Developments behind the Pet-Food Curtain in China by Tom Lonsdale
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This past week my wife and I have been attending The First South China
Small Animal Veterinary Conference in Guangzhou, China.

At the entrance to the conference centre we were greeted by the Mars
Corporation’s Royal Canin Veterinary Diet logo and which was blazoned
throughout on hoardings, posters and stationery. Inside the trade hall
the Royal Canin stand dominated the refreshment area -- on the TV screen
a video pushing the Royal Canin, Dachshund diet! Moving on we noticed the
Hill’s logos framing the podium in Conference Room A. Royal Canin logos
dominated rooms B and C. A veterinary student from the local university
handed out promotional material for the Pet Food Institute (PFI). Their
logo proclaims ‘PFI Promotes Products of the USA’. In fluorescent colours
with cartoon animals gathered around bowls of junk food the PFI tells how
the whole shebang is endorsed by AAFCO and the USFDA.

Yes, this is a detailed, planned invasion by American companies in
concert with the American Government into the minds and pockets of
unsuspecting Chinese vets and their clients. The mass poisoning of
Chinese pets gets underway.

In the interests of research we decided to look in on two lecture
sessions. Previously I’d encountered Kurt Verkest as an especially
arrogant combatant on the Veterinary Mis-Information Network
(http://www.vin.com). And back in 2004 he attacked Raw Meaty Bones
concepts in an ill-conceived article published in Australia. As it turned
out he’d been in receipt of research funds from Nestlé Purina and worked
with the notorious Linda Fleeman in a junk-food funded department at the
University of Queensland researching insulin requirements in obese dogs.

These days Verkest resides in Hong Kong and ‘specialises’ in cancer
treatment. He told his audience ‘lymphoma is one of the most common
serious malignancies that we see in dogs’. Diagnosis and treatment were
Verkest’s focus. Treatment, of course, involves toxic chemotherapy that
costs a fortune. No mention that in all probability the rise in malignant
cancer is connected to junk food diets. No mention that in a developing
country vets need to keep things simple and get the basics right. Their
focus needs to be prevention, prevention, prevention -- left, right and
centre.

Next we endured a nauseating session listening to Hong Kong vet Dr Carla
Chow recite junk pet-food/veterinary propaganda about obese cats. Carla
Chow has a vet degree from Edinburgh in Scotland and further
qualifications gained from Australia. Impressionable Chinese vets could
be expected to soak up her recommendations.

Feline obesity, she said, is very common in domestic felines. There’s an
increased risk of diabetes mellitus, glucose intolerance, skin problems,
joint disease, hepatic lipidosis, exercise/heat intolerance and Feline
Lower Urinary Tract Disease. High calorie palatable ad-libitum diets lead
to over eating, remarked Dr Chow.

So far so good, you say. But when Carla Chow showed a slide of the Nestlé
Purina Body Condition System for assessing obesity you know that she’s on
the wrong track. Instead of advising Chinese vets to chuck out the junk
food (and be sure to pay attention to any dental disease) and get the
animals back on a natural diet, Chow’s recommendations were to:

 
  • Reduce dry food, increase canned food ration.
  • Or try high protein, low carbohydrate diets e.g. Hill’s.

Similarly when Dr Chow spoke about the problems associated with urine and
faeces elimination she simply didn’t get that the cats’ body systems are
severely stressed when forced to eat junk food. Faecal volumes increase
three fold, are often liquid and give off an appalling stink. No wonder
bloated cats experience problems with their urine and faeces. The one
obvious, essential piece of advice –- feed a natural diet -- was withheld
from her audience.

I grieve for the cats of Hong Kong and Southern China confined to
apartment blocks, their bowels straining under the impact of fermenting
grain, bladders inflamed and the best solution on offer is a visit to
Carla Chow.

Next year The Second South China Small Animal Veterinary Conference is to
be held in Shenzen. Will the organizers take urgent action to reverse the
damage done by Drs Verkest, Chow and their ilk? Or will they continue to
compound the errors –- help Royal Canin, Hill’s and Nestlé Purina to
tighten their grip on the Chinese veterinary mind?

Watch this space.


Source; The Raw Meaty Bones Newsletter is published by:
Tom Lonsdale
Rivetco P/L
PO Box 6096
Windsor Delivery Centre
NSW 2756
Australia
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