The one month spacing from when Menu Foods was informed of an animal
thought to have been killed by a food and the actions is horrendous,
BUT one assumes this means that a single food was traced back to that
maker and the association between the food and the kidney problems
would have alleged then but not clear because the cause was unknown.

Now, getting to what is especially UNclear is this: did Menu Foods
inform any other companies for which it made foods? My guess is that
that it didn't at that point due to being unsure of any connection.
So, it is entirely possible that for the vast majority of the food
companies affected that this came as a surprise, just as it did for
others.

In this particular case no documentation listed that contaminant in
the wheat gluten. How often are such food items tested for unusual
contaminants? How often for the pet food industry? How often for for
the human food stream? Even in cases where a known risk exists in
conjunction with public outcry there is not a great deal of testing
in the U.S., even among fallen food industry animals when a zoonotic
disease risk is established for the symptoms seen.

Now, another question set: when there are (human) medical recalls and
(human) food recalls, besides publicity with media coverage, what types
of notification are required to be taken by companies? How effective is
that compared to media coverage alone?

Yes, better oversight would be a good thing, and that is so for all
types of pet foods and pet treats. One statement on that regard which
very recently startled me was from the actual guidelines (and that is
all they are) for raw foods for companion animals. In one study 80% of
these foods sampled tested positive for Salmonella.

Tell me, what would YOU like to see included in any oversight changes
to improve that industry?

Sukie (not a vet)
Current FHL address:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html

[Posted in FML 5570]