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Menu Foods, North America's biggest maker of wet pet foods and the company that launched the pet food recall, is phasing out ingredients from China.
It won't resume using them until Menu and the "world community" are assured that they are safe, says Menu's outside counsel, David Lillehaug of Fredrikson & Byron.
Menu, which makes pet foods for dozens of brands, recalled hundreds of products in mid-March after reports of kidney failure in pets. An ingredient imported from China was later found to be contaminated with melamine and melamine byproducts that are not allowed in foods.
The recall has increased concerns over the safety of imported foods, especially from China, and food companies of all kinds have or are evaluating their global sourcing procedures.
"All of our customers are asking, 'Where are the ingredients coming from?' " says Victor Barsky, of the New York-based Chenango Valley Pet Foods, which makes dry pet food for 35 companies. It, too, is dropping China-made ingredients, Barsky says.
Pet food maker Royal Canin USA has also said it won't use vegetable proteins from China. Pet food maker C.J. Foods has said it'll nix protein sources from "exotic" locations.
Human food makers are also reviewing global suppliers and some, including Kraft Foods and Hormel Foods, say they are confident in their ability to source globally and ensure that products are safe and of good quality.
Most pet food ingredients come from the U.S. But China is a primary source for some B vitamins and amino acids, including taurine used in cat foods. Finding them elsewhere will be hard, says Greg Aldrich, nutritionist with Pet Food & Ingredient Technology.
China also supplies about 8% of the USA's wheat gluten. In pet foods, it adds protein and serves as a binding agent for wet foods. That product led to Menu's recall. Then, melamine was found in another protein ingredient used by other pet food makers. Two Chinese firms are suspected of spiking the products with melamine to make them look more protein rich, thus more valuable, than they were.
Rather than "shut the door" on China ingredients, Pet Food Institute President Duane Ekedahl says better procedures are needed to ensure quality. Many pet food makers, including the USA's biggest, Nestle Purina PetCare, now screen for melamine.
The Food and Drug Administration is also requiring importers prove to the agency that China-produced vegetable proteins are safe before they're let in the U.S. | 