Heads up pet treat consumers: Dr. Michael Fox in a recent post warns of a poisoning danger with oxygen absorber packets often found in bags of pet treats to keep them fresh. They contain oxygen absorbing iron that can cause iron poisoning should your pet accidentally ingests the material in the package.

Iron involves another risk not mentioned by Dr. Fox: Radioactive imported scrap metal. Concerns that scrap metal from China and India contaminated with heavy metals and radioactive material continue to plague consumer safety advocates worldwide. The US Environmental Protection Agency warns the problem is probably a lot bigger that they realize, admitting the “possibility that more highly contaminated materials could be exported to the United States.”

The silica gel packets, Dr. Fox believes on the other hand, are rarely a concern. Personally, I would advise caution as the silica packets are typically imported from China and who knows what’s really in them. As with everything and anything from China it’s anything goes. On an almost daily basis we are confronted with another appalling example of food fraud in China, causing us to wonder what crazy-creative chemical or substance they will use to contaminate who-knows-what next.