Dog News Blog

Chinese exports of dog food products are still suspended after last years tragic pet food recall affecting the US and Canada. Early in 2007, wheat gluten and rice protein designated for the pet food market was deliberately contaminated with the industrial chemical Melamine to boost the protein levels of the product and make it more profitable. This caused the biggest pet food recall in the US ever and thousands of cats and dogs became sick or died as a result of eating the contaminated food.

The Chinese government suspended all exports of products specifically those for pets including dog chews, biscuits and food after pressure was exerted on them by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). By the 21st May 2007, a number of food processors were boycotting Chinese exports. Companies such as Nutracea, Mission Foods and Tyson Foods announced that they would no longer source their ingredients from China.

Following the recall the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) seized over 1,000 shipments of tainted dietary supplements, toxic cosmetics and counterfeit medicines as the clampdown on imports from China began. On February 9th 2008, it was announced that the Bush administration would prosecute two Chinese companies who had contaminated the products and the American importer involved in the sale of the products across the states. All were charged of intentionally defrauding American manufacturers about the poisonous ingredient used in the pet food products. Though America did send a clear message to China to “clean up its act” it is not in America’s interest either politically or economically to barricade imports from China.

With dog owners fears over the quality of the food that they were feeding their pets spread, many turned to more natural products or went organic. The Chinese government had to implement new food safety procedures or lose their export market worth billions of dollars. FDA officials were sent from the US to China to Chinese officials and record inspection procedures.

On Wednesday, March 5th 2008 , the Chinese premier announced that Beijing was taking steps to ensure that its product safety regulations met international standards. Whilst addressing the National Peoples Congress, Premier Wen Jiabao said:

“It is imperative that the people feel confident about the safety of food and other goods and that our exports have a good reputation.”

7,700 national safety standards needed to be updated to ensure the safety and quality of products for domestic and international consumption.

The main export centre for edible pet chews, toys and food lies in the Zhejiang province in China. Bosses of these companies are saying that their products must now be of human grade quality if they want to resume business. Of course the impact of the new regulations will see prices soaring for the consumer. Zhou Bufeng, manager of the export department of Wenzhou Huaheng Leather and Plastic Co, Ltd. Said:

“We think the overall cost increase after the suspension ends will be up around 20%. When you calculate that all our workshops now need to be sterilised as opposed to only the QC workshop before, then add to that the appreciation of the RMB and increasing the cost of labour, land and materials, it becomes clear we must raise prices”.

Business manager Miles Leung of the Pingyang Kongying Pet and Leather Products Co, Ltd. That makes edible dog chews said:

“The entire processing environment must be that same as that for human grade food, which will certainly cause us to raise prices. We have heard that the EU may send people to China for random inspections so we need to be prepared.”

During the suspension, foreign buyers have sourced their pet food products from Brazil and Vietnam but the Chinese officials are certain that they can restore consumer confidence in all exports from China.

But with baby’s bibs being tested for lead contamination, domestic products and clothing laced with lead or formaldehyde, the toy giant Mattel having to recall all its products that were made in China because of lead contamination and bogus Colgate toothpaste made with toxic Chinese ingredients, it may be a long time before dog owners cease boycotting chews and foodstuffs that carry the Made in China Label…..

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 8th, 2008 at 7:37 pm and is filed under Dog News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.