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After the discovery of
the nation's first case of mad cow disease, Suzanne Tibbetts is
looking at the pet food labels in her cupboard a little more closely.
She wants to know exactly
what "meat byproducts" are, and what risks, if any, they pose
for her cats -- animals susceptible to a form of the fatal brain-wasting
illness.
"Is that the stuff they
scrape off the floor?" the Portland resident wonders. "And has
it got brains in it?"
Cow brains and spinal
cords -- tissues that can spread the infection -- are a routine
part of the rendering mix from which pet food is formulated and
show up in trace amounts in some U.S. pet foods, most often in
dry supermarket varieties. The risk to pets appears small, but
pet food manufacturers and federal regulators are scrambling this
week to answer consumer questions about the diet of the average
American pet.
Roughly 100 cats in the
United Kingdom, where mad cow disease first appeared in the mid-1980s,
came down with a feline form of the disease before commercial
cat food and meat scraps were recognized as sources. Dogs appear
to be resistant and, with the exception of cats, no other companion
animals are known to be at risk. The mad cow infection has never
been found in dogs, horses, birds or reptiles, according to the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine.
Officials say product
safety standards adequately protect pets. "There's a bigger risk
to cats from dogs and cars," said Stephen Payne, a spokesman for
the Pet Food Institute in Washington, D.C.
None of the material from
the infected Washington state cow made it into the pet food supply,
and to date there are no other known U.S. cases. "I don't think
it's an issue," said Jeff Judkins, a Portland veterinarian, pointing
out that no obvious cases of the cat form of the disease, feline
spongiform encephalopathy, have shown up in small animals in this
country.
Even so, his personal
choice is to make his own pet food at home using organic beef
and chicken. "It's just a healthier option -- it eliminates any
chance," Judkins said. "Byproducts are the scary ingredient,"
he added. "That can be anything since during the rendering process
there's no telling what's going in."
About 77 million pet cats
and 61 million pet dogs show up for dinner in the United States
each day, according to the Pet Food Institute, a trade association
reporting domestic pet food sales of $12.5 billion in 2003. Yet
many consumers have no idea where Fido's beef stew came from --
it's mystery meat, and that's how some people prefer to keep it.
The reality, however,
is that key ingredients come from animal-waste recyclers -- rendering
plants -- that process thousands of pounds of carcass leftovers
every day. Many plants take just one species of animal. Others
take parts unfit for human consumption from a variety of animals,
which are thrown together in huge hoppers: pig tongues, beef cheeks,
offal and brain and spinal cord material. Very little is separated.
Then, the mixture is ground
and heated until the proteins are reduced to a powder about one-quarter
the original mass. The process kills disease-causing viruses and
bacteria but does not kill the protein responsible for mad cow
disease. Cow brains and spines are routinely part of the mix,
according to the National Renderers Association but are a tiny
fraction of the final product.
The pet food industry
buys 25 percent to 30 percent of the meat, poultry and lamb meal
produced by renderers for use as an ingredient in its products.
"Byproducts are not bad," Payne said. "It's not stuff scraped
off the floor, nor would anyone making a pet food characterize
it that way. . . . These are excellent protein sources." Meat
from elk and deer, however, is commonly rejected because those
animals are susceptible to a similar ailment, chronic wasting
disease.
Nevertheless, more expensive
organic brands of pet food -- with "no animal byproducts" stamped
on their labels -- are increasingly turning up on the market,
often featuring real cuts of meat as the main attraction. Josh
Loring, an employee at Pets on Broadway in Portland, said he spends
much of his day steering customers to more-appetizing options,
including a USDA-certified brand called Karma that runs $41 for
a 15-pound bag. He hasn't sold any of that yet. "I haven't had
any questions about mad cow," Loring said Friday. "But I did have
someone ask if we carried kosher dog food."
No immediate pet food
recall is anticipated in this country because of the mad cow case.
To prevent the spread of mad cow disease, in 1997 the United States
and Canada banned cattle feed containing processed cow parts,
but the infected Washington cow was born before the ban. Earlier
this year, after Canada reported a case of mad cow disease, the
FDA stopped imports from that country of all pet foods made from
mammalian sources, and the manufacturer recalled food thought
to contain material from the infected cow.
Robert Franklin, a Portland
small animal veterinarian, doubts mainstream pet food poses much
risk, although he acknowledges that the risk for people and pets
is not absolutely clear this soon after the discovery of the infected
Washington Holstein. In cats, symptoms include an obvious change
in behavior and an abnormal gait developing over months or years.
"We are talking about
one cow here, one imported from Canada," he said. "We are talking
about feed before the ban was put in place, so a lot of things
have changed since then."
Meanwhile, a debate appears
to be brewing over whether brain and spinal material from cattle
should be banned as a pet food ingredient and whether sick "downer"
cows -- banned this week from the human food supply -- should
also be excluded from pet food. Some experts say consumer confidence
may demand this, although it would come at considerable cost to
the pet food industry, and ultimately consumers.
"I think it would be overreacting,
because there is no scientific evidence to justify it," said Tom
Cook, president of the National Renderers Association based in
Alexandria, Va. "We've been a country that's (mad-cow) free until
a week ago. So the idea that people think every brain and spinal
cord could be a problem is unfortunate."
Regardless, Cook said
pet food manufacturers will probably be driven by consumer desires.
He remembers the strong influence outraged pet owners had years
ago when they found out rendering plants had been adding the carcasses
of pets picked up at shelters to their mix.
"From a pure product safety
standpoint, there was nothing wrong with the material," Cook said.
"But the pet food companies saw consumer reaction and made renderers
sign contracts" guaranteeing they wouldn't use the carcasses of
companion animals. "The shelter pickups stopped."
As Maria Rodriguez of
Portland shopped for cat chow Friday, she admitted she wasn't
thinking much about mad cow, or the fine print on packages, although
she tries to buy higher-quality food for her 7-year-old tabby,
Isabella, just because she loves her. Nonetheless, when she scanned
the ingredient list and saw nothing that appeared to be beef,
she added, "I'm relieved, actually."
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