Tainted wheat gluten sold as “food grade”

[danarhea]

The tainted wheat gluten, which made its way into dog and cat food, was sold by the American distributor as "food grade". While "feed grade" can be used for pet food, food grade can also be used for products intended for human consumption. The director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medcine says that he is not aware that any of the tainted gluten made it into the human food supply, but he also says that he is not 100% certain. While the product was manufactured in China, it was distributed by one US company. The name of that company was not released, and it was also not disclosed whether or not the tainted gluten was distributed only to the manufacturing facility in Canada which made the pet food.

Although the human food chain is probably OK, this is still something to think about. I have thought about it myself, and am now reversing myself on whether there should be more government regulation in the food industry. I would like to see less, but if looking out for the bottom line, to the detriment of all else, leads to the possibility of the food chain being compromised, whether it is pet food or human food, I now believe that the government should intervene more, under the premise of "promoting the general welfare". Market solutions here cannot work, as free markets in some areas tend to lead to the abuse of those very same free markets, as has been demonstrated here, with disastrous results.

Article is here.