Tainted Pet Food Supplier Accused Of Causing 2007 Recall To Plead Guilty

June 4, 2009 10:37 a.m. EST

Kansas, MO (AHN) - A couple who owns a company indicted for supplying melamine-tainted pet food in 2007 has agreed to plead guilty to 26 charges and one felony conspiracy count. Ingredients from ChemNutra had caused thousands of cats and dogs to fall ill or die and manufacturers to subsequently order a pet food recall.

Sally Qing Miller and Stephen Miller, respectively the controlling owner and president, and owner and chief executive officer of ChemNutra, were indicted last year on 13 misdemeanor charges of delivering adulterated food into interstate commerce, another 13 misdemeanors for introducing misbranded food into interstate commerce, and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

They were scheduled to begin trial next Monday but have agreed to enter a plea agreement, which will be made formal during a June 16 hearing.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the western district of Missouri, the Millers had knowingly shipped 800 metric tons of wheat gluten from China that had been falsely labeled by their Chinese export broker, Suzhou Textiles, Silk, Light Industrial Products, Arts and Crafts.

The wheat gluten, which was tainted with melamine, was exported in at least 13 shipments between Nov. 6, 2006 and Feb. 21, 2007. It entered the United States through the port of Kansas City, and was sold to pet food manufacturers.

The Food and Drug Administration first found out about the problem with pet food on March 15, 2007, when a manufacturer, Menu Foods, reported that cats and dogs that had eaten its "cuts and gravy" style products were getting sick and dying.

The FDA subsequently received more than 14,000 consumer complaints within the month, more than double the number of yearly complaints normally received by the agency for all of the products in its jurisdiction.

An investigation found melamine to be reason why pets were suffering kidney failure, and manufacturers recalled more than 150 brands of dog and cat food nationwide. The FDA estimates that 1,950 cats and 2,200 dogs had died from the contaminated food.

Melamine is an industrial chemical that was added to pet foods to boost protein levels. It was the same chemical at the center of China's tainted milk scandal, which killed six Chinese inants and caused 290,000 other babies to fall ill last year.