To date, testing for contaminants in jerky pet treats has not revealed a cause for the illnesses. Since 2011, in concert with Vet-LIRN, we have collected approximately 360 jerky treat samples relating to more than 165 consumer-related complaints, plus more than 240 retail samples (unopened bags obtained from a store or shipment), and performed more than 1000 tests on these samples. We also ran more than 240 tests on historical samples (
those received in 2007-2011).
While we do not subject every sample to the entire battery of testing, due to limited resources and in some cases a lack of enough material to test, we target our testing based on the product and the symptoms displayed by the pet. Testing may include one or more of the following analyses:
- Salmonella
- Metals or Elements (such as arsenic, cadmium and lead, etc.)
- Markers of irradiation level (such as acyclobutanones).
- Pesticides
- Antibiotics (including both approved and unapproved sulfanomides and tetracyclines)
- Antivirals (amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir and others)
- Mold and mycotoxins (toxins from mold)
- Rodenticides
- Nephrotoxins (such as aristolochic acid, maleic acid, paraquat, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, toxic hydrocarbons, melamine, and related triazines)
- Other chemicals and poisonous compounds (such as endotoxins).
http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/.../ucm371465.htm