The pet food scandal is now a human food scandal

This is no longer a tale about Fido and Frisky. It's about all of us.

The latest products affected by the pet food recall are eight varieties of Royal Canin dog food and one production run of Blue Buffalo kitten food, both of which used rice protein concentrate from the same supplier used by Natural Balance. (Visit the web sites for specific information.) Royal Canin and Blue Buffalo are highly regarded firms, not known for cutting corners. So far, the recall is precautionary; no animal illnesses have been traced to these products.

An Artemis spokesperson has assured me that the rice in their food comes from American sources -- which is to say, their suppliers have told the company that all the rice they ship was grown in North America. Artemis, as I've mentioned a couple of times, is the brand I feed my own ravenous beastie, and she is doing well.

In South Africa, many brands (the cheaper ones, I imagine) were affected by corn gluten tainted with melamine, imported from China. Someone should tell the South Africans that the U.S. has plenty of corn for sale.

If you don't own a pet, don't think that you can escape this sorry business. After all, pigs gotta eat too:

Hogs fed pet food rejected as unsuitable for sale ended up eating a product laced with an industrial chemical, federal authorities said yesterday, expanding a food safety investigation that had been primarily focused on cats and dogs.

It remains unclear, however, whether products made from the hogs will be considered safe for human consumption.

Most of us don't like to think about the crap we feed our livestock. Yet now we must.

Investigators suspect that the melamine was placed in the products intentionally.

The current theory is that Chinese suppliers intentionally added melamine to ingredients that were low in protein to ensure they would test high enough to allow them to be labeled as protein supplements and command the prices of wheat gluten, rice-protein concentrate, or corn gluten.

China refuses to allow American inspectors into the country. Congress has responded with the kind of bellicosity normally associated with Ned Flanders and Wally Cox:

Members of Congress, pointing to $2.1 billion in agricultural products American companies imported last year from Chinese suppliers, are pressuring the Chinese government to cooperate with the FDA.

"We strongly urge the Chinese government to quickly issue visas to US inspectors," wrote Rosa L. DeLauro, Democrat of Connecticut, and Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois. "Clearly, this is an important trading relationship."

Think about it.

Ten years ago, Congress would have provided action, not whining or pleading. Congress would have temporarily banned food imports from China, and officials in that country would have quickly acceded to our reasonable requests for access.

But now...China is Sean Hannity, and we play the role of alan colmes. China has become the Drill Instructor and the U.S. is the pimply young recruit sputtering "Sir, yes Sir." Congress can, in short, do very little -- for reasons having nothing to do with party or political ideology.

China prints money to service our debt. Our economy survives or dies at their caprice. They call the shots.