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:
Now that we know - there will not be any N. Purina pet products {china made] in this house - ever
Why would anyone buy this China-made crap for their pet? Don't people read the label to see where the stuff is made?
I had to search hard to find apple juice for my daughter that wasn't produced in China. By accident I noticed one morning that the apple juice we were purchasing had a small letters stamped on the clear plastic container that said "made in china". I started shopping for American produced apple juice and guess what, it's almost non existent. I did however manage to find one brand on the grocery shelf that was made in the USA. That's the one we now use. I'm sick of having Chinese products crammed down our throats. The sooner we place large duties on goods imported from China, the sooner we put Americans back to work and rebuild our industrial base.
1. If the Chinese feed their own children with polluted milk (melamine), why would you think they would treat pets any better?
2. Don't buy products from Purina Nestle. There are plenty of well-know American pet food manufacturers (Blue Buffalo anyone?) so there is no reason to buy from a multi-national conglomerate.
3. You can sue these guys all you want, but you will never get a dime from them or, you will get a dime to make you go away.
4. The FDA should pay more attention to the foods grown, manufactured or sold in the US for human consumption. Listeria, anyone? Cantalope, anyone?
I think we should feed these treats to children, then maybe the FDA would do something. Another Obombonation. If it doesn't make money for the Gubmint, or benefit voters for Obombo, it don't happen. Welcome to 3rd world America.
Gemini, stop with the nasty name characterization of the President, unnecessary, the trade packs were in place long before the President, Purina, free enterprise remember.
Not one Purina or del Monte dog food or treats will ever enter this home again. We have three dogs and 1 Bird, we love each of our pets and want to keep them safe and that includes not buying Purina or any other company that has its product made in China. Read the fine print folks. The FDA should go to the port of entry and get samples before the product hits the distributor. Regardless, no Made in China food products in our home.
Unfourtunately Wall Street will win on this one.
Yes, its not about China its about share holders profits going down. When a public owned company moves manufacturing over seas, savings are NOT passed to the customer (check prices when they were made in the US0) it is given too shareholders. IF they have to move it back OR China raises prices they will not give those losses to the shareholders, but just increase the prices with the excuse it now costs more to make.
Fourtunately this is just dog treats. They should force them to do this with all goods FOOD INCLUDED for humans.
China also counterfits just about everything the US companies make and then sell it here via sites such as E bay. Look at HKS products. Check out Alibaba and search for software created in the US such as ALLDATA selling for $1200 here but can be bought counterfeit for $200 from China.
They should be held to the same laws as USmanufacturers if they sell inside the US.
I have to question, why did we even need to send inspectors to China in the first place? Test the crap once it's on our soil, then the Chinese won't have any say in the matter. Any of it doesn't pass our standards, then the company ships it back where it came from at THEIR expense. Bet that'd solve the problem real quick!
Because, they know this was no accident. They could easily just check the food and ban it from entering the USA, its the plant they want to check out. I don't know why they would waste the time doing this, when we all know they'll just have to cover it up.
Read my post above. If they tested it here it would then have to be rejected and shareholders will lose money. If they test it in the facotries and it fails, then the goods havent been paid for and shipping to the US and shareholders arent going to suffer for it. Only the Chinese factories.
I am with you though. Everything shipped into the US must pass the same testing and laws that our companies have to pass. Thats why its cheaper their and all our workers are unemployed.
Um... Maybe it's because they were tested on US soil, and nothing was ever found in random samples from stores or even in leftover treats from the same bags that allegedly harmed the pets.
"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."
Robert,
Here is something to think about. If it's tested here & passes, no problem. If it fails & is sent back, 1) shareholders lose money, 2) purina stocks decline, 3) shareholders DEMAND improvements. Then, purina is forced to sever ties with chinese Mfgrs. (Purina will find someone to replace that MFGR.) Being businessmen, China will have to cave to demands for in-house inspections or find a new multi-billion dollar customer. There aren't THAT many of those just hangin' around. Plus, if word gets out in the international market that "brand-x" chinese Mfgr. lost a billion dollar customer, nobody will want their products and heads will roll in China! We have A LITTLE bargaining power with them & we've got to put it to use. (They want our money, make 'em earn it!)
There is a very easy solution for this and I fail to see why it isn't being applied. No inspections=no imports. Turn the ship around and take it back to China.
I learned about these treats a few months ago and had just bought a bag at Wal-Mart. I returned them the next day and even the cashier told me how bad they are. Another woman in line noticed me returning them and was so happy to see it. She was one of the original class-action lawsuit folks and was thrilled to see their campaign working even if the government won't do anything. (and no I am not blaming President Obama LOL!)
I still see them though at Wal-Mart and noticed huge bags of them in Costco Sunday.
While the public and our unabashed search for the cheaper deal is a significant part of the initial problem the main trouble now is this countries governments lack of action.
In a case like this where a supplier nation refuses to allow what we feel are acceptable tests, importation of this type of goods from that nation should be banned permanently or until any and all testing concerns have been satisfied and fully reviewed.
We are a consumer nation yet we dont use the power of being the customer to our benefit in any way.
Its not the public searching for a cheaper deal. Its share holders of public companies looking for a larger profit margin. I have made products in the US and then went overseas to set up manufacturing there and I will promise you that the prices of the product on the shelf didnt drop a dime yet the cost to make it was nearly 1/6th of the costs here. Its the large retail stores and the shareholders looking to pocket the cost differences. They will say its because of the people but its not. Most people can no longer offord normal items because of the prices having gone way up once production is 100% overseas. US workers are now out of work. This was the plane back when NAFTA and CAFTA were put in place. It was wal street and giant retail stores that pushed for it. Not the people.
10s of Millions of workers were put out of work in textiles alone. They were given special un-employment benifits if they worked in those fields such as benifits for 1 year instead of 3 months but the people had to pay that with taxes not the companies that profited from killing the jobs.
I think you made some good points, Robert. I was going to disagree with the first sentence, but as I thought about it, I realized that while it didn't start out that way, it became that once 99% of stuff was made outside of the USA.
We don't buy them. It isn't worth the risk. Besides, why are we shipping this stuff thousands of miles. Don't we produce food in the U.S.?
Let's feed these treats to our politicians first and if they don't die we can feed them to our pets.
I say let's not buy any consumable from China until they learn to follow the rules...our rules...FDA rules.
In the meantime we can communicate our consumer distaste for China products to our suppliers such as Petco, Petsmart, etc. You can write a letter to your store manager or leave a comment at the register, telling management that you will refuse to buy any product made in China. Once the stores realize that people won't buy pet products made in China, they will quite stocking them. When that happens, the distributor will quite handling the products ....and on up the chain until a big "no buy" order goes to the factory in China. This does work. Consumers have power by refusing to buy a product.
Use your power of purchase or non purchase.
My 7 year old female Akita/New Foundland Lab dog, BB Pepper, is currently being treated for unknown illness with symptoms as lethargy and severe anemia. Red blood cells are being attacked by her own immune system. She was healthy up to 2 weeks ago till a distinct drop in energy leading to emergency hospital trip for blood transfusion and follow-up of 5-medicine pack 2x a day treatment. After 1 1/2 weeks she is still not responding to meds.
Did give her dried chicken jerky for months but changed to dried duck jerky after seeing references to this issue a while back. Brand was Waggin' Train. I am now wondering if there is a connection.
Tests thus far common and extended range blood tests indicate cause unlikely from a tick (lyme disease) or lopo... (viral bacteria).
If anyone has noticed similar condition as relates to these treats would appreciate seeing a response. - Thank you.
I am sorry to hear about your dog--our pets are so much a part of our families! My thoughts and prayers are with your dog. I hope she gets better, and returns to full health. My recommendation is to give her frozen green beans and sliced raw carrots as a treat in the future--that way, you have an inexpensive yet very healthy treat to give her that she will love! (be sure that is ok with your vet because your dog may have a condition I don't know about that contraindicates that) I am really careful these days about reading labels. My husband and I feed our German Shepherd mix dog (Gentle Ben-jamin Chewbaca Mayhem) Earthborn Holistic Adult Vantage. Before Ben, we had an Akita mix who died of Bloat--we knew next to nothing about bloat when it happened, but afterward, educated ourselves about it so that we would not be caught unawares again--now we know what to do if bloat happens--and hopefully would catch it in time. Again, my best to you and your beloved dog!
Treat your dogs just like you would your family. Especially when it comes to food. Cook freh foods with Vegetables no Sodium no preservatives cook the food daily and you will see how healthy your dog will be. All those bag foods give them nothing but problems as they are full of chemicals and preservatives. Treat your dog as you would yourself except leave ot the Sodium and if feeding meats leave out the Chicken bones as these could get stuck in their throats. Love them the way you would love your children or yourself! cheers!
Hmm... lets do the math. Each bag of these treats we purchase has approximately 40-60 pieces of jerky in each one (2 lbs 8 oz), and per the bag, have a 30-day shelf-life.
We've been feeding these to our two (2) dogs daily for the past 6 years or so, and each bag lasts 30 days, hence we've gone through 12 bags a year, or 72 bags total.
Now, we're not the only ones feeding our pets these treats, so lets say conservatively, that 30 million consumers feed their pets these treats (approximately 10% based on 2010 Government Data) of the USA population, and let's halve (1/2) the number of treats served annually by each of these consumers to say six (6) bags.
This would equate to (10800000000) treats served (McDonalds would be proud), and then divide this into the number of reported deaths attributed to them (2000), and the likely percentage of death would be one in 1.85 Billion (1.85 with 7 zeros after it).
Or to put it into perspective, your chances of winning the lottery, jumping on an airplane to collect your winnings, and then being killed by a lightning-strike while enroute...
Get over it people, more likely as not, the pets (as in the photo provided), were seriously over-weight, likely had prior health issues, or more likely as not, if the treats were involved, were likely beyond their shelf-life or weren't stored in their container properly (or contaminated by their providers)!
We love our dogs too (they're essentially our children), but we don't let the ignorance of a few people sway our decisions.
Do the math, and you'll understand why this isn't a huge issue, especially when none (zero, 0) of the product ever tested by the FDA was contaminated, and they had no findings at any of the manufacturers.
The fact the Chinese want the samples tested at their facilities, is no different than if then if a foreign government wanted samples of our products tested in their country (i.e., to prevent potential tampering).
Rather than be swayed by the ranting of a questionable person, whose motives are unknown (lawsuit?), look at the data provided and come to your own conclusion as to whether these treats can be safely consumed by your pets, and then feed/store them according to the products packaging!
NoSalvation--First, statistics mean nothing when it's your ox getting gored. Second, who knows how many animals are being affected at slow, mostly sub clinical levels, or affected at levels too infrequent and /or vague to be properly identified. Third, it may be that the contamination happens infrequently. Taken overall, with the melamine baby formula scare, the lead and then cadmium in children's toys, and God knows what else (my husband bought a lawn sprinkler day before yesterday--I was reading the label and not only does it say 'Made in China' but it also says "Warning: Brass contains trace amounts of lead....wash hands after handling"!!! I need to take the damn thing back, I hope my hubby kept the receipt. I don't know if I will be able to find anything better though!) It seems as though the Chinese Government is offloading, slowly and imperceptibly, their toxins on us! Of course, their own pollution in their own land is legendary--just look at how they had to jump through hoops just to get the air in Bejing breathable before they had the Olympics there 4 years ago! If anyone knows of a good oscillating sprinkler that is made in the USA, please let me know! I think I'll go visit the AMERICAWORKS.com :)
You also forgot to mention that the treats have been tested repeatedly, presumably even leftover treats from the same bag as the allegedly deadly treats.
"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."
Now, are the treats tainted in a way that is bizarrely random--even other treats from the same bag are not tainted--and extremely rare--78 million pet dogs in the US, but only 2,000 complaints distributed randomly?
Or maybe one in ten of the 78 million dog owners have heard that there are suspicions about treats from China, and a couple percent of those eight million have noticed unexplained health issues with their pets at some point over the last five years (after all, about 7% of dogs get sick enough to die every year and some of their owners just don't understand why), and a couple percent of those hundred thousand suspicious owners made a phantom connection and complained that their pets also got sick after eating tainted treats from China.
This is one of those situations where it's easier to understand how 2,000 complaints would be generated by unrelated coincidence ("...you know, he ate one of those treats that night and the next morning he was all sick...) than by some sort of deadly contamination that only affects one in a billion treats.
Simple solution, immediately stop importing all pet treats from China. There has to be some factories in the US, that employs US workers, that could make the pet treats. Then said pet treats could be tested without issue. Wake up people, China is not our friend, the sooner we start bringing back manufacturing to the US in mass scale, the better off we will all be.
Why hasn't the actual treats that ARE here in America tested now? I would assume the poison that's killing our pets is still in those dang things. I would think that the FDA would collect samples from all the people who's animals died from these "treats" and prove that there is a bad, bad thing in them. Really, if it were only a couple of dogs that got sick and died I'd say maybe it's just a coincidence. But when there are this many deaths and sicknesses caused, how can they not see a correlation here? Cripes, FDA will go around telling cigarette companies that they have to put gross pictures on their products when everyone knows that cigarettes are bad. But the FDA wimps away from doig the right thingf or US consumers who entrusted their pets to a supposedly safe product? Go figure.
What if, they only tainted a few bags.
What if they did test them, and they didn't find anything, because there was nothing wrong.
"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."
What if millions of dogs eat Purina treats every day and over five years some dogs get unexpectedly sick, and people think the treats are somehow to blame, even though they are completely safe.
Or, to paraphrase...
But when there are so few deaths and sicknesses caused, how can they see a correlation here?
Oops forgot to mention do not buy foods from China they are chemically treated wether it be human foods or Pet foods. Get a Jerky Maker and you will find it simple with simple recipes. Your pets will love it better. Cheers
Hey idiotic American consumer STOP BUYING PET TREATS FROM CHINA !!!!!
Stop buying any food item made in China, not just animal food, china imports other food items that are sold under private labels. Read the labels, at least the FDA was right on place of origin labels.
Leave it to US authorities to think they can barge into other countries and demand entry into their facilities. I wonder what would happen in Chinese officials tried to do the same in the US.
Yes, the company. As much as people blame China for these problems, it is still up to the global corporation to make sure ALL of its facilities are safe and at least standard.
If Chinese companies will add poison to their own countries baby formula shouldnt other countries be worried about what they could add to pet food? Food exports from China, toys with lead paint all point to a country whose #1 priority is money.
Nestle Purina, Nestle is a company based in Switzerland, several years ago a big controversy regarding infant formula being sold to third world countries. I digress, stop buying food stuffs made in China, We will not buy and Purina product again, or Del Monte dog food or treats. We are lucky our dogs have weathered the jerky treats. We stopped buying giving the treats when the news surfaced.
There is a major grocery store chain, here in Fl., that sells under the label "Fisherman's Wharf" seafood, label says processed in China, really, check it out folks, read those labels, the only thing that some Free Enterprise Companies understand is bottom line profits, loss of profit may make them change their ways. Our animals and children are more important than any profit motive.
Many people say "Don't buy it if it says Made in China." Unfortunately the laws for pet food don't always require the package to list country of origin. Many large companies - like Nestle Purina - instead put Distributed in the USA on their packaging and thus trick consumers into thinking the products are American-made. If it's that important to you then make sure the packaging clearly states Made in the USA on it. Most American-made manufacturers of these treats stamp the US flag all over their packaging since they know it's a selling point. However, patriotism aside, the rules for domestic dog food manufacturers aren't that much more stringent than they are for overseas. There is risk here as well. Do your homework and don't buy the cheapest stuff at Wal-Mart.
We can still vote with our wallets.
Voting China is the dumbest thing we can do.
Boycott all dog food and dog treat companies that make their products in China. Demand these products be banned in the US.