CARRBORO - Anybody with doubts about globalization had affirmation of the most unsettling sort with the reported poisoning of thousands of pets and the pet food recall. Banfield, The Pet Hospital, estimates that 39,000 pets in the United States have been poisoned and that scores have died. The estimate is based on data from its hundreds of hospitals. The official death toll is 16. Cats and small dogs have fared the worst. The contaminated food is marketed under 100 brand names.

Let's start with the apparent poison itself -- wheat gluten from China, contaminated with a chemical associated with the manufacture of plastic. The Chinese government initially denied any responsibility by its wheat industry, then backtracked and said it would investigate. After it concludes its investigation, it will be interesting to see what China actually does.

On the one hand, it has shown little inclination to curtail its booming business in electronic piracy; on the other, if it perceives it is losing market share, any culpable parties might be executed.

The idea of trusting the Chinese government to regulate the quality of the food on the shelves of my neighborhood grocery store does not fill me with confidence. The Associated Press reports that Chinese agricultural practices are abominable; pesticides, chemicals, dyes and antibiotics are used excessively, and industrial pollution is rampant, contaminating soil and water. Europe and Japan have banned Chinese shrimp, honey and other agricultural products.

The poisonous wheat gluten was brokered by a company in Las Vegas and distributed to pet food factories in Canada and Kansas, where it was used in the manufacture of 100 brands of pet food. They include Science Diet and many high-end brands, all the way to the house brand for Food Lion.

SO IS THERE ANY DIFFERENCE AT ALL between Hill Nutrition, at $1.60 a can, and the three-for-a-dollar canned dog food at Rose's? Is there any difference among the 100 brands? They appear to be made in the same factories with some of the same ingredients.

The Canadian canning company -- Menu Foods -- has been criticized for being aware of the problem and dragging its feet in pulling the poison off the shelves. Its CFO unloaded stock before the recall. Aggrieved pet owners have begun to file suit, and efforts are afoot to obtain class-action status. The CEO has promised to compensate pet owners.

And what about the U.S. government's efforts to protect our food? Food and Drug Administration inspectors have uncovered scores of contaminated food products from China at our ports, according to The Associated Press, whose list includes pesticide-laden pea pods, drug-laced catfish, filthy plums and crawfish contaminated with salmonella. But inspectors are few, and only a tiny fraction of imported food is inspected.

And once the tainted food passes through ports and enters the food distribution network, watch out. Witness other food-chain poisonings, particularly California spinach contaminated with feces (E. coli). It had been distributed across the country before anyone detected a problem, and that was only after people started getting sick. Same with Taco Bell lettuce, lysteria-contaminated hot dogs, and the peanut butter recall of last autumn.

Don't expect the feds to do anything more than they already do to protect us from poisonous foods emanating from overseas. Expect them to be about as helpful as they were in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

The pets that lost their health or their lives were canaries in a coal mine. The next time we humans could be the ones gobbling up the poison.

(Julian Sereno is editor and publisher of Chatham County Line, www.chathamcountyline.org, a community newspaper covering Chatham County.)

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