disgruntled pet owners, we may well have been exposed to a great deal more as human beings. And, even products that didn't originate in China were affected. I specifically recall dog food which was manufactured in Canada, but the contamination came in because the food was made with grain products which Canada had imported from China. Because of literally centuries where the majority of the population live in relative poverty, and pets are not seen as household companions, but as farm commodity, and a view of human life as being expendable (due to vast numbers and overcrowding conditions), I wouldn't expect them to be monitoring things for health and safety very carefully. Rather, it is how to get the most food to market in the least amount of time.

"Barfn-Strips", cause dogs can't tell it's not bacon.

There are many treats from different companies and the FDA is not naming names. Apparently, this problem only applies to chicken jerky treats. I just paid $7.49 (at Whole Foods) for a treat made by Dogswell called Veggie Life Vitality. I make my dogs food, they occasionally get treats that I "believe" are safe. On the front of this package it claims, "Cage Free (chicken), Natural with added vitamins, No Antibiotics, No Byproducts, No Added Hormones." The ingredients claim, "Chicken Breast, Apple, Vitamin E Supplement, Flaxseed, Vitamin A Acetate." All that is on the front, on the back we have, "No Fillers, No Wheat, No added Salt, No Added Hormones (again), No Artificial Colors, No Byproducts (again), No Wheat Gluten, No Antibiotics (again), No Added Sugar, No Artificial Flavors."

Way at the bottom on the back - what did I find, "Made in China." I called the company and asked how they could oversee cage-free chickens, etc in CHINA and why don't they use meat from the US. I was told that in China, the citizens prefer the dark meat on chickens, so Dogswell "thought it best that the white meat was not wasted and that's why we [Dogswell] buy from China - because, you know white meat is preferred by American's and we didn't want product to go to waste." That sounds like BS to me - I called my Whole Foods to have these pulled off the shelf (bet they don't) and wasn't offered a refund from anyone (Dogswell or Whole Foods). I will be writing a complaint letter to Dogswell - the customer service rep. didn't seem to understand that if the Chinese chicken - white meat was going to be thrown out, that makes it a By-Product (and I doubt that there is NO USE for white meat chicken in China). Dogswell can be reached at 888-559-8833.

I think the treat was called "Melamine squares".

In all seriousness, though, I feel really badly for these pet owners. Hopefully somebody will have to at least pay restitutions for this. Per Black Kettle & Sand Creek... lest we forget's comment above, we have to really carefully scrutinize all of our stuff anymore, because it seems now that a lot of the "Made in China" stuff is now trying to conceal that fact. Many of the manufacturers employ the ruse of putting an American name on a product to make it seem like it is made in the USA, and then when you double-check it, it turns out to be made in China.

I lost a show dog to the last wave of bad ingredients from China. A perfectly healthy animal went into renal failure, suddenly, without warning. Was absolutely fine when I went to work, and when I arrived home, the animal couldn't get off the floor. Our vet ran every test you could imagine. It wasn't cancer, it wasn't literal poisoning, it wasn't viral or bacterial, no tumors, no lesions.....the dog's kidneys just stopped functioning...Not only did I lose a valuable animal, but it cost me well over $2K trying to save the animal.....the symptoms were so vague, and none of the usual treatments seemed to have an impact for the better. And no, I didn't get anything from anyone to recompense my losses, because it was impossible to make a direct causal link to the pet foods and the animal's onset of illness.

When your "Made in China" tool breaks after a use or two, make sure to take it back to Walmart and get your money back.

and start complaining when you go to a retailer and all you find are things labelled "Made in China"

I went to Lowes, for God's sake, to buy a pair of pliers and even their high-end "Colbalt' brand came from there

I walked out in disgust. Sent them an email about it, too. Told them: "unless you start carrying American made tools, I'm through buying my tools at your stores...I'll buy a used one from a garage sale instead"

Oh *cornmeal*....get off the Walmart hate parade. Go to Target and find crap *made in china*. Go to Sears and find crap *made in china*. Go to the local *Black owned* hair salon and check out their display of screwdriver and wrench sets....suprise....*made in china*. Every ma-n-pa shop sells the exact same *made in china* crap as Walmart and as every other store.

*robbopaloobop*....just be sure when buying crap second-hand that those item are also NOT *made in china*......because if they are.....you didn't fight the problem, you contributed to it.

*robbopaloobop*....just be sure when buying crap second-hand that those item are also NOT *made in china*......because if they are.....you didn't fight the problem, you contributed to it.

well... apart from the fact that I learned to read as a young lad and that every tool, even second-hand ones, has it's country of manufacture on it - I think I'm safe

...what are you doing about it, my friend?

The sad truth is that very little is made in the USA anymore. Practically all of the manufacturing done by US companies is done in Asia, some in Mexico and some in India and South America.

This is the real reason that our economy is headed into the ground. The politicians simply do not discuss it. They distract you with other nonsense.

The capitalist morals of the Chinese actually appear to be worse than our own. They will feed children poison to make slightly more money. The products they supply are largely crap.

I have an electric lawnmower made in the USA by Sunbeam. I bought it in 1981 and it is still running just fine. There is nothing approaching this quality manufactured today as far as I am aware.

I don't expect the Communist Chinese to have any "capitalist morals".

Capitalist morals ? LMFAO... wow...that's an oxymoron if I ever heard one. The majority of capitalists HAVE NO MORALS. That's why this frigging country is in the mess it is. What do you think started the OWS movement ? If you think capitalists in THIS country are fair or honest you need your frigging head examined. They are just as much lowlife scum as the Chinese... why the hell do you think those douchebag Teapublicans are trying to have any and all regulations repealed ? It's so they can SCREW You, abuse workers, destroy the environment all for that GOD they worship call MONEY you idiot.

The biggest thing Obama could do to save this nation is to go on TV and announce he is using his power to shut off products from china...today...and if Americans want something they can very well get it made here. Banks would see the demand and start loaning money for new start-ups and the rich Americans who took their businesses to China would have to eat it.

There would be knashing of teeth and wringing of hands...but we would get back to business and back to work. But, It will never happen. Just wishful thinking. I am well aware they own us.

I think tools are actually some of the easiest things to find domestically manufactured. Look around. If all else fails, use the internet. Some one is making it!

The FDA doesn't protect anyone other than manufacturers. They use their Generally Regarded As Safe system for food ingredient safety. In other words, if a manufacturer says that their ingredients are safe, the FDA says ok, if you say so.

People in China eat dogs, so pet food safety isn't a top priority.

Yes, I think it is the American Veterenary Association which controls those standards, but I believe that an agency like the FDA (can't remember if it IS the FDA) is capable of testing these food products for contaminants. The big problem is that the attitude in this country is so anti-government that agencies like the FDA (among many) are severely under-funded, and don't have the rescources to do it. And the Chinese manufacturers know it.

FDA is not systematically ensuring the continued safety of current GRAS substances. While, according to FDA regulations, the GRAS status of a substance must be reconsidered as new scientific information emerges, the agency has not systematically reconsidered GRAS substances since the 1980s. FDA officials said they keep up with new developments in the scientific literature and, on a case-by-case basis, information brought to the agency’s attention could prompt them to reconsider the safety of a GRAS substance. However, FDA has largely not responded to concerns about GRAS substances, such as salt and the trans fats in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, that individuals and consumer groups have raised through 11 citizen petitions submitted to the agency between 2004 and 2008. In fact, FDA has decided on the validity of these concerns in only 1 of 11 cases. In addition, FDA does not know to what extent, or even whether, companies track evolving scientific information about their GRAS substances.

The FDA continuously cries about being understaffed and underfunded. They set up a system that allows them to do nothing and not be held accountable for anything. You wonder why the American attitude towards this agency is of disgust?

I've started cooking for my dogs. There are few, if any safeguards in effect to protect animals from commercial grade food. This way I know exactly what my dogs are eating and it's much more nutritious.

There are FDA standards for pet food, but it doesn't include exclusion for downer cows, etc. (After all, don't want the meat industry to lose money because they can't sell sick cattle, do we???) That's why some premium pet foods specify "human grade" meats. And why pet food usually has the legend, "Not for human consumption."

I used to say I wanted to see similar laws for pet foods as for people foods, but with the number of recalls for foods contaminated by everything from salmonella to e coli, seems pet foods are safer than human foods now! Giant food corporations have taken over FDA control, it seems. They have repeatedly overruled regulations that would actually have improved food safety in recent years, by lobbying FDA and Congressional members that oversee FDA.

I would stick to US-made food products (and that means avoiding almost all processed-cheese products, because ingredients in those frequently come from China. There have been problems with some of those ingredients, but it was mostly kept quiet.

Just like the threat from Mad Cow disease was minimized, by the Bush administration by cutting the number of inspections of cattle going into the food chain. (If I hadn't already been vegetarian, THAT alone would have made me one! And it KEEPS me one!) My carnivorous pets (cats and dogs) are NOT fed veg diets, however, and it's a battle to try to make sure they are on the safest diet there is.

I just checked my dog food it does n`t say but I bought it at a store controlled by walmart who sell all the other useless goods from china smarten up America and buy American and start putting Americans back to work

We started noticing a few years ago that chicken jerky labeled a product of the USA on the front, was labeled made in China on the back. We've been making our own chicken jerky ever since. It's so easy, a bag of chicken tenders and a food dehydrator. Our dog loves them. And we know they are safe.

the attitude in this country is so anti-government that agencies like the FDA (among many) are severely under-funded, and don't have the rescources to do it.

Underfunded? Are you fcking kidding? The FDA's budget was 4 billion dollars this year and with that amount they could only "afford" to inspect about 2% of foreign people food coming into this country. So what exactly do you think their budget should be? 200 billion? Do you have a clue how much money that is and where exactly do you suppose more money is going to come from. Perhaps you've been living under a rock and have failed to notice that our country is beyond flat broke. The FDA, like most governement agencies, wastes a large portion of the money they receive and spend another large portion of it supporting and growing the bureaucracy. We'd be better off ditching the FDA and spending our money on an independant company to check the safety of our food sources for both people and pets.

We'd be better off ditching the FDA and spending our money on an independant (sic) company to check the safety of our food sources for both people and pets.

An independent company - LOL. Good luck with that.

Actually, the reason imported ingredients and foods aren't as safe is because there are fewer regulations on imports. Products made in the US for food consumption have much more stringent rules (HACCP plans, facility audits, record inspections, etc.). Most food manufacturers in the US are regulated by their customers, which is why food safety and quality has improved. I work for a medium-sized food manufacturer, and we have actually voluntarily implemented SQF, which stands for SAFE QUALITY FOOD - this program is a part of GFSI - Global Food Safety Initiative. Go to the SQF website (sqfi.com) and read up on certified businesses. Through SQF, our company has very strict rules on imports, Approved Ingredient and Packaging Suppliers, as well as how we manufacture our foods. Pets should be treated no differently than people, but it is up to your food manufacturers to make this happen. Manufacturers seek products from China because they can import with less rules and for less money, while still being able to label their products as made in the US. even if the majority of the product is made in China (or another country), if any of the assembly occurs here, it will be labeled as such. Research the companies you are buying from. Even if you are buying your groceries at Whole Foods, Byerly's, etc., it does not mean you are actually getting a better product. It could just mean that you are giving the manufacturer a higher profit margin.

Also, to the point of downed cows, we must have a certificate of destruction for any food we dispose of. This means that we must document the reason for disposal and the method. If it is contaminated food, we must destroy it, not send it to a feed farm or to be used as another ingredient somewhere else.

Actually, the reason imported ingredients and foods aren't as safe is because there are fewer regulations on imports. Products made in the US for food consumption have much more stringent rules (HACCP plans, facility audits, record inspections, etc.). Most food manufacturers in the US are regulated by their customers, which is why food safety and quality has improved. I work for a medium-sized food manufacturer, and we have actually voluntarily implemented SQF, which stands for SAFE QUALITY FOOD - this program is a part of GFSI - Global Food Safety Initiative. Go to the SQF website (sqfi.com) and read up on certified businesses. Through SQF, our company has very strict rules on imports, Approved Ingredient and Packaging Suppliers, as well as how we manufacture our foods. Pets should be treated no differently than people, but it is up to your food manufacturers to make this happen. Manufacturers seek products from China because they can import with less rules and for less money, while still being able to label their products as made in the US. even if the majority of the product is made in China (or another country), if any of the assembly occurs here, it will be labeled as such. Research the companies you are buying from. Even if you are buying your groceries at Whole Foods, Byerly's, etc., it does not mean you are actually getting a better product. It could just mean that you are giving the manufacturer a higher profit margin.

Also, to the point of downed cows, we must have a certificate of destruction for any food we dispose of. This means that we must document the reason for disposal and the method. If it is contaminated food, we must destroy it, not send it to a feed farm or to be used as another ingredient somewhere else.

Of course none of this applies to Chinese goods. You get whatever you get. The FDA does not inspect them nor does any other government agency.

China is the ultimate workaround for all of our regulations. You hire workers there because you do not have to ensure their safety or contribute to their health care and because they cannot unionize etc. You pay them far less than what an American worker needs to survive. You can pollute freely and make much bigger profits.

We sold our souls to corporate America and now they are being collected. In this decline of my beloved country, I'm happy to be old.

@Notanidiotlikeolegunny

An independent company - LOL. Good luck with that.

Yeah because Underwriters Laboratory has done such a horrible job of keeping us safe from electrical devices for the past 120 years. And ASTM has such a terrible track record of setting industry standards for everything from construction material to medical devices. Ohhhhh... wait, that's right, both of these independent companies have an unparalleled record of success. But you just go ahead and put your faith in a government agency that fails on a monthly basis while wasting billions of tax dollars. Make sure those puppet strings are good and tight while you're at it.

Backcountry, I can spot a Fox News aficionado in one sentence.

Wikipedia:

On August 28, 2007, the nonprofit and tax-exempt UL announced that its Board of Trustees had resolved to develop a for-profit testing and certification subsidiary.

Wonder how long their profit motive will keep them a trusted underwriter.

I would like to add that the feeding of "downer cow" meat to animals other than humans is not nearly as dangerous as it is to humans. There is very clear science behind why.

Mad Cow Disease is caused by what's called a prion disease. Prions are mutated proteins that began as the normal proteins in the body, but were mutated by the same substance when it was ingested. In other words, eating a prion causes normal proteins to turn into prions, which then cause a chain reaction. These mutated proteins don't function properly, so they cause disease.

Mad Cow prions are very similar to a type of disease that humans can get callsed Krueitzfeld-Jacob. However, animals such as dogs and cats, and other domesticated non-hoofted animals, can't catch it because their proteins are too different. As long as you, or your horses, goats or pigs aren't eating the infected meat, it shouldn't make any of your pets sick.

Science!

Backcountry, I can spot a Fox News aficionado in one sentence.

Well your perception must not be as good as you believe it is. I don't watch FoxNews nor am I a republican, which I assume you also got wrong.

Wonder how long their profit motive will keep them a trusted underwriter.

Well it's been 4 years, can you point to any problems or are you just going by the standard"only the government knows what's best for me" mindset that seems to pacify those on the left?

@Backcountry164,

Underfunded? Are you fcking kidding? The FDA's budget was 4 billion dollars this year and with that amount they could only "afford" to inspect about 2% of foreign people food coming into this country.

First off the 4 Billion number is this upcoming years (2012) request. Not last years request as you claim. The actual budget FDA spending last year was 3.3 Billion. The 4 Billion is requested, which means they aren't guaranteed to get it.

Secondly the annual value of what's in scope for FDA jurisdiction is worth over $2 TRILLION, so the budget of the regulatory agency is less than a quarter of a percent of the value that needs to be protected. 4 Billion may seem like a lot of money for an individual, but on the large scale it's just a drop in the bucket.

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AboutFDA/ReportsManualsForms/Reports/BudgetReports/UCM243370.pdf

Undoubtedly much of that 3.3 billion is wages. That leaves next to nothing for extra studies.

Aside from food, the FDA is also responsible for giving us depression medication that causes suicidal thoughts as a side effect, arthiritis medicine that causes bone density loss, birth control medications and devices that can cause stroke, heart attack, sterility, internal bleeding.....If you ever listen to the disclaimers and warnings about possible side effects, you might just decide to take your chances with the original disease.....As a government agency, you can't tell me that the FDA isn't as tainted as any other agency with special interest groups, lobbyists, and of course pressure from our own elected officials to go easy on certain supporting corporations.....I agree that private business should be performing the tests and reporting the results. At least the consumers would know the truth, even if government didn't act, and we could make safe and responsible decisions based upon facts.

Makes a person want to go live in a cave, somewhere...and eat grass.

It was melamine not arsenic.

Great Scottt

Thanks for the update;at any rate, a bunch of dogs still died.

The really sad thing is this stuff that is produced in China - for Iams, and these dog treats - are animal tested. Makes me sick to think how many Beagles gave their lives for them to come up with this tainted product that was still not safe, but passed animal testing for the FDA. Makes me very sick to know that animal testing is still even going on when we have all these advancements in technology and science. It should not be done anylonger, its not needed and its not accurate. We need to stop this torture "In the name of Science". As you all can see - it really is not preventing things from making their way through, and instead they are just killing dogs to make the product and the ones that consume it. Sad and sick world we live in.

A friend of mine is a chemical engineer and was reading the back of a bag of designer dog food that I had purchased as a sample at a dog show. It was supposed to be extremely nutritious, highly digestible, and had the recommendations of all these vetrinary authorities.....my friend noted chemicals listed which are used in the manufacture of rubber tires. We emailed and called the company, and after a whole lot of transfers and hang ups, we were directed to a customer service agent who informed us that these chemicals were "stabilizing agents' and only about 1 cup per ton would be involved.....If anyone has made cakes and breads-even dropping one cup of any liquid into say .... 5lbs of flour....some of the flour is saturated and some is untouched.....How does anyone know the concentration of those chemicals in the specific bag of food their dogs are eating...And, these formulas were all FDA approved. Much like the recent news about the ammonium Hydroxide which I believe has been regularly used as a stabilizer and antimicrobial in ground beef. Supposedly, McDonald's doesn't use it any more, but how many billion hamburgers were sold that had this noxious additive???? And it is approved for use by an FDA, who can find no direct corrollation to these items and illness.

One has to wonder why there is so much cancer in the world.

Dog allergies are usually manifested in their feet and ears. Biting and chewing feet can be an indication of some type of allergy.

I have my dog on Iams large breed. I switched him to another (cheaper) food. He started chewing on his paws. His groomer told me his feet were sore with gunk between his toes. She asked me if I had changed his diet recently. I told her yes. She told me to switch back to the Iams. I did and he stopped chewing his paws and the gunk is now gone. She knew what she was talking about. Now I read Iams had problems. My dog is huge and I don't have the time to make his food. Must admit I'm pretty worried about all this! He means the world to me and I would be so upset if anything happened to him because of inferior food. So sad that you can't trust the stuff on the market. The thought that there aren't very many controls out there is horrible. I already have to worry about Mad Cow for myself and family (lived in England in the 80's) and now find out there still aren't enough controls out there for food is just terrifying!

I have 6 large dogs (one is a Mastiff) - I make their food in bulk on the weekend and then put it in portion controlled containers for their breakfast and dinner - it's not as difficult or expensive as it sounds. You can send me a message through NV (and I will ask questions, weight, age, activity, breed(s), etc) and send you a few recipes you can make, you will be amazed at how much healthier your dog is for just a bit of your time. I also have a rescue German Shep/Wolf mix (not much wolf), I got him as a puppy, my vet was dead set against me cooking the puppy's food - he said I would stunt his growth, give him a heart problem, etc.... Now he is an 8 year old puppy and the vet (finally) has said that I can make dog food that meets the dog's nutrient requirements.

It is a sweetener. You could *google* it, if you had a computer and internet service.

If they DIDN'T have a Computer..they WOULD NOT be reading and posting....STUPID COMMENT....LOL

Wow, way to recognize sarcasm there, David.

People are either cheap or don't know any better (IAMS, a generally respected manufacturer not typically associated with China was at the heart of the melamine scandal). When was the last time you checked the "Product of" label on food for yourself, let alone your pet? Truth is people either don't know or don't care until there is some scandal, and then they tend to promptly forget in the aftermath. Welcome to the United Sheeples of America.

Max^108

How stupid do you have to be to buy food from China?

Unfortunately, last time I checked we import most of our seafood from countries like China,Thailand and Vietnam - where farmed fish are raised in water so polluted with sewage that they have to give the fish antibiotics to survive

so yes...I'd have to say that we, that is to say, the United States, are very stupid, indeed

If it has a label, READ IT!

@Great Scott....United Sheeples of America...love it! Just sayin'!!

I picked up some DOLE fruit in those little plastic cups that are packed in fours. I just about choked when I read they were made in China. I trusted a name like DOLE! Now I read everything.

I quit feeding my dogs chicken jerky. My lab was having bouts of bloody diarrhea and the vet couldn't find anything wrong with her. I quit giving her chicken jerky treats and we haven't had any more problems. I was purchasing mine from Costco.

We get our chicken jerky from Costco as well. However, we always buy Nature's Deli brand. It's made from US Chicken and made in Denver, CO. Here's a link to what the bag looks like on a different website (couldn't find it on Costco.com):

http://www.coloradopettreats.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=57

I live in metro Denver so it may not be available everywhere. Never, ever, buy your pets treats or food from anywhere but US, Canada, or another reliable country (Germany, England, etc.). Even places like Brazil have very little safeguards when it comes to pet food.

As far as I know, the only dog treats made in the US are Merrick. However, Merrick uses the beef scraps from the massive feedlots so they aren't a whole heck of a lot better. You can get free range beef treats out of Argentina-things like bully sticks-that aren't supposed to have formaldehyde in them which is a concern since most chewies contain a shocking amount of formaldehyde- but they cost twice what regular bully sticks cost and they stink. I blanch free range beef soup bones and knuckles for them to gnaw on.

For dog food, try Innova, Blue or one of the other boutique brands. Iams, Purina, Science Diet, Nutro, all the ones you can get in the grocery store and big pet stores contain very little nutritional value and are made from ingredients that aren't fit for human consumption. With a human grade food you feed them half the amount and get a quarter of the poop to pick up. You should also notice your dog is a lot calmer, has fewer behavior issues and their coat will feel almost puppy soft.

The pet food market is self regulated by a group called AAFCO- Association of American Feed Control Officials. The board is made up of the presidents of the big manufacturers, Purina, Iams, etc. They change the rules as they see fit. A few years ago there was a lot of concern about ethoxyquin being added to the foods as a preservative. It's a known carcinogenic and is also used as a pesticide. After there were a few boycotts AAFCO changed the label rule, ethoxyquin only had to be listed as an ingredient if the manufacturers themselves added it while the food was being made. If it was added by the meat manufacturers or somewhere along the way, it didn't have to be listed on the label. It's a safe bet that it's been added to all foods except organic ones. However, it's added to all fish based foods. The coast guard requires all ships transporting fish meal to cover it with ethoxyquin to slow down it's decomposition. During decomp the fish produces so much heat that it can explode, so the coast guard considers it a safety issue.

Just for fun, next time you buy a bag of Oreos, check out where those are made. It's not China but it's not just pet food that's an issue.

The chicken treats from Costco are made in China.

The Chicken Jerky that made my dog sick was from Costco...KingPets.

Food and Thug Administration. Talk about a government agency that runs on corruption. The FDA does nothing more than provide a safety blanket for manufacturers.

Bill, GRAS is a safety label used by the FDA. Take a look at what really happens.-

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10246.pdf

They FDA is arriving at this GRAS label through the torture of animals though. We are getting products deemed safe from testing them on Beagles and other animals that are still killing us as well as our pets. Whats the point of the animal testing anymore...they need to progress with the advancements in science and technology of today, and stop killing these animals to prove something is safe. Millions...Billions of animals are tested on and the result from the testing is death. The Beagles they use are locked in cages from puppies, and tested on for 7 years as the max for some labs. They are never given a chance to be a real dog and know what its like to be loved. They are tested on over and over and if they survive this - they are then euthanized by the labs and then they just order more. There are companies that mass produce Beagles and other animals just so they can be disected, vivisected, tested on, and then killed. As we see from this example, even though these treats were sade to be SAFE - they were not, and more than likely many Beagles gave their lives to come up with this product. Many more will be giving their lives now - as the companies try to figure out what is wrong with it and correct it. Animal research is sadly alive and well today and killing billions of lives each year. We need to know this and stop funding them. Do not buy P&G, Johnson & Johnson, Kleenex, or support the Red Cross - they all test on Beagles. There are ton of other companies that do animal research today still and it has to stop. Iam is from P&G I believe.. when these companies that test on the animals no longer get the consumers to fund it, they will change their ways....but we all have to stop buying their products....and there are alot of them. Check the internet for the list - I was shocked. You all will be too.

I am certainly shocked at the information in your post, and I will certainly research further, but I have a legitimate question in that if we boycott everything on your list, and presumably, there are more out there that we might not yet be aware of......where are we supposed to buy anything that we need for day to day living. And I am not wholly certain that I am completely against animal testing....for example, I remember an instance of a cosmetic firm using rabbits to test the safety of their eye make-up products...they were hoping to prove that the products were hypo-allergenic...what the testing showed was the opposite and in many cases, blindness resulted....Would anyone truly rather it had been somebody's child or wife or mother that was blinded by a product rather than a laboratory raised rabbit??? Everyone talks about technology eradicating the need for animal testing, yet the attorneys are filing class action suits and more class action suits due to unforseen consequences of seemingly safe medications according to the FDA

It will stop when WE ALL stop buying anything and everything made in China. Also, gas will go down and millions of Americans will be put back to work!

Wonderful idea--now can we just convine Obozo and our Congress? Where's my tent and hippie beads?

lucy.....if you have a tent and hippie beads....FauxNews will not take anything you say seriously.

It will stop when WE ALL stop buying anything and everything made in China. Also, gas will go down and millions of Americans will be put back to work!

Hoops: You forgot money will grow on trees, and all the lost and missing children will come home.

Where's my tent and hippie beads?

I'm sorry to have to tell you this...but the last hippie beads I bought came from China

Yea, she needs to check the label on her tent too. Just might be made in China.

Ellen - Alot of the companies are American ones and they produce the items overseas and then bring them in. The labs are in China where they do animal testing - as well as other locations. They pass the FDA and then they come this way as everywhere else. Sadly these treats were probably Beagle tested and approved...and sadly many of them died from this to arrive at this tainted product that is killing more dogs now. Animal testing is useless - don't know why we are still torturing animals "in the name of science" when we have so many advancements in technology and science today. Its does no good, its a waste of money, and its a waste of lives. We need to end it.

The American Consumer doesn't have a whole lot of choices any longer. The products offered in stores are offered for their cost efficiency and profitability for the retailers....Over time, I imagine that boycotting would affect how buyers choose products to stock, and so forth, but in the meantime, what do we use to wash clothing, dishes, ourselves.....I don't know too many of us who remember the fine art of soap making (and we aren't talking about crafts and pretty little decorator soaps) And if memory serves, some of the components of homemade soap products are carbolic acid and lye (not necessarily together) I remember my grandmother talking about ash going into soap making when she was a child, but few of us have wood burning stoves or coal fueled furnaces and hot water systems. And the American consumer in 2012 has even lesser choice because the value of their dollar has been so erroded. Many households have cut back on usage of name brand anything to save some money.

You ever heard the word MONEY !!!

How about the words PAY OFF. Our lawmakers go into Washington very often as the 99 but always come out as the 1%. How do you think they get so rich so fast?

The more I hear about the trade with china the more I agree with Mr.Donald Trump. who has been warning us about china for months

Amen to that! Hope Donald Trump continues to warn Americans. I totally agree with him about what China is doing to the USA. My dog died in October with a mysterious illness, and he loved Waggin Train chicken strips. I wish I'd never heard of or bought that dried chicken from China. I will always regret it now.

Buy local organic and your worries are solved.

Stop buying frozen, prepared foods. Regardless of where they're from, they'll kill you.

It is like the Trojan Horse. All they have to do is mess with those pills as you said...or sprinkle a little anthrax powder into a few pairs of shoes and send them throughout the nation. It will be so easy to destroy us. Sooner or later someone will do it.

I am throwing out the bag I have as soon as I get home.

Don't throw it out. Take it back where you got it and demand your money back.

Many people will just toss bad products of all kinds from China. It would be more effective to force the retailers to take them back. I know it's a pain but it's the only consumer leverage we have.

I got worried ...so I went to the Cabinet and checked....Mini DINGO JERKY CHEWZtm CHICKEN CHIPS... ARE ..MADE IN CHINA...with 8-in-1 PET PRODUCTS out of Cincinnati, Ohio www.dingobrand.com ... bought from WALGREENS Stores @ $10.00 a bag excluding tax...... We changed from WAGGIN TRAIN JERKY TREATS...and I noticed that ALL 5 of my Puppies have Diarrea..Sluggish, Drinking a HELL of a lot of water...Soaking Training Pads...Throwing -UP...HAS Caution which states "CAUTION: Feed 1-2 per day for best results. Supervise consumption. Always provide PLENTY of fresh drinking water and visit your Veterinarian regularly. WASH HAND THROUGHLY AFTER HANDELING TREATS!! AT LEAST the WAGGIN TRAIN DIDN'T MAKE MY BABIES SICK!!!!.... Taking these back to Walgreens and letting them know why.....CHINA CRAP!!!!

David H

You'd have to be a grade-A idiot to feed jerky to a puppy.

# 1 you JACK-WAD..I have more education in my LITTLE FINGER...Than you have in any Brain Matter that you carry.....I call all my Pets "PUPPIES"....To me they "Never Grow Up"....Just like a small "KID"....AND They are loved beyond belief, and I would NEVER do anything to endanger their lives.....WHY DO YOU THINK I'M PISSED-OFF about these treats....So before you go calling someone a "GRADE-A IDIOT"..you need to find out who the HELL you are dealing with....BTW...We have VPI Pet Insurance on ALL OF THEM....So thats how much We Love Them....You Jack-Wad.....

Take a pill, dude. Why are you buying dog treats at a human drug store anyway?

Get a grip and use your brain, if you actually have one, and read labels.

It really IS that simple.

thank you for naming a brand of treats. i have that for my dog....... but no more its in the garbage!!!!!! next time it will be only the same food as the family eats!

Yup. Kong is made in USA and they are the best!

When we stop borrowing money from them.

Maybe it's time to stop inporting !!! Let's bring it all back to America

It works both ways. If USA stops all imports, the affected nations will stop all imports from the US.

Good.

Well, I'm NOT all for free trade. Free trade is a system whereby the nation which cuts the most corners and abuses the people and the land the most gets a monopoly.

Closed trade is a system whereby your neighbour serves you and you reciprocate.

Are you on drugs? You sound like you need to adjust your tinfoil hat and go back to you parents basement for a nap...

They don't want consumer protection and they want to deregulate. How safe will our food be then?

Lynn: "tin foil hat" and "are you on drugs" are on the list of over-used blog phrases, along with "drink the kool-aid" and "i've got a bridge to sell you" Please be more original in the future.

key2joy...

If you had any idea of the product integrity, security and safety measures behind the production of Waggin Train, you would continue to purchase them and be proud of it. It IS true that there is a huge source of white meat chicken in China due to their preference of dark meat. The white meat is individually, hand-laid on grates and cooked, drying out the meat. The only ingredients are Chicken Breast, Vegetable Glycerin (to maintain moisture) and Natural Flavor.

Another big point to make is that the facilities where these treats are produced may be in China with a small Chinese workforce, but are owned and managed by Americans, to US standards.

No, they only poison infants with melamine. But on second thought, you may be on to something.

They have to do something with it if they stopped feeding it to kids. Chinese don't throw anything away. ever

Ever see a Chinese market? They sell food that would turn a dog's stomach, and dogs have no problem eating feces. So considering these facts, any wonder why their mass produced pet foods may cause harm?