Local woman creates melamine home test kit

[Celebration]

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20081117/NEWS/811171007/1002?Title=Local_woman_creates_melamine_home_test_kit

Healthy pet food is what got Joy Drawdy into business as co-owner of Gainesville's Earth Pets Natural Pet Market. Now, toxic pet food has her on the verge of marketing a kit she created to test for melamine, the chemical blamed for the deaths of thousands of animals in the U.S. last year, as well as the ongoing poisoning of children in China and elsewhere.

Drawdy said she has spent about a year creating the kit and wants to market it as an inexpensive test that people can use at home to determine if melamine is in pet food, baby formula and other products.

"Pet owners should have a way to test their food at home. People coming into Earth Pets kept saying something like this was needed. I started trying to find one, but none existed," Drawdy said. "In the past year, using my knowledge of pet food manufacturing and contaminant testing, I developed one. I have it patented and it's done. I just need to get it marketed."

................

Many human food products made in China or with ingredients from China have been found to contain melamine. Recalled products include Ritz crackers, Cadbury chocolate, M&Ms, Snickers and tea.

[samplegirl]

1. I have my cat on Natural food and he has never

had a throwing up experience since I changed him to the Natural.
Before he would throw up 3 or more times a week.

[glinda]

3. what do you mean by Natural?

Is that a brand or do you make your own? I make my own wet dog food. Do you have a cat food recipe? All of my pets ate poisoned food. I just spent a week putting together the paperwork and sent it in for my cat who had $7000 worth of medical. He ended up getting changed to a girl because he started to have crystals. Kidney levels were though the roof. Each time he went in the hospital they sent him home to eat poisoned food. He was in a revolving door of hospitals and poisonings. Each time he almost died. What do you do for dry food?

[soothsayer]

2. outstanding! hope she makes a fortune and saves lives and drives change

[kestrel91316]

4. Ms. Drawdy is gonna get herself arrested. FDA won't like this AT ALL.

[DBoon]

5. She created a test kit without having a permit?

Send in the SWAT team!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4603496

[Phred42]

6. the FDA cares about testing pet food?

[kestrel91316]

7. FDA cares about things like test kits? Gotta have their approval.

[Celebration]

8. this reminds me of that cattle farm

That wanted to test all their cattle for mad cow, and the federal government would not allow them to test their own cattle. It might hurt trade!! I can't believe the feds won in a court case too.

Control, control, control.......

It might hurt trade if all of us had an easy way to test for small amounts of melamine.

But how much control does the FDA have over animal food? Is that under their umbrella?

[Phred42]

9. Here - check out the audios in the middle column

http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow.cfm#Glossary

[TDIZero]

10. Joy Drawdy

Funny but possibly true! Honestly, I DO worry about government or corporate interests that might not be too happy with my invention.
I have an awesome legal team but still, ya never know.
~Joy

[Celebration]

11. Hi Joy!!

Welcome to DU and DU's Health Forum.

Can your test kit detect the tiny levels allowed by the FDA now in baby formula? (at this point I forget the levels).

Do you know how much your test kit will cost?

Honestly, industry should welcome your invention, because they could be able to affordably test the quality of the raw materials that they order.

[TDIZero]

12. Hi

Thanks for the welcome! I've had conflicting input from various industry people about the detection levels. It can perform either way but personally, I think it should be sold as a presence test - meaning, any amount will be detected, not just an agreed upon "low level". Since the current accepted safe levels vary in different countries and for various foodstuffs (with some countries adopting zero-tolerance policies), I just think it would be more meaningful to have a presence test.

We're in the official validation process right now but the final product will depend somewhat on the decisions I make about licensing/marketing. Throughout the invention process, my goal has been to keep it simple enough that manufacturing will be straightforward - keeping the final product as affordable as possible. I predict the tests will be just a few dollars each and be sold in kits the consumer can then refill without much further expense.

During the now infamous Pet Food Recalls of 2007, I was frustrated with the amount of time and expense pet owners had to afford just to figure out whether it was safe to give their pets dinner. I know many whose pets died from eating tainted food and too many who found out later the food had been suspect for days/weeks before the official recall announcement was made. For people like that, I just wanted to provide a sort of "first defense" tool. Ya know?

[Celebration]

13. I know, I think it is great!! n/t

[Orrex]

14. self-delete

Nah. Too pointlessly snarky.