Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Menu Foods: Dennis Kucinich is gonna solve that thing

Yes, let's have a congressional hearing on the Menu Foods recall so elected representatives can go on record with their very brave opposition to the poisoning of family pets. That won't waste anyone's time. Also, I think a bipartisan committee is in order, so that an anxious nation can get answers -- in three to five years.

The fact is Menu Foods and all the brands involved, including ones owned by Nestle and Procter & Gamble, invite this scrutiny. The recall was announced on a Friday. It took another week to determine it was rat poison. No one at the manufacturer or the brands seems to be acting with any urgency and, in that vacuum, veterinarians are stepping forward with their own death counts.

What's interesting to me is that no one's talking product tampering. No Tylenol killer. No food supply conspiracy theories. Everyone seems certain it was accidental contamination from a Chinese wheat gluten supplier. And in that case: China? The country that maintains a vibrant trade in dog fur and controls rabies by clubbing family pets to death in the streets? Is it really smart for a pet food brand to have business dealings there?

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