Pet Food Melamine Is A Red Herring

Research in endocrinology at Cleveland Clinic has confirmed that high levels of vitamin D3 in animals' blood causes kidney malfunction;
...... Symptoms associated with excessive vitamin D3 appear identical to the symptoms now being reported in dogs and cats. This has led "us to believe that this vitamin may be implicated in this new horror," Friedrich writes.
...... The New York Department of Agriculture and an agricultural laboratory in Canada say the pet food is contaminated with a rat poison called Aminopterin.

Vitamin D lawsuit
A Canadian class action lawsuit has been filed against pet food maker Royal Canin Canada Co. on behalf of dog and cat owners claiming that certain products contain excessive amounts of vitamin D and have caused their pets to become sick or die.
...... One of the lawyers handling the plaintiffs' case said the suit against Royal Canin has been in the works for months and is unrelated to the high-profile problems that have come to light at Menu Foods
...... In the United States, a Chicago woman sued Menu Foods on Tuesday, alleging the Canadian pet food manufacturer delayed announcing a recall of 60 million containers of dog and cat food despite knowing its products were contaminated and potentially deadly, the Associated Press reports.

Rat poison not likely cause
Earlier, the New York State Food Laboratory identified aminopterin as the likely culprit in the pet food. But the FDA said it could not confirm that finding, nor have researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey when they looked at tissue samples taken from dead cats. Experts at the University of Guelph in Canada detected aminopterin in some samples of the recalled pet food, but only in very small percentages. "Biologically, that means nothing. It wouldn't do anything," said Grant Maxie, a veterinary pathologist at the university.

The Voice of the White House – Illegals getting even
BRACEWELL: Caveat Emptor
“If you want an first class example of official lies, watch the televised conferences of the federal health officials concerning the poisoning of pets.
...... A large number of cats and dogs have recently died from eating deliberately contaminated pet food. The first finding, by a reputable laboratory, was that the food was laced with rat poison.
...... Our government, alarmed at the implications of this and coupled with a number of serious and disparate outbreaks of induced Ecoli at restaurants, has now released a statement bordering on the moronic, claiming that Chinese wheat glutin is responsible and that it contains a harmless plastic additive.
...... If this were the case, there would be tens of thousands of humans, who eat wheat glutin daily, dying in the hospitals all across the world.
......Why the transparent and stupid lies?
...... Two reports, one by the DoJ and the other by the CDC indicates that the “probable suspects” are Mexican illegals who work at the restaurants where the poisonings broke out and certainly in the American pet food factories.
...... Militant Latino groups are furious because the Republicans want to physically deport all illegals and are further outraged at the slave wages and poor working conditions the American businessmen force them to work under.
...... Another reason for avoiding the subject of deliberate poisoning of American food is that if it ever became commonly believed, the fearful and enraged pubic would demand action and action is something the useless, cronified Bush administration is incapable of.

Melamine: OECD - UNEP Publications
EXPERIMENTS OF TOXICITY
Species: dog
Sex: female
Route of admin.: oral feed
Exposure period: one to four weeks
Frequency of treatment: daily
Doses: [1.26 grams / 10 kg dog / day]
Result: No signs of toxicity or gross and microscopical changes were seen. Conduction and reporting of the experiment is insufficient compared to current standards.
Source: ( 80 )

Species: dog
Route of admin.: oral feed
Exposure period: 1 year
Frequency of treatment: continuously
Doses: [12 grams / 10 kg dog / day]
Result: Apart from crystalluria which started after 60 to 90 days and persisted during the study period no other effects attributable to melamine feeding were observed.
Source: ( 25 )
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HEALTH
......The toxicity to mammals is also low. Studies ranging from skin irritation to carcinogenicity are available.
......No special safety precautions are necessary when handling melamine. Protection against dust and use of goggles are recommended.
[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on April 4, 2007]

Note: Melamine not a known t... PETA Suggests Vitamin D... Vitamin D lawsuit Rat poison not likely ... The Voice of the White ... Melamine: OECD - UNEP...