I can't understand why anyone who can read the word China would buy anything from there for food for dogs or humans. They don't worry about poisoning their own people.
Jan, the problem is its often not obvious. Even things with a "Made in USA" label can have their raw parts come from elsewhere, and that includes foods. What you need to look for is where the product is sourced from, and thats almost never on the label.
Wow... thanks for the heads-up. We buy the very brand of chicken treats that they showed on the news video for our Basset Hound. Our Schnauzer is allergic to chicken. So, we've fed him the Beef jerky.
One of the things we've discovered is... the package for Milo's Beef Jerky Treats on the news report shows it was packaged in San Francisco - but states "Made in China" below that. We just bought a package the other day. Checked it just now. It says "Made in USA".
Question is... with everything that Corporate America's getting away with these days... how do we know they didn't just change the label? Timing is too quick for having changed their operations from China to America.
Dani, it sure is. And they don't publicize the people who are injured by things like this, but if you do some Googling you can find some real horror stories
Jan, hard to see it sometimes though. Many of the original contaminated products were made in USA from components made in China. No way to see it on the label.
Ruth, you are so right. I have done a lot of research on this stuff as I have written about it in my farm column. Ingredients from China are hidden in toothpaste, baked goods, boxed meals, frozen meals and all sorts of unlabeled foods. And then there are issues like honey laundering where banned Chinese honey is sneaked into the USA via other countries, such as the Philippines, which can export to us. It is an issue that will probably get a lot worse before anyone really does anything to make it better.
WeldrBrat, it is a huge, huge problem that is being swept out of sight because it would be very inconvenient to fix it. Much more is at stake than pet food...really scary.
Weldr: Milo's FAQ page: http://miloskitchen.com/about-us/faqs/ says that the chicken Jerky is made in China. It DOES say that their other flavors are made in the USA, but not where the raw product was sourced from.
Over the spring/summer the news about chicken jerky started getting out to vets, and showing up in the animal world if you were paying close attention. At that point I gave up tring to buy most treats off the shelf for my dog. Between trying to find gluten free, and trying to find stuff not sourced in China, I now make 90% of the treats he gets.
Have to add: there's no actual govermental oversight of the "made in USA" label. Unless someone goes out of their way to prove otherwise in a court of law there's nothing to stop a company from slapping it on anything they feel like other than their own conscience. There's regulation stating what qualfies, but no one actually enforces it.
Ruth, it is such an important issue and yet so little attention is paid to it. It is virtually impossible to avoid products with Chinese ingredients because they are everywhere! Until our government cares it won't change and will only get worse.
So scary anymore.
ReplyDeleteI can't understand why anyone who can read the word China would buy anything from there for food for dogs or humans. They don't worry about poisoning their own people.
ReplyDeleteJan, the problem is its often not obvious. Even things with a "Made in USA" label can have their raw parts come from elsewhere, and that includes foods. What you need to look for is where the product is sourced from, and thats almost never on the label.
ReplyDeleteWow... thanks for the heads-up. We buy the very brand of chicken treats that they showed on the news video for our Basset Hound. Our Schnauzer is allergic to chicken. So, we've fed him the Beef jerky.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things we've discovered is... the package for Milo's Beef Jerky Treats on the news report shows it was packaged in San Francisco - but states "Made in China" below that. We just bought a package the other day. Checked it just now. It says "Made in USA".
Question is... with everything that Corporate America's getting away with these days... how do we know they didn't just change the label? Timing is too quick for having changed their operations from China to America.
Dani, it sure is. And they don't publicize the people who are injured by things like this, but if you do some Googling you can find some real horror stories
ReplyDeleteJan, hard to see it sometimes though. Many of the original contaminated products were made in USA from components made in China. No way to see it on the label.
Ruth, you are so right. I have done a lot of research on this stuff as I have written about it in my farm column. Ingredients from China are hidden in toothpaste, baked goods, boxed meals, frozen meals and all sorts of unlabeled foods. And then there are issues like honey laundering where banned Chinese honey is sneaked into the USA via other countries, such as the Philippines, which can export to us. It is an issue that will probably get a lot worse before anyone really does anything to make it better.
WeldrBrat, it is a huge, huge problem that is being swept out of sight because it would be very inconvenient to fix it. Much more is at stake than pet food...really scary.
Weldr: Milo's FAQ page: http://miloskitchen.com/about-us/faqs/ says that the chicken Jerky is made in China. It DOES say that their other flavors are made in the USA, but not where the raw product was sourced from.
ReplyDeleteOver the spring/summer the news about chicken jerky started getting out to vets, and showing up in the animal world if you were paying close attention. At that point I gave up tring to buy most treats off the shelf for my dog. Between trying to find gluten free, and trying to find stuff not sourced in China, I now make 90% of the treats he gets.
Have to add: there's no actual govermental oversight of the "made in USA" label. Unless someone goes out of their way to prove otherwise in a court of law there's nothing to stop a company from slapping it on anything they feel like other than their own conscience. There's regulation stating what qualfies, but no one actually enforces it.
ReplyDeleteRuth, it is such an important issue and yet so little attention is paid to it. It is virtually impossible to avoid products with Chinese ingredients because they are everywhere! Until our government cares it won't change and will only get worse.
ReplyDelete