Learning Chinese: Dog's dinner: Sale of tainted pet food is a rising danger on the Internet

Learning Chinese: Dog's dinner: Sale of tainted pet food is a rising danger on the Internet

Globaltimes.cn | February 16, 2012 17:17
By Globaltimes.cn

Learning Chinese: Dog's dinner: Sale of tainted pet food is a rising danger on the Internet

Another month, another food scandal, only this time the consumers of the tainted fare are not humans, but in fact human's best friends - dogs. Many pet owners purchase food for their furry pooch on Taobao, China's largest online retailer. However, it has emerged that certain types of dog food on sale on Taobao are fake and can cause disease or even death. Today Lifestyle will take you closer to the problem.

Statistics from the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau showed that in 2011 there were approximately one million licensed dogs and one million unlicensed dogs in Beijing alone, which proves dog food is a huge market. And dog food on Taobao is taking a big slice of that share. For people like Yang Di, a 23-year-old girl working in a media company, who owns a Japanese Spitz and a Border Collie, providing them with the most nutritious meal is crucial. "The pet dietitian told me dog food has to be balanced and provide enough protein and fat," said Yang. Yang, who spends approximately 200 yuan ($32) on dog food every month, prefers to buy stuff on Taobao since it is cheaper. Prices start from seven yuan per kilo and are usually 20 percent less than in a supermarket.

Lower cost, higher risk

Nevertheless, the appealingly low prices can conceal an uncertainty of product quality. Among all the dog food on sale on Taobao, a considerable number are fake goods, which contain either no production details such as license, company name and address, or fake details. Wang Tianfei, a pet dietitian, described these fake products as a "great threat" to pets. "Generally these products use low quality materials. In order to save costs, starch is usually used instead of meat, which makes the product lack protein and fat and cannot provide enough nutrients to maintain a pet's life," said Wang.

In order to make their products smell normal, fake product manufacturers often add lots of flavors, which actually make the fake products more fatal. Some pets have died because of poisoning from artificial flavors.

It is not just fake products which are the problem, but also what have been labeled "parallel imports." Parallel imports are real products imported without the approval or supervision of manufacturers or the State Food & Drug Administration (SFDA). Mary Peng, veterinarian and co-founder of the International Center for Veterinary Services, pointed out that consuming these foods is as dangerous as buying fake products, and puts pets' lives at risk. "Parallel imports have no quality control or supervision from the distribution channels," said Peng. "This means some pet food may be stored improperly and contaminated, even though the packaging may appear to be fine." She added that serious illness, expensive vet bills and even the death of a pet could be caused by the lack of safety regulations.

Peng cited the 2009 Optima dog food case. "Xinhua News Agency reported that at least 20 dogs died from liver complications after eating Optima. The dog food was not legally registered in China, and it was believed that these parallel imports had been contaminated by aflatoxin, a naturally occurring toxin produced by fungus as a result of inadequate storing measures," said Peng.

Dog food detective

In the event of getting a fake product or a contaminated import, it is hard to receive compensation. Sometimes the government and manufacturers may recall products, but items purchased from illegal distributors will not be on the list. Peng believes purchasing legally registered items at reputable retailers will secure good quality. "It is necessary to ensure the retailer purchased the food from manufacturers legally. Don't buy pet food from street vendors or unregulated animal markets," said Peng. "And never purchase loose pet food sold in bulk," she added.

For those who still want to get cheaper deals on the Internet or at markets, the skill of identifying real dog food from fake is very important. Pet dietician An Ni suggests the smell can be the crucial factor when discriminating the food quality. "It is necessary to add some flavors to stimulate a dog's appetite, but you should not feed food to the dog if the food smells 'too delicious.' Good dog food should have a natural smell of meat," said An. "If the food has an acidic smell don't use it as that is the smell of bad fat."

Other pet dietician Wang Tianfei thinks that the best approach is to look inside the food. "Break a piece of food into two and study what is inside. If the food contains too much starch the bubbles of fat will be swollen, and the more starch it has, the less nutritious it will be," said Wang.

Chinese you need:

Dog：狗 (gǒu)

Pet：宠物 (chǒng wù)

Dog food：狗粮 (gǒu liáng)

Fake：假的 (jiǎ de)

Product quality：产品质量 (chǎn pǐn zhì liàng)