Though the exposure has been small in scale, this represents a major escalation of the pet food recall. Chinese agricultural products contaminated with melamine, until now thought to have been used in pet food (and suspected for causing illness and death for thousands of pets), has been consumed by humans:
The tainted pet food scare, which has swelled into a serious crisis for animal lovers, now has spread to humans.
California officials have revealed that the contamination got into the food chain: About 45 state residents ate pork from hogs that consumed animal feed laced with melamine from China. Melamine is used to make plastics, but it also artificially boosts the protein level - and thus the price - of the glutens that go into food.
It was already fatal for some pets: 17 cats and dogs are confirmed dead, more have likely died without being reported, thousands have suffered kidney problems, and 57 brands of cat food and 83 of dog food have been recalled. On top of that, roughly 6,000 hogs will be destroyed because they ate tainted feed.
The effects of melamine on people are thought to be minimal, but no one really knows. Its consumption by humans is considered so improbable that no one has even studied it.
One certain effect is to cause a major breakout of lawyers:
An unknown number of dogs and cats have been sickened or died after eating chemical-laced pet food.
Menu Foods said it faces more than 50 lawsuits. It in turn has sued ChemNutra.
This will pale in comparison to what happens if the human food chain has been compromised to any large extent. Even those 45 California residents will be considering their options...assuming they can find a lawyer in California.
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