CEOs for Menu and ChemNutra Testify

Paul Henderson, CEO Menu Foods and Stephen Miller, CEO ChemNutra Testimony before the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, April 24, 2007 (video Link)

I was hoping I could use this video to illustrate some conflict between their House testimony, under oath, with what we know now. I didn't spot any yet, but all you recall bloodhounds are welcome to have at it.

But what struck me watching this: Note the excuses. Maybe they just apply to legal property, pets.

The same excuses can't be applied to humans... or can they?

The FDA refuses to tell us the names of the farms that raised the chicken that millions of us ate. If we knew who those farms were we could ask them. "Who did you sell those chickens too?" But it looks like the FDA is applying the same logic to the chickens that Menu and ChemNutra applied to the feed that they got.

"Is there any way we know then if other wheat gluten, or other products or other things have been intentionally altered? You don't know until after the fact? Right" -Rep. Stupak

"There wasn't a testing protocols for identifying it." -Henderson, CEO Menu Foods.

But there is now.

"Before this incident did you ever do any testing of any of the products that came from China?" -Rep. Stupak

"No, there was no known issue to test for."- Miller, CEO ChemNutra

But there is now.

ChemNutra had confidence in the company, but they didn't do any testing.
Do we have confidence in the FDA? Did they do the testing for us or just say, "Well there haven't been a lot of extra deaths from eating chicken so our guess, based on this dilution effect theory, is working."

Remember in the movie 2001 where the killer computer, Hal, decided that they should just let a component fail instead of replacing it first? I guess the plan is to do the same with humans as we did with pets

FDA to Humans: "Let 'em eat Chicken."


If humans start dying, well then we'll tell you who sold you that tainted chicken.

All this talk about dilution effect would be more credible if they had some sample results they could show us. And maybe some tests to look at. They are already experimenting on humans, maybe a few rats could be tested while we are waiting.

Oh, and anyone want to talk about the accumulation effect? Think second-hand smoke or asbestos or even pions from Mad Cows. How much do you have to eat until you get sick or die? We don't know for sure, but when it happens, call us.

The good news? I understand we can buy some human kidneys on the black market in China....

Frightening Food Facts about the FDA from the GAO

From Tuesday's House hearings about the FDA:

Did you know:
The federal government can issue mandatory recalls for tires and toys but not food?
The only exception is baby formula. Did you know that? Does that surprise you?

How the heck did this happen? Who decided that killing your customers is just the cost of doing business? Is letting citizen's pets die a good way to get votes? I thought that even illogical humans would figure out that old Vulcan saying,
"Killing your customers is bad PR."
For those who didn't get to watch the hearing they feature my new hero
Lisa Shames, Acting Director Natural Resources and Environment, Government Accountability Office.


How cool is she? First she has a great name like "shamus - as in detective or it could be "She shames the people who rip us off. " And she works for our beloved GAO! I think Scout Prime and I will have to give them The Greatest Government Agency in America Award.
Seriously doesn't everyone want MORE accountability in government?

For this video I some titles and pulled out some key quotes for emphasis. I'm still new at this video stuff so your advice is welcome and yes, I'm sure you could have done it better Rich.

The video is in Real Media format. I'll try and get it in WMA soon.

Some Questions for the FDA hearings on Food Safety

I asked the folks posting at Petconnection, "What questions do you want asked of the gluten importers like Wilbur-Ellis and ChemNutra?" I sent the list to some people on the committee, but don't know if they got them in time. We'll see if any of the questions get asked. And if they don't get asked the media covering this can always ask them! It's want the people want to know!

Hearing title: Diminished Capacity: Can the FDA assure the Safety and Security of the Nations Food Supply. on April 24, 2007 Link to video page

Here is the compilation. I added a few and combined others. Thanks to everyone who contributed*(see list below)

I. Questions for ChemNutra, Menu Foods (and other manufacturers and suppliers)


The questions asked again and again regarding ChemNutra and then Wilbur-Ellis were:

1) Why the delay in naming who they sold the contaminated gluten too ? They refused to release the names of the companies who purchased the product. This appears to be standard practice. Why? Were deals made regarding disclosure? Is it legal to delay this info?

2) Who suggested (or condoned) the delay giving info to the public? (This really looks suspicious to many people.)
-- Are the importing companies following a rule given to them by the FDA to NOT give info to the public in a timely fashion? If companies are being instructed to withhold information from the public, what is the time frame given and reason why? (For example, were they told that they had 24 hours to alert the companies first? )
(This line of questions may reveal to the public what the FDA can and CANNOT compel companies to do.)

To the public, delays and "voluntary recalls" make it look like the FDA is more concerned with protecting the corporations than the lives of the pets.

3) Why can't the FDA compel companies to reveal the names of manufacturers they sold contaminated ingredients to?
For example in this AP article we see, "Miller declined to identify what companies ChemNutra supplied.

We see this in the Wilbur-Ellis stories as well. You would never see a story where it says:

"Doctors today reported there are FIVE BRANDS of baby food on your grocery store shelves that might be poisonous, could even kill your child, but declined to identify which brands are under investigation."

This is unconceivable. Yet, when it comes to our pets this is what we get.
-- Nikki, Howl911.com

Did the Department of Homeland Security tell them not to name names because of potential panic if the company named also sold human food? Was there a concerted effort to keep this in the pet food category?

4) This question is for both importers: Does your company test products - for anything? Do you test your pet drugs that you import from China? (Note: ChemNutra removed the list of many of the of products they sell from their website, including pet drugs.)

5) Is anyone from the importer company actually in China looking at products or is all this done with paper analysis (guarantee) of the product? (This question from CathyA is very important because when someone is simply verifying the label that is NOT testing.)

6) If the supplier tests, are they under any legal mandate to tell the FDA they found contamination?

If Menu Foods is the tester of ingredients, when did they notify the importer that there was a problem? What did they tell them the problem was? When did they notify the the other companies the product was sold to?

7) Labeling Questions. Is it true that the ingredients in the food can change but the label doesn't have to change for 6 months to reflect the new or changed ingredients?

8) New! on 4/23. What happens to the recalled food? Is it being sold to more pigs? Other animals? Rendering plants? What are the guidelines for disposal?

I got the questions from the following posters at petconnection.com:

*CathyA, Dorene, Sharon, Deanna, Joyce, Don, Gary, petlover, Lois Kimball, Pamela J. Betz-Baron, Kathy, SymbaandTrooper, 4lgdfriend, Linda MS, Marry Ann, slt, Jan, Kathi, FMtz, Tammy, Christie Keith, and Laurie

What did the FDAs Know and When did They Know it in the Pet Food Crisis?

Sometime we need to help the media ask the right questions. We bloggers can see patterns they don't. We need to help 'em out.

Question: Why is the FDA constantly holding back or not publicly revealing information in a timely fashion? What is their goal? Who do they work for? The taxpaying pet owners or the companies that sell contaminated feed? What explains their action? Are they really concerned about our food safety?

A few observations about FDA actions:

The FDA didn't publicly say who sold the tainted wheat from China. Joy, a blogger on Pet Connection found it while digging through the FDA database.

Then after it was revealed the supplier said that they sold it to others. (I dug up their name and name change along with contact info below. Has anyone contacted them this other company? )

The FDA wouldn't reveal the name of the US Distributor of this tainted wheat, ChemNutra. (Did the AP reporter find it himself or was it handed to him by the Dept. of Homeland Security people along with the instructions to emphasize "it's not in the human food supply!" They got their AP screaming headline, so that worked.

Then Stephen S. Miller, the CEO of ChemNutra who was the US Distributor, would NOT reveal the names of the people he sold it to.

Why? Was he told NOT to by the DHS? Possibly because Del Monte would be on the list. And even if it is the Del Monte PET Food division maybe they are afraid that people will see it and think ,"It's in my ketchup!". So does that justify them holding back this info?

And why does the AP just accept that? Shouldn't for the health and safety of all the pets be a demand that Stephen S. Miller produce his list?

Of course we have no proof that Stephen S. Miller of ChemNutra only sold it to pet food companies and that the distributor he sold it didn't sell it to anyone in the human food supply chain. We just have to take his word. It's a secret. We can all wait a few more days. And then when we find out, be sure to ask the question. What was the hold up? Who held up this info? Why?

FYI Spocko Aside: Did you know that ConAgra cut a deal with the USDA so that they didn't have to notify the public about the locations of where tainted beef was shipped? Yep, and during our first mad cow scare that meant that a Vietnamese restaurant in Truckee, CA served people mad cow steak. Why? Because the information about where the food was shipped was dubbed proprietary in the "rules" negotiated with the USDA and big Ag. Is something similar going on now?

I point this out with much trepidation. Remember the Beef Industry went after Oprah for criticizing hamburgers. I'm just a brain in a box so maybe they won't notice me.

This is what happens when you strive for a government small enough to drown in a bathtub, it takes your pet first. Then when we need good government for humans, well thank Grover Norquist and the Neocons. I'm sure Grover will verify your food supply in his spare time.

Why is this downplayed in the media? Maybe if Paris Hilton's poor little dog died this would get more notice. I hope that doesn't have to happen, there is too much death.

Hey what food does Barney, the president's dog eat!? Sounds like a job for Les Kingsolver!
Is Socks still around?