From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2007-05-30 22:00:35 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] for those who may be feeding farmed fish or shrimp, or meat from pellet fed cattle, sheep, or goats to ferrets
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, ferret-l@LISTSERV.FERRETMAILINGLIST.ORG
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
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