Pet food/treat consumers have friends in high places! The consumer advocacy organization Food and Water Watch is helping us take on the FDA with jerky treats from China. Hats Off to Food and Water Watch!
Mollie Morrissette and I had been reading about the efforts Food and Water Watch had done trying to prevent the import of Chinese chicken for human consumption into the U.S. We thought, this organization just might be able to help us in efforts to remove risky Chinese imported jerky treats from store shelves. As it turns out, Food and Water Watch was very willing to help!
Mollie sent Food and Water Watch’s head lobbyist Tony Corbo an email…Tony responded right away (and he was on vacation!). Monday August 27, 2012 Mollie and I had a conference call with Tony and it couldn’t have been any better.
Food and Water Watch sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg on August 29, 2012 stating concern with the on-going FDA investigation of the jerky treat issue. The letter, from Food and Water Watch, Poisoned Pets, and Truth about Pet Food, addressed the concern that FDA inspectors in China were not allowed to test the jerky treats and the letter brought up an issues of law that just might help.
“Specifically, we believe that Section 306 of FSMA gives you the authority to stop the importation of pet treats from China immediately since the agency was prevented from completing its inspection of the poultry facilities that produce chicken jerky treats that have been the subject of the investigation. We would like to know whether the agency is contemplating invoking its authority under this provision of the statute to issue an Import Alert on pet food products from those Chinese poultry plants.”
“Second, we would like to know whether FDA is exploring using its authority under Section 211 of FSMA to require that stores that sell the imported chicken jerky treats from China post the agency’s cautionary advisories so that more consumers are aware of the safety issues associated with these pet treats. As you know, that section of the law is designed to inform consumers of adulterated products that have been identified through the Reportable Food Registry. That registry collects information on contaminated human and animal foods. If the agency has received adverse events associated with the imported pet treats from China and they have been posted on the Reportable Food Registry, why has the agency not used its authority under this section of FSMA to post its cautionary advisories in retail outlets that sell these products?”
And one last quote from their powerful letter…“Third, we would like to know what steps the agency has taken to inform veterinarians of the safety issues associated with imported chicken jerky treats from China. Furthermore, we would like to know whether the FDA has communicated with veterinarians on the protocol to diagnose an adverse event associated with chicken jerky treats and how those adverse events are to be reported to the FDA.”
To read the full letter from Food and Water Watch, Click Here
Hats Off to Food and Water Watch!
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author, Buyer Beware
Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
PetsumerReport.com
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