More than a month since the massive pet food recall, it still seems products are added to the list every few days. Dog and cat lovers and owners are more confused than ever. Ever since the FDA began recalling more than 60 million cat and dog food products on March 17, things have been turned upside down for pet owners, baffled over what food to buy their pets. Pet owners are learning that brand name and cost aren't enough to protect their pets from eating food poisoned with an industrial chemical used to make plastics.

Pet Food Recall: Second Importer May Lead to More Poisoned Cat & Dog Food

Hill's Science Diet, recommended by many veterinarians, and Iams, one of the best known brands among pet owners, have both had some of their products recalled.

Two Senators have what they say is evidence that a second suspected importer of vegetable proteins might have introduced even more contaminated ingredients into the pet food industry, including the latest rice protein,(so far, this is wheat, corn and rice) and they are calling on the FDA to publicly identify the company, and the pet food companies which they say received the ingredients but haven't yet instituted a recall.

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A report has been posted on Sen. Durbin's website that reads in part: U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) today sent a letter to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner, Andrew von Eschenbach asking him to identify the companies that were recipients of the contaminated rice protein shipments from China and to request that the FDA identify and inspect all suspect pet food ingredients imported by the U.S. from China and other countries.

Recent reports indicate that in addition to the contaminated wheat gluten found during the first wave of pet food recalls, contaminated shipments of rice protein and corn gluten have been used for pet food and could have entered the human food supply. On April 2nd, a Chinese company, Binzhou-Futian, sold rice protein to Wilbur-Ellis and a second unknown importer. Wilbur-Ellis has said that the shipment was distributed to five pet food manufacturers. Three of those manufacturers have revealed themselves and recalled food, the other two have not.

Given the strong possibility that these two pet food manufacturers also received contaminated rice protein and that they have failed to implement voluntary recalls, Durbin and Cantwell today asked FDA to release the names of these manufacturers and require them to trace and recall any pet food made with the potentially contaminated rice protein. The Senators have also asked that the name of the second importer be released.

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The Associated Press reports that The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said it believes thousands of cats and dogs were sickened and an undetermined number killed by pet food made with wheat gluten and rice protein ingredients imported from China. The agency has received more than 15,000 calls from worried pet owners in the past five weeks but has not yet updated the confirmed death list of 16 - 15 cats and a dog - which was provided to it early on by Menu Foods.