Earlier alerts involved a number of chickens and some pigs, as well as
a number of pet foods which can be found listed here:
http://www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html
and
http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html

See earlier posts to the FHL for how melamine-cyanuric acid crystals
form in urine.

I hadn't even thought of eggs from melamine fed chickens but they
get mentioned today even though I can't recall them being mentioned
earlier.

New FDA recall:

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01643.html

> FDA News
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> P07-94
>
> May 30, 2007
>
> Media Inquiries:
> 301-827-6242
> Consumer Inquiries:
> 888-INFO-FDA
>
>
> Tembec and Uniscope Voluntary Recall Feed Ingredients
>
>FDA Asks Feed Manufacturers to Avoid Ingredients Containing Melamine
>
>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting livestock and
>fish/shrimp feed manufacturers about a voluntary recall of products
>used in feed production because several have been found to contain
>melamine and related compounds.
>
>The feed ingredients were made by Tembec BTLSR Inc. of Toledo, Ohio
>and Uniscope, Inc. of Johnstown, Colo.
>
>Tembec, a contract manufacturer for Uniscope, makes AquaBond and
>Aqua-Tec II, which it distributes for Uniscope. Uniscope makes Xtra-
>Bond using ingredients supplied by Tembec. All of the products are
>binding agents that are used to make pelleted feed for cattle, sheep,
>and goats, or fish and shrimp.
>
>The companies have confirmed that Tembec added melamine as part of
>the formulation of the products to improve the binding properties of
>pelleted feed. Melamine is not approved as an additive for animal or
>fish/shrimp feed.
>
>The companies have stopped adding melamine to the feed products.
>
>Based on the levels of melamine and related compounds in the initial
>ingredients, FDA estimated the probable level of melamine and related
>compounds in livestock feed as less than 50 parts per million (ppm)
>based on the recommended mix rate of two to four pounds of binding
>agent per ton of livestock feed. The estimated levels in fish and
>shrimp feed are less than 233 ppm and 465 ppm, respectively, of
>melamine and related compounds. The estimated levels of melamine and
>related compounds vary in the livestock feed and the fish and shrimp
>feed because of differing levels of melamine in the binding agents
>used for each type of feed.
>
>FDA advises feed manufacturers and others who mix their own feed not
>to use these products, and to contact the manufacturers. FDA advises
>feed manufacturers to recall finished feed that is made from AquaBond
>or Aqua-Tec II due to the estimated levels of melamine and related
>compounds in the finished products. FDA believes that no recall is
>warranted of the finished feed made from Xtra-Bond based on the
>estimated levels of melamine and related compounds in the finished
>product and based on currently available data and information.
>
>The estimated melamine levels in feed made with these binding agents
>are similar to the levels discussed in the interim safety/ risk
>assessment of melamine and related compounds made available by FDA
>earlier this month. In that assessment, federal scientists determined
>that, based on currently available data and information, the
>consumption of pork, chicken, domestic fish, and eggs from animals
>inadvertently fed animal feed contaminated with melamine and its
>analogues is very unlikely to pose a human health risk.
>
>The interim safety/risk assessment concludes that in the most extreme
>risk assessment scenario, when scientists assumed that all the solid
>food a person consumes in an entire day contained melamine and the
>melamine compound cyanuric acid in equal amounts, the potential
>exposure is about 250 times lower than the dose considered safe. This
>is a large safety margin. Translated to consumption levels, this means
>that a person weighing 132 pounds would have to eat more than 800
>pounds per day of food containing melamine and its compounds to
>approach a level of consumption that would cause a health concern.
>
>FDA is encouraging domestic feed suppliers to be vigilant in quality
>control in their supply chain and to monitor for any improper
>additives, including melamine and its analogs.
>
>The Tembec and Uniscope products also reportedly contain a urea
>formaldehyde resin-type ingredient, a raw ingredient used to make the
>binding agent in these products. FDA is investigating this use of the
>urea formaldehyde resin-type ingredient in the Tembec and Uniscope
>products, and will take appropriate regulatory action if warranted.

Sukie (not a vet)

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

For those who want a ***good laugh*** along with some logical
thoughts about critical thinking, many of which can also be applied
to some health claims (since everyone deserves a break and a smile):
http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/crackpot.html

[Posted in FML 5624]