GODDAMNIT! HAVE WE ALL BEEN POISONED? Chinese Company sells Wheat Gluten for Human Consumption.

[drm604]

After reading this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x556053

I decided to do some research of my own. According to the article linked in that thread:

The FDA announced today that it has traced the contaminated wheat gluten to a single processor, Xuzhou Anying Biological Technology of Peixian, China

I Google "Xuzhou Anying" and came up with this page:

http://www.alibaba.com/manufacturer/14895611/Sell_Vital_Wheat_Gluten.html

It's a sales page for Xuzhou Anying and it's offering Wheat Gluten for sale.

Detailed Selling Lead Description

Wheat Vital Protein
Brief Introduction:
Wheat gluten meal is also named wheat vital protein. The flour is used as its raw material, and from which extracts a light brown natural grain powder through intensively processing. It is a good soluble protein, containing fifteen amino acid essential for human body.

(Emphasis is Mine)

So, Xuzhou Anying has a sales page, in English, offering wheat gluten for human consumption. I doubt that this is something they just started doing recently.

[spanone]

1. shit

:scared:

[Catchawave]

124. ...that's exactly what we're importing...

:banghead:

[file83]

131. "We'll make great pets, we'll make great pets!" - Porno For Pyros

I'm starting to feel like the state's pet.

[gatorboy]

2. Thank you, Wal-Mart!

[magellan]

15. Thank you, FREE TRADE!

And all the POS's who support it. This is what lack of regulation and oversight does.

[The Backlash Cometh]

93. Another unintended consequence.

Fuck you all, free trade Libertarians!

[AndyA]

16. Exactly.

It just makes me sick to see the line of (often foreign) cars lining up to turn into Wal-Mart whenever I go by one of their stores.

The people who shop there are so out of it they don't even realize what they're doing.

They have to shop there so they can save money and be able to afford everything they need.

Everything is there, no need to go to multiple stores.

The money they save is spent at the GAS PUMP because Wal-Mart is one of China's biggest customers, and the Chinese are the United States biggest competitor of fuel.

Figure it out, folks, and stop shopping at Wal-Mart!

[gatorboy]

44. If you haven't seen this article on Wal-Mart,

you need give it a read:

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html

[AndyA]

113. I remember reading that before.

It's a good article.

In every sense of the word, Wal-Mart is not a friend to Americans.

[slampoet]

58. I can't afford Walmart, I shop at flea markets.

They can say they need to shop there but really it's not so.

[Clark2008]

78. What's this Wal-Mart you speak of?

LOL.

Honestly, I haven't been in one in so long, I've forgotten they exist. :)

P.S. And I drive an American car and have American-made televisions (yes, they do exist and they're great. They're manufactured just up the road in north-east TN). ;)

[drm604]

3. Everyone, please recommend this! n/t

[C_U_L8R]

4. This is their company website..

http://www.xzay.com/english/index.asp

The next big question is who did they sell the poisoned wheat gluten to?
Cargill? Conagra? General Mills? Agland? Kraft? Archer Daniels Midland?

This google search may raise a few eyebrows...
http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&q=%22george+bush%22+%22archer+daniels+midland%22&btnG=Search

[drm604]

8. I'm planning on trying to find that out.

If anyone else wants to look around, please be my guest. I'm certainly no expert.
We know that Del Monte used it at least in their pet food.

[C_U_L8R]

14. I'm very curious how the commodity markets are gonna react

any traders around here who might share some insight into how this all works?

[drm604]

17. I don't know much about that

but I can't imagine that it would react well. That may be why this has been kept so quiet.

[PhilipShore]

23. I agree

[C_U_L8R]

32. It's gonna suck to be Mortimer and Randolph Duke

except Bush probably just passed em the crop report

[drm604]

68. I had to Google those names

to get the reference. I should have recognized them.

[formercia]

86. Orange Juice is fucked too

:sarcasm:

[CoffeeCat]

94. ...and it won't be long before...

...Scooter Libby is spotted on the subway in a Santa Claus suit--drunk and chewing on an enormous, raw salmon. ;)

Thanks for that hilarious '80's reference! I remember learning a ton about the commodities market from
watching that movie. :)

[EVDebs]

119. Read Dan Morgan's book on commodities and wheat Merchants of Grain

Cargill, Continental, and now...WTF ?
Xuzhou Anying ?

The grain merchants are highly connected to 'intelligence' which is what makes this incident soooo interesting.

[AZBlue]

22. I think some of that info's been moved from the site.

I clicked on "camp sells" and it brought up a worldwide map and the statement "Xuzhou Anying Biologic technlolgy development Co.,Ltd.is very well connected with most powerful companies at home and abroad." I would bet that you used to be able to click on the map on and find out which companies in which countries bought their products! Most distributors like to brag about their big name clients. And then I went to "Downloads" and all that is written there is "Domestic Market" - otherwise the page is blank. Wonder what used to be written on that big white space?...

[drm604]

30. Exactly what link are you talking about?

Are you talking about that sales page? I don't see a "camp sells" link. If you can point me to the link I may be able to find a cached version of it.

[AZBlue]

42. They are here:

"Camp Sales" (I don't even know what that means)
http://www.xzay.com/english/Sale.asp

"Downloads:
http://www.xzay.com/english/Down.asp



Thanks!

[drm604]

69. Poking around

I can't find anything more than you've found, unfortunately.

[tbyg52]

80. Try www.archive.org

I would do so now, but I have to go to work.

[drm604]

88. Already looked there.

No luck.

[Maraya1969]

133. The second link HAS BEEN REMOVED! Well they say it has been moved but it is not the same

page that was there when I first clicked on it.

[Wednesdays]

95. Okay, I found something...

I put the "Camp Sells" page into the archive.org browser. Then I clicked on the top link (circled in red in the picture). This map came up. Unfortunately, I can't read Chinese, so I don't know if anything here is significant, nor do I know what the red, green, and blue dots mean. I do suspect, however, that this shows they have clients in the USA.

[drm604]

110. Nice find.

I'm also not sure what this shows. A lot depends on how accurate the placement of those dots is. There is a major distributor of wheat gluten in Toronto, Milz International. Menu Foods is in Ontario so it's very possible that it gets its gluten from Milz. The green dot on the right of North America is in Ontario but it seems a little to far north for Toronto. However, like I said, we don't know how accurate the placement is so it could indicate Milz International. Another possibility is that Menu Foods imports it's gluten directly, but that seems unlikely. The dots on the left of NA appear to be in the U.S. but could conceivably be in British Columbia.

[drm604]

112. Milz international imports wheat gluten!

At least that appears to be the case. They have advertised for wheat gluten on international trade websites: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%2B%22Milz+International%22+%2B%22wheat+gluten%22&btnG=Search

This page is very interesting: http://www.made-in-china.com/import-export/YqXmiFSVZxGsprofile1/Milz-International-Inc-.html

as is this page on the same website: http://www.made-in-china.com/trade-offers/YqXmiFSVZxGsoffer1/offer.html
which indicates that they were looking to buy "vital wheat gluten" from China earlier this year.

Xuzhou Anying uses that same site to find wheat gluten buyers!
http://www.made-in-china.com/import-export/ZbNJcKTDXQWRprofile1/Xuzhou-Anying-Biologic-Technology-Development-Co-Ltd-.html

[AZBlue]

143. Oh, see I was going in on the English version

Those red, green and blue dots don't exist on that version - just the map in tan. So they ARE hiding their clients! Anyone speak Chinese here that can translate???

[ehrnst]

138. If you have the URL...

You can often get a cached copy at http://www.archive.org.

Just enter the URL of that blank page in the Wayback Machine field.

[crikkett]

152. have you checked the wayback machine?

http://www.waybackmachine.org

[havocmom]

5. They have our jobs. They own our paper.

They might just want us off of THEIR property.

[snappyturtle]

6. If this proved to be true that effectively we could have been and

are being poisoned, what the H_ _ _ good is our blessed Homeland Seurity? What will our gov't. dream up to screen us for this??? Sometimes I think we should become rigid isolationalists in manufacturing all goods consumed here. Bring our companies home along with the troops.....or have I gone off the deep end?

Your post is potentially very frightening...but I'm numb enough from all that's been happening the last half dozen years to hardly be surprised.

[PhilipShore]

13. The Bush administration spends billions for a war...

but it cannot spend a minimal amount of money -- to protect the people -- by testing the pet and human food supplies for chemical poisons, before it is sold on the market.

[Kutjara]

20. Want to really bake your noodle?

Of the 100,000 synthetic chemicals in regular use by industry (in everything from food to clothes to toys to cars to you name it), only 15,000 have ever been tested for toxicity in humans. Of that 15,000, only a handful have been tested for long-term toxicity. For 85% of the chemicals to which we're exposed, no tests exist to determine if they're even present, and in what quantities. Even if such tests existed, we'd have no way of knowing if the levels of toxins in our food are dangerous or not.

The brutal truth is that every bite of food we eat, every item of clothing we wear, every bar of soap we use, is a giant leap of faith.

[bluescribbler]

101. More noodle baking for you

At present, there is only one university in the United States which offers toxicology in the curriculum for chemists and chemical engineers. So, only a handful of the people out there designing new molecules and systems for manufacturing these new molecules have even a smidgen of a notion of how these molecules will affect people.

[Kutjara]

128. My noodle is duly baked.

Just when I think I've acquired the scariest fact imaginable about our corporate existence, someone comes along with a whole new level of scariness. Thanks, blue...I think.

[bluescribbler]

159. Look on the bright side

Five years ago, no university anywhere offered toxicology as part of the curriculum. And some of the scientists who are being trained at UMass Lowell will go on to other universities and will agitate for toxicology to be added to those curricula.

[Truthiness Inspector]

27. And we aren't the only ones

Look at Menu Foods, based in Canada. Something HAS to change, that is for sure.

China sent this shit out. Any problems with wheat gluten being reported in China? (That's almost a rhetorical question.)

[snappyturtle]

102. Yes, there's a big problem with wheat gluten......

I'm going out on the deep end again :sarcasm: : Don't we produce wheat in the USA? Doesn't it logically follow we have our own wheat gluten? I suppose the wheat gluten from China is cheaper so the food/feed producers buy it from them.

This topic is what has broken the camel's back for me.....with so many to chose from but this one is ridiculous beyond belief. On 9/11 my heart stood still in disbelief and I have that same feeling again.

[snappyturtle]

108. I've had the "news" on all morning (Monday) and haven't

heard a word about this topic!!!!!!!! Why did the FDA post the company's name yesterday? I wonder if they had waited a few hours and put it out on Monday morning it wouldn't have had a better chance for wider exposure? I think I just answered my "wondering".

WE need to get it through our heads that: THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T GIVE A HOOT WHETHER WE'RE SAFE. Their only interest is in making us THINK they're doing anything and making lots of money in the charade.

[southerncrone]

24. I think you are right on, snappy.

We didn't have these types of problems b/4 we had the "global economy" crap pushed down our throats.
We exported our mfg. goods, & had a POSITIVE balance of trade. We also had tariffs placed on imported goods. We should repeal NAFTA & all the other sell-out trade agreements that have forced us into a third world nation & allowed our corporations to use slave, child labor for their own greed.

[aquart]

38. Uh huh. Do we still have working factories here?

[SammyWinstonJack]

156. No we don't because the repuglican outsourcing for profit party took care of that starting with

St. Raygun. We use to be an exporting nation and we are now an out/insourcing and importing nation. Thanks, you self serving greedy for profit repugs. :grr: I understand that we are a global community and that we should share the wealth, however, we can't have free trade without fair trade and that isn't happening right now. The Global Corporate Free Trade doesn't want fair trade, that would disprute their bottom line and they can't have that. So everyone gets screwed, except for them , of course.

[snappyturtle]

105. Here,Here, I'm nodding my head in the positive!

I'm afraid that we have been so dumbed down and consumed with our national past-time,consumption, that we're beyond being able to take care of ourselves. It's no wonder that education is on the bottom rung of the ladder.....our kids have so little to excite them in their future job market opportunities.

[SammyWinstonJack]

98. Hey, I'm all for that!

Sometimes I think we should become rigid isolationists in manufacturing all goods consumed here. Bring our companies home along with the troops.....or have I gone off the deep end? If you have, I have.

[snappyturtle]

100. Whew! Then I'm not alone! n/t

[tnlefty]

150. No, you are not alone!

Not by a long shot! :hi:

[lonestarnot]

151. Nope you sure aren't!

[SammyWinstonJack]

155. I doubt you are all alone, not by a long shot!

:hi:

[NightWatcher]

7. Ok then, time to plant a garden

If this is an April Fool's, I bit hard.

[drm604]

12. This is not an April fools,

or if it is then I've been fooled also, and the perpetrator is one sick individual. But I can't see how it could be. It would involve several websites including the FDA and I would hope that the FDA wouldn't be involved in a sick joke like that.

[TomInTib]

9. That ad copy looks like it came from engrish.com

Just don't buy any national brands.

Buy local, that's what we do.

[Gloria]

10. Ever have "seitan"? It's wheat gluten ....I've made it myself, using

vital wheat gluten, water, etc. If forms a dough, you cut it up into pieces and boil it in water or stock for about 40 minutes.

It's a meat substitute and can be prepared in many tasty ways...and has tons of protein without fat....

I use Bob's Red Mill from the health food store...,hope Bob doesn't import from China!!

A few weeks ago we bought some apple juice....from CHINA. I'm used to seeing Brazil and other places on juices, but from China...this was a first!!! Gotta wonder about those apples....

[piesRsquare]

19. Martinelli's

Martinelli's apple juice is 100% USA grown and produced. And wow--the taste is wonderful!

A bit more expensive, but definitely worth it!

[juno jones]

114. Yes! Gravenstein apples from Sonoma Co, CA! Best ever! n/t

[DemExpat]

103. I have made this too.

Was fascinated by the process and the result.

I hope that the EU remains a bit protective and regulating of imports from around the world.......

DemEx

[Pacifist Patriot]

121. I was just going to ask about seitan. I was planning on picking...

some up this week. Darned sure I'm going to be reading the label and doing some investigating.

[Maraya1969]

135. Apple juice from fucking China???? I'd like to know if any of our apple juice goes TO China

It is cheaper to buy apple juice from China than from any company in the US? Makes you wonder what's in that apple juice. Maybe it's just colored water.

[Dervill Crow]

148. Bob's Red Mill is about a half mile from my house.

They've been there for about 20 years now, and they buy locally.

Glad you mentioned them; I think that's where I'm shopping from now on. There and Peoples Food Co-Op. Bob's Red Mill has a restaurant, too.

[Bluebear]

11. Geo HW Bush: Chief liason (Ambassador) to China, CIA, head of Carlyle Asia...

Heaven only knows what deals he has made over there. ("Don't worry about this gluten, the US can't regulate you. Besides, you own them.")

[Octafish]

18. Your BFEE at work.

Unka Prescott was head of the U.S. China Chamber of Commerce.

http://www.usccc.org/Current/mem-b.htm

Why do you think all the jobs ended up in China?

It paid big bucks.

Who do you think would poison the American people?

It leaves more for the rest of Them Warmongers.

[Megahurtz]

157. Of Course!

The Fucking BFEE again. I'm not surprized. :mad:

[classof56]

21. OMG--and I was worried about my cat!

Need to more about this--and soon. Thanks for posting!

[xultar]

83. You need to be worried about your cat. People take care of themselves.

[drm604]

91. True

but it's difficult for people to take care of themselves if they aren't given enough information.

[NightWatcher]

25. Check out this tidbit, The FDA will not say where Del Monte got the stuff

Wheat gluten is sold in both "food grade" and "feed grade" varieties. Either may be used in pet food, but only "food grade" gluten may be used in the manufacture of products meant for human consumption. Published reports have thus far focused on tainted pet food, but if the gluten in question entered the human food supply through a major food products supplier and processor, it could potentially contaminate thousands of products and hundreds of millions of units nationwide.

Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine said the FDA is not aware of any contaminated gluten that went into human food but said he could not confirm this "with 100 percent certainty." Wheat gluten is a common food additive used as a thickener, dough conditioner, and meat substitute. It is widely used as an additive in commercial bakery items and special purpose flours

The FDA announced today that it has traced the contaminated wheat gluten to a single processor, Xuzhou Anying Biological Technology of Peixian, China, but has not released the name of the U.S. distributor who supplied the product to Del Monte, Menu Foods, Nestle Purina, and Hills Nutritional. In all, more than 70 brands and over 60 million cans and pouches of dog and cat food are now part of this massive recall, as well as at least one brand of dry cat food.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-goldstein/tainted-wheat-gluten-sold_b_44743.html

[lovuian]

66. This is a real danger to children who have small body mass

it means that melamine quantities would be more dangerous to smaller body mass
It really opens the door what other contaminants are in our foods

[Whoa_Nelly]

26. Read this re: Xuzhou Anying

http://socalmuchacha.wordpress.com/

[southerncrone]

28. The really bad news is that wheat gluten is used in many, many, many food products.

Just read the labels.

Could this be a form of biological warfare from the FAR East? Just wonderin'? :shrug:

[EFerrari]

43. It's not warfare from the Far East if it's being bought by American distributors.

:shrug:

[RestoreGore]

77. Not warfare but greed

Like any nation looking to be an economic/military giant such trivialities as food security are not enterntained because they are too costly. It is the same thing with water and in China's case I wouldn't trust anything from that country because it is truly a toxic haven. I try not to buy anything that says "Made in China" on it, and now I am absolutely outraged that food I buy could come from there and I won't know it. What the hell is the Dept. of Agriculture doing about this? I'm going to look into this myself. Thanks to the OP for this thread.

[Jcrowley]

29. K&R

The answer is yes. Be outraged.

Take action.

[Holly_Hobby]

31. The problem with industrially stored grains

If the rat poison doesn't get you, the fungus toxins will....

http://www.natural-health-information-centre.com/grain.html

[Rydz777]

33. Why in the world

are we buying any food products from China?! It's bad enough that in the age of electronics we have conceded that industry to them - not to mention shirts, sox, cutlery, toys, and you name it. It is simply insanity that we are also getting food from them.

[Skittles]

35. they put MADE IN CHINA on cheap trinkets at Wal-Mart

I want to see the same g.d. label on FOOD so I can avoid it like the f***ing PLAGUE

[kath]

40. The food (incl produce and meat) industry has fought "country of origin" labeling tooth

and nail. And they continue to be successful at this fight - what a surprise!

[DemBones DemBones]

63. You and me both! Label this shit "Made in China" and also label GM foods.

Dems in Congress need to get on this.

[immoderate]

39. Because we export our wheat?

:shrug:

--IMM

[peacetalksforall]

41. Yes, can someone explain in plain English - why do we export

our wheat and import China's wheat?

[Elwood P Dowd]

47. M-O-N-E-Y

Huge profits in exporting quality and importing garbage.

[salin]

82. I read it is tied to a big drought last year (06)

which took a bit hit on domestic wheat crops

[Codeine]

85. It's NOT WHEAT!

It's wheat GLUTEN. It's a factory product.

[buff2]

34. Can anyone remember the last time you bought something

that wasn't MADE IN CHINA? I don't think I own a thing that says USA on it. It's disgusting as hell.

[Dervill Crow]

149. My organic socks. But I have no idea where the 26% that isn't cotton came from. n/t

[DemReadingDU]

36. founded in 1995

Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co, Ltd was founded in 1995, which located in Pei county, Xuzhou, Jiangsu province,

http://www.tradevv.com/tradeleads_1_1.aspx?id=44863

[Oilwellian]

37. I wrote an LTTE on this issue and it was published last Wednesday

Are Your Won Tons Safe?

In the latest news of the pet poisoning story, we learned the source of poison in the pet food comes from a wheat gluten bought in China. Wheat gluten is an essential product used in many of the foods we buy today.

That fact leads one to wonder if other food products haven't been tainted as well. Supposedly, there are laws that protect the American consumer from being poisoned by a foreign nation, however lately I haven't had much confidence in our government enforcing those laws.

Politicians say world trade is good for us....but perhaps, for our own survival, we should chuck aside their phony smiles and keenly question our food sources and demand higher scrutiny. Otherwise, we remain sitting ducks in this so-called world of "terror."



I highly recommend everyone write an LTTE on this subject.

[greyghost]

45. This is going to get...

real interesting, real fast!

CNN will be the first MSM outlet to pick up on it, then let the shit storm begin.

Bush Co's FDA is just as good as his FEMA.:nuke:

[cosmicaug]

46. Have we?

It is a good soluble protein, containing fifteen amino acid essential for human body.

The above is not synonymous with "we are selling this stuff for human consumption". It would not be extraordinary if they did sell it for human consumption, but you are "jumping the gun" by concluding that they have sold it for human consumption based on that wording. However, it certainly should be looked into unless there is some good, clear reason to suppose that this is not the case.

[whirlygigspin]

48. Made in China towels cause cancer

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/news/archives/taiwan/2007327/105612.htm

This week in Taiwan, the The Consumers'Foundation issued a warning on cheap towels made in China, some 70% were found to have toxins that could cause cancer.

Everyone I know is throwing away all their cheap towels this week.

no joke

[eleny]

129. I've found lots of American made Canon towels at the thrift shops

I've always thought they priced them a wee bit too high. But now they seem like a tremendous bargain.

Also, I was planning on donating some of our old towels. They're American made and have held up pretty well for decades except the edges are getting raggedy. I think I'll just sew up the edges with a decorative stitch to bring them back into shape.

Thanks for the information.

[drm604]

49. Why would they word it that way if the intent wasn't to sell it for human consumption?

It's pretty damned close to being synonymous with "we are selling this stuff for human consumption". If someone was selling something that stated "it contains taurine which is essential for feline health" wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that it was being sold for cats?

And nowhere have I stated that they've actually sold it for human consumption, it's possible that they had no buyers for that offer, but that seems pretty unlikely. It also seems unlikely that this was the first time they've offered it for human consumption.

I also haven't stated that that particular gluten was contaminated and that it is in our food. I simply raised it as a strong possibility. I am not "jumping the gun". On the other hand, I do think I may be avoiding foods labeled as containing wheat gluten for a while.

[Epiphany4z]

84. sometimes

it is what they are not saying...has anyone said it was not sold for human consumption yet?

[NewJeffCT]

104. Poisoning a competitor is not uncommon in China

While it could be a conspiracy to poison Americans, I would suspect it is more likely a competitor of the above-mentioned company sent an agent into one of their plants to poison their food supply.

Since I have relatives in China, I tend to follow China stories a lot more closely than most here on DU and have seen quite a few stories over the past 5-6 years where one restauranteur tried to put a competitor out of business by poisoning their food. It's not a big leap to think it goes on in other industries as well.

Here is one I remember:
>>>
NANJING, China -- Rat poison is the suspected cause of an outbreak of food poisoning in China, in which dozens of people are believed to have died.

"Initial investigations indicate there was rat poison in the food that was served to the victims," the China Daily quoted Zhou Qiang, a publicity official with the Jiangsu provincial government, as saying.

He said the poison could have been deliberately put into the food by someone, but public security authorities were still looking into the case that left hundreds of patrons of a small Nanjing store ill.

All of those affected fell sick on or shortly after Saturday morning.
...

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/09/15/china.poisoning/index.html

[Dover]

50. Is 'wheat gluten' the way it's listed on ingredients or are there other names for it?

And is this an old rather than a new problem, and the reason for so many people/pets having wheat allergies?

[PhilipShore]

52. Gluten free list

Gluten free product list...in other words,

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x556389

[drm604]

53. I think it's listed as wheat gluten.

It might just be listed as "gluten" but that could indicate some other kind of gluten such as corn. I'm not really sure so I'm not about to give advice. Do whatever you're comfortable with.

Personally, I'm not going to start throwing away food, at least not stuff that I can freeze or that will keep until this whole thing shakes out.

I am not a doctor, but I really doubt that this is an explanation for allergies. I think there were wheat allergies long before we started importing from China.

[Name removed]

51. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[drm604]

54. No, of course not.

I'm just really pissed about this. And I do not appreciate being call a drama queen. :eyes:
If you want to say something like "everyone calm down, it's probably not that bad" then fine. But the childish insults aren't appropriate.
And the fact remains that pets have died or been damaged so it's entirely possible that humans could have their health damaged by this IF (big if) we've eaten contaminated gluten. Which, at this point, does appear to be a possibility.

So sheesh yourself.

[BlooInBloo]

55. And I quote: "GODDAMNIT! HAVE WE ALL BEEN POISONED?"

... If that ain't drama queen, nuthin is - your appreciation of it is completely beside the point.

[drm604]

56. And your posts are completely beside the point.

And since you seem to be intent on insulting me and have essentially stated that my objections to those insults are irrelevant and since I don't want this thread hijacked into a silly argument I won't be responding to any more of your posts in this thread.

[libnnc]

57. Well, HAVE we been exposed to toxin?

How many people who have developed celiac disease over the past couple of years are really suffering from a negative reaction to this toxin? My mother who will be 67 this year, is just NOW having problems that present as Celiac disease. I'd like to know if this shit has been in our food supply. My mother would like to know too.

[drm604]

60. I know of no reason to believe

that this has been a problem for a number of years. Not to minimize the problem at all but this appears to be a new problem that's probably from one or a few bad batches of gluten.

There seem to be a number of people who want to use this as an explanaton for Celiac disease for some reason. According to this page

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/

Celiac disease is an intolerance of ALL gluten, which can come from wheat, rye, or barley, not just wheat. Also, the contamination is of a pure gluten product which has been extracted from wheat flour. Celiac sufferers are intolerant to anything that contains gluten, including whole flour. I know of no evidence of contamination of any kind of flour, only of the pure extract.

But I am not a doctor so if you really have concerns then you should speak with your physician.

[libnnc]

Thanks for that info

It just sets off so many alarm bells with me. I don't know what or who to believe anymore.

[MonkeyFunk]

59. I agree, Bloo

pure hysterical drama royalty.

[drm604]

61. I really don't appreciate or understand these personal attacks.

If you don't like this thread then go elsewhere. I sometimes use hyperbole to get attention to a thread that I think needs attention. Live with it.

[MonkeyFunk]

62. Whether you understand it or not,

there are about 10 links missing from your premise to your conclusion.

[femmedem]

76. Your thread's title was terrific.

You have 44 R's because people opened it and thought it was important. I posted the same info last night with a milder title and very few people found it. You done good. :yourock:

[drm604]

87. Thank you.

I wouldn't have minded if they had simply said that they felt I was over-reacting, but it was almost like they were trying to hijack the thread with an insult I would have expected from someone like Ann Coulter.

Whether or not contaminated gluten has gotten into our food supply remains to be seen. However, the FDA has not been exactly forthcoming and the Bush administration has shown a willingness to suppress the facts in order to protect profits. In that atmosphere we need to do our own investigations and make sure that the evidence gets out. And the evidence, unfortunately, shows that it's very possible that bad gluten has been sold for human consumption. Hopefully, Congress, journalists, and state and local authorities will now pursue that evidence and try to determine the facts.

[catgirl]

96. This happened to me too with a pet food thread

One person got overly aggressive. Then the gang pounced. Freeper tactic.
It's best to ignore (the rest of us know what's going on). Anyway, I wonder
where other gluten products (corn, etc.) are made. I'd advise evryone to find
a local organic farm for your veggie needs, shop at your co op (still check labels
on asian style packaged food and all soups), and either go vegetarian or buy
organic free range meat.

[drm604]

117. I like to tell them that they're comments are not welcome or useful

and then ignore them. If you stand up to bullies they'll usually go away because they see that their tactics won't work with you. If we all stand up to them every time they try this crap then eventually they'll see that they're wasting their time.

[eleny]

130. good for you

if nothing else, in this thread i learned that some cheap towels may not be safe. and i've made a decision on how to deal with that issue. you just never know what inforamtion is shared about a related topic.

:thumbsup:

[Maraya1969]

134. I'm glad you wrote it the way you did. It certainly got my attention and I'm glad.

I've known for a long time that I need to get back to buying foods at the health food store and I have just been putting it off.

One of the things to look for is how many ingredients there are in something. If there are 30 ingredients for donut that is not good. It's better to get donuts from the local bakery......the ones that will go stale in a day than the ones that are made to spend months on a grocery store shelf.


We're not all going to die this minute but I think this just is one more example of how toxic so many of our foods are these days. I really believe that the increase in autoimmune diseases is caused by eating a constant diet of "fillers" like corn, wheat, and dairy. Corn is in everything! Corn syrup, corn oil, corn starch, Corn meal.


Here is a true story. Years ago I went to a holistic doctor and was given a list of food that I was allergic to. I did not understand because I ate these things all the time. Later I found out that the foods that we eat all the time, the ones that we crave are very often the ones we are allergic to. And just like an Alcoholic is drawn to the substance that hurts him I was drawn to corn and dairy and on and on.....Nothing caused an immediate severe reaction because my immune system was so overloaded.

But stay off the stuff for a month and then take it and see what happens. I mistakenly ate something with cornstarch in it after about a month of being off all the things on my personal allergy list. Within hours I was compulsively eating that stuff, (like an alcoholic does with alcohol) The next day I had the worst headache I have ever had. I was wheezing very bad and I had symptoms of my panic disorder, (this unreality feeling). I was also sick at my stomach. It was horrible.

I learned real well how bad this stuff was for me AFTER I got all the allergens out of my system. I did not eat anything close to having anything resembling anything that might look like corn for 2 years.

Now I can eat it but I watch myself and do not eat too much so I will get sensitive to it again.

I think not enough is said about the problems with the way our food is produced in this country period. Bill Mahar knows the story and he has mentioned it several times on his show.

[rumpel]

64. HuffPo: says 2 grades of wheat gluten - feed grade and food grade!

Del Monte Foods has confirmed that the melamine-tainted wheat gluten used in several of its recalled pet food products was supplied as a "food grade" additive, raising the likelihood that contaminated wheat gluten might have entered the human food supply.

"Yes, it is food grade," Del Monte spokesperson Melissa Murphy-Brown wrote in reply to an e-mail query.

snip

Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine said the FDA is not aware of any contaminated gluten that went into human food but said he could not confirm this "with 100 percent certainty." Wheat gluten is a common food additive used as a thickener, dough conditioner, and meat substitute. It is widely used as an additive in commercial bakery items and special purpose flours.

The FDA announced today that it has traced the contaminated wheat gluten to a single processor, Xuzhou Anying Biological Technology of Peixian, China, but has not released the name of the U.S. distributor who supplied the product to Del Monte, Menu Foods, Nestle Purina, and Hills Nutritional. In all, more than 70 brands and over 60 million cans and pouches of dog and cat food are now part of this massive recall, as well as at least one brand of dry cat food.

Public statements have indicated that the contaminated gluten was distributed by a single U.S. company, but since the FDA refuses to name the supplier, it is not yet known if this company also supplies human food manufacturers. It is also not yet known if Xuzhou Anying sells direct to food manufacturers in the U.S. or abroad.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-goldstein/tainted-wheat-gluten-sold_b_44743.html

[drm604]

67. Looking at their website

it appears that they do export to Southeast Asia and Europe but I don't see any evidence that they export directly to the U.S. Of course, their product could get here indirectly and the FDA seems to be pretty sure that they are the source.

[rumpel]

70. I have read that the shipment goes over the Netherlands

without inspection and it gets shipped to the US from there.

I have to find where it was...

[rumpel]

72. found it! - FDA Import Alert

Appropriate screening criteria have been set for wheat gluten from China and the
Netherlands, as a country through which transshipping of Chinese wheat gluten may
occur. Sampling has been recommended. Recommendations for detention without
physical examination of firms with violative product should be forwarded to DIOP, HFC-
170.

http://www.fda.gov/ora/fiars/ora_import_ia9926.html

[drm604]

74. Okay.

The Netherlands is the most likely direct source then, since Xuzhou Anying appears to only export to Southeast Asia and Europe.

It appears that a company called Manildra may be the biggest U.S. importer of wheat gluten. So it's possible that they are the wholesaler. However, that's just wild speculation at this point. We would need a connection with the Netherlands.

[Wednesdays]

97. Dunno if this sheds any light on this, but...

The Netherlands is the most likely direct source then, since Xuzhou Anying appears to only export to Southeast Asia and Europe.

See my map on post #95, above, and note the colored dots on the U.S. part of the map. I can't say that definitely means they're selling to U.S. companies, but I wonder what else it would mean? :shrug:

[drm604]

136. Have you seen my responses to #95?

I've found some interesting stuff!

[Wednesdays]

153. I've been away all day

But indeed, you've made some mind-boggling discoveries.

[gulfcoastliberal]

65. The fact is, most of the land and water in China is severely polluted

I wouldn't eat anything grown there.

[Rainscents]

71. I am so glad, I'd been eating organic foods for past 16 years!

I had been telling people for past 16 years, our government is killing us slowly by allowing corporate whores to dump toxic and poisons in our foods and water. Of course, people think I'm nuts for saying this.

[drm604]

73. I wouldn't be too smug about it if I were you.

Organics can also be accidentally contaminated.

[mcg]

79. Much less likely though I would think. nt

[earth mom]

75. Gonna put my hat on.

:tinfoilhat:

Frankly, I'm not all that surprised. Pissed off to the max, but not surprised. :mad:

[michaz]

81. And we wonder why the need for medical care is so high in our country!

No wonder people are always so sick here. If the FDA did their job and we quit importing just maybe medical costs and the need for medical care would go down. Gee, I wonder if all those episodes are really the flu or are we just sick from what we eat?

[Megahurtz]

158. Hey! But they can't do that 'cause

it's more money for Big Pharma! :tinfoilhat: And I'm serious. That's what I believe.

[ellie]

89. If we don't ask

these questions, who will? The media?

[cassiepriam]

90. The US sells China substandard products and meds. Paybacks are hell.

We dump all of our goods and products that are not legal
in the US on third world countries.

Karma time.

[drm604]

92. I don't consider it karma if the payback is visited on innocents

who had nothing to do with selling stuff to China.

[cassiepriam]

99. The bad things done by BushCo hurts many many innocents.

The karma part is that all of us let it happen.
And looked the other way while evil deeds were done.

Now it is time to pay the piper.
All of us will be paying the price for generations to come.

[drm604]

106. Surely there are many innocents who did not have it within their

power to do anything, children for example.

I don't believe in karma as some real force, it's more of a metaphorical concept. But whatever you believe about it, I don't think the concept is usually thought to include some kind of collective guilt.

You seem to be saying that all U.S. citizens deserve punishment for the crimes of the Bush administration. I strongly disagree.

[cassiepriam]

140. There are many forms of karma: personal, family, group, collective.

To name a few, actually many more. I do all kinds of karmic
work and study.

And yes I certainly do believe that all Americans bear some responsibility for the murders, rapes, torturing of innocents in Iraq.
These crimes were done in our name and on our dime.

[drm604]

141. So then are all Muslims responsible for 9/11, or all Saudis?

Of course not, and not all Americans are responsible for the things Bush has done. Many have spoken out and fought him the whole way. But this really is a discussion for a different thread. It's not what this thread is about.

[cassiepriam]

142. I would like to answer your questions, but you have said this is not the place to do it.

But I would be interested in your sources of karmic information as
it differs greatly from the karmic literature with which I am familiar. If you would be so kind as to pm me with the relevant citations, I would be very appreciative. Thank you in advance.

[Penndems]

107. What I can't figure out is why the hell we're importing wheat from China

Don't we grow enough of it in this country? Why bring it in from Communist China?

If somebody from the ITC, the Department of Commerce, the USDA, the National Association of Wheat Growers or the Wheat Growers Association could explain this, I'd be extremely appreciative.

[magellan]

111. It's not wheat but wheat gluten

According to a post upthread, China has the factories to extract the gluten while we do not. And even if we did it would be cheaper to import it from China.

IMHO it comes down to "you get what you pay for". And where the "Free Market" is concerned, we're paying for crap. Of course, the Chinese factory workers and farmers are being taken advantage of too. The only ones who benefit from "free trade" are the corporations who pocket the profits.

[Penndems]

118. Would I be correct in my assumption that wheat gluten is a byproduct of wheat?

Couldn't the ITC, the FDA, Commerce and Agriculture issue a temporary embargo against the import of Chinese wheat and/or wheat gluten until this matter of contaminated pet (and human) foods is resolved? OTOH, how willing would the Bush Administration be in enforcing such an embargo? "Not very" would be my guess.

Wow, stupid me - I was under the impression that wheat used in food products was being grown right here in the good ole U.S. of A. All the years I've eaten a sandwich made with whole wheat bread, a slice of pizza with a whole wheat crust, or enjoyed pie, cake and anything else that contained elements of wheat gluten, the possibility existed that it was killing me. :scared:

[magellan]

122. Yes, and I think the FDA has done something along those lines

...but only with this batch. There are few Repugs OR Dems who are of a mind to turn off the unregulated "free trade" spigot.

The thing that frightens me most is that there's something dangerous in our pet food (and likely our food too) and NO ONE has a clear idea what it is yet. That, coupled with the Bush** cabal's love of deregulation and their history for not giving a flying rat's what happens to us as long as we keep shopping, is -- well -- a recipe for certain disaster.

I said the same to my hubby last night (he's from the UK) about our wheat products: never in my 45 years experience have I felt a great risk for serious illness or death from what we eat as I do now. If this isn't the big one as far as tainted food goes, something else will come along. The yahoos in charge are really setting us up to suffer.

[Penndems]

125. You know, when I was growing up in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, it never occurred to us that

our food was contaminated. Everything was grown and raised here in the U.S., usually by farmers who lived nearby. The wheat that was used in baked goods was planted and harvested in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, and every other grain-producing state. How times have changed!

If Congress proposed slapping an embargo - even a temporary embargo - on foodstuffs being imported from China, I'd support it one hundred fifty percent. This situation with the pet foods - and, as we've discovered, products for human consumption - scares the bejeezus out of me.

[magellan]

127. I'd back an embargo too

We're kidding ourselves if we think keeping the cost of food down by importing it cheaply is worth the price. The fractured fantasy of "free trade" has done virtually nothing to help the poor in other countries; in many cases it's made their lot worse. And all it's done here is throw people out of jobs and dramatically reduced the quality of the goods we buy, food or otherwise.

Like I've said (somewhere around here), the only ones who are truly benefiting from so-called "free trade" are the fat cat corporatists. It's human greed unleashed.

But I very much doubt anything will be done about it until people start dying en masse, and even then we'll get the assurances and lies for a while....

[raccoon]

109. Well, not only do we have to worry about mad cow disease, but this too. nt

[Miss Chybil]

116. I just found out I can't give blood because of mad cow.

I was in Germany from 1987 - 1989. Apparently, there was mad cow in the area. The Red Cross said they don't have any way to test for the spores, or filtering systems that will remove the spores from the blood, so they won't take mine. It seems the only way to have safe food is to grow it yourself, but I just don't have the ability to do that.

[magellan]

123. I can't either after living in the UK during the 90s

I won't be surprised to see a total US reenactment of the UK government's lies and assurances regarding Mad Cow Disease someday soon. It's already begun.

[Miss Chybil]

115. What's wrong with wheat gluten? The gluten in wheat is what makes flour

stretch when you knead it. It's what holds the dough together to allow the gas from yeast to make those nice little holes in bread. I don't get it. What am I missing?

[drm604]

137. Haven't you been following the news?

Contaminated wheat gluten in pet foods has been killing pets in the U.S. and Canada. And it now looks like the same company may have sold us wheat gluten for human consumption. Since it's from the same company there's concern that this wheat gluten may also be contaminated and may have gotten into our food supply. There's nothing wrong with wheat gluten per se, just this particular batch or batches.

[Miss Chybil]

139. Now I get it....

Apparently, I haven't been following it close enough. I thought the pet food thing was from rat poison and other pet foods have melanine in them. I didn't catch on to the contaminated gluten thing and the way some of the posts on this thread are written, it sounded to me like gluten itself was bad. Thanks for clearing that up.

[opihimoimoi]

120. Who the Hell is buying this stuff and using it without confiming its safety? Who signed off on it?

What is that persons name?

[PhilipShore]

126. Legislative Action Center

Take action now -- contact your elected officials at the Legislative Action Center.

http://capwiz.com/fconl/home/">Link

[Chico Man]

132. Where does McDonalds get their gluten from?

Plenty of it in all of their foods.

Have a look:

http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.nutrition.categories.ingredients.index.html

[crikkett]

144. I wonder if this is why I've had bad reactions to cup-of-soups.

I love those things too, but I stopped. Late last week I had a bad reaction - tremors in my hands and my face turned bright red and I itched.

It was nissin cup-of-soup, shrimp and lime flavored. My friend had me convincd that I was developing an allergy to shrimp

[drm604]

154. That sounds like an allergic reaction.

I'm not a doctor but your friend may be correct. If I were you I'd be careful with shrimp. I haven't heard about anyone else reacting to Cup-of-Soups. Do you know the date on it? Does it list gluten in the ingredients?

[emcguffie]

145. This if the first time I'm glad I found out I have celiac disease!

I was baking really excellent bread at home. And sometimes I used gluten. But always organic gluten. Although "Organic" means less and less here. :hippie:

[onecent]

146. K and R. n/t

[emcguffie]

147. This if the first time I'm glad I found out I have celiac disease!

Message:
I was baking really excellent bread at home. And sometimes I used gluten. But always organic gluten. Although "Organic" means less and less here. :hippie: No more.