More Pet Food Recalled

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Sundlof also said the FDA still has no idea how many pets have died or become sick from the recalled food, beyond the 16 confirmed deaths so far.

"We know that there are a lot more animals that have been affected by this -- made ill and died -- but trying to put an estimate to it at this time is just not something we can do," Sundlof said.

To date, the FDA has received more than 12,000 calls to its consumer complaint line -- a record number, Sundlof said. However, he said he did not know how many of those calls were related to the pet food scare.

And the agency is still investigating the cause of the illnesses and deaths, he said.

The nationwide recall was based on the finding that melamine wound up in the pet food and in the wheat gluten imported from China that was used in the food. But, Sundlof said, while melamine is not typically used as a ingredient in food, it is not thought to be toxic.

"Melamine is a relatively nontoxic substance," Sundlof said. "We don't know how it relates to the conditions that we are seeing. We are relatively certain that there is a connection here someplace, whether it's melamine or some other contaminate that is traveling along with the melamine. All of the cases of disease and deaths in animals seem to be tracking only to the product which we know contains melamine."

Last week the FDA stopped wheat gluten imports from the Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. The company has said it is investigating the claims of contamination, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.

In addition, a group of pet owners has filed a federal class action lawsuit against Menu Foods. On Wednesday, pet owners and their attorneys said they are seeking an injunction to prevent the destruction of tainted food, because it is considered evidence in the class-action lawsuit, according to a press release.

Meanwhile, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., announced Thursday that the Senate will hold hearings to examine the pet-food recall, Bloomberg news reported.

Durban said he wanted to know why Menu Foods waited at least 22 days after it first suspected potential problems to recall its foods.