Pet Connection Blog » Nutro recalls some of its dry cat foods

Nutro recalls some of its dry cat foods

By Gina Spadafori

May 21, 2009

From the company release, which moved about an hour ago:

Today, Nutro Products announced a voluntary recall of select varieties of NUTRO(R) NATURAL CHOICE(R) COMPLETE CARE(R) Dry Cat Foods and NUTRO(R) MAX(R) Cat Dry Foods with “Best If Used By Dates” between May 12, 2010 and August 22, 2010. The cat food is being voluntarily recalled in the United States and ten additional countries. This recall is due to incorrect levels of zinc and potassium in our finished product resulting from a production error by a US-based premix supplier.

Two mineral premixes were affected. One premix contained excessive levels of zinc and under-supplemented potassium. The second premix under-supplemented potassium. Both zinc and potassium are essential nutrients for cats and are added as nutritional supplements to NUTRO(R) dry cat food.

This issue was identified during an audit of our documentation from the supplier. An extensive review confirmed that only these two premixes were affected. This recall does not affect any NUTRO(R) dog food products, wet dog or cat food, or dog and cat treats.

Affected product was distributed to retail customers in all 50 states, as well as to customers in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Israel. We are working with all of our distributors and retail customers, in both the US and internationally, to ensure that the recalled products are not on store shelves. These products should not be sold or distributed further.

Product information, phone numbers and more is here. The company says to return the recalled product to the retailer for a refund.

Share and Enjoy:

Filed under: animals: pets, news — Gina Spadafori @ 11:26 am

Comments (194)

194 Comments »

Buckle up, kids….

Comment by mikken — May 21, 2009 @ 12:22 pm
As usual, the interwebs know before the retailers.

You’d think they would’ve learned by now…

Can we get an FDA investigation NOW please?

Comment by Kim — May 21, 2009 @ 12:46 pm
We learned in the pet food debacle that a “US based premix supplier” could very well be a company in the US that imports ingredients from overseas, a la ChemNutra. Here we go again?

Why would this recall NOT affect Nutro dog food as well, as they are claiming the dog food is not affected? Zinc sulfate and potassium carbonate are dog food additives too.

How many other pet food companies purchased these same ingredients from this supplier? How many “US based suppliers” purchased these ingredients imported? Were they imported? From where this time?

This answers those questions about those sick cats lately who were on Nutro. Time for more extensive ingredients testing. What are our vets reporting about the connection between this and recent illnesses?

Gina, get the “counter” ready.

Comment by NadineL — May 21, 2009 @ 12:58 pm
Sorry, take out the first “imported.” Need brain food (lunch).

Comment by NadineL — May 21, 2009 @ 1:00 pm
Nutro—you are not getting any of MY CATS poisoned now. You did it once. You aint doin’ it again ‘cause I aint ever buyin’ ya.

I wonder if this is the only company affected.

Comment by Colorado Transplant — May 21, 2009 @ 2:06 pm
Nutro claims they knew about this on Monday…isn’t today Thursday??? “Pre-mix” scares the life outa me…

Comment by Carol V — May 21, 2009 @ 2:24 pm
Anyone else have that kicked in the tummy feeling???

Comment by Carol V — May 21, 2009 @ 2:25 pm
“Affected product was distributed to retail customers in all 50 states, as well as to customers in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Israel.”

Oy. That’s a lot of product.

Comment by straybaby — May 21, 2009 @ 2:50 pm
Or that “moment before the avalanche” feeling?

Yeah.

Comment by mikken — May 21, 2009 @ 2:53 pm
There was a piece on NPR’s Morning Edition this morning about sheet rock purchased from China and used to construct homes after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and how toxic substances are allegedly in that very sheet rock, causing illnesses to the home owners.
We learned absolutely nothing from March 16, 2007. Nothing. Same old, same old. I am so tired of wearing hip boots and carrying a manure fork.

Comment by Anne T — May 21, 2009 @ 3:03 pm
They didn’t even have to get to where it was from. I just knew. The gypsum they didn’t use in the sheet rock was probably in the food ingredients they sold.

And nothing is being done about it. Nothing.

Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 21, 2009 @ 3:08 pm
Does anyone know when these Nutro products would have been made? And whatever happened to the “Finished Nutro Product Testing” and “Final Nutro Product Verification” they document about at their site….if they truly did these things, wouldnt this problem have been caught before they left their facilities? Gee, and they wonder why people dont trust them and other PFC’s….cant imagine why.

Comment by Sandi K — May 21, 2009 @ 4:16 pm
Sandi K, according to Nutro’s website on it (it’s in the FAQ), manufacture began in Dec 2008.

Comment by Eucritta — May 21, 2009 @ 4:28 pm
The email addy on above link ..Monica Barret @ Effem.com makes me remember that Effem is the Mars connection from the 2004 melamine/CA Asian recall (remember we found out that connection thanks to Cathy Brown) and USA Today picked that up due to Gina..

Comment by Carol V — May 21, 2009 @ 4:34 pm
and pfpsa.org had found excess levels of Zinc in Nutro dog food..http://www.pfpsa.org/nutro1.pdf

Now.. who can tell us the supplier of the pre-mix and where else it went?

Comment by Carol V — May 21, 2009 @ 4:42 pm
Is this the Nutro that WASNT being investigated last week, despite Internet “rumors”?

Comment by EmilyS — May 21, 2009 @ 5:10 pm
http://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?articleId=12959 this link says there is no connection to the recent FDA/Nutro controversy…Well, there should be! Why did documentation pick this up and not the intensive QC they boast about at their site?

Comment by Carol V — May 21, 2009 @ 5:27 pm
So, do we as consumers, have the right to know exactly how much excess zinc they found and how much potassium was under-supplemented?

Comment by Sandi K — May 21, 2009 @ 5:42 pm
No that would be proprietary information. No need for us hysterical pet bloggers to know that ! At least they didn’t wait for Friday night after everything closed for the holiday weekend. Want to bet the reason for that is they are off tomorrow ?

Comment by Leslie K — May 21, 2009 @ 7:50 pm
What makes me angrier than the way this is playing out?

NOTHING. I’m just fuming now.

The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results, yes? STOP SOURCING INGREDIENTS IN CHINA.

Also, if you’re a candy company, make some candy.

I could rant forever, so I have to go now.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Comment by Amy — May 21, 2009 @ 8:47 pm
I imagine the lawsuits and recalls still make the cheap cost of these premixes worthwhile.

Ugh. I really have to stop thinking about this for a little while or I’m going to vomit.

So many people just don’t know not to trust these companies.

Comment by Amy — May 21, 2009 @ 8:48 pm
I just wonder how a lot of the public is going to find out about the new recall of Nutro. Also, some people are too busy or not interested enough to pay attention to any recalls.

Comment by Colorado Transplant — May 21, 2009 @ 10:03 pm
Social media is much bigger than it was even two years ago. I would like to see everyone use Twitter and Facebook to share this sort of information. (I used both today as well as the blog.)

Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 21, 2009 @ 10:47 pm
This link has info about Zinc toxicoisis in small animals, but troubling to me is the abstract mentions that this is often misdiagnosed..wanted to share this here…

http://vlsstore.com/Media/Publ.....09_712.pdf

Comment by Carol V — May 22, 2009 @ 5:54 am
Good old Nutro. Like Colorado Transplant, I say fool me once…well you know how it goes.

After their lack of candor during the last round of poisoning, I stopped using all their products and I’m NEVER going back.

Rot in HELL Nutro.

Comment by 2CatMom — May 22, 2009 @ 7:07 am
So I checked one of the labs that do testing for zinc and potassium levels…Midwest says they do this test (that includes other nutrients also), for $45.00. So why wasnt a simple $45.00 test on finished product done that appears could have prevented this? Grrrr!

Comment by Sandi K — May 22, 2009 @ 8:14 am
My only limp defensive mechanism is to give my cats variety—I use Hill’s Science Diet and Eukanuba for kibbles because they were eating those at their shelters and Fancy Feast moist food. I give them human tuna and human mackerel and Sophie and I eat fresh cooked corn together.

I would give them more human food if they would eat it.

It is maddening to me that I cannot trust the pet food companies!

Comment by Colorado Transplant — May 22, 2009 @ 8:28 am
If there is such a thing as “quality control”, then this should have been found either by the vit/min premix supplier prior to shipment or by Nutro testing the food. So it is obvious to me that neither company does any QC testing.

Comment by Annie — May 22, 2009 @ 8:48 am
So how many thousands of tons of this food is out on retail shelves. And how long has it been there? And how much longer will it remain there knowing how fast retail is to react to these types of scenarios. And how many uneducated pet owners will buy this stuff? How is Nutro going to dispose of this stuff?

Comment by Steve — May 22, 2009 @ 9:32 am
the cat site posted some info on the supplier..I already put a call to the corporate off and Mike Cooper is to call me back..I will ask him if this company is the supplier and where else it went…I am not optimistic I will have answers but I have to try….I owe it to the two I have lost and to all trying to be safe!

here is the catsite link..
http://www.thecatsite.com/foru.....stcount=17

Comment by Carol V — May 22, 2009 @ 11:29 am
I nixed Nutro after their shoddy response during the first recall. Nutro wasn’t what poisoned my cat (though we purchased a lot of their products), but they way they were handling things didn’t sit right with me.

This is another reason I like variety. If they’re eating a number of foods, something like this isn’t going to matter so much (provided all the manufacturers aren’t using the same premix). Have often wondered if N’s inability to eat a singular premium food for prolonged periods of time might be more related to the levels of vitamins/minerals in the foods than an actual ingredient sensitivity.

It’s been going on since we started weaning him (he’s seven now) and I can’t seem to correlate it with any major ingredient. I know I have to be really cautious about overdoing certain vitamins because they make me sick.. perhaps this is the case for N, too. I don’t know.

What I do know, however.. is that this smacks of a poor testing protocol. This should have been caught much sooner. After 3/07, there’s no excuse to be lax about testing ingredients.

Comment by 3FabulousFelines — May 22, 2009 @ 12:27 pm
Good thoughts for ‘my’ (really my parents’- they wouldn’t her leave with me when I moved out after high school, even though she was ostensibly mine :P) kitty Morrighan - she’s 18 years old and had eaten most of a bag of the recalled stuff.

Comment by Cait — May 22, 2009 @ 2:54 pm
Well, it’s a friday night of a long weekend..with a pre-mix supplier pre-mixing things wrong…wanna take bets???

Comment by Carol V — May 22, 2009 @ 5:57 pm
Cait, sending good thoughts and lots of healing energy (in case it’s needed) for Morrighan!

Comment by Anne T — May 22, 2009 @ 6:54 pm
Well, it’s a friday night of a long weekend..with a pre-mix supplier pre-mixing things wrong…wanna take bets???

Comment by Carol V — May 22, 2009

ohpleaseno.pleasepleasepleaseno.

I honestly don’t know if we could survive another round of that … so many lost pets and grieving pet owners.

Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 22, 2009 @ 7:30 pm
Call me a cynic—but I do not see “Change We Can Believe In” when it comes to cat food.

Just sayin’, but feeling sick in my stomach, knowing some pet owners are unaware of the recall.

Comment by Colorado Transplant — May 22, 2009 @ 7:48 pm
I’m wondering who else may have been purchasing the premix.

Are these things specifically formulated for individual manufacturers, (i.e. Nutro contacts supplier, asks them to make a mix containing X% zinc, Y% potassium, etc.) or would this have been a general product potentially purchased by other companies (or used in other Mars products) as well?

Anyone have any idea?

Comment by 3FabulousFelines — May 22, 2009 @ 9:01 pm
Comment by 3FabulousFelines — May 22, 2009 @ 9:01 pm

First thing I would do is find out the factory that produced the food and be cautious with the other foods they produce. I would also be cautious of any product produced by that big brand. Second thing I would do is find out who the premix supplier was and who they supply to and avoid that food and foods produced in the same facility.

No, I’m not paranoid, just been there, read that. And I do believe my head explosions are documented here :P

Comment by straybaby — May 22, 2009 @ 9:31 pm
I (and a few others that I know of) spent several hours yesterday afternoon trying to find out who else uses the supplier…according to a Nutro rep contacted by a member at thecatsite http://www.thecatsite.com/foru.....stcount=17 ..Trouw Nutrition http://www.trouw-nutritionusa......ge_key=447 which is part of this company http://www.nutreco.com/ is the supplier. I called the corporate phone number of Trouw and talked to Alyssa who listened to why I wanted some info—I told her that many pet owners are scared stiff this so-called pre-mix problem of 6 months, which seems quite serious for our cats (especially the pregnant ones), may have been used in other cat food that has not been made public yet…I reminded her of the problem in March 2007 with the rolling recalls as well as the peanut debacle recently…she said she understood and that Mike Cooper is the person who is the one that is answering questions..I also wanted to ask if indeed thecatsite got it right..that they are the supplier…Of course I got no call or email back yesterday…but I wanted to post publically that I got no response in this serious matter….I then called Purina Cat Chow and talked to a John who said he was unable to answer who their supplier of pre-mix is..so after a few minutes of my ranting to him about proprietary cwap and silence on his end…I told him I was posting this at the pet forums and blogs I visit. Others are calling pet food companies and some are being told the answer…I commend those that are upfront with the consumers…We don’t want their “secret recipes”…we just don’t want to feed an affected product to our pets…

end of rant…

Comment by Carol V — May 23, 2009 @ 4:12 am
xocats on the thecatsite.com
http://www.thecatsite.com/foru.....stcount=17
stated that the customer service rep at Neutro informed her that TROUW Nutrion produced the “premix”.
See Trouw website here:
http://www.trouw-nutritionusa......ge_key=844
“Companion animal feature products” are here(including
http://www.trouw-nutritionusa......ge_key=755
They include “Optimin” chelated minerals
Tom Best, phone 518-654-2070 is their “Organic Trace Mineral product manager”
email: tom.best@nutreco.com
The consumer affairs.com website claims that they have received over 800 complaints of Nutro products
http://www.consumeraffairs.com.....oia05.html

Comment by Annie — May 23, 2009 @ 4:25 am
And…forgot to rant about this…
When reading what supposedly the Nutro rep told the poster who called..Nutro discovered the error in Nutro’s testing of the pre-mix at Trouw…but the press release and statement from Nutro say it was discovered by documentation..so what is the truth I wonder? Q10 here..http://www.nutroproducts.com/press-recall/press-faq.html

Comment by Carol V — May 23, 2009 @ 4:30 am
Neither story makes sense to me. Whether it be by testing or documentation, it should not have taken six months for this error to have been discovered.

Comment by Annie — May 23, 2009 @ 5:00 am
Yes, it says “This issue was identified during an audit of our documentation from the supplier. An extensive review confirmed that only these two premixes were affected.”

All you petfood manufacturers: read your documentation from TROUW IMMEDIATELY. An audit - that’s where you go back over stuff, isn’t it? Like maybe someone should have been reading the documentation, doh?

Maybe Nutro was too busy posting youtube videos to refute the consumer affairs website’s claim of hundreds of Nutro complaints to spend time testing their premix or product.

Check out: http://www.pfpsa.org/news.html
Pet food product safety alliance claims Nutro dog food had levels of copper and zinc that were too high. There is a law firm suing Nutro over dog food issues.

Comment by Annie — May 23, 2009 @ 5:09 am
So much for what Mars calls “quality assurance”.

Their website has many claims, but it’s clear that this company doesn’t walk the talk.

Not only did they fail to find defective ingredients, but they also failed to find defective finished products.

Conclusion: Mars’ manufacturing process is out of control, and their QA/QC protocol is deficient.

Bad Process = Bad Food

Comment by 5CatMom — May 23, 2009 @ 8:27 am
Sitting on news of toxic pet food until a long weekend news cycle can bury the news. Check.

FDA helping the pet food company. Check.

Mainstream media helping the pet food company. Check.

No way to get the news out to most pet owners before they feed poison to the family pet. Check.

Can an FDA press statement that the “food on store shelves is safe” be far behind?

It is a rerun recall, summer version.
I wonder how many will die?
How many already have died?
Will die this next week, after eating a dose of the poison food sold this week?

Sigh.

Comment by Imissmypets — May 23, 2009 @ 1:37 pm
Sorry to report that Trouw never called back but Nutro just did….at 7:30 pm on a saturday of a long weekend…Seems Trouw gave them my name and UNlisted phone number…guess how mad I am??? I didn’t ask the rep my questions as I sadly do not trust Nutro based on the 2007 nightmare….

Comment by Carol V — May 23, 2009 @ 5:11 pm
And to add to my last post…this is what Nutro says to do…(since my questions were specific to Trouw—-as in where else is the pre-mix)

http://www.animalsupply.com/do.....1045am.pdf

“Q. Does Trouw Nutrition provide product to any other brands besides
NUTRO®?
A. No other Mars Petcare brands are affected by this recall. Please contact Trouw
for their specific client information.

Comment by Carol V — May 23, 2009 @ 5:46 pm
Circle the wagons …

Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 23, 2009 @ 5:55 pm
So let me get this straight Carol. You called Trouw as instructed on Nutro’s site….to find out if they supply premix to any other PFC and instead of calling you back, Nutro called you…..at your unlisted phone number?! So why was that any of Nutro’s business, do they own Trouw? Me thinks they way over-stepped their boundaries. I would be way mad if I were you.

A Dr from Nutro posted over at PetSit blog in case any one wants to read their response. One thing I noticed is the Dr said they “had no evidence of any adverse health issues with these diets….” but notice they dont say they have had no reports of sick pets…..http://petsitusa.com/blog/?p=2089#comments

Comment by Sandi K — May 23, 2009 @ 8:01 pm
On the petsitusa.com blog
http://petsitusa.com/blog/?p=2.....ent-282506
5CatMom said it well -
5CatMom 05.23.09 at 7:17 pm
Are you kidding?

“Clearly, both you and Mars are CLUELESS on the subject of PROPER Quality Assurance/Quality Control protocols.

PROPER QA/QC protocol requires that raw materials be inspected and tested by the manufacturer during RECEIVING INSPECTION.

PROPER QA/QC protocol requires that finished product be inspected and tested by the manufacturer during FINISHED GOODS/SHIPPING INSPECTION.

PROPER QA/QC protocol requires that the manufacturer ensure all manufacturing process are IN CONTROL.

When your supplier makes an error (too much zinc), PROPER QA/QC protocols at Mars would ensure that the error doesn’t affect your product and your customers.

Don’t you get it? PROPER QA/QC protocols protect you from the errors of others.

Why don’t you hire a consulting company to analyze your manufacturing process from dock to dock, perform a risk assessment, design a few “mistake proof operations”, and teach you the basics of statistical process control.

Then, assuming you can properly manage your business, you can claim to have a QUALITY ASSURANCE program.

Until then, please do us a favor and stick to making candy. I don’t feed any of that to my cats.”

Comment by Annie — May 23, 2009 @ 11:16 pm
Why is a NUTRITIONIST answering questions about QUALITY CONTROL?

This is a systemic failure of Nutro’s QUALITY ASSURANCE program. It’s a repeat of the ChemNutro/Menu system failure.

In a properly designed QA program, both the supplier and the manufacturer test ingredients. This practice prevents common mistakes; it protects the manufacturer’s product and customers.

That’s the GOAL of a proper QA program.

The pre-mix error was dumb. It was PREVENTABLE.

Doesn’t Nutro have any QUALITY ASSURANCE folks?

I’d like to see a response by Nutro’s QA Manager.

Comment by 5CatMom — May 24, 2009 @ 4:02 am
Sorry, that should be ChemNutra.

Comment by 5CatMom — May 24, 2009 @ 4:13 am
I’ve been tweeting and fbing and we must do it on Tues, when most get back to their computers.

I’m finding that people just don’t know this has been recalled.

I’m trying not to respond TOO harshly to the Nutro PRs that twitter me. Ugh.

If the bottom line is your only business, you have NO business in the primary source of nutrition for cats and dogs. PERIOD. How could there be discussion outside of that?

IMO, you can give up ALL your secrets. Every ingredient you use. MOst would never be capable of reproducing, manufacturing, marketing, etc., all that it takes to get it out there. I’m a small business owner. You can give me every trick you have and I’m not going to cheat on you. Not just because I think that’s wrong, but because the resources it takes are so hard to obtain.

The only reason to withhold that info is because you’re a liar.

Every company I’ve contacted about sourcing that has said that is immediately on my “do not ever carry or support” list. The honest ones with the wrong answer are still not carried, but at they’re not on the *$#& list, I guess.

It’s no excuse. If you have a secret to hide, it’s because you are not doing the right thing. Business is tough, but especially in these economic times, no one has the money that companies like Mars do to simply call and obtain info to steal their business.

And, quite frankly, no one who cares about pets would ever WANT to.

Comment by Amy — May 25, 2009 @ 1:36 am
I NEVER HEARD ABOUT THIS RECALL ON THE NEWS OR NEWSPAPERS !!! I”M SO HAPPY I TOOK MY DOGS OFF NUTRO THEIR FOOD SUCKS CAP LOCK IS BROKE

Comment by PATTI — May 25, 2009 @ 3:31 pm
I am hearing so many reports of people not knowing about this recall!!!! This, to me, is another part of the story that should raise people’s eyebrows. I e:mailed CNN 3 times and so far nothing. Many other stations arent carrying it. Other people have contacted vet offices, store owners, pet parents and none of them know about this! Nutro, you make big money, spend some of it doing a better job getting this recall notice out there to the general public!!!! You are responsible for the putting the food out there, now be responsible for getting it taken back. Good grief!!!! Aaargh, I feel a head explosion coming on…..

Oh I just had a novel idea, instead of sending your “Our Food is Safe” mantra-speaking Borg ambassadors onto Twitter to not answer specific questions, how bout having those ambassadors start picking up the phone and calling pet stores, vet offices, new stations to report the recall of your food.

Comment by Sandi K — May 25, 2009 @ 4:12 pm
I’m sorry…

but has anyone else noticed that our beloved FDA has been busy catching a breakfast cereal that was posing as a “drug?”

You know, they do have priorities…and goodness knows that a cereal making a claim of possibly preventing a health issue is right up there, compared to other issues going on with ours and our pet’s food safety!

Good to know that our FDA is right on top of things, as usual!

(sarcastic…who me?)

Comment by Marcy — May 25, 2009 @ 8:11 pm
We can either light a candle, or we can curse the darkness.

If you’d like to contribute to testing pet food, please go to:

http://www.pfpsa.org/

Comment by 5CatMom — May 26, 2009 @ 3:42 am
Not related, but did you see where Red Bull in Germany has been recalled for having cocaine? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30929880/

Comment by Nancy Freedman-Smith CPDT — May 26, 2009 @ 3:48 am
Testing pet food is useless. Good idea but useless.
Because the formulas change, suppliers change, lot numbers would have to be tested individually but mostly it is useless because pet owners will not hear about it.
The traditional media has this story buried as deep as the pets who die from the poisoned pet food.
Test results showing cyanide will not even result in an arrest. The FDA works for the pet food companies and if more money and power is given to the corrupt FDA they will just work harder for the pet food companies.

Just more pet owner money down the drain.

The only thing that MIGHT work is to drive, hound, litigate, boycott and remove Mars from the pet food making business entirely.
Then move on to the next worst company.
It is a target rich environment, plenty of crappy pet food companies need to go under.

That CAN be done.

Oh , I am sure that pet parents could do it and equally sure that they won’t. If just one company is driven out of the “death in a bag” business, the other bad companies WILL notice and the food might get less deadly, not out of the goodness of their non existent hearts but out of fear.
Until the pet food companies have reason to FEAR the wrath of pet parents, nothing changes.

The dying of the pets continues.

Comment by Imissmypets — May 26, 2009 @ 4:52 am
IMISS,

Very true.

But, what you mentioned (litigate, boycott and remove Mars from the pet food making business entirely) is Step 2.

Step 1 is to test the food.

Comment by 5CatMom — May 26, 2009 @ 5:50 am
I was buying dishes at a big department store yesterday when I noticed at the screen at the cash register it called them melamine.

Nowhere on the boxes did it say Melamine, according to the check-out woman.

My immediate reaction was to cancel the transaction. I told her that stuff killed thousands of cats and dogs.

I would have thrown up eating from them. My husband didn’t see why we were not getting them.
However, just the name sickens me. I thought, initially, I was getting chinaware.

As to Nutro—and even melamine—you have a lot of people clueless about any hint of what is wrong.

Even at the height of the recall in 2007, a lot of people I talked to—petowners and people without pets—were surprised when I told them about the poisonous quality of any of the pet food brands. That is why the FDA, as a government agency, should take care of the public, not the private interests. (I am dreaming, aren’t I?).

Comment by Colorado Transplant — May 26, 2009 @ 6:24 am
I want to help with lighting that candle..

Comment by Carol V — May 26, 2009 @ 6:33 am
I disagree.
I wish it was that easy.

Step one is getting the news out to pet owners , and that is where the pet owners are failing.

All the test results in the world will mean nothing, if nothing can be accomplished with them.
Test results widely enough published to HURT the money flow of the pet food companies and hurt them HARD , that is the only way.

Until a system is in place to do that one job, get the news out to pet owners, you are just spinning your wheels. Nutro has paid trolls just a twittering away and stopping the news there. They have paid flunkies posting on forums, Nutro was READY to stop the news getting out on the internet because that is what they feared, that is the only thing they fear and they not only poisoned a lot of pets, at pet parent expense but then they whipped pet owner butt!
Not to mention making pet owners beg on their knees for information when you know the FDA and Nutro are just going to lie. Makes pet people look like moroons. Maybe we are.
Nutro won.
They controlled the news pet owners got and they got away with selling a lot of poison.
Nutro , and other pet food companies, can and will sell poison pet food, anytime they like and pet owners are not going to hear about it.
There is not a darn thing anyone can do about it until serious, focused attention is paid to getting the news blockade down.

Or regaining the internet news leader respect that the pet communities acquired during the 2007 recalls, that was squandered.
ALMOST had it right there, then threw it away.

Because the pet food companies sure learned, and they are controlling the message on the net
now.

There is good news. As horrible as the death tolls are going to be from the ongoing murder and looting of the pets and their people, the pet food companies have such complete control of the media AND the internet now that we may not have to hear much at all about it.
It is the only mercy there is going to be.

A shame , really, but there it is.

Comment by Imissmypets — May 26, 2009 @ 8:14 am
There is not one single reason on earth why any of these Pet Food Companies should be evasive about,

1. Naming their suppliers and vendors
2. Naming who makes their final product

If quality and customer satisfaction was the number goal of any of them, they would not have one single reason to hide ANYTHING. They would take pride in answering these questions and be proud to be affiliated with companies who maintain the same exacting standards all across the board.

Why on earth would these companies be so intimidated and nervous about being totally upfront about every aspect of their product?

No one is asking them to reveal competitive trades secrets.

Something is not right here, in fact way off you can be assured of that.

Comment by Steve — May 26, 2009 @ 12:27 pm
There’s more Nutro news on Consumer Affairs website:

Consumers React to NUTRO Recalls; Zinc, Copper Levels Cited

http://www.consumeraffairs.com.....oia06.html

The Nutro story seems to be all over the web, so let’s hope the word is getting out.

Comment by 5CatMom — May 26, 2009 @ 1:07 pm
I’ve been watching all of this very closely since losing my kitty back in 2007. I’m very sad to report that it seems that nothing has changed.

Unfortunately, as pet owners and consumers we must still be very wise in our choices. Our own and our pet’s lives depend on it.

Despite all the promises, it seems that we have not seen much change in our food safety.

Comment by Marcy — May 26, 2009 @ 1:13 pm
I happen to believe this IS the same exact issue we had in 2007, although that contaminant could sicken and kill immediately, this recall is again because of a supplier gone wrong…just like ChemNutra..this supplier, Trouw Nutrition did not “catch” the error before it was shipped, the receiver (Nutro/Mars or last time Menu Foods et al) did not catch it when received, during production, or post production…In 2007 it was announced due to test animals dying (or maybe because IAM’s was going public) but this time the damage may not be as noticable as soon as the acute renal failure was…

Comment by Carol V — May 26, 2009 @ 1:23 pm
I totally agree with Steve. If the companies are proud of their product, they would name their suppliers and vendors and who makes the final product. Logically, it seems to be they are afraid of something, but what?

I now am afraid, afraid my cats will get poisoned by some other pet food company.

Comment by Colorado Transplant — May 26, 2009 @ 1:49 pm
How interesting…the timing…ChemNutra’s deceptive, toxic adulterant experts, Stephen S. and Sally Qing Miller, criminally charged for the 2007 Pet Food Recall, will go on trial June 8th.

Will the outcome set a precedent for Trouw Nutrition’s role in the current Nutro recall?

And about Nutro, now I’m wishing that (only three weeks ago!) I hadn’t thrown out that bag of 2006 Nutro dog food that I was saving (just in case) because I thought it had made my dog deathly ill - again. First time was in 2002 and I had a sample of that food too.

I haven’t since, and for as long as I live, I will never ever buy Nutro products. Period.

Comment by NadineL — May 26, 2009 @ 3:00 pm
The only reason I would buy it is to test it..(hmmm…where is the wink emoticon)

Comment by Carol V — May 26, 2009 @ 3:16 pm
Check a hog farm or chicken farm for samples of the “recalled” food, you will be EATING the animals who eat it, due to an FDA oversight, very soon.

Nadine, the only real question is how egregiously the victims from this incident are going to get screwed by the class action lawyers.
That is next.
Already the vultures circle.

The royal screwing by the pet food company, in this case Nutro, plus Trouw, aided and abetted by the FDA and traditional media , of the pets and pet parents, is already in progress.
As is the suffering of the pets.

The 2007 recall has not ended yet.

Comment by Imissmypets — May 26, 2009 @ 3:42 pm
And the 2007 recall tragedy started in 2006, that is how I think of it , because that is when the dying started for me, the damned pet food industry does NOT get to tell me how to mark the time when they killed my pets!

I digress.

Comment by Imissmypets — May 26, 2009 @ 3:46 pm
IMISS,

That’s very sad. How many dear pets did you lose?

Comment by 5CatMom — May 26, 2009 @ 4:42 pm
Three cats, both dogs. So far.

Comment by Imissmypets — May 26, 2009 @ 4:49 pm
Imissmypets

That is indeed very sad! I am so sorry.

Comment by Colorado Transplant — May 26, 2009 @ 6:24 pm
I’m getting REALLY tired of reading tweets re: remember - it’s a VOLUNTARY recall!

Please, when spreading the word, ensure that you mention that the FDA has NO legal ability to force a recall - ALL recalls are “voluntary”.

Ugh.

Comment by Kim — May 26, 2009 @ 6:40 pm
That, and “for BETTER links … ” with a link to Nutro site instead of ConsumerAffairs.com. Not to mention, the “Ambassadors” are now not IDing themselves as being product reps, which is kinda skanky, frankly.

Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 26, 2009 @ 7:29 pm
To me it is not right and never will be right for the FDA not to have legal ability to force a recall.

It takes much longer when the FDA finally gets the company to recall the defective products. Meanwhile pets suffer and die. Heart breaking, horrific, and infuriating is what I call the lack of a recall law for the FDA.

Comment by Colorado Transplant — May 26, 2009 @ 8:06 pm
IMISS,

That’s a terrible loss. I’m so sorry.

Comment by 5CatMom — May 26, 2009 @ 8:21 pm
I have a list of “never buy again” pet foods too…and there are other brands besides Nutro on it.

I will never, ever buy any of the brands that were recalled in 2007, plus one other brand that managed to squeak through without being caught. I believe that my cat died from that one, and I personally know of two others that died from it also. I won’t even buy other products that they manufacture…I have just gotten my kitties off of their cat litter lately, which has turned awful anyway…smells like a bad perfume factory.

If the pet food manufacturers think that we have forgotten about this…they are wrong!

I just did a speech on it a couple of weeks ago, and people were “floored.” They had no clue. People need to hear the truth.

Comment by Marcy — May 26, 2009 @ 8:44 pm
CT - I agree.

And yes, the twitter skanks are getting SERIOUSLY bothersome. Gina - got a kick out of your ambassador warning on your Nutro tweet… lol

One of those cases where tweets need to be more than 140 characters! (Should be long enough to tag “Nutro Ambassadors Need Not Reply” to the end of each #nutrorecall tweet)

And REALLY… where is the media??! Why is it that the mainstream media can over-report the HELL out of some innocuous story like Bo Obama/Barack Gets A Burger With Dijon/Michelle Bares Arms but a fairly massive recall involving multiple countries and a food that was just recently involved in the largest, most deadly pet food recall of all time - and is STILL in court over said recall - is completely and utterly ignored??!

I just do NOT understand. What can WE do to change this?

(Honestly, I’ve heard news reports about Jon & Kate Plus 8 at least a dozen times tonight - including Larry King Live. I’m assuming from the coverage that they are having marital issues, which is very sad I’m sure - but can we get on with some actual NEWS PLEASE?!)

**My apologies for the accentuation via the caps lock… I’m just so far beyond frustrated at this point today…)**

Comment by Kim — May 26, 2009 @ 9:11 pm
Kim, I agree, where is the coverage on CNN and others news stations? I havent seen anything on TV nor their sites, how many cats are currently still eating the recalled food because the average person doesnt know its been recalled? Did Nutro not tell them or are the news stations choosing not to run the recall? This is crazy. This is not much different than some of these silent recalls I have seen at other pet food websites, the only exception is FDA put out a press release but thats all Ive seen.
Oh and by the way, I looked up the true defination of “ambassador” at Wiki. All I can say is these Nutro tweeters are no ambassadors…I can think of something else they might be similar to but probably shouldnt write it here. (-:

Comment by Sandi K — May 26, 2009 @ 11:42 pm
The other thing Ive noticed is even though many pet sites are talking about this such as this site and some others, they dont all come up in a search like I thought they would. How does this work? Parties cant pay to limit search links, can they?

Comment by Sandi K — May 26, 2009 @ 11:47 pm
I just spoke with CNN and AP and they didnt sound like they knew anything about this recall. Maybe tomorrow we will start to see some coverage….or not. Will be calling some more news organizations.

Comment by Sandi K — May 27, 2009 @ 12:29 am
Here’s an update from PFPSA.

PFPSA has been testing food for 2 years. If you’d like to help the testing effort, please go to http://www.pfpsa.org/news.html

Indeed, who will guard us from the guardians?

Well said, my friend.

“May 26, 2009: What a difference an international border makes! The European Union sets a maximum of 250 ppm zinc in all animal foods, with a recommended maximum of 150 ppm (mg/kg). (Scroll down to page 43) Compare that to the AAFCO maximum of 1,000 ppm in dog food and 2,000 ppm in cat food. By any measure of such things, the EU is light years ahead of the US in food safety. It makes a difference when food safety is regulated by industry lobbyists versus responsible professionals who recognize the fact they may have to consume the products they regulate.

Most of us remember the deadly pet food recalls of 2007. What few pet owners realize, however, is that AAFCO aggressively lobbied for allowing nonprotein nitrogen in pet food and in fact was able to slip the allowance past numerous state legislatures, including Washington State. By AAFCO standards, melamine and cyanuric acid in pet food was nothing more than a labeling violation, as AAFCO sees nothing wrong with including those substances in pet food at up to 1.25%. Using cyanuric acid, for example, by AAFCO standards, would allow 5,875 ppm cyanuric acid content in pet food, provided the label included a decidedly deceptive disclaimer of “This includes not more than 1.25% equivalent crude protein, which is not nutritionally available as protein”. The reckless and incompetent disregard for pet food safety by AAFCO is monumentally staggering. In one study, as little as 30 mg/kg day destroyed the kidneys of lab animals in six months. As an ancient Roman once said, “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” Who will guard us from the guardians?”

http://www.pfpsa.org/news.html

Comment by 5CatMom — May 27, 2009 @ 3:56 am
I just sent the Nutro link (and the consumeraffairs link) to my local news station in RI… Nothing was being covered at the local level either…Maybe this is the “have to do something about this” that is easy as an email!!!
Think about how many cats may be eating this right now…

Comment by Carol V — May 27, 2009 @ 4:09 am
The pet food companies “mobbed up” a lot of pet forums, after the 2006-7 recall,pet food problems cannot honestly be discussed on those forums.
Nutro was READY to shut down pet owners trying to get the news out on twitter and forums.

Pet owners need a way to communicate that is TOTALLY uncontaminated by any association with any pet food company.
I have some ideas about that. It can be done.

It is time to declare war, flat out, take no prisoners, shut this Nutro poison factory down,
drive them from the market place and teach the pet food companies a lesson about who has the power. Pet owners HAVE that power but are not using it.

Can twitter accounts be shut down for abuse? Can complaints about twitter users who shill for the pet food companies be made public?

The possibly fake “nutritionist” that Nutro has giving non answers on forums needs to be looked into by every authority that can be found for ethics complaints.

Nutro poison is being sold TODAY, Nutro poison is being fed to pets TODAY, it has to stop.

If a vet would step up and get the news on TV, that would help, don’t hold your breath. It is a big black blot on the rep of every single veterinarian that not a single one is asking TV stations for airtime to get the news out before MORE PETS DIE!

This Nutro poison story is not hardly mentioned on alltop for pets, geez, does alltop shill for pet food companies now?
If google is taking money to help the pet food company then THAT news needs to be spread.
No one who assists Nutro is your friend, they are a target!

Tell pet store managers that you refuse to shop there if they carry ANY Nutro product.
If your local TV is not carrying the news, call the local businesses that advertise on that TV station and tell them you are boycotting THEM. Tell them why!

The candy that Mars makes? Do you think children would want it if they knew the company also sells deadly poison to the family pet? Every candy bar that you can keep from being sold is less money for Mars to use against pet owners.

Children are a LOT more interested in saving the planet than they used to be, educate them on the unethical practices of Mars! Save the planet by buying NOTHING from this ghastly company!

Considering the record of this company , it simply is not safe to let kids eat it anyway.
THAT news will get out if we push it.

Comment by Imissmypets — May 27, 2009 @ 5:27 am
We know that flies can chase a mule into a stream.

Here’s something easy that everyone can do:

Help get the word out by posting recall news on as many sites as possible, even if they’re not pet related, especially if they’re not pet related. Most forums have a thread for miscellaneous topics of interest.

Here’s a legal blog which posted the Nutro recall, and provided a link to ConsumerAffairs.com where about 800 (or so) consumer Nutro complaints are posted. Notice that you can comment on the article.

http://www.foodpoisonblog.com/

This aquarium forum doesn’t focus on dogs and cats, but it has more than 25K members, and there’s a thread, “The Water Bucket”, for various topics. Looks like Rockylou posted the Nutro recall news.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.....s-dry.html

((Rockylou visits various medical, chemistry, and engineering forums. Unfortunately, he sometimes forgets to save the links.

On good authority, I know that Rocklou collects duct tape and plastic sheeting (as recommended by the Department of Homeland Security), and is an avid fish keeper. But he knows absolutely nothing about some of that other stuff. No matter. Rockylou knows how to write simple sentences, and click the “post” button.))

The point being, you don’t have to be an expert on the forum’s main subject to post there.

Always try to include links back to our super pet forums and Consumer Affairs.

Those 800 complaints can’t be ignored forever, even though PFCs would like to.

Furry hugs.

Join the testing effort
http://www.pfpsa.org/

May 26, Nutro Update:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com.....oia06.html

800 Complaints
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html

Pet Forums
http://www.petconnection.com/blog/
http://thepetfoodlist.com/forums/index.php
http://www.itchmoforums.com/index.php

Lots of other good forums.

You guys remember flip-flops and tie-dyes. Just do it.

Comment by 5CatMom — May 27, 2009 @ 5:46 am
Imiss…there is one forum that is still fighting to stay “mobbed by pet owners” not the pet food industry… Check it out… Lots of good debate and ideas… here’s the thread to the current Nutro recall -15 pages of discussions among pet owners (many of whom lost pets due to the melamine cocktail) Just one more place that people of the same desire can post! We even have some Pet food CEO’s come and go and we ask the tough questions and want them answered and don’t give up..
http://itchmoforums.com/news-r.....#msg122565

Comment by Carol V — May 27, 2009 @ 6:02 am
Agree. I work on this stuff all day long - it’s like a job.

Can’t win if you don’t play.

LOL, I plan to win.

Comment by 5CatMom — May 27, 2009 @ 7:30 am
Another, easy to do: Call your FDA consumer coordinator, and ask what can they tell you about the Nutro cat food recall.

http://www.fda.gov/opacom/back.....plain.html

Just left a message for mine.

Comment by 5CatMom — May 27, 2009 @ 7:35 am
oops..didn’t mean to post the same link …didn’t see it when I posted…(must have needed more coffee)I’m awake now…off to Twitter

Comment by Carol V — May 27, 2009 @ 7:45 am
Have you heard about the online AND offline because we keep it a couple of pages, printable, free, NO advertising and no bs either, newspaper for pet owners affected by the recalls? And pet owners who want to AVOID being affected by poisoned pet food?
Recall news or rumors on EVERY front page!
We don’t stop writing stories until pet food quits killing pets.

Every printer in the world is free to print off the news, pass it on to other pet lovers. Turns any printer into OUR newspaper. No way to stop THAT media. No need to beg either.
Would you LIKE that?

The NO ADS ALLOWED part ought to help make it popular- no money involved at all. I have a way.

A citizen early warning system for poison pet food is what is called for, so that is what we do.
What do you think?

Comment by Imissmypets — May 27, 2009 @ 8:00 am
On twitter, follow:

Homerwills

Comment by 5CatMom — May 27, 2009 @ 8:01 am
IMISS,

Great idea. Go for it.

Comment by 5CatMom — May 27, 2009 @ 8:05 am
Homerwills appears to be gone?

Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 27, 2009 @ 8:19 am
http://twitter.com/Homerwills

http://twitter.com/cvec

Comment by Carol V — May 27, 2009 @ 8:31 am
I still see that tweeter….so

I just pasted a couple of links ..maybe in filter?

Comment by Carol V — May 27, 2009 @ 8:32 am
Released. Gahhhhh … I hate going into the spam folder. Feel as if I need a shower after, with LOTS of soap.

Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 27, 2009 @ 9:17 am
Are there any rumors, tidbits, whiffs about any other pet food companies at this point, or is it just Nutro (so far)?

There. 100 comments. Happy Wednesday!

Comment by Susan Fox — May 27, 2009 @ 9:22 am
Last night and this morning I have contacted:

ABC News
CBS News
CNN
Fox News
PBS
The Los Angeles Times
The New York Times
USA Today
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
Newsweek
Time
US News
Associated Press
Reuters

Everyone I spoke with acted like they knew nothing about this recall and took the info down along with the website addy’s I provided. Several of them clearly stated they didnt know about it. None of them have anything about it at their websites except MSNBC and United Press Int’l and those stories are already long buried. So is it that they know and didnt think it was news enough to post anything or did they really not know? This is absolutely crazy. Im hoping at least some of these, if not all, will at least post something at their websites. I wonder how many cats out there are still eating this recalled food.

Comment by Sandi K — May 27, 2009 @ 9:33 am
Hi! Recall? No problem! Try this bag! Oh it’s recalled too? Oops sorry! Here try . . uh oh

Comment by Ambassador Tweety — May 27, 2009 @ 10:20 am
I commend you, Sandi K, for contacting all the news media.

You are lighting all the candles you can to get the word out!

Comment by Colorado Transplant — May 27, 2009 @ 11:29 am
I’ve noticed that when this IS in the paper — as it was in the SF Chronicle today — or on a website, as it was on Yahoo’s AP feed — it’s buried in the Business News section. Which means those who most need to see it probably won’t.

Seems like I’ve got some emailing to do.

Comment by Eucritta — May 27, 2009 @ 12:26 pm
The very first mention of the 2007 pet-food recall I saw was buried deep inside the Wall Street Journal, a short article at the bottom of a page, that focused on the problem the recall might cause for Menu Foods.

Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 27, 2009 @ 12:29 pm
Sandi,

Very good job. When AP and Reuters run the story, it should start showing up.

Gina,

Thanks for correcting my twitter info. LOL, can you tell I’m a newbie?

Comment by 5CatMom — May 27, 2009 @ 12:34 pm
Whenever something like this happens (recall, etc.) I hit the email, and send it out to everyone on my list…and hopefully they do the same when it’s received.

Comment by Marcy — May 27, 2009 @ 12:36 pm
Apparently the Associated Press is running the recall story!!!! Yay!

Comment by Sandi K — May 27, 2009 @ 1:01 pm
Sandi K, you made that look so easy!

Great, great work.

Comment by 5CatMom — May 27, 2009 @ 1:12 pm
Time to look for all the news stories that will begin showing up on sites, and make lots and lots of angry comments.

Let the good times roll!

Comment by 5CatMom — May 27, 2009 @ 1:18 pm
Food engineering picked up up the AP story!

http://www.foodengineering.info/

Comment by 5CatMom — May 27, 2009 @ 1:25 pm
Good job!

Spread the word — tweet, FB, etc. Let pet-lovers know the food has been recalled.

Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 27, 2009 @ 1:26 pm
Do not forget that Nutro is doing jack squat to get the news out.
Hit that point HARD!

Pets are eating POISON, Nutro brand poison and Nutro is more concerned with covering up the story than stopping the poisoning of pets.
Some pet owners are not happy about that detail, the replies are smoking hot mad.

It is my DUTY as a pet owner who knows firsthand the pain and cost of feeding poison pet food, to warn other pet lovers before their pets die! Too bad Nutro does not feel the same.

Mention of twitter paid shills and trolls might be useful, too. Seems to tick people off.
I can’t imagine why.
I must go edit some things to include more… incendiary
and incriminating details.

Is FB facebook? Teh interwebs, they confuse me.

Comment by Imissmypets — May 27, 2009 @ 1:58 pm
“The company says it hasn’t received any complaints so far. Those who bought items affected by the recall should return it to the retailer.”

From the AP story posted on Google five hours ago.
I don’t think this is what we had in mind.

Return the food = bury the body, quick. I was dumb enough to do that in 2007 and there went the evidence that might have proved what caused my dog’s illness.

Comment by Susan Fox — May 27, 2009 @ 2:11 pm
Yeah Gina…. let us make some noise…Let make sure the PFI knows that pet owners can and will make a difference…

Awesome Sandi K!!! I am proud to read your posts!!!!

Comment by Carol V — May 27, 2009 @ 2:13 pm
Susan, at least they are covering it. I gave them ideas on other questions they should ask such as QC issues, etc but no one seems to want to ask the hard questions of these companies. Running the story is better than nothing if it gets a cat off of it before they get sick. The AP story also doesnt say its specific kinds of dry food but I provided the Nutro and FDA links so not sure what else I could do. Im hoping to see more than the AP running it soon.

Comment by Sandi K — May 27, 2009 @ 2:28 pm
That’s true and you’ve done a fantastic job getting the word out to so many media outlets.

I guess that quote is what would be considered “balanced reporting”. But it’s easy to say you’ve gotten no complaints if you’ve essentially taken your phone off the hook.

Comment by Susan Fox — May 27, 2009 @ 2:38 pm
Susan, Or haven’t read consumeraffairs.com

Comment by Carol V — May 27, 2009 @ 2:42 pm
Never underestimate the power of a few pissed off pet lovers!

Comment by Carol V — May 27, 2009 @ 2:44 pm
Sandi K has just done more to protect pets from poison than Nutro EVER has!

What a hero you are, Sandi.
All hail Sandi K!

Comment by Imissmypets — May 27, 2009 @ 3:03 pm
Agreed, great job Sandi!!

Incidentally, I’ve been emailing and calling all of my contacts trying to sort out what’s from who and who’s safe and what’s ok…

I’m getting a lot of run around and even more “we’ll get back to you.”

Champion Pet Foods, however - makers of Orijen and Acana - did confirm with me that all of their products conform to European Union standards. More information about EU standards is available on Don’s website at http://www.pfpsa.org/news.html

As 5CatMom posted earlier, EU standards for Zinc max out at 250mg/kg for dogs and cats. AAFCO standards max out at 1,000mg/kg for dogs and 2,000mg/kg for cats.

EU standards also require that both the manufacturer AND the suppliers be regularly tested AND audited to ensure compliance.

Perhaps this is the kind of thing we should be pushing for here in North America. Regulation 1774 essentially states that all ingredients must be fit for human consumption. View the details here

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUr.....74:EN:HTML

I am just so unbelievably blown away by this… why is the US/Canada always so far behind??!

Comment by Kim — May 27, 2009 @ 3:23 pm
Kim, I think you’re onto something. Instead of being stuck jumping up and down trying to draw attention to this issue, here’s a model to offer for what ought to be done. Could it be boiled down to an “abstract” or summary that could also go to the media and sympathetic legislators?

The objection that comes to mind would be along the lines of the “not invented here” syndrome, which can be countered with “Ok, then come up with pet food standards that will be enforced and that will end these recalls.”

Comment by Susan Fox — May 27, 2009 @ 3:48 pm
I am blown away by this as it will be one week tomorrow that this recall was announced but not until today did it get picked up by the mainstream media…How many cat owners are feeding this from their cupboards without a clue there is a problem?? Even one is too many…And from the Nutro press release it stated that they “found this out” 3 days before..So it has been 10 days before it is “really” made public!!

Comment by Carol V — May 27, 2009 @ 3:51 pm
A good place to comment. Just need a name and email addy.

Would be good for the food poisoning lawyers to know how you feel.

This is one of Bill Marler’s sites. He goes to Washington to testify before the congress critters.

We could benefit by his interest in our favorite subject.

http://www.foodpoisonblog.com/...../#comments

Comment by 5CatMom — May 27, 2009 @ 3:51 pm
Congress critters and bureaucrats have limited attention spans.

Jumping up and down - they understand that.

Comment by 5CatMom — May 27, 2009 @ 4:02 pm
Aaaw shucks you guys, thank you. Really though, there is no heroism involved, just wanting to save someone’s cat from getting sick or….worse, like what happened to mine in March 2007. Everyone here is just trying to do their best. If things worked correctly in the pet food world, we wouldnt have to be doing any of this.

Comment by Sandi K — May 27, 2009 @ 4:07 pm
Just visited that blog. Sobering, to say the least. Read the latest post and am starting to wonder about going out to eat anymore to any restaurant where I’m not really confident about their food handling and sourcing. We already won’t eat factory-farmed meat, so that eliminates most places.

Something is really, seriously haywire in this country in regards to food (she said, stating the obvious), both pet and human. It used to be that you could buy a meal somewhere and maybe it wouldn’t be great, but you didn’t have to worry about it practically killing you. Kind of like pet food.

Comment by Susan Fox — May 27, 2009 @ 4:13 pm
I think *you’re* on to something, Susan…

An abstract version of the EU regulations would be ideal. Quite frankly, I have a difficult time keeping my comments to a few paragraphs, I can’t imagine trying to condense all of this information…

I’ve been working on a few projects along this line, although I doubt much will actually come out of any of them, they’ve proven to make good handouts when broken down.

I’m also sure that there are portions of the EU regulations that will be assessed as inadequate - I haven’t had the opportunity to read through them entirely.

In fact, I’ve been going over another one of Champion’s practices (ok really - I’m not trying to push Champion here, it just happens that they’re the first ones who got back to me with an acceptable response). Apparently they’ve been practicing HACCP standards for some time now and are working towards getting their certification.

So here’s the thing - even if AAFCO doesn’t pull up its boot straps and get its act together, even if the powers that be turn away (AGAIN) and continue to fail the consumer at every turn, that doesn’t stop us from demanding these things from the companies we purchase from.

Call every pet food manufacturer your dollar supports and tell them that you DEMAND that they meet EU standards as well. That you EXPECT industry leading standards like HACCP. These labels (human grade, preservative free, GMO free, EU certified, USDA Organic, HACCP certified) should be STANDARD right alongside AAFCO/CVMA/FDA/USDA seals of approval. Then maybe the latter four will actually mean something.

Obviously holding them to the “standard” is not working. Perhaps we should be holding them to the “ideal.”

Comment by Kim — May 27, 2009 @ 4:37 pm
I like that. A lot.

If enough buyers of a brand “inquire”, “request” or “demand” that the maker follow the EU standard or they’ll take their business to someone who will, that might start to make a dent.

Maybe you and Heather H. and whoever else want to could form a committee ;0) and come up with some consistent, precise verbiage parsed from the EU regs. that we could all use.

It could form the basis of opinion pieces or letters to the editor that could be sent to (what’s left of) our local newspapers to raise awareness. Also letters to local businesses that sell pet food, sharing our concerns,

Drive this from the grassroots, which will put at least indirect pressure on the FDA. This would be something any member of the general public could do without having to become an expert in the issue. Simply put, we have the right to trust our food supply, both for ourselves and our pets. Here’s a way to address th pet food part.

Comment by Susan Fox — May 27, 2009 @ 4:58 pm
A Pet Food Manifesto. That’s what we need.

Comment by Susan Fox — May 27, 2009 @ 5:01 pm
A Petition, maybe, that we could all sign?

Just a thought.

Comment by Colorado Transplant — May 27, 2009 @ 5:04 pm
Susan - I love it.

Sadly, I am ill-equipped to be on the writing front… doG knows I’ve got enough to say (ask anyone on my FB ;O) but I’m not exactly… eloquent?

Oh hell, who am I kidding. On rough days I’m not exactly coherent. lol

But I am most certainly in agreement, and fully available to contribute in any other fashion.

There’s another point that’s been bothering me as well. This “proprietary information” bs that’s floating around. When WDJ approves these companies for their “List” it was my understanding that transparency regarding manufacturing processes is part of this procedure.

Transparency with WDJ is all well and good, but if that practice is not carried through onto the consumers, what good is it?! Why has it proven to be so ridiculously difficult to get details regarding who manufactures what and where, and who uses what supplier, which raw material and from what country of origin.

*This is ridiculous*

WDJ approved foods are listed here:
http://www.lab-retriever.net/b.....23218.html

Now, I’m one who believes that at least HALF of these foods should NOT be on this list. However, I would say that failure to provide complete disclosure to EVERY consumer who inquires (or even better, openly and honestly on their packaging and websites) results in their immediate removal from this list, with reasons stated. Even better, a “transparency test” should be devised and an updated list kept online with all of this information available for anyone who would like it.

Comment by Kim — May 27, 2009 @ 5:59 pm
Sent an email link to all my friends the day this posted, going to send it to the local media now.

Comment by kb — May 27, 2009 @ 9:21 pm
The AP thing is curious.

I called FDA and the “press release” posted on their site is provided to them by the company (Nutro). FDA doesn’t provide press releases to the media, instead they rely on the company to notify the media WHEN SUCH NOTIFICATION IS REQUIRED.

Media notification is only required for Class I recalls.

Nutro’s recall wasn’t Class I.

So, could be that Nutro didn’t notify AP.

If anyone has more facts on what happened, please post.

Otherwise, will work on this tomorrow.

Comment by 5CatMom — May 27, 2009 @ 10:50 pm
The Nutro action IS on the FDA Web site, and I guarantee you the AP gets the FDA recall news feed — along with a million billion other bits of information.

Now … as for what Nutro did or didn’t do, regarding the AP, let’s stick to the facts and the probabilities. In fact, Nutro was VERY pro-active on the recall in terms of media outreach, if our experience here is any indication. Nutro e-mailed us the announcement before the FDA had it posted. I would bet you they did the same thing with the major media. Credit where credit is due.

What’s more likely: The destruction of the tradition news media by changing media consumption and advertising patterns has left newsrooms nearly empty, with the remaining reporters and editors highly more likely to overlook information coming over the transom.

Never attribute to malice what can be laid at the feet of incompetence. And the ranks of the staggering traditional news media is not up to much competence now.

In other words, I don’t find it curious at all.

The continues problems with food for people AND pets continues to be more than curious to me — it’s a horrifying terror, and huge and preventable disaster of an even larger scale waiting to happen.

Update and note: One of the people who covered the 2007 recall was the L.A. Times’ Abby Goodman, a Pulitzer-winning reporter. (Her Pulitzer work on Wal-Mart forcing all our manufacturing to China is well worth finding, by the way.) What is Abby doing now? Raising kids and free-lancing a little. She left the L.A. Times in one of their rounds of massive staff cuts.

This is your democracy without journalists.

Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 28, 2009 @ 6:03 am
The problems with Nutro brand pet food are long standing as are the unacceptable attitudes toward customers. Damage control by paid “ambassador”and refusal to truthfully answer customer questions is overtaking the
lack of quality as the major issue that must be addressed.

Pet owners, themselves, are fueling this issue by unseemly, pathetic enthusiasm for the slightest contact with pet food company CEO’S.
A “hit and run” post, consisting only of company boilerplate half truth, is met with submissive groveling and fervent unwarranted gratitude.
This is sickening to watch and reinforces the perception of pet owners as very needy, attention seeking children, easily manipulated.

Pet owners are viewed as sources of cash, targeted by high emotional index
advertising and that is how the situation will remain until pet owners break the destructive cycle.

A brief look at two suggestions in this very thread will make the point.
Manifesto is a powerful word, equal to equal.
Petition is a weak word, supplicant to power.
Which word is used matters.

Consumer is a weak word. Consumer means slave.
Customer is strong. Customers have the power to buy, or not.
Until, and unless, pet owners find the strength to negotiate from
an upright stance, as opposed to kneeling, pets will pay the price.

Comment by Longlostpets — May 28, 2009 @ 6:12 am
For sure, I’m getting an education, here.

Sorry my media savy is soooo pitiful, but I’m trying to learn.

Here’s a fact (at least I hope it is - not sure I know, these days):

The New Orleans FDA recall coordinator (not the complaint coordinator) who is “responsible” (not clear exactly what that means) for the Nutro recall just returned my phone call (that is a fact, but some may call it “hearsay”).

She said that Nutro contacted PR Newswire, and PR Newswire “released” the story.

Sure enough, here it is:
http://www.prnewswire.com/

I don’t see a date, but maybe it’s there somewhere.

Furry hugs.

Comment by 5CatMom — May 28, 2009 @ 7:31 am
Finally got a response from 1 of the local stations.Just says thank you for the tip though.

Comment by Leslie K — May 28, 2009 @ 7:55 am
Guess because someone views me as a weak, easily manipulated, needy attention seeking child slave, I’ll go slink off into a corner and wither away…..NOT. What I will actually be doing is continuing to contact media venues to make sure the word has gotten out as much as possible that there is yet another, what should have been avoidable pet food recall that isnt being advertised enough, in my eyes, for whatever reason. And after that I will continue to ask questions including why did it happen again? If a company claims such strong quality control measures are in place but yet a product is allowed to go out on store shelves without a what appears to me as a relatively basic, simple check of nutrient levels, then why? I guess I will continue to believe that buying pet food should be a safe thing to do for everyone but in reality isnt. I’ll also be doing whatever I can to see that the way thse companies do business doesnt stay status quo and that accountability and responsibility arent forgotten words in their dictionaries. And I guess I’ll continue to think that maybe Im helping just one pet that eats commerical food by doing all this. Oh and by the way, I wont be apologizing just because someone thinks this is sickening to watch. So thats what I’ll be doing today.

Comment by Sandi K — May 28, 2009 @ 8:25 am
And I will spend part of my time correcting one the Nutro ambassadors on twitter when they post this.. “Voluntary recall means being proactive & safe which I think is better since I feed Nutro too.” Sadly it seems that maybe these ambassadors are not told that there is no such thing as a mandatory recall? … Remember Menu Foods initiated a voluntary recall too in March 2007…However, to me, a voluntary recall might be something like this …a pet food company issues a voluntary recall when they think that MAYBE there is a problem with the food immediately—-not days after testing indicates a definite problem…like with the pre-mixes in this current recall.

Comment by Carol V — May 28, 2009 @ 8:49 am
Nutro is using Twitter to create buzz and drive purchase. And in this case divert and control the message away from the thousands of tons of recalled food, (probably tens of thousands of tons) and steer those consumer dollars right into another one of their products.

Pretty sick stuff

Comment by Steve — May 28, 2009 @ 9:50 am
And considering Mar’s is the number one global pet food market share leader also show’s why people need to stop supporting these behemoths
and start supporting smaller higher quality brands.

Comment by Steve — May 28, 2009 @ 9:52 am
Sandi, none of that was meant toward you! How could it? You are doing a great job.

But actions taken here are being watched , closely, by marketing, damage control and PR for many pet food companies. The pet food companies had a plan in place to “handle” pet owners and pet owners did not and do not have a plan to “handle” pet food companies.

There are evaluations being made by the pet food companies that take that exact view, or worse, of pet owners. Did you think the lack of respect given pet owners is an accident?
It’s not.
Dealing with pet food companies from a position of weakness and perceived ineffectiveness, and doing that where you know you are being watched, is a certain path to failure.

A word to the wise is often sufficient, I hope.
Makes for better results.

I did not sell poison to your pets or dismiss your concerns, we all know who did.
They are here, right now, watching and making plans to handle the petulant children who won’t shut up.

That is a weakness on their part, it should be…exploited.
Just saying…

Comment by Longlostpets — May 28, 2009 @ 9:58 am
Guess because someone views me as a weak, easily manipulated, needy attention seeking child slave, I’ll go slink off into a corner and wither away…..NOT.

Comment by Sandi K — May 28, 2009

If you’re saying that’s what *I* think … you couldn’t be more wrong. But I was making the larger point that slow, spiraling death of mainstream media isn’t without consequences, and greater oversight of business and government is one of those consequences.

Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 28, 2009 @ 10:02 am
Good. Then they should know that we will all vote with our pocketbooks and, that in the future, the burden will be on them to prove that the pet food they are selling is safe.

Trustworthy transparency as to the ingredients, their sources and who all the “middlemen” are who do parts of the process like the “pre-mixers” or we and our wallets walk. And our retailers will know why.

Free hint: Signing of for and following EU standards would be a good place to start. Start figuring out how you’re going to do it, because the pressure starts in 3….2….1

Comment by Susan Fox — May 28, 2009 @ 10:12 am
I still am asking…How did this “mix-up” with the two pre-mixes go undetected for 6 months? I am not a vet but I do know what low potassium does to cats….saw it firsthand in Feb and March of 2007….I didn’t know what the hanging head or the wobbly legs meant then but I do now…
Is this the answer? This is from the Nutro FAQ’s site..”Q10 How was this issue not caught by Nutro’s product testing protocols?
Since the production error was inadvertent, we had no indication that special consideration was necessary.” Hmmm… I thought that was what QC/QA was for…silly me… I guess they have to know of a problem to test for a problem…What am I missing here???

And we do need to remember this is not just a pet food companies mistake…it is also the supplier’s error so it could have been any brand, no matter how large or small…Only caught possibly with good QC/QA…

Comment by Carol V — May 28, 2009 @ 10:17 am
Dontcha gotta wonder who else buys this particular “premix”?

Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 28, 2009 @ 10:19 am
And how many layers of manufacturing there actually are between the raw ingredients and the bag of kibble on the shelf?

Comment by Susan Fox — May 28, 2009 @ 10:21 am
Gina, That is why I called Trouw…and then Nutro called me back…Mr Mike Hooper of Trouw/Nutreco has apologized to me in an email…said he didn’t know my number was unlisted…Even though my two questions were specific to Trouw… it still got sent to Nutro…But I am now off to send him an email asking those same questions (actually Nutro now publically has posted Trouw is the supplier so I have one question now)

Comment by Carol V — May 28, 2009 @ 10:25 am
Carol - keep us posted regarding Trouw’s response. An apology was warranted, yes - but answers are what is truly needed.

Susan - here, here. The more time I spend going over these EU requirements, the more I want MY food to come with an EU assurance label.

Sandi - I don’t think any of that was directed at you, although I do understand where you’re coming from. This issue is one that ALL of us are extremely passionate about, and there are days when our frustration reaches a boiling point. I do agree in part with LongLostPets - these recalls are very similar to the Ford issues of long ago (when the gas tanks were found to explode and it was decided that lawsuits were cheaper than recalls). The actions of many companies is extremely measured, to the point where it is difficult not to feel like a number on a page.

Gina - Credit is due where credit is due, and yes, it should be mentioned that Nutro made efforts to get the word out to the interwebs. The motivation for that is questionable, but well, the motivation for EVERYTHING is in question these days, isn’t it? It is such a fine line in the sand. Once the mistake is made, it is almost impossible for these companies to “do right.” After the menu foods nightmare, no mistake is going to be forgiven - and while I understand that, one has to wonder just how realistic that is.

Of course, this is a poor example of that point - this is a mistake that has ZERO excuses. This should have been caught IMMEDIATELY. The most BASIC QA/QC should have identified and corrected this problem several times over.

Perhaps included with the manifesto should be some guidelines for handling these issues. What do we want, really? And I’m not trying to play devil’s advocate here, I’m really serious. Let’s get a step-by-step together. Understand that we have to be realistic in our expectations - but let’s make THEM understand that they have to measure up to OURS.

So much of these recalls are reactionary - and it’s obviously not working for anyone involved. Let’s face it, the PFC’s are not going to be proactive in any area that doesn’t involve covering their own a$$ - we may very well have to draw our line in the sand and just see who is willing to step over.

Comment by Kim — May 28, 2009 @ 11:22 am
Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 28, 2009 @ 10:02 am

Gina, I positively, 100%, know you dont think that of me, Im sorry if I misled anyone including you to think that. You are one of my heroes.

Comment by Sandi K — May 28, 2009 @ 11:24 am
Quick additional note - Google news FINALLY dumped a recall notice in my mailbox. This morning.

Comment by Kim — May 28, 2009 @ 11:26 am
Kim, I will post my info but have to say I am expecting the “P” word…Which will make me say the “#%$@” word….

Comment by Carol V — May 28, 2009 @ 11:37 am
I found a link for another story on Huffpost to this blog, which has a click through to email them news tips, so I just sent them the link to this post and said that the guts of the story are in the comments.

http://www.eandppub.com/

Gina, do you know these guys?

Comment by Susan Fox — May 28, 2009 @ 11:41 am
Editor and Publisher is the trade pub for the newspaper industry. Editor Gregg Mitchell is a regular poster to HuffPo and Kos as well, and the author of some pretty good books, mostly history.

I kinda know him, but have never met him in RL.

Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 28, 2009 @ 11:45 am
Me too Carol… me too.

Although I do have to admit, coming from a *supplier* I would say that client information is not something I would expect them to be giving out.

At least, not without clients’ permission.

Comment by Kim — May 28, 2009 @ 11:53 am
According to Trouw, Mr. Hooper, the premix was “completely unique” to Nutro and is not and was not supplied to any other Trouw customer.

When I asked him about specific brands using Trouw for their premixes/minerals they don’t disclose that due to confidentiality agreements.

As far as the levels of “excess” zinc - ask Nutro. They don’t know the “exact levels of zinc in the finished Nutro …”

As far as the form of zinc in excess - look at the label.

Umm, I need to re-ask Trouw the questions now.

Comment by offy — May 28, 2009 @ 11:56 am
Probably be easier to find out who is supplying North Korea with nuclear weapon technology than to find out who supplies who in the pet food industry….heavy sigh….

Comment by Carol V — May 28, 2009 @ 12:00 pm
It still bothers me that they have 2 pages of Quality assurance, etc at their site. When they say “Every lot of food is tested for key nutrients to verify that product design criteria are met including product shelf-life requirements.” I at first believe that they have this massive QC in place and they test nutrient levels. But if I re-read it very carefully it doesnt really say that. They have worded their whole QC mantra very carefully so that it could never be challenged and at the same time they lead people to think there is more in place than what there actually is.

Comment by Sandi K — May 28, 2009 @ 12:05 pm
Corrrection to above, I think I went a little overboard when I said I at first believe they have this massive QC in place. I know better than that. I guess it should be re-worded to say they imply they have massive QC in place….(-:

Comment by Sandi K — May 28, 2009 @ 12:09 pm
Opinion:

The mistake I made was trying to compare QA/QC of a regulated industry with that of an unregulated industry.

The pet food industry is not “regulated” — it’s “self-regulated”. This means that the so-called rules and regs have no force of law.

With recalls, we see the results of an out of control industry which uses our pets as their test subjects.

When bad things happen, recall insurance covers the damages, and PFCs move on.

The QA info on those websites was written by the Marketing Department and approved by the Legal Department.

To assign any credibility to it is stinkin’ thinkin’.

Just one person’s opinion, but based on my life’s work.

Comment by 5CatMom — May 28, 2009 @ 1:08 pm
LA Times has picked up the story today and even included a link to the consumeraffairs story… http://latimesblogs.latimes.co.....-food.html

Comment by Carol V — May 28, 2009 @ 1:12 pm
Carol,

Thanks for posting. I left a comment, but it’s not showing yet.

Comment by 5CatMom — May 28, 2009 @ 5:41 pm
Carol,

Thans for posting. I left a comment.

Comment by 5CatMom — May 28, 2009 @ 5:42 pm
Sorry, posting trouble.

Comment by 5CatMom — May 28, 2009 @ 5:44 pm
This is why its so important to get recalls out in as many places as possible. This is a comment from someone who read the LA Times story about the Nutro recall that came out just yesterday, so its obvious that people still dont know and here we are over a week since the recall was first announced:

Thank you LA Times for this story! I would have never known about the recall otherwise….

Posted by: Nicole, Los Angeles | May 28, 2009 at 04:23 PM

Comment by Sandi K — May 29, 2009 @ 5:56 am
My wording above is lousy, it should say its a comment from someone who read about the Nutro recall in the LA Times story that came out yesterday….didnt want to imply there was a new recall since the one last week. Sorry, its too early, off to get coffee and wake up.

Comment by Sandi K — May 29, 2009 @ 5:59 am
As I promised..here is the response back from Mike Hooper at Trouw Nutrition regarding who else they supply pre-mix too…It is not the “P” word as I thought, but it is the “C” word…you know, Confidentiality…
can’t blame a gal for tryin….

Comment by Carol V — May 29, 2009 @ 6:36 am
Carol, that’s OK. He got the benefit of hearing your opinions, too.

Thanks for all your hard work on this. We all just need to keep chanting the Mantra.

That LA Times link you found is great. A few comments are showing up - it takes a while.

Really hope folks will go there and post a comment.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.co.....-food.html

Comment by 5CatMom — May 29, 2009 @ 7:07 am
Hey all - Sandi K gets the credit for this one (again!!)

But this was too good not to cross post here as well. Sandi originally posted it on itchmoforums.

Srsly Sandi, you get the Nutro Recall 2009 medal of honor! :O)

http://efoodalert.blogspot.com.....-said.html

Comment by Kim — May 29, 2009 @ 6:04 pm
Kim, LOL thanks for that honor…I think, LOL But there are sooo many people in this thread that have been trying to get the word out on the recall. I read Phyllis Entis blog, she is a food safety microbiologist. So when I saw her writing some stuff on Nutro, I was interested in what she had to say considering her food safety background. It appears she was asking the questions on nutrient level testing before the recall happened, the same questions we all have now.

Comment by Sandi K — May 29, 2009 @ 6:24 pm
Kim actually, after thinking about this, I have decided I want no medal with the name Nutro attached to it…if thats OK. Your thoughts and sentiments are appreciated though. (-:

Comment by Sandi K — May 29, 2009 @ 6:36 pm
LOL - Yup, I can see where you’re coming from.

Incidentally, did you happen to check out the threads on itchmoforums re: the weird spots found in Natural Balance cans?

This junk will never end, will it? :O(

Comment by Kim — May 29, 2009 @ 9:04 pm
Didn’t someone put a post in the comments here a month or so ago about dogs getting sick and dying after eating Natural Balance ? Any news about that with the mold coming out now ?

Comment by Leslie K — May 29, 2009 @ 10:01 pm
TWO new cat deaths.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html

Please join Twitter and help spread the word.

Nutro shills are “tired” of hearing about the recall.

Search “nutro recall”

Comment by 5CatMom — May 30, 2009 @ 6:25 am
cbsnews.com has picked up the Nutro recall story!

Comment by Sandi K — May 30, 2009 @ 2:41 pm
Twitter folks, ReneeATNutro appears to be a hired shill for nutro and maybe not a NUTRITIONIST like she’s telling everyone. How DISHONEST!

http://reneemahoney.com/reneemahoney.com/home.html

Comment by 5CatMom — May 30, 2009 @ 10:15 pm
On twitter, it appears that “Nutro wages recall PR war against pet owners”.

Search “#Nutro”

Comment by 5CatMom — May 31, 2009 @ 8:14 am
The Nutro “ambassador” was front and center at my own special pet store yesterday. I really wanted to growl at her AND be mad at my store. But then they let me return a leash that I bought there 3 months ago, so I settled for studiously ignoring the rep. Next time I see the manager, I’m going to ask them about it, though.

Comment by Original Lori — June 1, 2009 @ 1:25 pm
FYI all, my friend was informed that those are two different individuals.

Need more folks in the Twitter trenches. Nutro has a PR battle going on. Pet owners need to win.

We’ll party back here afterwards, of course.

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Nutro+recall

Comment by 5CatMom — June 1, 2009 @ 11:18 pm
5CatMom—does one for to sign up for twitter.com to make a comment?

I was reluctant to sign up—but I did want to help to battle against Nutro’s PR.

Comment by Colorado Transplant — June 2, 2009 @ 6:07 am
Need to sign up for Twitter but can stay anonymous and decide who follows you as well as who you follow….It is a great way to get the word out to thousands.. I am on it…

I had a picnic saturday and no one had heard about the recall…most had pets…sad!

Comment by Carol V — June 2, 2009 @ 6:29 am
Thanks, Carol V.

I saw the Nutro representative’s table two weeks in a row. I also saw big bags of dog food on a special near the front of the store.

Sickened me, really!

Comment by Colorado Transplant — June 2, 2009 @ 8:09 am
http://www.consumeraffairs.com.....oia07.html
This is worth the double post…No complaints my “A -double- scribble”…you know…

Comment by Carol V — June 3, 2009 @ 3:04 pm
CT,

Go to twitter, and become “member”.

Have to have User Name and Password to participate.

Then follow my friend “homerwills”.

Comment by 5CatMom — June 5, 2009 @ 11:52 pm
LOL, a friend emailed:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.....post476851

Guess even the fish folks are working on this.

Thanks very much, you guys!

Comment by 5CatMom — June 5, 2009 @ 11:58 pm
FTC says that consumers should go to consumer complaint page and submit a complaint form. Here is link to the page:

http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/cmplanding.shtm

I couldn’t access the form online, so I called and submitted my complaint over the phone.

(202) 326-2222

The FTC representative said to call and report the problem; the more complaints, the higher the priority, and the faster they’ll take a look at it.

Here’re the issues:

1. Consumer Affairs website has 800, or so, complaints of dog/cat illness and death.
2. Only some cat food has been recalled (so what’s causing the dog complaints).
3 Nutro is saying “No complaints”.
4. Recalled food is still on shelves and being sold.
5. Vets have not been informed of the recall.
6. When you call Nutro, they give you a number.
7. When you call FDA, no one answers, no one returns calls.
8. The media isn’t covering the story well (who cares about cat food?), so people are still using the food.

Without being able to view the form, not sure what other info you guys may need. LOL, from the posts here, I don’t believe you’ll have any trouble.

Comment by 5CatMom — June 6, 2009 @ 12:05 am
Please cross post the above to other forums, sites.

Tks.

Comment by 5CatMom — June 6, 2009 @ 12:06 am
pfpsa has test results back for levels of zinc in the recalled Nutro food. http://www.pfpsa.org .

Comment by Leslie K — June 16, 2009 @ 11:42 am
Thanks for the update. Eeek!

Comment by The OTHER Pat — June 16, 2009 @ 3:23 pm
My cat Tigi was put down on the morning of Thursday June 18. He was only 7 years old.

I had given him the tainted Nutro complete care with June 2010 expiry. He started throwing up and seemed a bit down. We rushed him to the emergency Monday night. He died on Thursday, having not urinated for 3 days.

What I can tell you so far is that the zinc level in his blood was more than double the maximum level. He was NEVER sick before and a very lovely big guy (19 lbs). Please, if you see your dog or cat not urinating, please do not feed them or give them water. The symptoms of kidney failure (which my cat had) include anuria (which is failure to urinate). When this happens their bodies fill with toxins, and they get poisoned to death (that’s what happened to my kitty).

I have 2 separate blood tests, and 1 zinc test. As well, an autopsy is being performed by a reputable university in Ontario. I have about $2000 in vet bills (more I think…I haven’t added them all up). I also have about a pound and a half of the tainted food left, which I’m trying to find reputable firms to test.

Comment by Dan — June 20, 2009 @ 9:37 pm
Dan, I’m so very sorry for your loss.

RE: Testing your food: One thing we learned during the 2007 pet food recalls was that if the bags were open, the pet food company lawyers would call “Questionable!” on any testing results. So if you have unopened bags, hang onto them like they’re gold.

I know it doesn’t seem to make sense - it’s the food he ATE that caused the problem, so it would seem logical that THAT would be the strongest evidence in legal proceedings.

Unfortunately, the lawyers have other ideas (like we’re all running around finding zinc to dump into our cat’s food!), so although I think it’s a good idea to have the food he at tested, just be aware that somewhere down the line someone is probably going to tell you that those test results are of limited legal value.

Again, my heart goes out to you in your loss.

Comment by The OTHER Pat — June 21, 2009 @ 5:34 am
Dan-I am very sorry for your loss.
Other Pat is right about the open bag,but I would still have it tested. Your vet may be able to help you with that,or contact http://www.pfpsa.org for help.You should also file complaints with Nutro,the gov’t dept in Canada that oversees pet food,the FDA & the BBB.

Comment by Leslie K — June 21, 2009 @ 6:49 am
Federal Trade Commission wants Nutro complaints filed online http://tinyurl.com/d7watp, or phone 202/326-2000. Case 2296-2128

Comment by 5CatMom — June 21, 2009 @ 9:25 am

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Nutro recalls some of its dry cat foods

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