Tainted Wheat Gluten Sold as "Food Grade"

[PhilipShore]

Huffington Post
04.01.2007

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-goldstein/tainted-wheat-gluten-sold_b_44743.html">Link

Del Monte Foods has confirmed that the melamine-tainted wheat gluten used in several of its recalled pet food products was supplied as a "food grade" additive, raising the likelihood that contaminated wheat gluten might have entered the human food supply.

"Yes, it is food grade," Del Monte spokesperson Melissa Murphy-Brown wrote in reply to an e-mail query.

[Earth_First]

1. Unbelievable!

Is there no end?

[Sydnie]

2. This is horrible

and they should have moved on this before now. Everybody, read your labels!

[PhilipShore]

6. I agree

I am a vegetarian wanna be, so I have eaten Wheat Gluten in the past. I will be reading the labels of all the food -- I consume. Why, this not MSM news is beyond me.

[libnnc]

3. So does this mean that people who are suffering from

celiac disease have really been poisoned by the wheat gluten?

Fucking insane :nuke:

[Whoa_Nelly]

21. Maybe that's what brought on my sudden idiopathic hives last year

that merged to be as big as dinnerplates from my knees to my neck, and crop up occaisionally even these days. (am on 180 mg Allegra daily for this...seems to help a lot.) However, when I've stopped eating wheat-based products, my sypmtoms disappear. If I eat wheat-based products, the symptoms return within 24 hours.

Shit..am going back to be being an ovo-lacto vegetarian. Did it for 7 years, in the '90s, can do it again.

[HughMoran]

46. Same here

I've had chronic hives since last Thanksgiving ('06). I never thought it could be due to a food issue. I'm itchy right now - damn I hate this :(

[Whoa_Nelly]

47. Are you on meds for it?

Mine were so bad, so intense, I had to go on steroids for 10 days, then was put on Allegra in the AM, and Zyrtec in the PM. But, am drug sensitive (am a redhead) and the Zyrtec, instead of making me groggy, had me climbing the walls for 6-8 hours ater taking it. Now I have children's dosage of liquid Zytec that I keep on hand if needed, and even then can olny tolerate 1/2 tsp. of it.

Anyway, had lots of blood tests done, and then another DU'er sent me a bunch of info re: gluten intolerance, and it really made sense. However, right now don't have the money for more testing to see if that's it (way expensive), so have been decreasing the wheat products and checking lables for wheat gluten and avoinding it. It has made a huge difference!

Prior to medication (Allegra 180mg/day) was having hives for 3-4 hours, having them stop for 2-3 hours, and then it would start all over again. It was frightening. Have never been an allergy person, and it came on suddenly around the same time as yours did, and got worse and worse over the following two months until I started going to an allergist.

Sorry you're suffering :hug:

[HughMoran]

48. Just taking 1/2 dyphenhydramine

when it get's out of hand - and only recently. I am EXTREMELY drug sensitive and every new "minor side effect" allergy drug to come along is worse than the last. I tried to take a whole pill, but I was slapping my face hard trying not to pass out behind the wheel and that was bad. Topical itch sticks and recently the 1/2 of a 25 mg dyphenhydramine (Benadryl) are keeping it in check. I am going to see a specialist soon as I can't take this much longer. They say that around 50% of chronic hives sufferers have an auto-immune disorder - I'll have to see if someone can at least tell me what it isn't.

[pop goes the weasel]

43. no

It means that those with celiac disease and wheat allergies who have been conscientious about staying on our diets are the only ones who don't have to worry about having eaten the contaminated wheat gluten.

[partylessinOhio]

4. Why hasn't this contamination of our food been called TERRORISM?

Why is our government silent?

[robinlynne]

30. good question.

[laugle]

37. I thought the same thing....isn't called "bio-terrorism?"

[AZBlue]

41. Because when terrorism actually happens they cover it up.

It might blemish their supposed "perfect record since 9/11" otherwise.

[rman]

53. Why not indeed: FDA - Counterterrorism - Food Security

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/bioterrorism.html

# Countering Threats to the Food Supply (www.FoodSafety.gov)
# Animal Drugs/Animal Feed Counterterrorism (FDA/Center for Veterinary Medicine)
...

----

But you know how it is: they're called terrorists or freedom fighters, depending who's side they're on.
In this case "they" are on our side of Globalization and Free Trade.

[Lurking Dem]

5. A lot of my vegetarian stuff has gluten in it.

How much do I trust how "organic" organic wheat gluten is?

[Richard Steele]

9. Lots of things have it, not just "vegetarian" foods any more.

For instance, the cheap brands of canned chili
I buy to put on my hot dogs- Beans + gluten, with
spices and some beef fat for flavor.

Gluten is used as a filler, and it's EVERYWHERE.

[Lurking Dem]

14. And as lovulan points out below

the government will twiddle its thumbs just like Katrina.

I have severely compromised health. I cannot afford to jack around with the very limited foods I can eat.

I wonder if the parenteral nutrition for J tubes has gluten in it?

[Richard Steele]

49. To be honest, they may not just twiddle their thumbs.

They might ACTIVELY PROHIBIT any investigation into the safety
of this food product. Like when they FORBADE a small organic beef
producer from testing its own cows for the "Mad Cow" disease last year.

NOTHING is too bizarrely evil for BushCabal™, not when
large corporate profits are involved. NOTHING.

[loudsue]

59. I remember that, Dicksteele...there was one producer who was going to

advertise that he would test EVERY cow (like they do in some countries), and advertise his beef as such. The cattle industry (remember? bush spoke to their annual meeting last week) rose up in a tizzy and said it was "unfair business practices, casting dispersion and doubt on other producers", and the fucking republican judge ruled that the guy couldn't test every cow!!

This is where corporate America has taken over our government to the extent that ALL of the safeguards we have put in place to protect our people have gone out the window in favor of corporations.

Also, in the past 2 years, the legislature voted that "organic" labels can include ingredients that ARE NOT organic!! But companies can still LABEL the product as "organic". Even many of the Dem legislatures voted for this fraud.

:argh: I'm so sick of all this bullshit!!

:kick::kick::kick:

[Richard Steele]

66. Yup. In Bushcabal™ world, public safety is an unfair business practice. LITERALLY.

They have a judge who officially said so. And a public
which accepts this reckless & dangerously evil insanity
without a whimper.

[loudsue]

73. And they call liberal judges "activist" judges.

Projection....again.

The rightwing judges are also the ones that said programming of the software for voting machines is "proprietary secrets". But who needs "proprietary secrets" when, if all else fails, the Supreme Court will give the cabal a pass. The judiciary is what has enabled this cabal, all the way down the line.

:kick:

[DemReadingDU]

7. What is the purpose of melamine?

from the article...
samples of the implicated pet food were analyzed and found to contain melamine. The consumption of pet food containing melamine may be associated with acute renal failure in cats. Investigations have revealed that the source of the melamine was wheat gluten which is an ingredient in the pet food.

http://www.fda.gov/ora/fiars/ora_import_ia9926.html


Why was melamine put on the wheat gluten? Who put it there?

[Lurking Dem]

10. It's used as a fertilizer in Asia.

[lovuian]

8. You knew this is what was going to come next

we were poisoned too

and yet our Government sits and does nothing
Just like Katrina
Just like 911
just sit and do nothing while we all die
who cares

as long as they get their money

I have been feeling sick after eating Miniwheats and have stopped eating them

Anybody else have that symptom

[loudsue]

60. I've been getting that in bread...

can't even have a darned sandwich anymore without poisoning the whole family.

But, that's those "family values" repervlikins that are poisoning our families by dismantling every safeguard we've ever had in place. What they really mean by "family values" is that they get more money for food, clothing, etc. when families are bigger & have more value to the economy.

:kick:

[City Lights]

11. Outrageous.

Someone better get their ass in gear and get to the bottom of this! :grr:

on edit - Why hasn't the FDA released the name of the US distributor who supplied the US companies with the tainted wheat?

[brer cat]

38. I find that odd too.

Must be a republicon, is all I can figure.

If it was Bill Clinton's company, it would be in 4-inch headlines on every paper in America.

[Gelliebeans]

52. Most underated post I have seen

"Someone better get their ass in gear and get to the bottom of this! :grr:"

I agree!

[BattyDem]

12. Shit! Isn't ANYTHING regulated anymore?

Doesn't anybody test the products? Doesn't anyone check the quality or the safety of the food they distribute to the public and their four-legged family members?!? :grr: :grr: :grr:

[robinlynne]

31. well you know, "big government" is bad for us. The "free-market' is better....

[LynzM]

32. Yes, many things are regulated.

I'm guessing that melamine isn't something the routinely screen for. You cannot, possibly screen for every possible thing that could be in our food supply. This is terrible, and I really hope that no one gets sick (or god forbid, dies) from this. But I think this is more an indication of why it's important to try to eat local food that comes from sources you know and can trust.

[BattyDem]

64. Melamine is a chemical used as fertilizer in China

I realize that they can't test for everything, but if you're going to import a food product from another country, shouldn't you ask what kind of chemicals they use when they grow the stuff? Isn't that common sense? Shouldn't that be mandatory? :shrug:

[laugle]

39. I heard Bush cut the FDA funds by 70%. It was on the local news. nt

That bastard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[knitter4democracy]

13. Oh crap. The last thing I need is to lose my left kidney.

Man, I hope I haven't eaten any of it. I really can't afford to mess with my only kidney now.

[C_U_L8R]

15. why is the govt so quiet >>>> google this

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&q=%22george+bush%22+%22archer+daniels+midland%22&btnG=Search

Just sayin' for instance... a large grain importer who just
happens to have a good friend in the White House
has a major fuckup poisoning the nations pet food
supply and potentially (we'll see) our human food chain...

perhaps some favors are called in and things brushed aside
or even delayed a little while they try to clean up the mess.
Above anything they don't want their stockholders catching
a whiff of this catastrophe... noooooooooo.

Just sayin'. It's possible. and "somebody" was the distributor
who bought all the poisonous wheat gluten.

Oh lord pass that tin foil

[PhilipShore]

18. The Stock/Future brokers -- are probably the best fans -- of the conspiracy theory writers n/t

[Bitwit1234]

16. With all the wheat we have in this country

Why are we buying from CHINA. This crap has got to stop.

[Olney Blue]

17. I won't be surprised if this goes beyond pet food.

Del Monte better be testing everything in sight!

[Skip Intro]

19. So this is why they won't name the US distributor?

"Public statements have indicated that the contaminated gluten was distributed by a single U.S. company, but since the FDA refuses to name the supplier, it is not yet known if this company also supplies human food manufacturers. It is also not yet known if Xuzhou Anying sells direct to food manufacturers in the U.S. or abroad."


Trying to get the genie back into the bottle before anyone else finds out?


Why else wouldn't they tell us the name of the distributor?


And why are we sitting still for it?

[Eric J in MN]

25. They're supposed to serve the public, but instead they only care...

...about preventing a corporation from being sued.

The people at the FDA would prefer that you and me eat rat poison and there is no lawsuit then that we don't and there is a lawsuit.

UPDATE: I see they're talking about melamine (plastic) and not rat poison. I think the rat poison is the real culprit here.

[Heywood J]

55. They're polluticians, what else do you expect?

I can't say I'll be buying anything Del Monte for quite some time, and I'll be checking labels on what I do buy.



Perhaps the free-trade pacts need to be redrawn to include only countries who treat their workers well and produce quality, tested product.

[crikkett]

78. maybe the supplier can be found out

from the pet food co's.

Congressional oversight! I want a hearing!

[Rex]

20. So this opens up a whole new can of worms.

FDA? EPA? Fergetaboutit.

[femmedem]

22. It is still being sold for human consumption.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x555730

Please see my replies #14 and #15.

[hlthe2b]

23. Pick up every bag of bread, hot dog buns, bagels, etc...

they all contain wheat gluten. Having just eaten one made by Oroweat, this is very very very disturbing.

GOd damned Repugs and their anti-regulatory policies. It is hard not to consider that NO drug, no food, no water system is likely truly safe....

[kineneb]

29. yep, welcome back to the "Gilded Age"

of the 1890s, when there were no regulations for food safety. The NeoCons worship this particular decade of the Robber Barons.

[sendero]

24. The distributor..

... along with many of the processors, are going to lose their asses over this, as well they should.

[drm604]

26. I've been waiting for this.

It was inevitable. They couldn't even say for sure what pet food manufacturers may have sold contaminated food, so how the hell could we know for sure that it hadn't gotten into the human food supply? :mad:

[lovuian]

27. You knew it was bad when there is NO NEWS about it

I haven't heard the News come out and say HUMAN consumption maybe involved

And has our government stop shipments
I bet not

[w4rma]

33. Minimal news = big Republican contributor involved. (nt)

[demobabe]

70. I just tried calling Bimbo Bakeries which makes a lot of bread and brands

And they have a recording that nobody is available. It's within the customer service hours, too... I looked on their website, and there is absolutely no information. Their news section is completely blank. Makes me wonder what's going on...

[Cobalt Violet]

28. I just love globalization!.

:sarcasm:

[Raine]

34. The MISadministration

doesn't care one bit about the citizens of this country, all they care about is making a profit. The only reason they want people around besides themselves is to make money off of them as consumers. Still people are disposable, they can always make more and have a new endless supply that will eventually buy and consume. x(

[crispini]

35. WHAT? that's ridiculous. PEOPLE have been eating that! nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

36. So our dogs and cats have been acting like our canaries...so to speak.

Well, then, it must be divine intervention that the pets may have saved the lives of children if we caught it in time.

[BluePatriot]

40. True, our furry friends protecting us...

...until the very end -- our best friends, indeed.

:cry:

[lala_rawraw]

42. i am curious...

when and under whose authority was this allowed? did this start recently?

[Jcrowley]

44. Variants of this have been going on for years

Just the latest.





Just one example:

Monsanto employees and government regulatory agencies
employees are the same people!

Date: Tue, 07 Dec 1999 10:43:59 -0600
From: Peter Khaled <[e-mail]>
Subject: Revolving Door - Updated list - FYI

David W. Beier . . .former head of Government Affairs for
Genentech, Inc., . . .now chief domestic policy advisor to Al
Gore, Vice President of the United States.

Linda J. Fisher . . .former Assistant Administrator of the
United States Environmental Protection Agency's Office of
Pollution Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances, . . .now
Vice President of Government and Public Affairs for Monsanto
Corporation.

Michael A. Friedman, M.D. . . former acting commissioner of
the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Department of Health and Human Services . . .now senior
vice-president for clinical affairs at G. D. Searle & Co., a
pharmaceutical division of Monsanto Corporation.

L. Val Giddings . . . former biotechnology regulator and
(biosafety) negotiator at the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA/APHIS), . . .now Vice President for Food &
Agriculture of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).

Marcia Hale . . . former assistant to the President of the
United States and director for intergovernmental affairs, . .
.now Director of International Government Affairs for Monsanto
Corporation.

Michael (Mickey) Kantor. . . former Secretary of the United
States Department of Commerce and former Trade
Representative of the United States, . . .now member of the
board of directors of Monsanto Corporation.

http://www.monsantosucks.com/revolvedoor.htm

[KT2000]

50. In Jeff Smith's book

on GMO, he had an example a government employee approving the very data he submitted when he was employed by the corporation!
The door spins very fast.

Linda Fischer and all these rogues should be forced to work in a children's cancer ward. They make me physically ill.

[PhilipShore]

45. Reagan's deregulation policy

[Gelliebeans]

51. K&R

[Liberty Belle]

54. Send this to whoever in Congress has oversight of the FDA, USDA, etc. Please post contacts!

Kucinich has a domestic policy oversight committee.
Not sure who else in Congress has some clout over this. Can someone post contacts?

A friend of mine kept getting ill a month or two whenever he ate wheat. Thought he had Celiac. But recently he ate wheat again and seemed okay. Maybe they finally removed the melamine? He had some bad liver and pancreas tests at the time, not sure about kidneys.


:kick: :kick: :kick:

[PhilipShore]

57. Legislative Action Center

Take action now -- contact your elected officials at the Legislative Action Center.

http://capwiz.com/fconl/home/">Link

[rainbow4321]

56. Food safety checks left to be done on state level

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2007-03-18-food-safety-usat_N.htm?POE=NEWISVA

New York state, which claims one of the most aggressive state food-monitoring programs, provides some insight into how much may get through.

In the past two years, the state has coordinated 676 food recalls. Almost 80% involved imports that would have been stopped by the FDA at border points of entry had the problems been detected, says Jessica Chittenden, spokeswoman for the New York state Department of Agriculture & Markets.

State inspectors often work with the FDA on recalls. The FDA trained some New York inspectors, Kolaitis says, and it contracts with the state to do some food-safety inspections.

In one case, packages of dried fruit from China failed to mention that they had sulfite amounts 30 times higher than needed to cause severe reactions in some people, a New York safety alert says.

[mzmolly]

58. What are the long term implications?

And, what foods should be avoided? Are we all to eat gluten free now? Cripes!

[cyberpj]

61. "....since the FDA refuses to name the supplier" Why is THAT allowed? Do we have to FOIA it?!

Now to know how long they've known.

[file83]

63. What's the point of having an FDA if they aren't going to inform the public of food hazards?

Do they work for us or China?

[cyberpj]

77. EXACTLY. Remember when we had journalists who would pursue these stories?!?! nt

[TZ]

62. This is the same issue thats going on in biodefense too.

Initially after 9/11 tons of money given out to work on biodefense technology. In the last year or so, there has been major cutbacks in the funding given out to spend on working on things like quick tests for the determination of the presence of Anthrax (there is something being worked on that theoretically takes 10 minutes- which would be very helpful). Not to let Congress (or the last Congress) off the hook for this one, they pulled the funding for many many many grants. And its a VERY expensive field of research so without government funding, despite what Chimpy and Co. say, few companies can work on it ( right now ONE company, read ONE- produces the anthrax vaccine). Woe to us if someone gets and uses a bioweapon.:scared:

[benld74]

65. Hello?! FDA where the hell are you on this one?!

[TZ]

67. They had their teeth pulled recently...

with Chimpy and his little signing statements, but generally they have had their hands tied when it comes to pet food regulation like everything else. I don't really blame the FDA. Its the idiots at the top who won't let the FDA do WHAT IT WAS ESTABLISHED TO DO.:argh:

[PhilipShore]

68. Doing the job -- They are busy copy and pasting the the polluting companies

press releases on the FDA letterhead, and changing the signatures for the companies to that of FDA staff, while Congress Winks and Nods, as they do it.

[TZ]

69. the most thankless job on the planet....

is probably the scientists on the advisory panels at the FDA who both get told to shut up by their politcally appointed bosses or get fired and then get blasted by the public for not doing anything because they can't. :-(

[PhilipShore]

71. But, why are they not any "whisteblowers" in the FDA?

[TZ]

72. having tried to be a whistleblower at another govt agency

(NIH) recently, because of the way Bush has things stacked now, its almost impossible to find anyone with the time, energy, money, stability, and emotional fortitude to do it. If you are trying to support a family and you know that not only will you get fired but you will get blacklisted so its next to impossible to get another govt (or even private industry) job who will do it? I am speaking from experience- I am blacklisted at NIH as well as companies that have contracts with the NIH institute I was in (labelled as a troublemaker). I screamed long and hard about the bad politics interfering with the good science where I was. A lot of people agreed with my positions and were afraid to stand with me. I had a lot of admiration sent my way privately. I was naive, never having worked for the govt before and I only have myself to support, so given the opportunity I would do it again. I bet there are a lot of people like me that are trying but lose and muzzled and never EVER heard about in public. Thats why I don't want people to bash the scientists at the FDA. I very much understand what they have to deal with.

[PhilipShore]

74. Have you gone to the media about your story?

There are plenty of whistleblower organizations, and people that may be able to help you.

Try John Loftus

http://john-loftus.com/bio.asp">Link


Whistleblower
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistleblower">Link

[TZ]

76. I need to protect my old supervisor

He is still employed at NIH because as much they hated him, he was tenured so they couldn't fire him. He was like a father to me and a very good mentor. As much as his career is also damaged, I think he has found some peace doing computer modeling and epidemiology and I don't want to give him any more trouble, which I would do if I went to the media. He actually tried to get a fellowship back in his home country of Australia and failed. So he is kind of stuck. If he does leave I would consider it. But now, no, I would rather continue as I am, and let him work- he is a brilliant scientist and at least still gets to contribute.

But thanks for the info. Perhaps in the future I can take advantage of it.

[Swamp Rat]

75. Argh!!!

:mad: