tv Documentary RT March 14, 2020 1:30pm-2:01pm EDT
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the f.d.a. is primary role is and regulation of what the label says is and there is actually in the us the f.d.a. is not regulating quality production sourcing any of those things they're regulating that what you say is on the label is actually on the label the most shocking thing about the pet food industry that has remained since basically i started doing this work is the f.d.a. compliance policies i still cannot understand how and industry is provided by a federal tax supported organization loopholes to avoid federal law if you go to the f.d.a. website and just type in compliance policies and then scroll down the page to hand
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feed and and there's one after another they allow contamination by pesticides contamination by industrial chemicals contamination bad natural toxins contamination filth micro biological contamination over tolerance for. drug residues. it's incredible. the law says that can be but the compliance policy says don't worry go ahead we won't enforce. for all practical purposes there's nobody looking out for the average dog in 2006 with the mystery illness begin to sicken thousands of pets across the united states and canada thrusting the industry into the spotlight like never before. ok everyone is so freaked out about this recall tell us what do people need to know about this recall so it's menu food menu. menu foods menu foods on any food on
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march 16th 2007 many foods began recalling dog foods produced in their facilities in kansas and new jersey what disturbs me about this incident is that it confirms yet again the pet food as well as human food is a risk more than $60000000.00 packages were taken off store shelves last month because they apparently contained wheat gluten that was tainted with the chemical melamine veterinarian offices are getting flooded with phone calls from concerned that of the people on the other end of the phone sound worried yes very wary yes no official estimates on exactly how many have died so far but hundreds of cats have suffered my strong belief is that they were intentionally delaying the recall happened because they thought they were purchasing a certain protein product called wheat gluten that has actually a pretty high protein count when in fact they were buying weed flour that had been laced with sign your it acid and melamine in order to pass it off as weak with the way they test protein sources is to do this to tear check the level of hydrogen in
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it and both sign erik acid and melamine have high levels of hydrogen so they just would inject the wheat flour with this these poisons and pass it off as weak luden and the reason they were doing that is that we couldn't cost a lot more per protein count per ton then. that's 100 had gotten sick or died from eating the food made by menu foods that company make dog and cat in under 90 brand name in 2007 pet owners didn't have any idea that one manufacturer menu made hundreds of different varieties and that was a betrayal of trust just so many pet owners this is leading people to wonder at this point what can we safely feed our pets arena tonight is recalling a batch of its purina one dog food memory definitely i was. sitting in my little
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office i got a call out of the blue from a woman named donna. who told me that she wanted to bring a lawsuit against the entire pet food industry they knew they had contaminated food they knew it was poison they knew it killed animals and they continued to sell it and put it on the market i mean use don't do that but it's a it's a money market they were making money and i wanted it stopped c.b.s. news has learned the taint and wheat gluten used in pet food was human grave meaning nothing but love kept it from being used in the food people eat to emotional working aspect discovered in 2 sub committee hearings was that the ingredient used in the pet foods there was responsible for killing the animals was actually legal to use in human foods on top of that the f.d.a. admitted that there was no penalty given to a company if they failed to notify the f.d.a. in a reasonable amount of time. in this case menu foods faced criticism for failing to
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notify the f.d.a. for over 3 weeks even after they confirm dogs and cats were dying and they knew the calls but other than complain about the ethics no one in a government position could find many foods for allowing the food to continue to be sold even though they knew animals would die as a result but many foods would not testify the lobby group that came in its place was left to explain why many of the cosmetic no there has to make an animal think on february 20th they didn't tell the f.d.a. 3 weeks earlier that let's get the record straight now the menu waited more than 3 weeks after finding out that the dogs wouldn't eat their food and were getting sick they waited 3 weeks i don't have the facts on menu senator i don't i think you read or you came to the hearing you would have the facts on the industry side they were still maintaining that they were highly regulated though the evidence exposed by the recall appeared to confirm the fear that the industry wasn't regulated very
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much pet foods are indeed a highly regulated product they are perhaps the most regulated product in the supermarket shop. mr nelson was very clear in his statement that africa has no regulatory authority and we've been told by the f.d.a. that there is no pre-market approval of this product sold to consumers we know that there is no regular inspection of the facilities that make these products what we are told is that 30 percent of these facilities will be inspected once or twice over a 3 and a half year period we know that there is no government authority to recall a contaminated product we know that there was no mandatory state inspection standards established by the food and drug administration cross the united states we know that the claims being made on the label here about this dog food or beyond the claims that could be made about human food. and we are told at least dr hudgins
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has told us that it's questionable as to whether or not a company that makes a contaminated pet food has to report to anyone about adverse events in a timely fashion whether a dog has died or dogs are dying when i go through a long list of things it's hard to conclude this is a highly regulated product we're starting recalls grabbing church chicken jerky that's killing thousands of pats we can't identify the source of that contaminate that's still killing pat that's scary after the 2007 recall another mysterious illness began to play in dogs all across the country it was soon discovered that consumers who purchased various brands of chicken jerky treats to reward their dogs were actually poisoning their pets instead owners were devastated to find their dogs either sick or dead after consuming these so-called treats we went to new york and my wife was looking at the tree aisle there and she saw. jerky
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chicken treats and she's like well why don't we just want to try these this is the only thing i see is just chicken so i agree you know and we brought it home and we felt it in. didn't take long before we saw the big changes. and what stands out in my mind from buying them that day is that i looked at the bags and they appeared they really had this almost organic good for you feel about the packaging and so we grabbed 3 packages it was around christmas time that we bought them and we put them on the stockings for the dogs so i remember getting them because they looked so good for the dogs while sally was at the vet i knew that she had in the majlis treats so while she was there i went online and i started researching and i was sick to find that there was just this huge amount of information about these chicken jerky treats. it was milo's it was canyon creek it
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was wagon train there were dead dogs there were dying dogs dogs with just crazy problems from them the american companies selling the chicken jerky were all sourcing their treats from one single manufacturing facility in china even though they were labeled and sold as several different brands a practice known as white labeling over a span of years the companies involved strongly deny that their products were causing any such harm even though thousands of complaints were pouring in from their consumers since 2007 the f.d.a. has extensively tested many brands of chicken jerky treats including ours that testing has identified no contaminants and no definitive cause linking these products to report it illnesses in dogs in the initial stages of backlash companies tried to get consumers to sign nondisclosure agreements which would have barred consumers from legally speaking about the death of their pets
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a way to silence the very victims this had happened to be offered money in exchange for signatures but their bribery backfired offended pet owners refuse the money even banning together on a facebook page to share their stories and information to try and get the products recalled from the store shelves and i when i came down in the morning i checked on her and she was breathing issues leaping and i went upstairs to take a shower and i heard her food bowl go across the floor and i go in cali's of it and i took a shower and then i came back downstairs and she was dead and stuff. it's through this flood everywhere. oh the protests in. the know was. you know overseas.
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so when i called. i received. presume their call center and it was almost scripted her response to me anyway. becoming a dying on age thing. the f.d.a. did and they did x. done for them on a test thing they did as. you know and. there have been enabling any of those reports that can get on the internet nor has there been any contaminant. go on the market. and we. can get any news during you know any. as far as you know a death anything like like i said anything that has ever been reported in the
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f.d.a. did step down and there's never been any contaminant trying to link any of those don't that that's what it was crystal clear that the products were not coming off the shelves any time soon. rachel chambers of morgan hill lost her dog cali yesterday morning she says it was a sudden and painful death that found that she died after her stomach twisted and ruptured but it remains undetermined what caused that to happen according to the f.d.a. nearly $1000.00 owners have complained about this product despite the f.d.a. warnings that are still on shelves at target walmart. and pet smart. and it's a middle it's somewhat frustrating because we haven't been able to find a problem with the product we say yes there are 6 animals we believe are strong evidence and so share with that but we don't look at the product and we've tested for numerous things and we haven't been able to find anything that would suggest that this product right here there's
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one seeking are. sitting. ducks. really bring. now is like i'm. not. going to let you know we're not beach but yeah i was out. in this just feeling if one thing i love is that you know the deep better learn to focus on tokyo found it going to happen if you're going to. do this work with because did it busy. for you.
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the chicken jerky issue lasted until 2013 nearly 6 years after the 1st complaints were made upon investigation the new york state department of agriculture discovered illegal traces of antibiotics in the treat even though it couldn't be proven that the antibiotics had directly caused the deaths of the pets it was a technical adulterant needed for the state department to force these companies to withdraw all the products in question from the shelves at the trace amounts of antibiotic residue found in these samples are not linked to the f.d.a. is ongoing investigation of chicken jerky products and again the trace amounts of antibiotic residue do not pose a health or pet safety risk when death. her sickness is involved the cards appear to be stacked against consumers this is because according to the united states government your beloved companion is considered property that is worth little to no
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monetary value is very difficult to put a value on companion animals the courts have struggled with this where it really comes down to a struggle is what are the damages to somebody who has had a pet that's been injured or killed. for the most part they're still considered it is a property most courts are willing to just do the quickest possible analysis which is you know what you pay for the animal how much should you suffer in terms of veterinarian veterinarian bills or that kind of thing in terms of caring for the animal and you know that's what you're able to recover rather than the sort of emotional connection that you have with the animal are that kind of thing in 2015 government agencies value human life between $6.00 and $9000000.00 to provide some leverage to consumers in the unfortunate case that injury or death were to occur in contrast within the pet food world no such evaluation exists even in the largest of class action lawsuits the money awarded to victims whose pets have been directly harmed by pet food is insignificant when compared to the massive profits that
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companies make each year. so as far as profits are involved there is no incentive for companies to do what consumers believe is the right thing i'm sebastian. i'm for fiver of a theory of economy valuation of companion animals providing an economic valuation for companion animals creates a formula which can then be used to fairly evaluate the worth of a dog or cat the main problem in devaluation of companion animals was the discrepancy that existed between the true value of the companion animal that veterinarians were giving you in case something happened to them and the amount of money that people were spending on their companion animals if settlements like the one in 2007 were not in the millions but instead in the hundreds of millions that alone would be a game changer for corporations who would be under serious pressure to prevent recalls at all costs i don't think the playing field has entirely changed but he
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might soon you know it takes a big case i think to to really change everything. susan text an error on the website truth about pet food dad come. i started teaching people about pet food before the website began about 20 years ago my own dog almost overnight we noticed a tumor on her public defender that any tell me that the it was a chemical preservative in the past food was more than likely this was bunk cancer and this chemical preservative in the food was more than likely the cause of the cancer and i know my brain couldn't wrap my head around that how could a food that i trusted in this was the leading food in the united states at the time how could a food cause cancer and kill my dog and he said it was to
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extend the shelf life will back then i barely knew what shelf life was but i called this pet food manufacturer just to confirm because there was growing doubting my own vet and asked them what the shelf life was of this particular dog food and what they told me literally changed my life and their exact words which are seared into my brain or the shelf life the pet food would stay fresh for 25 years there was that many chemicals in the food and that the food would stay fresh for more than 3 times longer than my dog left when you have. our cat that pet food kills your own pet and new poor and that food in their ball so you feel really responsible it is life altering this is an interesting quandary for the dry
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food industry because there if you want 2 things they'd either have to come up with more information to be able to bash the raw food industry or the 2nd option is they have to listen to what clients are asking for which means really educated clients or are going to the veterinarian saying i want to see meat 1st. well i don't want to see extra carbohydrates i want to see no additional fillers preservatives or a necessary ingredients on the label so some of these pet foods have wisely decided to join the bandwagon this wild ancestor so you're done using the same branch marketing style that the major pet food companies established one company would soon challenge the industry's obsessive use of and stance on grain seed your dogs will spirit with blue wilderness in their commercials blue buffalo took a bold step questioning ingredient i compare the ingredients and lots of them corn gluten meal to share exactly that is this style of marketing work and agreed quickly catapulting bling buffalo into a $1000000000.00 brand blue life protection foods are made with the finest natural
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ingredients and start with real meat as they say you know you've made it when you're parodied on saturday night live brownie yellow corn chicken by product meal the thing that gets me is like what kind of person thinks it's ok to put a big drawing of a chicken on the front of the bag and get there's no chicken in there you know there are other compromises can we make you like you have sex or buy at bamberg they want to get. the one company wasn't seeing the humor share rina and won't buffalo are locked in a nasty battle and it's all about what's inside those bags of dog and cat food. some people try to tell you that your dog is a carnival and requires only a diet of meat they may tell you your dog is lager but even a little stud is built on more than just meat blue buffalo claims its head food is free of chicken and poultry by products this suit alleges testing at an independent
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lab found significant percentages of poultry by product meal and blue buffaloes top selling life protection products appearing in a suit blue buffalo for fulton advertising eventually leading to a class action lawsuit purina launched a website called pet food honesty. the irony of the entire lawsuit however was period his own lack of transparency when it came to their own products they refused to answer questions on camera about the quality or source of their own ingredients. since you guys are suing we buffalo for like transparency and brilliance i just wanted to give you guys an opportunity to talk to this gentleman to consumers about the transparency of your own ability and. i will pass this along after purina failed to respond to our request we tried again so we don't have a idea of a day when every guys will buy 1st on. well i will not be responding so i am
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not sure it's kind of up to. you know when he will receive and this lawyer has had the information piri know would not defend their own alleged lack of true transparency we reached out to blue buffalo as well who also refused to go on camera if this really was about transparency and honesty why was no one talking about the market for premium for is growing that fast as a poor pet parents seeking interest and natural food for their dogs and with american part owners expected to spend nearly 2 to 3000000 dollars this year on food for these treasured members of the sam lee the stakes are high the american holistic veterinarian medical says the annual conference we have all these great food suppliers that are there not only discussing the products that exchanging ideas everyone's very open veterinarians are capable of going from book to bill to get an idea what the products are about how their manufactured ingredient list the owners of these small pet food companies are are passionate and wildly passionate
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about the products they're producing and they're eager to speak with you and they want you to know more and they want you to ask questions. most companies that attended the trade show were happy to speak with our cameras around to show their products and transparency. but when we revisited the science diet booth with our questions about the species appropriateness of their products in the sourcing of their diets we refused interviews in instructed to contact their media apartment team so we did. a review but it also had an attrition i just wanted to write you know that here on the site and. in the documentary all other major pet food brands also flat out refused or ignored multiple requests to participate in this challenge. all. for the world independent pet stores are now offering a solution to the growing population of concerned pet owners. for almost their
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entire existence major pet food stores only carry dry or canned food while independent stores are adequately addressing the concerns of their customers by selling wrong d. hydrated or alternative diets the industry has built a 3rd of the independent pet stores popping up across the nation in reaction they've launched their own chain of smaller stores with the appearance that what they're offering is healthier. so many well intentioned customers are still left wondering what is the right thing to do. in the end it isn't about perfect it's just about knowing i just happen to see. increased health when you really can feed a biologically appropriate diet we shouldn't history so far from it in the 1st place we have that have to get that there eventually i'd like to see that i believe is the guardians our job is to eat the best possible food that we can afford to
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feed and many people cannot afford to feed that of all the foods so even within your dry food choices there are better quality dry food choices and there are terrible quality food choices and it's your job as a pet guardian to be able to know enough about nutrition to make wise health decisions for your pot with profits as their main goal the cycle will continue on and on again and again and when no end in sight. i heard. i. guess. i.
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social and i as a nation such as who should say to us and investors to put them. out or should i say it is for for you to go forward to the trip improved for your not your my p.s.p. i didn't do enough to try to accomplish magick for the. purpose. it was because of global was going to have to close to this need so that in your voice you just got must have been just playing around just moving the spot it's not something you're fighting when i'm under the sofa for some half. of the west coast approaches about 4 to 6 months because of the sound.
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to unleash the full power of the federal government of the separate today i am officially declaring a national emergency the u.s. steps up its response to the spread of the corona virus following countries across europe and asia. imports from china which could cause prices in the u.s. to. hosting u.s. and other coalition forces near baghdad is struck for the 2nd time in a week even 5.
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