The owners of a Nevada company accused of distributing pet food nationwide tainted with melamine, killing and injuring thousands of cats and dogs, have been given probation in a resolution to their criminal cases.
According to a statement from Beth Phillips, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri, Sally Qing Miller, 43, a Chinese national, and her husband, Stephen S. Miller, 57, both of Las Vegas, were sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Maughmer to three years probation.
The court also issued fines of $5,000 to each and $25,000 to their company, Chemnutra Inc..
The federal prosecutor said no significant restitution was sought in the case because of a $24 million settlement of a related civil case in New Jersey on which WND reported.
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Authorities said the ultimate toll from the melamine contamination included the recall of more than 150 brands of dog and cat food prompted by consumer reports of pets suffering kidney failure. The case was just one of a long list in recent years stemming from contaminated products from China.
There is no coordinated tracking system for pet deaths, but consumer information provided to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration indicated an estimated 1,950 cats and 2,200 dogs died from the contaminated food.
"We are committed to protecting the health and safety of the public," Phillips said in a statement when the sentences were imposed Feb. 5. "We will vigorously prosecute those who violate the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and other federal statutes designed to protect the public from this kind of criminal conduct."
Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, principal deputy commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration commended the U.S. attorney's office.
"The FDA will support strong enforcement of the law to protect the health and safety of our pets," he said.
Federal prosecutors said Chemnutra bought food and food components from China, imported them into the U.S., then resold them. The Millers owned the company. Each of the defendants pleaded guilty to one count of selling adulterated food and one count of selling misbranded food.
Chemnutra brought to the U.S. more than 800 metric tons of tainted wheat gluten containing melamine in more than a dozen shipments with invoices totaling nearly $850,000 from Nov. 6, 2006, to Feb. 21, 2007.
Federal prosecutors said by pleading guilty, the defendants admitted melamine was substituted for the protein requirement of the wheat gluten to make it appear to be of better quality.
Evidence in the case explained that wheat gluten is a natural protein derived from wheat or wheat flour. It's used by pet food makers as a binding agent in the manufacture of certain types of pet food to thicken pet food "gravy."
While melamine has commercial and industrial uses, there are no circumstances under which it is approved for human or animal food in the U.S. It's largely used for counter tops, glue and inks.
WND has reported multiple times on contaminated products from China heading to the U.S., including when millions of pounds of mandarin oranges were destroyed on suspicions they were infested with fruit fly maggots.
China also was left reeling after melamine was discovered in milk, which already has been blamed for the deaths of several infants. Melamine also has been discovered in eggs because of its insertion into the food chain.
Earlier problems included frozen catfish from China found to have been laced with banned antibiotics, and scallops and sardines coated with bacteria.
Chinese toothpaste also has been found by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to have contained a deadly chemical used in antifreeze.
Chinese imports have been blamed for risking America's human food supply and reintroducing lead poisoning to its children.
WND also previously confirmed when Food and Drug Administration inspectors were reporting large numbers of Chinese products founded with carcinogens, bacteria or banned drugs.
Among the products turned away from U.S. borders at that time were:
- salted bean curd cubes in brine with chili and sesame oil
- dried apple
- dried peach
- dried pear
- dried round bean curd
- dried mushroom
- olives
- frozen bay scallops
- frozen Pacific cod
- sardines
- frozen seafood mix
- fermented bean curd
- frozen eel
- ginseng
- frozen red raspberry crumble
- mushrooms
In the age of globalization, food imports in America are big business and getting bigger. In 2006, they represented $64 billion – a 33 percent increase over 2003.