Wheat Gluten in DenTees Safe, US Sourced
By far, the biggest story to hit veterinary medicine this century is the tainted dog food story where it appears imported wheat gluten from China has been contaminated with a nephrotoxic substance first thought to be aminopterin and now melamine. To be sure you have been deluged with information and requests for more from your clients. Not all wheat gluten is bad or tainted. We do use wheat gluten in our DenTees as the only “protein-like” substance in this limited antigen treat. The wheat gluten that we use has been provided by MGP who is it’s largest manufacturer in the United States. About 18 months ago, Menu Foods stopped buying wheat gluten from MGP and switched to a cheaper asian source leading to the current mishap. DermaPet has thoroughly checked so that we can assure you that there is no melamine or aminopterin which has been associated with the contaminated product made by Menu Foods. And, more importantly, there have been no reports of adverse effects. The problem is that not all wheat gluten is bad. Any celiac disease patient will tell you that wheat gluten is a component in a wide range of foods. Only a small portion of cheaply bought imported Chinese wheat gluten has been implicated. The following is from an article in Slate.com.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration blocked imports of wheat gluten from
a Chinese company on Monday. The agency identified the company as the source
of the tainted wheat gluten that caused a massive pet-food recall last week.
Given how much wheat is produced by American farmers, why do we need to import
wheat gluten?
Because it's cheaper than buying domestic gluten. We may be the world's largest
exporter of wheat, shipping a billion bushels to other countries in last year's
growing season. Yet we export relatively little wheat gluten. To extract the
gluten from wheat, you have to separate it from the starch, by repeatedly washing
and kneading wheat flour. But only four U.S. companies go through this process;
last year, they produced roughly 100 million pounds of wheat gluten, about 20
percent of the domestic demand.
Almost two-thirds of the more than 400 million pounds we imported came from
European Union countries. That's because the Europeans use wheat starch to make
sweeteners, which leaves them with a lot of extra gluten. The United States,
on the other hand, relies on corn for sweeteners—thus the
high-fructose corn syrup in our sodas. Add in Europe's wheat subsidies, and
E.U. nations can sell their wheat gluten for a low price. U.S. wheat gluten-makers
say E.U. prices are sometimes below American production costs.
In addition to E.U. countries, Australia accounted for more than 18 percent
of imported gluten in 2006 and China 14 percent, according to the USDA's Foreign
Agricultural Service. Industry insiders say Chinese imports more than doubled
since 2005, based on U.S. Census Bureau figures.
Our enormous appetite for wheat gluten exacerbates the wheat-gluten trade deficit.
We're the world's biggest consumer of wheat gluten today; American manufacturers
use it to produce baked goods. Having the right protein content in dough ensures
that it will remain intact as it rises. Without the elasticity afforded by the
gluten, bread would collapse, yielding a dense, heavy loaf. Wheat gluten also
gives vegetarian "fake meat," like DIY seitan, and pet food a meatlike
texture and binds together processed foods like chicken nuggets, turkey burgers,
and imitation crabmeat. Gluten even makes its way into shampoo and biodegradable
sporks.
Bonus Explainer: We may be the biggest wheat exporter around, but we're also
an importer. The U.S. bought $304 million worth of wheat from Canada last year,
and smaller amounts from Mexico, Hungary, and a few other nations.
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