E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Courtesy the Mawaka family.
Elizabeth Mawaka of Hartford, Conn., has sued makers and sellers of chicken jerky dog treats, which she blames for the death of two dogs, including Toby, shown above. She called on Nestle Purina PetCare Co. officials to allow U.S. inspectors to test samples from China plants.
Chinese government officials overseeing plants that make chicken jerky pet treats blamed for thousands of illnesses and deaths among American dogs have refused to allow U.S. inspectors to collect samples for independent analysis, newly released records show.
Investigators with the federal Food and Drug Administration came away empty-handed after conducting April inspections at four jerky treat manufacturing sites in Liaocheng and Jinan, China, according to the records.
The plants make pet treats sold by the St. Louis-based Nestle Purina PetCare Co., including the popular Waggin’ Train jerky brands.
Chinese officials stipulated that FDA officials could collect samples only if they agreed to specific conditions, including a requirement that the samples be tested in Chinese-run laboratories.
As a result, “no samples were collected during this inspection,” wrote Dennis L. Doupnik, an FDA investigator who visited the sites.
In addition, the reports showed that the Chinese plants conducted either no laboratory tests or only sporadic tests of the raw materials, including meat used in treats fed to many of the 78.2 million pet dogs in the U.S.
The FDA found no significant violations and issued no citations, but warned plant owners about problems that included broken supports on metal screens, a torn gasket door on a mixer and failure to file proper paperwork to list actual treat manufacturers instead of shippers or brokers in FDA records.
That means the agency appears to be no closer to solving the mystery of about 2,000 reports of illnesses or deaths in U.S. dogs that ate jerky treats made in China, lawmakers and pet owners said on Tuesday. Despite tests of hundreds of treats in the U.S. over five years, the FDA has found no significant levels of contaminants in the products.
“It’s hard to believe the FDA would send a team of inspectors over to China without first getting a guarantee that they could bring samples back,” said Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, who has been tracking the jerky problem. “They’re doing nothing of consequence. The FDA’s tone-deaf on this one.”
Elizabeth Mawaka, 57, a Hartford, Conn., woman who says her two Boston terriers, Max and Toby, died after eating tainted treats, called on Nestle Purina to demand that samples be released to the FDA.
“It really comes down to the company,” said Mawaka, who is suing jerky treat makers and retailers. “We can talk all we want about China, but it’s really the company.”
However, a Nestle Purina spokesman said the inspections demonstrated no problems with the firm's products and no evidence that they’ve led to illnesses in animals in the U.S.
Keith Schopp, the firm’s vice president of public relations, said that it’s common for countries to refuse to have samples tested outside of the country of origin and that the terms of the inspection were set by the U.S. and Chinese governments, not by Nestle Purina or the manufacturing site officials.
“There was no attempt by Nestle Purina or the Chinese facilities to restrict sample collection,” said Schopp said in an email to NBCNews.com.
"Nestle Purina will continue to cooperate fully with FDA to assist its investigation," added Schopp, who has consistently said the treats are safe to feed as directed.
Tamara N. Ward, an FDA spokeswoman, said in an email that the inspections helped to identify additional areas that the agency may investigate, but there is "no evidence indicating that these firms' jerky pet treats are the cause of pet illnesses in the United States."
Ward did not respond to NBC News questions about the impact of the Chinese officials' refusal to allow FDA to collect samples.
Last November, the FDA issued its third warning since 2007 about potentially dangerous chicken jerky treats after new reports of health problems in dogs surfaced, ranging from diarrhea and vomiting to kidney failure and death. In the months since then, the agency has been swamped with reports of animal illness. Last month, it expanded the caution to include duck and sweet potato jerky treats.
The FDA sent a letter to Chinese officials in March identifying five Chinese firms for inspection. Investigators were sent for several days to each of four plants: Gambol Pet Products Co. Ltd.; Shandong Honva Food Co. Ltd.; and Shandong Petswell Food Co. Ltd., all in Liaocheng, China, and Jinan Uniwell Pet Food Co. Ltd. in Jinan, China, according to reports posted this week on the agency’s animal and veterinary website. The fifth report is pending because of the need for additional information and will be posted later, said Ward, the FDA spokeswoman.
The inspections were pre-arranged and supervised by officials with China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, known as AQSIQ.
AQSIQ officials refused to allow FDA inspectors to collect samples unless they agreed to “certain sampling conditions,” including having the jerky analyzed only in a Chinese government-run laboratory, or a third-party lab in China, wrote FDA investigator Doupnik. FDA investigators would have been allowed to witness the analysis, but not to remove samples.
“I was informed that FDA would not be allowed to ship any samples outside of China for testing in an FDA laboratory due to the issue of national sovereignty among other reasons,” Doupnik added.
Before each inspection, the reports indicated that Doupnik asked AQSIQ officials if their position on the sampling had changed. When he was informed it had not, Doupnik wrote that he did not ask to collect samples during the inspections.
The heavily redacted documents, known as Establishment Inspection Reports, traced the production of jerky treats from raw meat through final packaging. In each case, plant officials said they were aware of few complaints of any kind and none about the treats causing death or illness in dogs. That's despite documented FDA reports of complaints related to each site, Doupnik noted.
At the Shandong Petswell plant, an unidentified plant representative told inspectors that “it is her perception that the firm is making a good product.”
No FDA import alerts or import refusals have been issued for the firms, Ward said. However, she added that the FDA is conducting increased surveillance of shipments of jerky treats from China to provide guidance on possible products to target for sampling and analysis.
But Kucinich said that Chinese officials' refusal to release samples to U.S. inspectors should be grounds for banning the products from import -- or for a mandatory recall.
“That would do it for that product. I would pull them all off the market,” said Kucinich. “Fine. You’re done.”
Consumers have petitioned the FDA to urge Nestle Purina and other jerky treat manufacturers to recall the products. However, FDA officials have said they can’t force a recall based solely on customer complaints.
Related stories on Vitals:
- Jerky treats from China blamed for pet deaths; owners sue
- 3 big brands may be tied to chicken jerky illness in dogs, FDA records show
- FDA data dump shows few toxins in jerky treats
- Arthur Dogswell recalls cat chicken jerky treats, FDA says
Leave a Comment:
Sounds like a simple solution would be for Americans to quit buying crap made in China.
If I had the power I would ban all imports from China. Not just dog treats and other consumables but everything. China needs to learn how to act like a good trading partner not a common thief.and maker of bad merchandise.
Over the years this Government has let the economy get raped by these so called trading partners who has import restrictions on US imports. It time we take country by country and apply the same import restrictions and tariffs on them as they do us. If they complain about it, tell them when they change their restrictions we will change ours to match theirs.
Plus they wont be able to export to us more than they import, Period
You can't ban Chinese, products our Govt. is not gonna let that happen. We have to send the message to these companies, with our wallets. We need a web site with a list of all the food and dog products " Made In China." Some of these labels are misleading.
If Obama wins in november we will all lose and have no choise. He will go hat in hand and take another 2 or 3 trillon dollars from China. Then they will own us.
I recently bought some frozen haddock fish fillets at Sam's Club. In the process of opening them I noted a stamp on the package: "Made in China". What!!!!!! Made in China. How does China make fish fillets. I can understand "packaged in China" but "made". Anyway I threw them out. I will not knowingly eat anything coming from China. This decision has nothing to do with the Chinese people but with Chinese corporations who seem to value the $ more then human life as has been shown in the past with melamine in baby formulas, drywall, children's toys painted with led paint, etc. Having said that our US corporations are not much different. They are held in check but potential lawsuits should their products impart harm. In my mind China has a long way to go to win my confidence
People here in the US have the say in what their pet eats, its that simple yet do they check where it came from?, whats in the product?, the only thing it seems that people do check is the price and whether its maybe on sale! People need to be more responsible in what they do for their pets and even themselves, then this wouldn't be as big an issue as it is.
I myself do not buy Purina products or many of the big names because they have sold out the American people for better profits, let them keep there junk as they have wrecked there name brand along time ago.
People need to feed their pets real meat they buy from the grocery store for themselves. This way they will know what they are buying (to a point) and it would be up to them as to how its cooked etc, it really is cheaper across the board, I feed my dogs both beef and chicken and they love it, they are not over weight and they also get beef soup bones which keeps their teeth clean.
I also check out the dog food I buy and where it came from and whats in it and cost is not an issue and I am not rich by any means but my pets are just as important to me as people are so I spend what needs to be spent to keep them healthy and it works out great with no problems for them or me and China doesn't get my $$ or business, I also look for American made products wherever I can.
How about if we all just simply quit buying these poisonous crap products from Nestle? They are not good for your pets and Nestle is only interested in selling poisonous products to your pets. They do not care. If they did they would make this product in countries that DO care. Nestle makes poisonous pet products. They don't care if they kill your pets with their poisonous products. Nestle sell poison.
oh come on there are hundred if not thousands of investors that do not care for the pets either but they love profits and the Communist Chinese and the U.S. Government are allowing this to occur, investor sell poison, and customers buy crap.
Good...Now just to save a buck by making this in China along with all of the food by products and additives...they will face lawsuit after lawsuit. Purina IS responsible now matter how they try to shift responsibility. Make them see that saving 2 bucks an hour wasn't worth it.
Next...Chinese factories put arsenic and botulism in food made and destined for the west. Oh those extra profits for cheap cheap labor.
first you have to think about who is running America, is the national issues being decided by Obama or the Communist Chinese suppliers, remember when you allow you debt to increase to a point of bankruptcy you really don't have anyone else to blame you did it, these people suing China would be better to sue the U.S. Government for deregulation's, and for the criminal neglect they have permitted
It's NOT Chinas' fault. Nestle does not care if they sell poison. They are the ones that farmed this stuff out to countries that do not care about selling poison. China=Nestle=poison merchants!
People love to blame us for their shortcomings.
America is still good at making excuses. You won't be able to outsource that..
Sounds like 50 Cent Party.
I agree with the Chinese; I don't think we should allow the equivalent of the Chinese FDA to come over here and demand samples from a company and whisk them back to China to be tested in their labs.
That being said, I also agree with Kucinich (probably the only time in my life that I have or will) - if they won't allow us to test a product we are importing, then they should be banned from exporting to our country.
If people really wanted to stop this, then all they need to do is stop buying "Made in China" pet treats. Those Chinese plants making the products will either have to find new customers, agree to objective testing, or shut down.
This will legitimately benefit American manufacturers of pet food products. Having had dogs I know there are many good Made In The USA brands of dog food and treats. I know it's also tempting to save a few bucks and buy a cheaper treat, and that it's easy to rationalize doing that since most dogs are not that finicky, especially when it comes to treats.
By the way, has anyone who had a dog who got sick from these ever had them tested by a third-party lab to try and identify the toxin and tie it to the actual treat? I would be curious.
If the two countries have verifiable equivalent standards, then a 'treaty' can be created that basically forgoes the inspections. However in the case of China, there are far too many issues cropping up. If the Chinese government were to clamp down on their own companies, then this may not be happening.
Exactly. Read the label. If it says made in China, don't buy it. How simple is that and how stupid are we to not be able to figure it out?
Casey:
100% right on both counts ! It is just that simple and we remain too stupid to figure it out. Sad.
Impossible to avoid Chinese food products. The labels are misleading.
www.made-in-china.com/products/catlist/listsubcat/105/00/mic/Agriculture_Food.html
articles.cnn.com/2007-07-26/living/china.products_1_china-pet-food-center-for-food-safety?_s=PM:LIVING
www.elephantjournal.com/2010/02/whole-foods-365-organic-made-in-china-an-abc-expose/
Why would they need samples from CHINA to test. Test the darn treats from the imported lots. If it is found tainted case closed. Stop all the imports from China. This sort of problem exists with any imported product. Nobody wants to take responsibility for anything. I bought a large crescent wrench from Ace Hardware few years ago and while I was attempting to loosen a bolt from a farm tractor it broke causing my hand to and wrist to strike against the frame causing me serious injury. This wrench came from China and it had a metal defect from poor metal which had inclusions. I took it back to Ace and the only thing they did was an offer on another China made wrench, which I refused. I talked to the corporate people and they pretty much said that they had no responsibility on products made in China. Suing them was too expensive and it was not worth to further pursue this because my hand got better after few months.
Okay, call me crazy, but "...no evidence that they've led to illnesses in animals in the U.S." Just what do you call two dead pets? Nestle, a brand that has promoted (allegedly) great products, especially in the pet field is ignoring the fact that two members of this woman's family are dead because of "treats" they sold under their name, using materials they gather under their name, and there is no evidence? Who wants to take bets on whether or not the CEO of Nestle feeds THEIR pet these "treats"?
Where did you get out of that article that the treats caused the death of those pets? Millions of dogs eat Purina treats every day. Thousands of dogs who eat Purina treats die the same day...every day. Some of those deaths are unexplained...every day.
So, it happens every day that a dog in the US dies unexpectedly after eating Purina treats. And that has nothing to do with the safety of the treats.
Since I was doing the rough statistics, I had to check elsewhere to verify that the Makawas' dogs didn't die at the same time. (They died about a year apart.) If their two dogs had died at the same time, that would have been suspicious. But there really isn't anything here that is even suspicious, let alone incriminating. Even so, the FDA has tested hundreds of samples to be follow up and they haven't found anything.
"Despite tests of hundreds of treats in the U.S. over five years, the FDA has found no significant levels of contaminants in the products."
There is an easy solution which is already being used on other products like OJ. The producer labels the product in big bold letters "100% made in the USA". Then we have the Quality Assurance within FDA control. ( let's hope they do their job) AND the consumer clearly can make their choice in the store.
Boycott everything made in China. Opps, that means I have to stop shopping at Walmart.
O.k China is a country who don't care about their own people Dose anyone remember a few years back when they were killing babies because they put drywall dust in the babymilk? Or what about the drywall they sent here. They don't care. I really try hard not to buy anything that is made in China. Their is a site where everything sold on it is American made : AMERICAWORKS. com. Time of us to hit companies where it hurts the most, in the wallet. I will not buy ANY toys made China, I love my grandkids way too much
I'm not saying there may not be an issue with these products, but lets stay objective and check the emotions. My dog has eaten these for years (in fact, he salivates for them when I grind his nails) with no apparent ill effects. I don't understand why we can't definitively test them here in the US for contaminants or whatever? Sad to say, but I'd bet that some of these poor pets who've gotten sick died may have had other issues that the owners were blind to and who found a handy scapegoat in the treats.
Problem is, China doesn't poison every batch they send out. Apparently it's only when somebody has a batch of toxic waste they need to get rid of, then they mix it in with the food products. No doubt the problem isn't limited to just dog treats, anything - and I mean anything - coming out of China stands a chance of being contaminated with toxic waste China is trying to export. So not every bag of treat is going to be contaminated here in the USA.
What I would like to know is, did these inspectors check around outside the factory for evidence like emptied containers of toxins that wouldn't normally be found at a dog food processing facility? Did they pay off local transport companies to see if any toxic waste was delivered to the dog food plant? If they bribe the right people they wouldn't even need to inspect the plant.
I'm still wondering though, wouldn't there be some treat residue or particles or crumbs left at the bottom of one of the bags of treats that did harm a pet?
It does not seem like labs need very much to test for the presence of contaminants these days. I don't know though. Maybe that woman tossed the treat bag before she realized they might have caused the illness. And maybe the contamination is random and some pets are large enough/healthy enough/young enough to survive the toxic effects.
Not to be insensitive at all either, but it's possible these particular poisonings are like the Tylenol Murders - someone who is sick in the head is doing it at random somewhere in the supply chain before the treats go to market. It could even be happening once the treats are over here. If someone were using a simple hypodermic needle they could get through the package, lace the treats, and odds are no one would ever notice a tiny hole in a single package of treats here and there. It would be quick, easy, and there would be little chance of being caught. We think dogs are garbage compactors and can eat anything, but their are a lot of things that are really harmful to them in very small amounts.
There have been about 2,000 complaints. At least some of those pet owners kept their leftover treats. The FDA tested hundreds of samples and found nothing. I think PatrickSB has it right. Dogs die every single day completely unexpectedly, and lots of them ate treats right before they died.
There are 78,000,000 dogs in the US. Millions of them eat these treats every day--so 2,000 complaints over five years just isn't very many.
China is already big enough on the world market to tell the USA to go to hell.Wait until the question is more profound and has direct implecations towards our health and see if the situatiob changes.I don't think it will! They are brutal people who care only about their goals and how soon can those goals be reached!
The only way this can be fixed is at consumer level. Our government can't helps us and won't . If you don't buy their crap they will disappear from the scenery along with their American partners and cohorts.
Seems to me if the treats are contaminated they can test the products that have entered the US. Taking a boondoggle to China won't change anything. Just another misuse of taxpayer money.
Sounds like they have something to hide, and they know it.
No problem, just ban the import of these treats from China. At least no more American pets need to get sick from China exporting their toxic waste. Also start levying fines against companies that import from China - make it expensive enough that they will have to hire American workers to maintain profitability.
I saw a lady eyeing a huge display at Sam's Club and gently told her of the hundreds of deaths caused by WAGGIN TRAIN jerky...she thanked me PROFUSELY and walked away from the display. She thanked me a second time before leaving the store . I asked her to please spread the news to her DOG LOVING friends and family. WAGGIN TRAIN shows on their label..."PROUDLY DISTRIBUTED in AMERICA!", however, they fail to tell you the ingredients are from and manufactured in CHINA...DECEPTIVE and ROTTEN TO THE CORE!!!
once again money and greed by an AMERICAN company trumps safety....just let all the made in china products in....no testing needed...if it kills oh well...the FDA is powerless when big corporate money/profits are involved..thanks to the USA gov't for making all this possible.
That's fine with me. If Nestle doesn't want my business, they don't have to have it.
After their contaminated baby food that killed infants, why would anyone buy any food product known to be from China is beyond me.
Really China? Well, how about we all say NO to China. Buy only American. I buy my dogs food and treats that are Made in the USA. Boycott Nestle and boycott any pet products made in China. Simple as that!