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Limited resources Its been nearly a week since Canadian pet food manufacturer Menu Foods Inc. recalled some 60 million cans and pouches of wet food linked to the deaths of at least 15 cats and one dog, yet authorities still cant explain exactly what went wrong. Some critics and animal lovers are honing in on what they see as lax regulation of the $15 billion pet food industry in the United States. Theres almost a void there, says Bob Vetere, president of the American Pet Product Manufacturers Association. There is no real pet food department of any federal agency. Technically, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is responsible for ensuring that pet foods, like human foods, are safe to eat, truthfully labeled and produced under sanitary conditions. But on Tuesday, FDA officials admitted that the regulation of pet food takes a back seat to its regulatory obligations of other food and drug sectors, and that inspections of pet food processing plants are done only on a for cause basis. There are limited resources, said David Elder, director of the Office of Surveillance and Compliance in the FDAs Center for Veterinary Medicine in Rockville, Md. Elder added that inspections of companion animals food products are based on risk , which means that the processing plant in Emporia, Kans., where the tainted food was manufactured, had never been inspected by government officials until after consumers started complaining about pets dying of kidney failure. The Emporia plant remains open and continues to produce new food, according to a Menu Foods spokesperson, who adds that safety tests are being done around the clock. | 
