Pet Food and Aminopterin: The irrational application of pesticides by Chinese farmers
Aminopterin is still the prime suspect in the food poisoning that has claimed the lives of over a dozen pets, and quite possibly hundreds. Suspicion keeps coming back to the wheat gluten used as a base for the preparation of these foods by Menu Foods. The wheat gluten was imported by China, so I started reading some background on Chinese agricultural practises.
The application of pesticides has been descibed as "irrational" as recently as last October.
See all the posts related to the pet food recall.
The pet poison story continues to focus on Chinese wheat gluten contaminated by the rat poison aminopterin. How do you get so much rat poison on so much wheat that, after processing, it remains in concentrations high enough to cause illness and death?
Apparently you spray it on -- irrationally:
China lost around 18 to 20 million tons of grain annually due to inadequate storage by farmers, the State Grain Administration has claimed.
The losses were valued at between 18 and 24 billion yuan (US$2.25 to three billion) each year.
The administration found in a survey that at least 60 percent of China's grain output was kept by some 240 million rural households, as Chinese farmers held the belief that they had no worries as long as they had enough grain in hand.
Farmers in China's major grain-producing areas usually stored grain in knitted bags, gunny bags and clay vessels, which failed to prevent rot or stop mice and insects eating the contents.
Also, the irrational spraying of pesticides by farmers while storing grain could lead to high chemical residues, posing serious health risks.
Now this is from the official news organ of the Chinese government, the Xinhua News Agency, and was published in October of 2006. Interestingly, the pet food recall initially targeted pet food that was packaged from December 3, 2006 until March 6, 2007.
The report does not identify the specific pesticide used.
Did the irrational spraying of pesticides occur on grains designated for export? Direct your questions to the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corp (COFCO), the state-owned food and export conglomerate run by Ning Gaoning:
COFCO, the largest oils and food importer and exporter in China and a leading food manufacturer, enjoys a high reputation in the international grains, oils and food market. It can boast outstanding achievements in the trade of agricultural products, biological energy development, food processing, real estate, commercial property, hotel operation, financial services and other areas closely related to your life. Since 1994, COFCO has consistently ranked as one of the world's top 500 enterprises according to Fortune magazine.
COFCO has over 50 years of experience in international trade, and is the most important bridge between the Chinese and international markets for oils and food products. It also serves as the main channel for the import and export of wheat, corn, rice, sugar and other agricultural products.
According to the People's Daily, COFCO is the exclusive agent for the export of wheat:
Wheat-growers in central Henan province have reason to celebrate this weekend as 5,000 tons of quality food grain were shipped Friday from Lianyungang city in eastern Jiangsu Province, to Indonesia, marking a breakthrough in China's grain exports.
Insiders regarded Friday's shipment as "historical progress" for the world's most populous nation, which is both the world's No.1 wheat-grower and grain importer as well as a country where food supply had long failed to meet demand.
The cargo is part of an export contract of 91,600 tons of wheatsigned between Henan province and COFCO Grain & Oils Import & Export Co., the exclusive agent of the country's grain import and export.
However, since the quality, specification and quarantine requirements for food grain are more stringent than those for fodder grain, it took some four months for international grain importers like Indonesia, Malaysia and New Zealand to complete testing on the 120-plus samples provided by COFCO.
That was in 2002, so things might have changed, but if you look at COFCO's history over the last few years, it has been one of acquisition. Given the way business works in China, I have no problems believing that COFCO, as a state-owned company, has retained its exclusive control and even expanded it.
So as authorities try to understand where the aminopterin came from, they might find themselves demanding answers of an organ of the Chinese government. Good luck with that.
Ferdy the Cat suggests going with 100% local wheat.
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Comments
Isn't it a fact, that these clowns are still pumping DDT into the environment?
Posted by: Feldwebel Wolfenstool at March 26, 2007 01:38 PM
I think the best solution is to ban all agricultural imports from China until they have proven they are safe, much as what was done with Canadian beef after the discovery of one cow with BSE. The onus is on the Chinese.
Posted by: vieux loup at March 26, 2007 01:55 PM
Maybe you should also add processed foods to your list vieux loup. Check the labels on everything you buy, we import from China everything from noodles to cookies. All manufactured in China and potentially containing similarly contaminated ingredients.
Posted by: Fred at March 26, 2007 02:29 PM
Uh are we humans eating rat poison? Is Chinese wheat gluten found in the hundreds... err, no thousands, err, no tens of thousands of processed foods that we eat?
You know globalism is a good idea an' all but sometimes it SUCKS!
Posted by: Real Conservative at March 26, 2007 06:54 PM
"still pumping DDT into the environment"
DDT shouldn't be confused with rat poison. DDT is non-toxic to humans. On the other hand, rat poisons will kill your ass dead.
Posted by: JJJoseph at March 26, 2007 10:06 PM
DDT is not toxic to humans?! (I'm talking to JJJoseph here...) Chlorinated hydrocarbon isecticides are most definitely toxic to humans! In fact, they are of the most highly toxic class of insecticides.
Posted by: Get Real at March 27, 2007 02:30 PM
>>>Now this is from the official news organ of the Chinese government, the Xinhua News Agency, and was published in October of 2006. Interestingly, the pet food recall initially targeted pet food that was packaged from December 3, 2006 until March 6, 2007.
========
Many healthy pets began to suddenly become ill and died
of unknown causes at the end of 2006. My cat was fed home made food until I had to go on a trip, at which time he was fed store bought food. When I returned home he was very ill and passed away within 3 days. Since this recall I have been searching for anything that indicated that there may have been something going on EARLIER than the dates that have been indicated.. (Dec) So far you are the first I have seen to point these dates out... My companion died OCT 30 2006..... I beleive this is related to the RECALL...
Please keep me posted on this. Thank you
dice228@gmail.com
Posted by: dice at March 31, 2007 06:43 PM
How pesticides are handled in developing countries:
Pesticides have a dilemma nature and because of this nature to use them safely there must be done lots of research and there should exist lots of laws and regulations and enforcement, now let say that this is followed correctly in developed countries where the industry exists but the story and scenario is quiet different in developing countries. In most of these developing countries there are no research/ regulations or if there is it is not followed / enforced absolutely and this is the problem and because it deals with the life of people and health of the environment it is a real big problem. When it comes to spraying technology and worker protection it is never practiced by ordinary farmers in these countries. These are my personal experiences/ observations during more than 35 years being involved in pesticide science work. Living more than 15 years in Mazandaran, Golastan and Gillan the three beautiful Northern Provinces of Iran by the Caspian Sea I observed so many cases of pesticide intoxication. This is because people do their spraying without any protective clothing, most of times with bare foot and body because of hot weather and with any type of spraying equipment that they can find and they use lots of pesticides in their rice paddies, cotton fields and citrus orchards etc.
So as a result where there is no scientific research and laws and regulations as in developing countries then most use of pesticides should stop because no rules are followed
Ahmad Mahdavi,
PhD, environmental toxicologist,
Guelph, Ontario.
biomahda@yahoo.ca
Posted by: Ahmad Mahdavi at April 19, 2007 04:59 PM
 
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