Report: UC Davis finds melamine in food not on recall list
By Christie Keith
May 22, 2007
Via Ben at itchmo.com, this report from KSEE 24 News in California’s Central Valley:
Dog owners are being warned about a batch of possibly contaminated food, sold at a Visalia Costco around mid-April, after at least four dogs fell ill.
Two of the dogs who became sick, a nine-year-old chocolate lab named Bob and his 1 1/2-year-old adopted sister, Pearl, have been staying at the Lone Oak Pet Clinic in Visalia, since May 11, after they began throwing up.
“We took them in… and her kidney was 80 percent shutdown,” said owner Ken Womack.
The dogs are being fed through intravenous tubes and are regaining their strength, but their struggle doesn’t seem to be isolated.
Two other dogs apparently came in earlier with the same symptoms.
Veterinarian Dr. Matt Humason says “We began asking questions…we found the dogs all ate the same food from the same store at the same time… so we sent a sample to get it tested and it came back positive with melamine.”
All four dogs ate Nutra Nuggets brand food.
A sample was sent to a lab at UC Davis and Womack’s fears were confirmed. “All I’m trying to get people to do is notify the people and let them know we may have problem. Unfortunately I feel Costco has been very hesitant to do that.”
More on this story here.
Here’s an ironic update: The Boston Globe just published an article about an hour ago about how the pet food industry can regain consumer trust:
Pet food makers whose products have been pulled from store shelves face one of their toughest challenges ever: regaining customers’ trust.
The nation’s largest pet food recall began simply, in mid-March , with a single manufacturer’s products. Since then, it has ricocheted across the nation, with at least 154 brands being pulled.
The endless rolling recalls — usually announced after business hours on a Friday night so as to draw as little attention as possible — along with endless corporate legalese and doublespeak, have been what have eroded “consumer trust” the most.
If the recall had been condensed in time, even if it was as big as it is today, it would probably be behind us now. Instead, it has dragged on and on.
If the companies would stop hiding behind vague and meaningless language like “all our ingredients are sourced in the U.S” and “our products are not involved in the recall,” then we could all know where we stand and make our decisions accordingly. If they would all test their products, pull the contaminated ones immediately and very publicly and then tell us what they’re changing, they would buy themselves a great deal of credit, even a measure of confidence.
Instead, every pet food company, every single one, is paying the price for the actions of some of their peers:
As a result, pet food sales have slumped. For example, semi moist cat food sales plummeted by 31.2 percent in the four weeks ended March 25 , compared with the month prior, according to Information Resources Inc., whose sales figures do not include Wal-Mart Stores.
While congressional critics of the Food and Drug Administration call for the formation of a single agency with responsibility for food safety and a letter circulates on Capitol Hill to support a $200 million food-safety budget increase for the FDA, the task of mending customer relationships falls to each company.
Read the article here.
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*walks out on the same limb as Christie*
methinks the other limb is broken. :(
Comment by straybaby — May 22, 2007 @ 12:27 am
having another OMG! moment before bed . . .
and a lil’ WTF?!
“They’re working with the distributor to track down the specific batch number. A Costco representative tells KSEE 24 news once it’s been tracked, they will immediately yank the product in question.”
why not just yank the product in the region until they know it’s safe???!!!!
time to walk the pup . . . and exhale.
Comment by straybaby — May 22, 2007 @ 12:35 am
China wants to be able to export their chickens to us.
If we allow their chickens, they will allow our beef. US beef producers do want the Chinese market. I have read if that happens, the price of beef will go up, do to supplies becoming tight. Never mind our welfare, get the money is the mantra.
Here is a website that I have checked almost daily for about 18 months. http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/i.....p;lang=eng
I have listed a report below. The point is that over 18 months I have read many reports just like the one below. If our country allows chicken from China or any country with consistent outbreaks, then I believe it would be wise to not eat chicken unless you know exactly where it is from.
Date 5-19-2007
Bird flu has killed 11,172 poultry in central China, the country’s first reported outbreak of the H5N1 virus in three months. The poultry in Shijiping, a village in Hunan province, died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu. Another 52,874 were slaughtered, said the report, which did not give any other details or say when the outbreak occurred. The last reported cases occurred in March, when the disease struck a poultry market in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. Some 680 chickens died and another 6,990 birds were culled.)
————————————————————————————————————————
Now I have nagging questions after reading here from someone else’s link about chicken sent from the US to China for processing (what a joke that is).
Is anybody keeping track of how much chicken from the US is going to China for processing, and how much is returning?
Also, How do we know that the chickens we send over are the same chickens from the USA that we get back and not Chinese chickens.
Has anybody found out what it is that China does with the chickens that can’t be done here?
I am about ready to swear off chicken.
Comment by DeeAnn — May 22, 2007 @ 12:55 am
Hi Everyone,
New product release I need some advise on please..
Thanks for the warm welcome with my first post a few days ago. I am living in Australia and I work at a vet clinic. A new product has just been released here by Hill’s and I want to know if anyone there has seen or heard of it. They are called ‘Savory Chunks & Sauce’ in 3oz. pouches, in 4 varieties including ‘real tuna’, ‘real beef’ and ‘real chicken dinners’. I am concerned as the expiry dates on my sample pouches I was given range from February to March 2008. And guess what all have in the ingredient list…Wheat Gluten!! Needless to say I haven’t let anyone at the clinic give out the free samples. I just don’t trust the company to give me a straight answer but I will be asking them tomorrow.
Thanks for everything
Comment by Laura — May 22, 2007 @ 1:41 am
Regarding my above comment.. Looks like I might have over-reacted. In very small writing at the bottom of the pouch it says ‘Made in Australia’. I didn’t realise any of Hill’s food was made in Oz, so I was expecting the worst. I will still be asking but not as worried now. Sorry if I caused undue panic.
Thanks. Laura
Comment by Laura — May 22, 2007 @ 2:24 am
Laura,
I would still contact Hill’s in Oz and ask them where their ingredients come from…..especially the wheat gluten. Hill’s has factories all over the world but I’m still leary of them because they may still all get their ingredients from the same place.
Comment by Tammy — May 22, 2007 @ 2:36 am
straybaby, i don’t think pulling it in the region is good enough by a long shot. the entire product line should be pulled everywhere until it can be established just how widespread the contamination is. i for one am heartily sick of this piecemeal approach to recalls, as though it’s ok to watch pets die and track the contamination that way.
this is probably going to generate another wave of cross-contamination recalls, too. hang on folks, cuz here we go again. every time this happens i get angrier… i’m going to reach critical mass pretty soon.
Comment by pat — May 22, 2007 @ 3:11 am
I still don’t ‘get’ how cross-contamination can be *SUCH* an issue, assuming (ad nauseum) that humans “have to eat 800#” of contaminated product to get sick…. so, riddle me this Batman, are pets really *so* different that the minute amount that would be in a product via cross-contamination is gonna make them deathly ill? And, taking that a step further… gee, what about truth in labeling then? If I buy a product that I believe doesn’t have wheat (according to the label), but it really *does* (due to cross-contamination), this is OK??? I have a *real* problem with that. That’s not ok for human foods, and it *shouldn’t* be ok for pet foods either.
How about some accountability?!
(But heaven forbid we should feed a homecooked diet to our pets…we might kill them!)
Comment by hildiesmom — May 22, 2007 @ 4:35 am
What ever happened to the products sent for testing as referenced on the VIN website?
No results? What? When?
Under Q:Which foods are affected…
“Additionally, VIN is currently conducting analyses of pet foods not on the recall list that have been identified in the VIN Recall Survey as potential sources. Results of this analysis are not yet available.”
Comment by Ann H — May 22, 2007 @ 4:36 am
Chicken’s traveling the world? What were/are we thinking? Our chickens, slaughtered here, then shipped to China for processing, then shipped back here? What kind of processing do they do to the slaughtered chickens in China? Does that mean they are just killed here, shipped to China and then say packaged over there into packages of wings, breasts, you name it and plastic wrapped and then shipped back to our local supermarkets? Or does processed in China mean something else? This is happening now? It just sounds totally nuts to me. Any supermarket execs that are reading this: You should say no to this because when I find out I am not buying it and I will tell everyone that will listen to me where the chicken comes from.
Comment by Shawn — May 22, 2007 @ 4:39 am
From the Boston Globe article: “Newman’s Own Organics also wanted to find out the origin of the ingredients used in its entire pet food line. It took weeks to research the answer for a single product, its adult dog food.”
And that is the crux of the reason why petfood companies will have a hard time regaining trust.
If the story were just about Chinese fraud, then we could forgive the pet food companies as victims. But the story is also about lack of control and accountability in the pet food industry.
If a company that certifies its product to be organic has to spend weeks to find out where the ingredients come from, then how do they know the ingredients are organic? Other companies have also been revealed as having essentially no control over their product other than the label that goes on the can.
The reason they’ll have problems regaining our trust is because we’ve learned that our trust was misplaced to begin with.
Without verifiable accountability, there is no reason to trust them.
Comment by Mike — May 22, 2007 @ 5:02 am
Why didn’t Costco catch this themselves? Shouldn’t they (and every other pet food company) have started testing their foods for melamine weeks - if not months - ago? Now they are waiting for a batch number? Maybe they’d like to wait for a solar eclipse to fall on a Friday the 13th in a month containing no “A” during a leap year…
Comment by slt — May 22, 2007 @ 5:31 am
So pets are STILL being fed poison, there is poison STILL on the store shelves, pet food companies are STILL ignoring the hand that pays them and the welfare of the pets they STILL claim to care so much about.
Private testing is being done because the pet food food companies cannot be trusted and the FDA cannot be trusted and all this talk of regaining trust is…simply inappropriate.
You can’t get to trust from here.
The road to here is paved in dead or dying pets, months of torment, insults, lies, spin, crippling expense and betrayal at every turn.
If the pet food companies think that paving the path with yet more deaths is going to get them anywhere they want to go, then they are sadly mistaken.
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 22, 2007 @ 5:38 am
Purina Friskies Shredded in Sauce made my cat sick; it hasn’t been recalled either. I’ve been telling everyone I can. It would be nice if the FDA and/or Nestle-Purina would check into this.
I did write Purina weeks ago.
Comment by Peggy (AKA: Big Fat Momma Cat) — May 22, 2007 @ 5:45 am
Comment by slt — May 22, 2007 @ 5:31 am
“Shouldn’t they (and every other pet food company) have started testing their foods for melamine weeks - if not months - ago”
YES! The FDA sent a letter around to all pet and human food maker that it is their responsibility to ensure safe ingredients. The link to the letter has been posted here at PC several times.
Comment by Peggy (AKA: Big Fat Momma Cat) — May 22, 2007 @ 5:48 am
RE: slt
I agree. ALL companies should have conducted independent testing of all of their products, without waiting for the FDA to come in to test.
Companies are trying to sqeeze out the last few cents with products still on shelves until it becomes too apparent through pet illnesses, deaths, and private testing by owners with results reported to the media, that their product is contaminated. Absolutely unconscionable.
I’m sure there are more companies out there with tainted food. Inaction on companies’ parts and WAITING till they hear of pets dropping will NEVER regain consumer confidence, only generate more anger and distrust.
Comment by petlover — May 22, 2007 @ 5:51 am
The Savory Chunks and Sauce I myself would not trust by Hills, even if made is Australia. The ingredients might come from somewhere else and only processed in Australia—and the dates when the products were actually made are pre-melamine awareness.
Just my opinion—but a lot of the Nutro pouches were about the same date, and were recalled (after sickening my cats).
Comment by Evelyn — May 22, 2007 @ 5:57 am
Here is the beginning of the letter the FDA sent around: http://www.fda.gov/cvm/Feedmanufacturers.htm
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking this opportunity to remind feed and feed ingredient manufacturers of their legal responsibility to ensure that every ingredient used in their products is safe for its intended use, whether the product is meant to be used to feed animals intended for human consumption or non-food animals such as pets.”
Comment by Peggy (AKA: Big Fat Momma Cat) — May 22, 2007 @ 5:59 am
RE: CHICKENS
About the U.S.-raised chickens going to China for processing and then being sold back in the U.S….
This greatly disturbs me, especially with the Avian Flu epidemic there. I know that China’s number one agricultural goal is to break into the cooked chicken market in the U.S.
Can someone please tell me what the country of origin labeling (COOL) sticker will say if the chickens are raised here, processed (slaughtered or cooked?) in China, and returned to the U.S. for sale? Which big poultry company is doing this? I remember reading this article several days ago.
Also, does anyone remember the post about a Chinese company selling chicken dog treats and even stating in its ad that they acquire the chicken from vet’s offices and approved slaughter houses and cook the birds at ?? degrees to kill any possible trace of Avian Flu? This is just another avenue for China to dispose of its diseased chickens. We certainly don’t want the Avian Flu here.
People, I don’t mean to sound like gloom and doom, but the situation grows worse by the day, and it seems as if our government only cares about big business, not the citizens. The apt phrase “Katrina on our plates” certainly is true here.
Go local and go organic. If the U.S. enters into the chicken deal in addition to all the contaminated foods we get from China, we might as well start saving for our dialysis machines and lengthy hospital stays because the health insurance industry will collapse under all the claims.
Comment by petlover — May 22, 2007 @ 6:09 am
I remember reading some time back that this is already done with fish (US fish processed in China and returned to US for consumption) and they are COOL’d as USA.
Comment by slt — May 22, 2007 @ 6:22 am
SLT: I remember reading some time back that this is already done with fish (US fish processed in China and returned to US for consumption) and they are COOL’d as USA.
Comment by slt — May 22, 2007 @ 6:22 am
********************
I didn’t know this about the fish. Thanks, slt. This IS frightening! Consumers will never know if their food has traveled to China and been handled there when it comes back with COOL of U.S.A.
Comment by petlover — May 22, 2007 @ 6:25 am
How long does a recall take? Long as the company can get away with not recalling it. Until individuals and their vets, who suspect the reason their pet was sickened and/or died was the pet food get the food tested in a lab not used by the company and it turns up postive.
What then? Will this story inspire these companies to recall products they have been claiming are “safe” for 9 weeks? Voluntary recall seems to mean they don’t have to recall anything for any reason. Unless it’s proven to be as toxic as it was to the pets that ate it.
This story from Visalia is the tip of the iceberg on the dry foods. This innocent until proven guilty stance these companies have taken is within their rights. It’s all voluntary recall.
I am only guessing here, but that 8,000 complaints the FDA has processed were of pet foods on the recall lists. The 13,000 others alledged complaints are non-recalled pet foods.
Until we prove that our allegations that their product sickened and/or killed our pets, as in this Visalia story, we are powerless to sue the companies.
I for one have no problem kicking out another couple hundred bucks for testing by a lab that will do an indepth testing for all the suspected crap. Including the light sensitive “rat poison”.
That we may have to take these measures because the PFI won’t, the FDA can’t……
Comment by Maudigan — May 22, 2007 @ 6:26 am
Well, this is just absurd! When is Congress, FDA and others going to get a clue, that allowing companies to voluntarily do their own recalls just does not work. Congress, I would say that something needs to be done NOW, well how bout 2 months ago but NOW would be good too. There needs to be individual receipt-attached letters sent to every pet food company there is ordering that they immediately test their products and do tracking to verify where there products came from and requiring them to file an official report with the results. I didnt think I could get any more surprised but I am appalled that this is still happening and Congress should be too but they seem not to care.
So isnt today another FDA non-briefing day? OK reporters for Boston Globe, Congress Daily, NPR, etc, lets see you take FDA to task today OK?
Comment by Sandi K — May 22, 2007 @ 6:28 am
A few years back all Tylanol was pulled when some ‘nut case’ put poison in a few products.
They did NOT wait until *batch numbers* were verified!
All of that type of food should be pulled BEFORE tests are concluded in my opinion.
Comment by Mary Smith — May 22, 2007 @ 6:30 am
Email Nutra Nuggets: http://www.nutranuggets.com/contact_us/ but it doesn’t work…
I tried to:
“Would you please have some corporate responsibility and test your foods before they sicken any more pets. This recall has been going on for 9 weeks. It is unethical and irresponsible that you have not checked your products before this time!
“How many pets do you think you have sickened or killed in the last two months?”
They have a bug in their mail program:
Warning: main(_inc/smtp_mail/smtp.php) [function.main]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/vhosts/nutranuggets.com/httpdocs/_content/contact.php on line 241
Fatal error: main() [function.require]: Failed opening required ‘_inc/smtp_mail/smtp.php’ (include_path=’.:’) in /var/www/vhosts/nutranuggets.com/httpdocs/_content/contact.php on line 241
Comment by Peggy (AKA: Big Fat Momma Cat) — May 22, 2007 @ 6:30 am
Why won’t companies just test every one of their foods and get it over with? Any pet food company who hasn’t tested their products at this point should be thrown in jail if their food ends up poisoning even a single pet.
Just be up front and show us you are willing to do whatever it takes to stop pets from being poisoned. That’s how you regain consumer confidence. Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Comment by Brandi — May 22, 2007 @ 6:33 am
I am getting wound up, I am so mad at this newest recall. Any pets that are getting sick or die from any pet food now, to me is just plain murder or attempted murder on the part of the pet food company, there is no excuse for any further pets becoming ill or dying, NONE!
And Duane, you as Executive Director of Pet Food Institute, what excuse do you have for allowing this to happen? You could have done the right thing and played a huge part in helping all the foods become safe immediately but no, you have to sit around and be worthless and spew your lies and nonsense, you ought to be ashamed. What happened to a country of people doing the right thing, where did honor and trust go to? I feel so sick for pet parents who are still dealing with this. Our cat is gone but I was hoping others wouldnt have had to follow in our footsteps.
Comment by Sandi K — May 22, 2007 @ 6:39 am
Peggy - I actually sent that FDA letter to Duane & Kurt at PFI, the APPMA (including their legal rep), AFFCO.
They know we know they have been told that.
Comment by Ann H — May 22, 2007 @ 6:39 am
Ok…maybe I just don’t get it but why the “H” are we letting a COMMUNIST country gain such a strangle hold on our food supply and the food supply of the rest of the world?! WTF!!!!!
Comment by BengalMom — May 22, 2007 @ 6:41 am
Hi Ann H; I just wrote to Purina:
https://offers.purina.com/ContactUs/ContactUs.aspx?SOURCEBRAND=18
I wrote you before. Your cat food nearly killed my cat. Your Shredded with Sauce varieties are tainted with Melamine; I can’t say it any clearer than that. My cat had the same symptoms and responded to the same treatment.
Would you please have some corporate responsibility and test your foods before they sicken any more pets. This recall has been going on for 9 weeks. It is unethical and irresponsible that you have not checked your products before this time!
How many pets do you think you have sickened or killed in the last two months?
Don’t ask me for lot numbers; I don’t have any. DO NOT offer to send me coupons; I will never buy your products. In fact don’t even write me back; I don’t want to talk to you.
Just Go Test Your Foods, Now! I don’t care if you think you know or trust your suppliers. That is irrelevant. You must test your final product! You must recall your contaminated product! You must stop sickening and killing our pets!
I am also sending the same message by replying to the 2 letters (both the same form letter but from two different departments) they sent to me before.
Comment by Peggy (AKA: Big Fat Momma Cat) — May 22, 2007 @ 6:47 am
Trust?
In the Pet Food Industry? Yeah, right.
This is not a court of law with the ‘innocent until proven guilty’ thingie - this is the market with consumers. I don’t need proof beyond reasonable doubt, for me, suspicion is enough.
And there is enough suspicion.
Quote: As a result, pet food sales have slumped. For example, semi moist cat food sales plummeted by 31.2 percent in the four weeks ended March 25 , compared with the month prior, according to Information Resources Inc., whose sales figures do not include Wal-Mart Stores.
Minus 31 percent? That is good news! That is genuine reason for hope: people react, change their habits and send a strong message: “if you can’t provide decent goods, you can shove them wherever you want!”
Yes. Amidst that chaos of no-yes-no-yes ‘voluntary recalls’, dead and sick animals, distraught pet owners, incompetent governmental agencies, irresponsible manufacturers and well-founded fear for our own food supply - those minus 31 percent is actually the best news I could have hoped for: since some companies are only interested in profit, let’s hurt them where they hurt most.
stupid, off-balanced and incompetent pet owners: 1 - nutritionally balanced whole pet food manufacturers: 0
Comment by MaKo — May 22, 2007 @ 6:51 am
I do not spend money on Hills, Eukanuba, Nutro, Royal Canin, And Purina brand cat food.
If the Katrina victims, more than had to, were allowed to die, then my cats are fair game for the pet companies and the slow-to-respond FDA and USDA.
I buy California Natural but am still nervous about the ingredients. However, the cats have to eat. Haven’t heard too much negative about the company.
Maybe all our dollars leaving some of the big companies will send the loudest message…..
Comment by Evelyn — May 22, 2007 @ 7:04 am
That is the PFI stance, innocent until proven guilty. I get sick to my stomach everytime I think of their actions over the last 9 weeks. I would love to hear what the FDA would say to being asked about the 13,000 alledged complaints being verified as non-recalled product and what are their plans in processing them if this is the case? Follow up questions, how many more complaints have the recieved this week, is it up from the 21,000 of last week? Also have they processed any more claims from the 8,000 of last week?
Comment by Maudigan — May 22, 2007 @ 7:07 am
Evelyn, Natura Pet, the company that makes California Natural, Evo, and Innova has tested the food. It is melamine free.
It is the only company that I know of that is being proactive and showing corporate responsibility.
I am feeding them Evo dry as a supplement to my home cooking.
Comment by Peggy (AKA: Big Fat Momma Cat) — May 22, 2007 @ 7:09 am
After 9 weeks of this isn’t it time to admit that NO pet food company can be trusted?
You call and they lie, you write and they lie and what none of them do is the right thing.
In any case where an ethical person would do the right thing, the pet food companies will do the thing that screws every last dime from a pet owner and so what if your pet dies or is sick for a few expensive years? The pet food companies have made that plain. Some of them were insulting about it too and they PAY Duane to insult pet parents with your money.
THEY DO NOT CARE, you cannot make them care, what you CAN do is quit buying their bull.
The FDA is going to spin and lie.
The Senate cannot make them stop. Face it, the senate is having a real hard time getting the FDA to go out and LOOK at the poison. Or write really polite letters to the poison packaging industry.
The dramatic “flight to China” inspection trip was a classic, useless, taxpayers paid for it and now the FDA can get back to negotiating sweet deals with the drug companies, which is what they are good at.
I consider any real help from a pet food company or the FDA to be…unlikely.
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 22, 2007 @ 7:10 am
Is “Nutra Nuggets” an independent brand, or a Costco-only brand? I suspect the former, as Costco’s in-house products are “Kirkland” brand. If Nutra Nuggets is an independent brand, isn’t the onus for initiating a recall on them, and not Costco?
Comment by David — May 22, 2007 @ 7:21 am
Re: The chickens being processed in China.
I think I have got this right—The USDA has written a proposed rule to allow cooked chickens only be imported from China. The rule also says that the chickens must be owned by a U.S. company.
So, conveniently, Tyson foods is in the process of building a plant and partnering with Chinese chicken farmers. This is scheduled for fiscal year 2007. (a google search brought this up)
Now——which came first—-the chicken or the egg??? Did Tyson arrange with USDA to write the “chicken Rule”?? Or did USDA, on it’s own, decide “Hmmm, wouldn’t it be nice to get some avian flu chicken to the U.S. customers,” and then Tyson conveniently decided it was time to raise chickens in China?
So the chickens will be born and raised in China (by Tyson). And——when they are in our grocery stores they don’t have to be labeled as to COOL, so you can eat Chinese Avian Flu chickens, and not know, and surely the FDA/USDAwill assure us it is safe to eat cuz of the dilution factor, even tho the Chinese chickens probably eat melamine laced feed in China!
On the May 17th blog we had quite a session in which we uncovered a LOT of China connections with our major food suppliers, starting with the ones that said “no more Chinese ingredients” Go to the archives if you want to research this.
Comment by Elaine — May 22, 2007 @ 7:25 am
David: I believe Diamond manufactures Kirkland Signature Brand which is Costco’s brand. I still can’t believe they are actually going to recall a BATCH & not ALL their dry food.
How can the executives of these PF companies sleep at night knowing they have not tested their foods & animals may be dying or getting deathly ill from doing nothing more than eating? Are they even human?
I’m with Peggy….Natura has tested all their food & treats to assure us they are free of melamine & will continue to do so. I switched to Calif Natural because it’s the only one I trust right now. I’m still only doing about 1/4 dry & the rest is homemade.
If cat semi-moist food is down 32%, bet me the total percentage of all food is more than 4%. This is what THEY are telling US but I bet it’s a lot higher. They just don’t want us to know that our boycott of their poisoned products is working. The great news is that with the billions that WE, as pet parents, spend per year, these percentages are big bucks. Perhaps the CEOs will have to pass on that Mercedes to add to their collection….how sad.
Comment by JanC — May 22, 2007 @ 7:31 am
Comment by JanC — May 22, 2007 @ 7:31 am
But the food in question NOT Kirkland, it is Nutra brand…
Comment by David — May 22, 2007 @ 7:34 am
NutraNuggets is just the name of the food…..I could be wrong but Diamond does not have Nutra listed, it only has Kirkland Signature Brand.
Comment by JanC — May 22, 2007 @ 7:36 am
Instead, every pet food company, every single one, is paying the price for the actions of some of their peers:
Yeah. Natura and Nature’s Variety both say they tested their food for melamine (info from The Pet Food List). This makes me feel warm and cozy towards them, but I’ve started home-cooking. I may buy a couple of cans anyway, as a goodwill gesture, even though I still have a couple of cans of Nature’s Variety that I’ve been afraid to open.
Um, yeah. I’m really paranoid. Did I mention that I really can’t handle any more horrible kitty illness right now? (Three cases of kitty cancer in the last couple of years. Thing you do not want to hear from your vet: “Why is this happening to you? It’s not fair!”)
Anyway. Natura and Nature’s Variety are paying for the actions of their peers in a big way. Sorry, guys. Like I said, maybe a couple of goodwill cans are in order.
Comment by Katherine — May 22, 2007 @ 7:39 am
GOOD GRIEF! I ~THOUGHT~ my new post was important — not compared to this!
eeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!
Comment by Kat — May 22, 2007 @ 7:43 am
Is Natura continuing to support Menu by using them to manufacture their canned foods?
Comment by slt — May 22, 2007 @ 7:45 am
Administration says it is looking for progress to ease trade tensions with the Chinese
By Martin Crutsinger
ASSOCIATED PRESS
6:17 a.m. May 22, 2007
WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Tuesday the administration is looking to ease trade tensions with China during two days of high-level talks. Breakthroughs are expected in the areas of boosting sales of American energy technology and banking services in China.
Paulson said that the issue of food safety, highlighted by the deaths of pets after eating Chinese-made pet food, would also be addressed during the second round of talks that feature a large number of Cabinet officials from both nations. …
… “Never before have so many ministers from China gathered in one place in the United States. … We both realize how critical it is for our countries that we get our long-term economic relationship right,” Paulson said. …
… The administration also hopes to reach a deal expanding opportunities for U.S. airlines in China.
Among the officials participating in the talks are Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns whose agencies are dealing with issues of food safety from Chinese imports. …
… Unhappiness about America’s growing trade deficit with China is threatening to provoke a protectionist backlash in Congress. Lawmakers are expressing outrage over a trade gap that last year hit $232.5 billion, the largest deficit ever recorded with a single country and one-third of America’s record overall deficit of $765.3 billion.
Members of Congress are promoting a number of bills that would slam penalty tariffs on Chinese products unless China does more to halt what U.S. critics see as unfair trade practices such as China’s currency system and the rampant piracy of American products. …
… But China in recent days has made a number of moves in an effort to defuse American unhappiness. In addition to announcing the slight change in its currency band, China earlier in the month said it would purchase $4.3 billion in American high-technology products and in recent days announced that it would invest $3 billion of its $1.2 trillion in foreign currency reserves in Blackstone Group LP, the second-largest U.S. private equity firm. …
Lots more good stuff:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/.....trade.html
Comment by Kat — May 22, 2007 @ 7:49 am
Comment by JanC — May 22, 2007 @ 7:36 am
Nutra Nuggests is a completely separate brand… it is not a Kirkland, not a Costco-specific product.
Comment by David — May 22, 2007 @ 7:50 am
David: Sorry, you’re right. Somebody posted a list of prods made at Diamond & Nutra & Kirkland are both listed. I also think Chicken Soup’s dry is made at Diamond…..not sure about that.
Comment by JanC — May 22, 2007 @ 8:11 am
“Why didn’t Costco catch this themselves?”
The FDA can “remind” companies to do appropriate testing, but it is obvious that the decision remains with the pet food company and manufacturer.
Keep in mind with retailer brands, they are focused on maintaining a lower price than name-brands, thus are they going to want to put funds into quality control and testing?
Comment by Donna — May 22, 2007 @ 8:14 am
Quote: The FDA can “remind” companies to do appropriate testing, but it is obvious that the decision remains with the pet food company and manufacturer.
Comment by Donna — May 22, 2007 @ 8:14 am
After seeing what a *brilliant* job the FDA did so far, I’d rather ‘remind’ companies that *I* am the one with the wallet. Like in ‘decision maker’, ‘consumer’, ‘target audience’ or, in terms understandable for companies: ‘profit provider’ (or not), ‘pension securer’ (or not), benefits provider’ (or not).
Comment by MaKo — May 22, 2007 @ 8:28 am
Comment by Donna — May 22, 2007 @ 8:14 am
Understood Donna but if they want pet owners to trust and buy their foods, it’s best not to poison pets. So it could be argued that it would be a *cost saving* investment to have the food tested.
Comment by slt — May 22, 2007 @ 8:30 am
If we applied the same logic pet food manufacturers tell us we should on what our pets eat to what people eat:
We’d all be able to eat only canned soup and cereal.
Going to the produce section would only be allowed with a written note from a doctor.
Warning, warning eat only what comes in a cardboard box or can!! Fresh fruit and vegetables for licensed professionals only! Highly processed only—don’t eat that carrot, you’ll kill yourself!
Comment by Melissa — May 22, 2007 @ 8:30 am
#
“Why didn’t Costco catch this themselves?”
Comment by Donna — May 22, 2007 @ 8:14 am
The FDA can “remind” companies to do appropriate testing, but it is obvious that the decision remains with the pet food company and manufacturer.
Keep in mind with retailer brands, they are focused on maintaining a lower price than name-brands, thus are they going to want to put funds into quality control and testing?
———-
One more time. Nutra Nuggets is NOT a Costco brand.
Expecting Costco to test Nutra Nuggest is like expecting Safe to test Purina Dog Chow.
Comment by David — May 22, 2007 @ 8:42 am
That should be “Safeway” above
Comment by David — May 22, 2007 @ 8:42 am
See how far you get if you try calling one of the soup companies to find out where the ingredients came from in that soup.
During this recall I was eating a can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup, one of my favorites. Since ingredients were on my radar screen, I read the list. Hmm, what’s this wheat flour doing in my tomato soup, and where did it come from????
The 800 number was on the can: 1-800-257-8443.
I called it and asked, where did the wheat flour come from? What was the answer? “We don’t give out that information.” I pressed further and was told they don’t *have to* give out that information and *won’t* unless the government makes them. Nice response huh? Well guess what mine was—I haven’t bought a Campbells product since.
And now I’m looking at another can of the same product (bought the same day as the last can I bought), and the ingredient list also includes “citric acid”. I didn’t ask about *that*, and from what has been coming out in the news recently, a lot of citric acid is produced in China. Was this? I have no idea. If this ingredient is from China, is it even citric acid? Or might it be whatever else that was on hand, and was perhaps cheaper for the Chinese to sell? I doubt Campbells will tell me where the citric acid came from if I ask. Try it yourself with what foods are in your cupboard.
Comment by Melissa — May 22, 2007 @ 8:42 am
Yes, Chicken soup dry is made by Diamond. One of the dries I am feeding my many cats. Now I worry about it.
Kind of baffled on the semi moist pet food sales decline. Is not that the stuff that is soft and not crunchy. Treat in pouches are like that. I would have thought that the biggest decline would be the stuff in gravy in those notorious lethal pouches. Also thought I read that Menu Foods was the sole manufacturer of those in the USA, regardless of the brand.
As to pulling stuff of shelves as fast as happened with Tylenol or other human foods. Big big $$$$$ difference in liability for the manufacturer. Never seen multi million dollar settlements when pets/animals are involved.
Comment by Serijna — May 22, 2007 @ 8:46 am
Oh, this is so disgusting - Wheat Flour (probably gluten) is in Campbell’s soup. I tell my friends not to buy soup afraid of the hidden glutens and they laugh at me - I’m being overly dramatic.
These new melamine toxic pet food, now from possibly Diamond and NutraNugget - I guess it will be over when it’s over or when the warehouse run dry and that’s no time soon.
Comment by Linda — May 22, 2007 @ 8:49 am
If the constant low dose of poison is supposed to make me all docile and happy it aint working!
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 22, 2007 @ 8:56 am
Comment by Linda — May 22, 2007 @ 8:49 am
“I guess it will be over when it’s over…”
Or when too many pets are dead for them to remain in business?
Comment by Ally — May 22, 2007 @ 8:59 am
re: Comment by slt — May 22, 2007 @ 7:45 am
According to the pet food list, but Natura and Nature’s Variety both use Menu Foods for their wet food.
Comment by Katherine — May 22, 2007 @ 9:09 am
I have eaten Campbells tomato soup twice in the last week, and both times had a tummy upset. Didn’t even think about that it may be the ingredients!
Tomato soup is one of my favorites, and I have never had a problem with it before.
Thank goodness, I don’t think tomato soup is too hard to make from scratch!
Comment by Elaine — May 22, 2007 @ 9:17 am
Elaine,
Making tomato soup is very time consuming. I found it to be too much of a pain and it really wasn’t as good as the canned. I guess I’m used to all the preservatives and other carp…..LOL
Comment by Tammy — May 22, 2007 @ 9:20 am
By Melissa:
“We don’t give out that information.” I pressed further and was told they don’t *have to* give out that information and *won’t* unless the government makes them.
Campbells now gets black balled from our household. I can’t believe the nerve.
Comment by Tammy — May 22, 2007 @ 9:23 am
Comment by pat — May 22, 2007 @ 3:11 am
you’re so right pat. obviously i’m falling into their mindset after all these weeks. if they aren’t going to pull it all, maybe some please PFI . . . .
Comment by straybaby — May 22, 2007 @ 9:32 am
Re: Chickens
should we flood Paulson’s office with phone calls about it today? and perhaps the press . . . .
Comment by straybaby — May 22, 2007 @ 9:34 am
Comment by E. Hamilton — May 22, 2007 @ 8:56 am
If the constant low dose of poison is supposed to make me all docile and happy it aint working!
Dim-witted and complacent, I think; they don’t care if we are happy; so long as we shut-up and leave them alone.
Comment by Peggy (AKA: Big Fat Momma Cat) — May 22, 2007 @ 9:43 am
My observations regarding cat food in the local WM and supermarket (I don’t notice the dog stuff, I’m a not a dog person, but I bet its the same situation): The Paws and Companion canned is NOT moving at all. These are Menu *spit* products, and the pet owning public is aware enough to not buy it, even with it on sale. The 9 Lives looks like its not moving, either. Mine won’t eat it, anyway.
The Walmart Special Kitty canned does not look as though its selling well, either.
Dry is a little more difficult to judge, and I have seen folks in WM, consulting lists (!) and others just grabbing what they usually buy. (Also, I have been handing out the websites of Petconnection and Itchmo, and telling those interested to come here and learn!)
The Fancy Feast is moving, and I’m using it now, in addition to home cooked and raw. The Friskies canned is showing some movement, with gaps in the shelves.
Here where I live, we do not have any other place to buy the premium foods, as this is a small town and driving 40 - 50 miles one way with gasoline at $3.00+ is not easy for some of us. Ordering from the ‘net is out for me, as I have no credit card.
On the subject of chicken from China, I read about this last year over on CurEvents.com. They are on top of lots of things like this, and are following the Avian Flu outbreaks in China, plus all the other diseases that crop up there so often.
Take a look at their forums, The Lookout Tower and The Flu Clinic, especially.
IQF (Individually Quick Frozen) fish fillets sold in the stores now along with raw and cooked shrimp are ALL coming from China. Look on the back of the package. They have just about put the shrimpers on the Gulf Coast out of business.
I’ve read, either at CurEvents or somewhere, that this sending food to China for processing is becoming the norm. Atlantic salmon, caught in the cold Northern Atlantic for British markets, is sent frozen to China for partial dethawing and deboning, then refrozen and shipped back to Britian.
You just have to wonder, using that much fuel and effort to move fish thousands of miles.
There is not just the worry of Avian Flu contaminated chicken, but of (to me, personally) e-coli, salmonella, human debris, and other things that I can hardly think about.
What about the pesticides they spray in the plants? What about the cleaners and disinfectants? If any. What about the water to be used in processing and cooking?
A lot to worry about, and darn it, we should not HAVE to be so paranoid about our food.
I’m going to be looking local for lots of things from now on.
Comment by Momto6Cats — May 22, 2007 @ 10:00 am
Here is Natura’s latest:
http://www.naturapet.com/image.....-facts.pdf
Comment by Jenny — May 22, 2007 @ 10:45 am
Ernst- The name of the tums type powder is Uguard. It is made for horses & your vet can clculate the proper dose for your dog by weight. You can buy it in fees supply stores.
Comment by Leslie k — May 22, 2007 @ 11:54 am
On another list I belong to a woman contacted General Mills with a question about what spices are in a product that possibly was the cause of her pre school child’s hives. She was told that the spices are confidential and they wouldn’t tell her. She was told by General Mills to contact an allergist.
Comment by Maureen (Lilly and Lucy's mom) — May 22, 2007 @ 12:05 pm
Ally,
Perish the thought that all our pets will die before it’s over. I feed more fresh but still some dry dog food. I was breathing a little easier these days - guess it’s time to batten down the hatches.
Comment by Linda — May 22, 2007 @ 1:26 pm
I hate to bring this up again but I’m still curious. Has anyone ever heard another word about those vets (was it UC Davis….I’m not sure) who were testing dry foods that were not recalled but that they had heard a lot of complaints about. I have read so much my memory is failing me (not to mention my “senior moments”) but I thought it was five dry foods. Is it possible they reported directly back to the PF companies for a “voluntary” recall & that was the end of it?
It’s been months & I never heard anything else about those dry foods. Chances are they found something but the PF companies shut them up. Ah, to be rich, powerful & have no heart.
Comment by JanC — May 22, 2007 @ 2:23 pm
I keep forgetting to answer this. There were three samples, and they were clean.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 22, 2007 @ 2:33 pm
Thanks, Gina.
Comment by JanC — May 22, 2007 @ 2:41 pm
I guess you are now understanding the corruption behind American Business. See if you get a perscription of say an antibiotic and lets say you have an allergic reaction and go back into the Doctor. What happens? The doctor prescribes you another one. Eventually your rash goes away, probably on its own, and you now know you are allergic to a specific antibiotic…hmmmmm. Well hear is the real story your reaction is reported back to the drug company and if there are enough reactions….silently the antibiotic is pulled from the hospitals….very quietly and secretly. They just trump us a reason and the FDA is clueless to the fact that the antibiotic was made wrong…no one is chcking anything. Now you later find out you have say cancer or some other mysterious disease and think luck of the draw ….never suspecting your allergic bout with the antibiotic…….as a potential cause. See once again everyone working a scam for their benefit while you suffer as the guinea pig…hmmmm. It is the same in the food industry and it is about them making money….not you getting a quality product…..Doctors want to make money too and they are not going to sacrifice their kick backs from drug companies to protect your health…hmmmmm. Do you really understand just how vulnerable you all are…and just how fragile all this supposed control around you…. really is?
Obewan
Comment by Lew Orban — May 22, 2007 @ 2:48 pm
I wanted to give a couple of links I found regarding the chicken deal - both are dated May, 2007. I want to make sure that anyone following this who hasn’t seen it, is made aware.
First link is to a memo from Rep. DeLauro’s office, regarding the new cooked chicken scheme that is seeking approval. In the memo, there is a one line reference to the CURRENT state of “chicken” affairs:
“Currently, chicken from the U.S. can be shipped to China to be cooked and processed and then sent back to the U.S.”
Link: http://www.house.gov/delauro/p.....02_07.html
Second link is to one of one of many articles out there, discussing the latest USDA chicken scheme. Please take note of the paragraph which states that under current law, the chickens raised, slaughtered and processed SOLELY in China will be sold here to us, in the USA, without any indication of the country of origin.
Link:
http://www.iht.com/articles/20.....hicken.php
Yesterday, felt cheered up a bit re food issue progress. Today, with an FDA shutdown due to trying to impress the chinese who are visiting, and the food bill lagging, and the Costco recall (food sold in mid-April killing dogs early May in CA), and of course, reading even more links in this thread, I am back to discouraged. About the odds of turning the tide on this.
Comment by TC — May 22, 2007 @ 3:09 pm
We could definitely spay our two new Pups. That’s the best contribution we could make, plus feed ‘em that good ‘ole home cooking in the interim…no more processed convenience food. Now, multiply that by millions and we just made our wonderful new world in no time..now that’s powerful. The choice is ours right now and it wouldn’t take long to see the difference. Thank you Lord. AMEN.
Comment by Bee — May 22, 2007 @ 3:38 pm
anybody know what’s going on at the Diamond website? seeing errors etc no info on the Diamond Nutra nuggets. I’m concerned because of the recall affecting other brands made at Diamond like Solid Gold. I was wondering if anybody knows what plant the nutra nuggets are made at(state) and am wondering if its the same plant as the nutra nuggets plant?
Comment by Jan — May 22, 2007 @ 8:03 pm
This is a tongue twister, but someone help with this - Nutro, Natura, and Nutra are three different companies, correct?
Comment by TC — May 22, 2007 @ 8:15 pm
Now why don’t we see things like this openly published. SmartPak and Neumann’s Own Organics are doing things the right way. But unless someone checks the websites, they have no idea. As bloggers kept saying weeks ago, not one executive from a company has gone public in the media and said we are sorry, we are doing X and X and X to
make sure our foods are truly safe. If not for PC and others, I and so many others would never know this. Thanks Gina and all others for finding this information and informing us.
Comment by VJ — May 22, 2007 @ 9:40 pm
Oh sorry, thanks Christie for this item. But thanks Gina and all of you also.
Comment by VJ — May 22, 2007 @ 9:42 pm
Hey folks - another slip from Menu Foods - something they “accidentally left off the list”
http://www.itchmo.com/read/men.....e_20070522
Comment by Lynn — May 22, 2007 @ 9:52 pm
with all the food recalled due to cross contamination at Chenengo Valley, I called Back to Basics and asked them about this situation. They told me that they use human grade food, I responded back that its a cross contamination and some of the foods recalled like lick your chops is a human grade food and was recalled, due to cross contamination with melamine.Their response to me was that That Back to Basics food is run on seperate machines from those other foods and thats why their food is safe. Get real like a plant uses special extruders for certain foods. I was so disgusted with the lame response I said thats BS and that you might want to think up a better answer before the next person asks you the same question.I was so angry I then hung up. I tried calling chenengo valley and all I got was a voice mail.
Unbelievable that a company would think a consumer is that stupid to believe they built a “special extruder” just for their food and no one else.
Comment by Jan — May 23, 2007 @ 2:47 pm
jan, sometimes they do have special machines/extruders, depending how the machine has to be calibrated (not saying it’s true in this case)…. a low-heat extrusion machine versus a high-heat. Organics and human grade a lot of time to maintain their certification have to be kept separate from “feed” grade processes. Again, not saying this is true, but in some cases it is.
I have a hard time believing Natura is the only one who has proactively sampled and tested their food. That is ridiculous.
Most of these companies have recall insurance anyway! Use it if need be!
Comment by lablover — May 23, 2007 @ 3:21 pm
JAN JAN JAN JAN
Jan, are you still here? Back to Basics food info.
Comment by petlover — May 23, 2007 @ 4:03 pm