FDA testing reveals chemical in pet food - Yahoo! News

FDA testing reveals chemical in pet food
By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 38 minutes ago


WASHINGTON - Recalled pet foods contained a chemical used to make plastics, but government tests failed to confirm the presence of rat poison, federal officials said Friday.

New York officials have detected melamine as well, though it's not clear how that chemical would have poisoned pets. It's typically used to produce plastic kitchen wares, though it's apparently used as a fertilizer in Asia, said Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine.

New York remained confident in its aminopterin finding, said Patrick Hooker, commissioner of the New York state Department of Agriculture and Markets. Hooker added that neither aminopterin nor melamine should be in pet food, but that it was unclear why the latter substance would be poisonous to the cats in which it was found.

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