Don’t Stop Checking
Chicago Dyke at Corrente caught an item on Yahoo news about the Menu Foods CFO making a stock sale after the company knew there was a problem, but before a recall was issued.
While looking for more information I found a CBC report that the tainted wheat gluten had made its way to Canada and the recall had to be expanded to include food from a Canadian plant.
The stock issue was dealt with in passing:
Meanwhile, Menu Foods’ chief financial officer on Tuesday told the Globe and Mail that it was a “horrible coincidence” that he sold 4,000 units in the company almost three weeks before the extensive recall was issued.
Mark Wiens said that while the company began fielding pet illness reports in February, he didn’t learn of the problem until March.
So in Canada, a potential for huge financial liabilities because of a product defect doesn’t result in the financial people in the company being notified immediately. [Yeah, right.]
Because this is now a problem for multiple companies a good place to find information is the FDA recall page which links to information from Menu Foods, Del Monte, Hills, Nestlé Purina, and Sunshine Mills products.
I read on a site during my search that the melamine may have been added to increase the protein level in the gluten when it was tested and priced. The site is a bit strange and “tin foil,” but amines are proteins, so there is some logic and science in the guess.
3 comments
“I read on a site during my search that the melamine may have been added to increase the protein level in the gluten when it was tested and priced.” – Bryan
Hmph. If that’s true, I’ll eat my plate. Um, I mean, uh, …
This is shaping up more and more like a crime rather than an accident. I hope the investigations continue, rather than just fading with each news cycle.
This may turn out to be multiple crimes in multiple countries. We have the laws and regulations, we just someone to enforce them.
[…] Back on April 11th I wrote: I read on a site during my search that the melamine may have been added to increase the protein level in the gluten when it was tested and priced. The site is a bit strange and “tin foil,” but amines are proteins, so there is some logic and science in the guess. […]