I’m “petlover” - no spaces

and now there is “pet lover” - with a space

Reading the posts from 04/21, I didn’t think I ever posted about Nutro… I just got home today!

http://www.rallycongress.com/protectourpets/772/

Thank you!

Yikes, Empress. Thank you very much for reposting the link (and thanks to Mike for posting the first time.) I was thinking about buying Merrick, but there’s absolutely no way I can support their “lifestyle choice.” :) I would have been very upset if I’d found the website on the bag after I’d given them a chunk of my money. I’ll let my other friends know about it, too. Much appreciated!!

Summary
=======

I made these inquiries of Nutro Products:

1) What is the country of origin for all ingredients in Nutro Natural Choice Lamb Meal and Rice Dry Dog Food ?

2) Why was the line “Nutro’s dry pet foods do NOT contain imported grains” removed from the existing March 30, 2007 Press

Release? This was done after the press release had been published on the NutroProducts.com web site.

I have not received any response to question #1.

The only response to question #2 was:

You have asked why we changed from one message to another. It was because we felt the first message was confusing our

consumers and what they wanted to be told was that our products were safe and that is what we changed our message to.

Opinions
========

Nutro Products has ignored my request for the country of origin of the pet food ingredients. In these times of increasing pet

food recalls I feel it is important to understand the supply chain for all ingredients. In this way I can make an informed

decision regarding the food I feed my pet.

Nutro Products has made only a feeble response to my question regarding the modified press release. This leaves me wondering

what to believe when I read their press releases. Each and every time I feed my pet I must have confidence in the product and

what the company presents as consumer information.

Nutro Products contact information
==================================

Web address: http://www.nutroproducts.com All press releases and other information are contained the Recall information section.
Customer service: (800)833-5330
Customer Service supervisor: Ms. Vicki Akau, VAkau@NutroProducts.com
Customer service supervisor: Ms. Tamara Cerven, TCerven@NutroProducts.com

===================================
The following is a listing of conversations and communications with Nutro Products regarding their pet foods. The emails have

been edited for clarity and to remove the duplicate information inherent in forwarded or reply-to emails.
===================================

March 29, 2007
==============
I called Nutro Products customer service to inquire about the country of origin of the ingredients in Nutro Natural Choice

Lamb Meal and Rice. I spoke with Vickie Akau (VAkau@NutroProducts.com), a customer service supervisor, who indicated I would

receive a response via email in a few days.

March 31, 2007
==============

I received the following response from Ms. Akau:

Dear Nutro Consumer,

Thank you for contacting Nutro Products. We appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns with us.

Below is the information you have requested. This information and more is available on our website at http://www.nutroproducts.com

which we will continue to update as further information becomes available to us.

If we can be of further assistance, please email this address or call us at (800)833-5330,

Best regards,
Vickie Akau
Nutro Products, inc.

Nutro Dry Pet Foods Do Not Contain
The Ingredient Wheat Gluten The FDA and Menu Foods Tie Wheat Gluten to the Menu Foods Recall City of Industry, Calif. (March

30, 2007)– As the Food and Drug Administration today reiterated that it has no intention at this time of expanding the Menu

Foods recall to include dry food, Nutro Products wants consumers to know:

Nutro’s dry pet foods do NOT contain wheat gluten.
Nutro’s dry pet foods do NOT contain imported grains.
Nutro’s dry pet foods are NOT produced by Menu Foods.
NONE of Nutro’s dry pet foods are subject to the Menu Foods recall.
Pet owners should feel safe and confident feeding Nutro dry pet foods to their pets.
“Even prior to this extremely disturbing incident at Menu Foods, our dry dog and cat foods were not produced using wheat

gluten,” said Dave Kravis President and CEO of Nutro Products. “We know that there is confusion among consumers about what

foods are safe to feed their pets right now. We can categorically say that Nutro’s dry pet foods do not contain the

ingredient wheat gluten or any imported grains, they are unaffected by the Menu Foods recall, and it is absolutely safe to

continue feeding these products to your pets.”

According to Kim Noetzel, vice president of marketing and community relations for the Arizona Humane Society: “We are

reassuring pet owners that based on the information we have, dry food products, including those from Nutro, are safe to

continue feeding. We are in contact with Nutro and have complete confidence in their products and in the information and

resources they have been providing us. We will absolutely continue working with them throughout this situation.”

Nutro’s products are 100% guaranteed and all returned product will be refunded.

Nutro customers may check Nutro’s website (www.nutroproducts.com ) or contact Nutro’s Consumer Hotline (800)

833-5330 for further information about its products. Nutro’s website will be updated as more information becomes available.

Additionally, general information about Menu Foods’ recall is available at http://www.menufoods.com/recall/

April 3, 2007
=============

I called Ms. Akau to again inquire about the country of origin of the pet food ingredients and to inquire why the line
“Nutro’s dry pet foods do NOT contain imported grains” had been removed from the March 30, 2007 press release. I also sent

the following email as a follow-up:

Dear Ms. Akau,

Thank you for listening this morning to my concerns regarding Nutro Natural Choice Lamb Meal & Rice ingredients. My questions

are:

1) What is the country of origin for all ingredients in Nutro Natural Choice Lamb Meal and Rice Dry Dog Food ?

2) Why was the line “Nutro’s dry pet foods do NOT contain imported grains” removed from the existing March 30, 2007 Press

Release? This was done after the press release had been published on the NutroProducts.com web site. Your email of March 31,

2007 is proof of the original content of this press release.

I will include the current text of the changed March 30, 2007 press release for your reference after this message.

I understand these are very difficult times for both concerned pet owners and companies alike.The content, country of origin,

and the quality control of the food ingredients are very important to me. I appreciate your time and effort in answering my

questions.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

This is the March 30, 2007 Press Release copied from the NutroProducts.com Web site on April 2, 2007 17:25 MST

Nutro Dry Pet Foods Do Not Contain
The Ingredient Wheat Gluten
The FDA and Menu Foods Tie Wheat Gluten to the Menu Foods Recall

City of Industry, Calif. (March 30, 2007)– As the Food and Drug Administration today reiterated that it has no intention at

this time of expanding the Menu Foods recall to include dry food, Nutro Products wants consumers to know:
Nutro’s dry pet foods do NOT contain wheat gluten.
Nutro’s dry pet foods are NOT produced by Menu Foods.
NONE of Nutro’s dry pet foods are subject to the Menu Foods recall.
Pet owners should feel safe and confident feeding Nutro dry pet foods to their pets.

“Even prior to this extremely disturbing incident at Menu Foods, our dry dog and cat foods were not produced using wheat

gluten,” said Dave Kravis President and CEO of Nutro Products. “We know that there is confusion among consumers about what

foods are safe to feed their pets right now. We can categorically say that Nutro’s dry pet foods do not contain the

ingredient wheat gluten, they are unaffected by the Menu Foods recall, and it is absolutely safe to continue feeding these

products to your pets.”

According to Kim Noetzel, vice president of marketing and community relations for the Arizona Humane Society: “We are

reassuring pet owners that based on the information we have, dry food products, including those from Nutro, are safe to

continue feeding. We are in contact with Nutro and have complete confidence in their products and in the information and

resources they have been providing us. We will absolutely continue working with them throughout this situation.”

Nutro’s products are 100% guaranteed and all returned product will be refunded.

Nutro customers may check Nutro’s website (www.nutroproducts.com) or contact Nutro’s Consumer Hotline (800) 833-5330 for

further information about its products. Nutro’s website will be updated as more information becomes available. Additionally,

general information about Menu Foods’ recall is available at http://www.menufoods.com/recall/

April 11, 2007
==============
I spoke with Vickie Akau and was informed that her supervisor, Tamara Cerven (TCerven@nutroproducts.com) would now be

handling my inquiries. This is the email that I sent to Ms. Cerven on April 11, 2007 as a follow-up:

Dear Ms. Cerven,

I have just spoken with Vickie Akau and was informed that you are now responsible for this case. I remain very concerned

about the two issues presented below in the first email I sent Ms. Akau.

The ingredient list for Nutro Natural Choice Lamb Meal and Rice dry food is listed on the product and the web site. However

this does not detail the country of origin for the ingredients. This origin information must exist at some level within your

corporate structure. Would you please forward this information as soon as possible?

The second issue is the modification of a Nutro Products official press release after it had already been posted. In my

opinion this represents a blatant manipulation of consumer information and could be unethical as well. A public statement

regarding the removal of the line “Nutro’s dry pet foods do NOT contain imported grains” would provide all pet owners buying

Nutro products with the accurate information required to make responsible decisions for their pets. Nutro Products has always

exhibited the nutritional content and quality in your foods that promote confidence that caring pet owners require.

A new press release regarding the March 30, 2007 release, and it’s current modified content, would demonstrate the corporate

stature required to admit the facts, explain the reasons, and then move forward.

Thank you for your time and effort is resolving these issues. I would appreciate a response to both issues as soon as

possible.

April 13, 2007
==============

I received the following response from Ms. Akau regarding the modified press release:

You have asked why we changed from one message to another. It was because we felt the first message was confusing our

consumers and what they wanted to be told was that our products were safe and that is what we changed our message to.

Best regards,
Vickie Akau
Consumer Services Supervisor
Nutro Products, inc.

April 21, 2007
==============

There have been no further response from Nutro Products to my inquiries and the Press Relreases section contains the modified

March 30, 2007 release.

http://home.ivillage.com/pets/.....-p,00.html

by: Dr. Martin Goldstein earned his B.S. and D.V.M. from Cornell University.

I am sorry Mike’s original post was deleted as it had some information I cant find links to yet..

Here are my views on/experience with Merrick, maybe it helps you a bit.

Due to a mild wheat allergy I have fed my dog Innova Evo dry since shortly after adopting him, and he has done beautifully on that. (Not every dog or cat takes to it, but he loves it). I also was feeding him 2-4 tablespoons of wet Merrick with each meal in addition, for variety’s sake. I also know quite a few dog owners locally (NYC) who feed Merrick dry and wet, and none of them have reported any symptoms during this recall period. However, they have had several recalls in the past, and I have recently read reports of some dogs developing diarrhea on their food in past years.

When this whole nightmare began I pulled my boy off all wet food, period and replaced that portion of his diet with homecooked recipes, leaving him also on the Innova Evo.

During my research on the brands I was using, I came across a huge topic on the Dogster forums about a website called marriagetoday.org that was printed on the Merrick dry food bags. I went to the website and found it repulsive, so I decided if I do go back to any canned food (which is looking dubious considering all we have learned here) it will no longer be Merrick. I completely respect people who aren’t offended by this, and choose to continue using Merrick, but personally I like to spend money with companies that are more tolerant of alternative lifestyles and especially women’s rights.

Here is the link to the forum if you are interested

http://tinyurl.com/2ynl7m

In addition, Mike had some good information about the Merrick rendering practices, which perhaps he could repost. I couldnt find the info online.

I hope this helps a little bit in these difficult decisions, and love and prayers for all who are missing their furkids tonight.

It wasn’t my intent to have it come across that way, so I deleted my blog post. Unfortunately, that meant the comments with that post were deleted, too.

Well, maybe I’m missing something, but I’m with slt - I can no longer locate that article or thread, either. Sounds like maybe things go too heated?

I would like to have heard what folks had to say.

The way I understand “recalls” is:

I believe a Voluntary Recall is the FDA allowing the manufacturer the opportunity to come forward (do the right thing & save-face) & recall their product(s).

A Mandatory Recall is a direct order from the FDA.

I think the public & merchants think that a Voluntary Recall is something that is optional (taken lightly)— and that’s why products have been left on the shelf — plus, the shear, confusing volume.

At least that’s the way I understand it.

I agree that this deadly event should have been MANDATORY. The FDA should have said “GET YOUR POISONOUS FOOD OFF THE SHELVES IMMEDIATELY!” PENALTIES & FINES WITHIN 24 HRS OF NON-COMPLIANCE!

But, they continue to dilly-dally around — even this week! They have known the 5 pet food manufacturers names, for the rice gluten contaminationa, for at least 6 days now and are waiting for 2 or the 5 to come forward. UNBELIEVEABLE! AIN’T RIGHT! PLEASE STEP-DOWN FROM YOUR POST DIRECTOR!

Here is a link to the FDA’s Policy & Procedures for RECALLS:

http://tinyurl.com/2umu3l

(b) Recall may be undertaken voluntarily and at any time by manufacturers and distributors, or at the request of the Food and Drug Administration. A request by the Food and Drug Administration that a firm recall a product is reserved for urgent situations and is to be directed to the firm that has primary responsibility for the manufacture and marketing of the product that is to be recalled.

WELL, WHAT IS THIS?? URGENT — ISN’T IT???

ah…enuff venting!