3 firms charged in tainted pet food case
A Las Vegas importer and two Chinese companies are indicted after thousands of dogs and cats died or became sick last year.
A Las Vegas food import company, two Chinese businesses and the companies' owners were indicted today by a federal grand jury for their parts in a tainted pet food scandal last year that sickened or killed thousands of dogs and cats, the Justice Department said.
The announcement by U.S. Atty. John F. Wood in Kansas City, Mo., marks the first time a domestic company has faced criminal charges in connection with its role in adding melamine -- a chemical found in plastics that can cause kidney failure in animals -- to shipments of wheat gluten, a common binding agent used in pet foods. It was the first of a wave of product scares that alarmed the American public about the quality of goods from China.
Melamine can artificially inflate the protein content of food additives, thereby allowing exporters to use inferior and cheaper ingredients, the indictment said.
"In today's global economy, crimes that occur halfway around the world can seriously impact our lives," Wood said. "Millions of pet owners remember the anxiety of last year's pet food recall. These indictments are the product of an investigation that began in the wake of that recall."
ChemNutra Inc., which buys and imports Chinese food and ingredients for distribution across the United States, along with married owners Sally Qing Miller, 41, and Stephen S. Miller, 55, were charged in a 27-count indictment with evading mandatory inspections of the ingredients in China, delivering adulterated food, misbranding food, and conspiracy to defraud the companies that unknowingly bought the tainted ingredient. All but the conspiracy count are misdemeanors. ChemNutra had no immediate comment.
In a separate case, the grand jury returned a 26-count indictment against two Chinese companies and their owners, accusing them of felony intent to defraud and mislead, delivering adulterated foods, and falsely labeling wheat gluten to avoid export inspection.
Those charges name Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co., a Chinese processor of plant proteins that exports products to the United States; Chinese owner Mao Linzhun, age unknown; Suzhou Textiles, Silk, Light Industrial Products, Arts and Crafts I/E Co., a Chinese export broker; and its president, Chen Zhen Hao, 58, a Chinese national.
abigail.goldman@latimes.com
