Monday, January 12, 2009

Killing Fido

And here we see just the latest in a long string of Chinese tainted food scandals.

A Shanghai dealer has issued an emergency recall of a batch of Optima dry dog food with a production date between August and September last year.

Some dogs eating “Optima Puppy Lamb and Rice Dry Dog Food” have been poisoned by aflatoxin - a naturally occurring toxic chemical that comes from a fungus found on corn and other grains.

It can cause severe liver damage.

“Three dogs have been confirmed dead, and they all ate the batch of Optima food,” said the Shanghai Naughty Family Pet Co, a pet clinic on Hongqiao Road. These dogs were fussy about their food, had diarrhea and vomited, all symptoms of aflatoxin exposure, staff said.

What the hell is it with these people and tainted food?  I can only begin to imagine the bad publicity this is going to get in the western press.  “Chinese, once again, poison the world.”

Yidi purchased the batch of Optima dog food from a Taiwan supplier, according to an agent who declined to be named.

An imported feedstuff registration list posted by China’s Ministry of Agriculture shows that the Optima dog food’s production enterprise is Australia-based Doane International Pet Products.

But Tan said her purchase order said the food was made in the United States. “American-made Optima is a very famous brand. That’s part of the reason I chose it,” Tan added.

Ah, so the food came from Taiwan, it’s from an Australian corporation, and was manufactured in the United States.  Anyone want to get bets going on how much negative press this gets in western papers?