Congratulations To Cornell Scientists On Pet Food Breakthrough

Geneva- State Senator Michael Nozzolio today applauded scientists at the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University for their key role in discovering traces of a rat poison in cat food samples. The scientists at Cornell worked with employees at the New York State Food Laboratory to identify the toxin. The discovery could end the poisoning of pets that has been killing animals across the country for the past few weeks.

“Once again, Cornell has shown that is at the forefront of food science research for the entire nation,” said Senator Nozzolio. “Today’s announcement is another shining example of the strong partnership between researchers at Cornell University and the employees of the State Food Laboratory, a partnership that would be strengthened with the relocation of the food laboratory to the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park in Geneva.”

“The Central Finger Lakes is the center of food science research in New York State, if not the country, and locating the food lab there makes sense for New York’s taxpayers,” continued Nozzolio.

Over the past few weeks, the NYS Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell has been testing pet food samples to determine the cause of kidney failure in dogs and cats that consumed certain brands of pet food. At Cornell’s request, the State food laboratory tested the samples for poisons and toxins, identifying the poison as Aminopterin. Aminopterin can cause cancer and birth defects in humans and can cause kidney damage in dogs and cats.

####