Angry in the Great White North

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.