More pet food problems: Rice protein concentrate recalled

SAN FRANCISCO
April 19, 2007 6:13am

Wilbur-Ellis Co. says it is voluntarily recalling all lots of the rice protein concentrate the San Francisco company’s feed division has shipped to pet-food manufacturers.

The recall is prompted by concern that that the concentrate may have been contaminated by melamine, an industrial chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers that can lead to illness or fatalities in animals if consumed.

Wilbur-Ellis says it bought the rice protein from Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co. Ltd., of China, and shipped it to a total of five U.S. pet-food manufacturers located in Utah, New York, Kansas and two in Missouri. It did not identify the companies.

A single bag in a recent shipment tested positive for melamine, Wilbur-Ellis says. Unlike the other white-colored bags in that shipment, the bag in question was pink and had the word “melamine” stenciled upon it, it says.

Wilbur-Ellis says it separated that bag and quarantined the entire shipment for further testing and since that time, no further deliveries of rice protein concentrate have been made.

While its testing of samples from the white bags tested negative for melamine, subsequent and potentially more sensitive tests by the FDA came back positive for melamine, leading to the recall, Wilbur-Ellis says.

Wilbur-Ellis says it began importing rice protein concentrate from Binzhou Futian Biology Technology in July 2006. A total of 14 containers holding 336 metric tons of rice protein concentrate were sent from Futian to Wilbur-Ellis. Wilbur-Ellis has distributed 155 metric tons to date.

Wilbur-Ellis is urging all pet food manufacturers using rice protein concentrate supplied through Wilbur-Ellis to recall any pet food that may be on supermarket shelves.