FDA quarantines hogs fed tainted pet food; unsure about human food supply

Salvaged pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical was sent to hog farms in as many as six states, federal health officials said Tuesday. It was not immediately clear if any hogs that ate the tainted feed then entered the food supply for humans.

Hogs at a farm in California ate the contaminated products, according to the Food Safety and Inspection Service. Officials were trying to determine whether hogs in New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Ohio also may have eaten the tainted food, the FSIS said. Hogs at some of the farms - it wasn't immediately clear which - have been quarantined.

Hey, if you can't make a buck selling your tainted pet food to American pet owners, all is not lost! Thanks to the crackerjack enforcement of America's stringent food laws by the FDA, you can instead introduce your contaminated pet food into the human food chain at a profit!

And what the hell is "salvaged" food? Do our food animals Dumpster dive for feed in this country? That explains all of the cattle that hang out behind my local Blimpies.

"All of that meat is under control at the facility," [a Food Safety and Inspection Service grunt] said. "It is important to keep in mind this is a small number of farms that may have received this feed."

No. It's not important to keep in mind that, while this was a terrible fuck up, this was a containable fuck up. It's important to keep in mind that next week's goddamned ham sandwich may contain pig parts from a hog fed food that killed my goddamned cat!

"At this point, I don't have a definitive answer other than to say that the issue is being addressed," Stephen Sundlof, the FDA's chief veterinarian, told reporters when asked if any of the hogs had entered the human food supply. A poultry farm also may be involved, he added.

Well, I feel better now.

Not.