2.5 to 3 million people are estimated to have consumed poultry that was fed tainted feed the FDA announced Tuesday.
Federal officials announced Tuesday that an estimated 2.5 to 3 million people have consumed chickens that were fed tainted pet food. The announcement came following an investigation of poultry farms in Indiana were it was found that 38 farms had fed the tainted feed to their animals. The investigation came about as the ongoing pet food scare continues to draw attention. The Federal Food and Drug Administration stated that "the likelihood of illness after eating chicken fed the contaminated product is very low" in a teleconference with reporters. They also added that no human illnesses have been reported related to the feed scare.
The investigation began in March this year when at least seventeen dogs and cat died of kidney failure linked to tainted pet food. A national recall was issued and continues to keep shelves bare as possible tainted product is pulled from distribution. The chemical melamine was discovered in some the contaminated food and can be toxic in large doses. The problem was traced to wheat gluten that was obtained from the Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Company in China. The FDA originally blocked import of the product from the company and has now detained all vegetable protein imports from China that are used in human or animal food.
Last week officials announced that 6,000 hogs that may have ingested tainted food entered the human food supply. Pork producers in California, Kansas, North Carolina, New York, South Carolina and Utah are currently under investigation for purchasing the feed.
Since the first recall was initiated on March 16, over 150 brands and 5,300 different pet food products have been recalled as they may contain the tainted wheat gluten. The latests recalled foods can be found on the Internet at
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/petfoodrecall/.
