Utah State tests hogs over tainted food
US - The state is conducting tests at three northern Utah farms to see if hogs ate pet food contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine, agriculture officials said Wednesday.
26 April 2007
2 minute read
The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food is testing the urine of 60 hogs at the unnamed farms that received pet food from Ogden-based American Nutrition Inc. The department has asked the farms not to sell or transport the remaining animals until testing is complete.
Between 1,000 to 2,000 hogs were housed at the three farms, representing about 1 percent of the state's market. "There is no public health problem," said Agriculture Commissioner Leonard Blackham at a news conference Wednesday. "At the levels we're talking about, it's OK to eat pork."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is testing feed manufactured by the company to determine if rice protein concentrate in the pet food is laced with melamine, a chemical used to make plastic and linked to pet food ingredients imported from China. American Nutrition did not return repeated telephone calls for comment.
Hog farms in at least five other states were supplied with contaminated pet food. It wasn't immediately clear which farms had hogs that actually ate the contaminated food, although the urine of animals has tested positive for the chemical in California, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to The Associated Press.
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune
Between 1,000 to 2,000 hogs were housed at the three farms, representing about 1 percent of the state's market. "There is no public health problem," said Agriculture Commissioner Leonard Blackham at a news conference Wednesday. "At the levels we're talking about, it's OK to eat pork."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is testing feed manufactured by the company to determine if rice protein concentrate in the pet food is laced with melamine, a chemical used to make plastic and linked to pet food ingredients imported from China. American Nutrition did not return repeated telephone calls for comment.
Hog farms in at least five other states were supplied with contaminated pet food. It wasn't immediately clear which farms had hogs that actually ate the contaminated food, although the urine of animals has tested positive for the chemical in California, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to The Associated Press.
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune
