>So, my real questions are:
> 1) Does anyone else think that this could pose a problem for people
>    who choose to feed a raw diet to their ferrets? and
> 2) Has anyone checked with any of the major rodent suppliers to see
>    if they might be using contaminated grains to feed their stock?

I think that is actually a very logical question set. There were a
number of chickens and about 50 pigs that got into the food stream
before food animals were looked at, and only recently have there been
the right tests to check farm fish which got the melamine. I know that
one of the fish farms had only given it to fry so those never got out,
but they are looking at additional farms.

Because the FDA's funding has been cut back every year for the last 5
or 6 years so they are limited in their scope just from sheer lack of
funds, and because rodents are not in the human food chain and people
usually think of pet animals eating packaged food (including packaged
raw foods made for pets) instead of eating rodents there may be no
checking into rodent food, and therefore it could be that some rodents
given as food *might* pose a risk to carnivore kidney health
*if* they are getting feed with melamine in it.

There was a related question posed on the FHL today, so I looked up a
little which may also help people here:
Marketers like 8 in 1 do not always use the same manufacturers for
different foods, and do not always have runs of different products at
the same time. So far, the 8 in 1 recall appears to be very specific,
not only to the type of food but even to the bag size so it may be
that one food was the only one they were having made during the time
the importers bought from those two Chinese starch providers.

One option that you have is that you could contact the manufacturer and
try to find out where and when the product you have was created by
providing the numbers on the bag.

Here is that specific announcement:

http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/chenango05_07.html

and what is specifically recalled:
8 in 1 Ferret ULTRA-BLEND ADVANCED NUTRITION DIET, NET WT. 20 LBS,
UPC 26851 00413, Code: C7072

Notice this specifically:

>expanding the recall action to include those pet foods that do not
>contain rice protein concentrate but were manufactured during
>periods when rice protein concentrate formulas were processed. The
>recall of these products is precautionary due to the possibility
>of cross-contamination.

so these foods were not made with the contaminated items. They happen
to be other foods that were made at the same time, so in case any
of the content remained in machines, drifted, or otherwise cross-
contaminated they are being recalled as a precaution. That makes it
sound like everything which could have had any chance of contamination,
not only directly but even indirectly is now being recalled for that
manufacturing plant, but that is an impression only. Not actually being
there I can't actually know...

Here is the 8 in 1 site itself:

http://www.eightinonepet.com/

where they announce:

> ONLY ONE EIGHT IN ONE LOT CODE AFFECTED
>
>The Lot Code C7072 of the 20 lb bag of Eight In One Ferret Ultra-
>Blend Advanced Nutrition Diet, UPC 0-26851- 00413-4, item number
>H413 is being recalled because it may have been in contact with
>other recalled products from Chenango Valley Pet Foods. This is the
>only product and lot code affected by the Chenango Valley Pet Foods
>recall. If you have any questions please call 1-888-232-9889.

If you go to

http://www.avma.org/aa/petfoodrecall/default.asp

there is a live link to a website with the manufacturer's contact
information.

Related news article in yesterday's Washington Post:
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/19/AR2007051901273.html>
(Heck in a related article in the NY Times and Muslima Progressive
(which is a link from the Post to an excellent article that took me
to the Times article I'd missed due to being so busy) there is even
tainted toothpaste in Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Australia
because one compound in the toothpaste that was imported from China
was contaminated with an antifreeze ingredient.)

[Posted in FML 5614]