There are new details about the pet food recall. Now the nationwide pet food recall that began March 16 with wet cat and dog food has grown to more than 100 brands of wet and dry food and treats. Health officials now say some of that contaminated pet food was fed to hogs in as many as six states. It's not clear yet if any of the hogs entered the food supply for humans. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that salvaged pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical was fed to hogs in six states. The FDA also said it is investigating whether a poultry farm in Missouri got contaminated food.

Pet Food Recall: Farms Quarantined, More Cat & Dog Food Recall Worries

According to a report from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the hogs ate the food before the products' recall, said Michael Rogers, an FDA investigator. Investigators said they did not know whether the contamination had reached human food. "At this point, I don't have a definitive answer, other than to say that the issue is being addressed," Dr. Stephen Sundlof, the FDA's chief veterinarian, told reporters.

***

The AVMA notes in a press release that Salvage pet food, specifically from manufacturers that have since issued pet food recalls because of potential melamine contamination, has been traced to hog farms in California, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, Utah, and possibly Ohio. Samples of hog urine from farms in three of those states—California, North Carolina and South Carolina—have tested positive for melamine thus far. Test results from identified hog farms in other states have not yet been received by the FDA.

All of the identified hog farms, with the possible exception of farms in Utah, have been quarantined, according to the FDA.

***

So far, the melamine-contaminated food in the United States has been linked to two contaminated ingredients imported from China, wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate, but in South Africa, melamine-contaminated corn gluten was discovered as an ingredient in pet foods, resulting in a pet food recall there.

All the contaminated wheat gluten located so far by the FDA is from one source in China, and all the contaminated rice protein concentrate was from another source in China, but imported through two distributors.

***

The FDA has said that 100 percent of wheat gluten, rice protein concentrate, and corn gluten being imported from China are now being tested. The FDA is expanding its testing of imported products to include corn meal, rice bran, and soy protein in addition to wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate. These imported ingredients may be used for human consumption in products such as bread, pasta, baby formula, and pizza dough. The FDA stressed that while there is no evidence of any melamine-contaminated products being directly shipped into a human food producing facility, an expanded investigation is a prudent public health move.

***

David Acheson, MD, chief medical officer of the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said that the FDA will be taking samples from as many food manufacturers as possible and testing them for melamine contamination. The FDA will also be conducting an outreach effort to communicate the need for manufacturers to know their suppliers well.

For more information, please visit the AVMA web site.