Wal-Mart pulls made-in-China dog treats for testing

Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. pulledfrom store shelves pet foodfrom China that is suspected of sickening animals.But it did not issue a larger recall of the product, a company spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The company stopped selling Chicken Jerky Strips from Import-Pingyang Pet Product and Chicken Jerky from Shanghai Bestro Trading on July 26 after customers complained about the products.

"When we took it off shelves at the end of July, we pulled it based on the customer feedback so we could do testing prior to announcing anything publicly," said company spokeswoman Deisha Galberth.

"That's why did not make a public announcement — it was still going through the testing process."

Galberth was unable to say if the treats were distributed nationally. She said tests on the products were still being conducted. A spokesman for Wal-Mart Canada says thepet foodwas not sold in Canada.

More than 100 brands of pet food recalled inMarch

The Wal-Mart announcement follows a massive pet food recall of more than 100 brands in March across North America traced back to tainted wheat gluten imported from China. Tests showed the wheat gluten was contaminated with melamine — a chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers.

In recent months, Chinese imports have come under global scrutiny for product safety violations. In July, Health Canada said testing had shown the presence of diethylene glycol — a chemical used to make antifreeze — in 24 brands of Chinese toothpaste imported into the country.

In the latest warning, the New Zealand government ordered an investigation Monday after scientists conducting tests for TV3's Target consumer watchdog program discovered formaldehyde concentrations up to 900 times above the safe level in woollen and cotton clothes.

The chemical is sometimes used in clothing manufacture to give clothes a permanent-press effect, but is also used as an embalming fluid and can cause problems ranging from skin rashes to cancer.