The FDA said yesterday that consumers have reported 8,500 pet deaths as a result of eating contaminated pet food. Of those, only 20 have been confirmed. However, that number should increase as officials work through a call backlog.

On Wednesday, Menu Foods added 3 million more cans and pouches to its recall list.

So… they arrested the manager at the plant responsible for adulterating the wheat gluten… but what about everyone else down the line? At each point, wasn’t there someone to check and see, hey, these protein levels are off? With 8,500 pets possibly dead and more to come, the wheat gluten tragedy sounds like horrible case of “for want of a nail.”

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For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

— BEN POPKEN

[rhymes.org]

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