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Wal-Mart Finds Melamine in Chinese-Made Dog Treats

Two brands of treats pulled from shelves; no formal recall yet

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

August 22, 2007

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Two brands of Chinese-made dog treats sold at Wal-Mart stores have tested positive for traces of melamine -- the chemical that earlier this year triggered the largest pet food recall in U.S. history, the retail giant announced Tuesday.

Wal-Mart quietly removed Chicken Jerky Strips manufactured by Import-Pingyang Pet Product Co. and Chicken Jerky made by Shanghai Bestro Trading in late July.

That action came on the heels of the death of a Pennsylvania woman’s two-year-old Chihuahua. The dog suddenly died in July after eating the jerky strips. An autopsy revealed the dog died from an infection caused by toxic bacteria.

The Chinese-made dog treats, however, have not been recalled and there was no mention of the melamine-tainted products on the Food and Drug Administration’s Web site Wednesday morning.

Wal-Mart said it pulled the tainted dog treat while it ran 17 different tests to determine the cause of the “small number of complaints it’s received” about the imported products.

“The latest advice from our testing laboratory shows trace levels of melamine,” Wal-Mart said in a statement posted on its Web site.

“Because of the low levels that were found, our laboratory has recommended additional testing. Nevertheless, the product remains off shelves and we continue to take the extra precaution of placing a computerized block on the product at the cash register.”

Wal-Mart said it didn’t know how many stores carried the dog treats.

“Generally, we won’t do a pull-and-hold unless most stores are impacted,” a spokeswoman told the Associated Press. “There’s a high likelihood many of our stores would have been impacted by this one.”

Wal-Mart said customers can return the Chicken Jerky Strips manufactured by Pingyang and the Chicken Jerky made by Shanghai Bestro Trading with UPC 0087784900006 and item number 839751 for a full refund.

ConsumerAffairs.com learned that in May, 2005, the FDA blocked Pingyang’s Chicken Jerky Strips from entering the U.S. because the products contained the poisonous substance salmonella.

Pingyang is located in Zhejiang Province, China.

A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart said her company was not aware of the FDA’s previous concerns with Pingyang. She said her company is working with the FDA and its manufacturers on this melamine-related issue.

China has faced growing scrutiny worldwide about the safety of its products, including its defective tires, toys made with lead paint, contaminated toothpastes, and melamine-tainted wheat gluten and rice protein used to make pet food.

Earlier this year, Menu Foods of Canada recalled more than 60 million containers of pet food because the products contained melamine.

The FDA traced the source of that contamination to two now-defunct manufacturing plants in China.

Thousands of dogs and cats nationwide suffered kidney problems or died after eating the melamine-tainted foods.

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