Pet Food Politics : The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine

Marion Nestle, acclaimed author of Food Politics, now tells the gripping story of how, in early 2007, a few telephone calls about sick cats set off the largest recall of consumer products in U.S. history and an international crisis over the safety of imported goods ranging from food to toothpaste, tires, and toys. Nestle follows the trail of tainted pet food ingredients back to their source in China and along the supply chain to their introduction into feed for pigs, chickens, and fish in the United States, Canada, and other countries throughout the world. What begins as a problem “merely” for cats and dogs soon becomes an issue of tremendous concern to everyone. Nestle uncovers unexpected connections among the food supplies for pets, farm animals, and people and identifies glaring gaps in the global oversight of food safety.
Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health and Professor of Sociology at New York University. She is author of the award-winning Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (revised and expanded edition, UC Press), Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism (UC Press), and What to Eat, among other books. She serves as nutrition coeditor of The Bark magazine.

Contents :

Introduction

1. A Recall to Break All Records
2. A Brief Historical Digression
3. The Sequence of Events
4. What Is Menu Foods?
5. Menu’s Muddled Response: What, When, and Where
6. The Cat and Dog Body Count
7. A Toxic False Alarm: Aminopterin
8. At Last the Culprit: Melamine
9. Melamine: A Source of Dietary Nitrogen
10. Melamine: A Fraudulent Adulterant, But Puzzling
11. How Much Melamine Was in the Pet Food?
12. Mystery Solved: Cyanuric Acid
13. The China Connection
14. More Melamine: Rice and Corn “Proteins”
15. More Melamine Eaters: Farm Animals and People
16. The FDA’s Response
17. Repercussion #1: China’s Food Safety System
18. Repercussion #2: The China Backlash
19. Repercussion #3: The FDA in Crisis
20. Repercussion #4: Pet Food Politics