Firm: Only pet food makers got bad gluten
WASHINGTON -- The Nevada firm that imported tainted wheat gluten that triggered a massive, nationwide recall of pet food said it shipped the product only to pet food manufacturers.
ChemNutra Inc. of Las Vegas sent recall notices to four customers that purchased the product from it directly, but asked other companies that received the wheat gluten indirectly to contact the company.
Yesterday's statement came one day after Food and Drug Administration officials told reporters the suspect wheat gluten wound up at facilities that process human and animal food. The agency could not say for sure that contaminated gluten had not entered the food supply for people.
Stephen Miller, chief executive of ChemNutra, declined to identify which companies ChemNutra supplied.
About 100 brands of dog and cat food have been recalled. The FDA has confirmed about 15 pet deaths; anecdotal reports suggest hundreds of cats and dogs may have died.
Tests performed by regulators revealed the wheat gluten was contaminated by melamine, an industrial chemical. L ast week, the FDA blocked wheat gluten shipped by Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. in China, ChemNutra's supplier.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. Henderson can be reached at dhenderson@globe.com. 