Pet Food Recall

[rangerette]

yahoo news link - pet food recall

There is incomplete information at this time, but thought it good to post this as soon as possible.

[fulltimegrams22]

I just had an interesting telephone contact with Customer Service at Hills Pet Nutrition, Inc.

I was asking about the Corn Gluten being used in all the other products out there, explained my cat has Renal Failure, have all my animals on Hills Science Diet and always have and am concerned about the Corn Gluten in all their foods because it is now suspect for possible Melamine. This gentleman Phil tells me "our suppliers are in the U.S. only," and I responded back, "Yes, and some of those suppliers are buying from China". He responded back to me, "Not ours, the Corn Gluten is grown in the U.S. and used in our products here, none of it comes from China." So, I asked, "why then did your company recall the the Feline RX Diet Dry food because of cross contamination?" and his response was, "because it had wheat gluten in it and wheat gluten was a suspect item. We voluntarily recalled that item but not because of cross contamination, only because it had wheat gluten in it. So, my next response to that was, "Oh really? Then you have no problem giving me this information in writing?" He responded, "Well, we don't ususually, but if that is what you would like I can get someone on the phone who can help you."

So, of course I waited a couple of minutes, and next he's back online and says, "Sorry, for the long hold, I couldn't find a supervisor, I think they may have all gone to lunch, if you have a number you can be reached at I can have someone give you a call back when they come back." So, now of course he is on the hook for a call back from someone at Hills and I of course new there was a recall of their product related to Menu foods.

Here is the link. Now I can't wait to hear what this Supervisor is going to try to tell me and see what they can get away with. Our pets are off Science Diet as of today. I gave our Vet some info on Solid Gold when I dropped Annie off this morning for testing.

One thing about Solid Gold-in the late 1980's I lived in California and Solid Gold was being made by small batches on Cuyamaca Street in El Cajon, a suburb of San Diego. There was a write up in the local Daily Californian newspaper then about this new wholistic dog food. I think that newspaper moved to Escondido or Oceanside or something. I am glad to see this food went somewhere.

Fulltimegrams22

[fulltimegrams22]

I am so sorry to hear about the sick babies and the ones who could not make it. We can add our precious Pipsqueak to the mix too, she has Renal Failure. We brought her home from the the Vet on Friday for her regular checkup with some concerns about some lethargy, thirst and she had a strange head nod she was doing, almost like she was in a trance. My heart is broken.

I have read this entire thread from first to last post. I have followed the entire recall on food and thought we had been one of the few lucky ones but I think now maybe we aren't so lucky.

You see, we feed all of our animals Science Diet Dry, none of which has been on the recall list at all. Now I am reading on this thread about this Corn Gluten being a culprit. There is Corn Gluten in all our pets food. I am so scared now for all of my pets. My gut feels like it is going to explode with fear of losing all of them to this horrible thing. I am going to talk to my vet tomorrow and ask her to pull all of their records and look at all their recent blood work and see what it looked like. They each have had recent complete comprehensives.

What struck me on this last visit with pipsqueak was that the vet told me in November of 2006 she had a kidney imbalance of 1 and she was not concerned with that. She didn't tell us about that then. I do know that I told her then she had lost wieght and I was concerned about it. I changed her food and she gained her weight right back. I took it that she just didn't like the one we had changed to. So, on Friday, the vet tells us that she is now imbalanced on both sides and is now two points down. Changed her to RX diet with less Protein and Phosphate, it seems to me if I had known about the Kidney imbalance previous I would have been looking to change her diet then and exploring things I could have done for her.

I don't know where the road will lead us from here, but I do know I will miss my Pipsqueak. The vet gives her 3 months but said it is possible her body could balance itself and she could live years longer. I guess it is possible if she wasn't poisened by Melamine.

I want to thank the person who started this thread, without you I would not have found out about the Corn Gluten today. I have never seen that on the news anywhere.

Fulltimegrams22

[RNG_Travelers]

Thank you all for your kind expressions of sympathy. Angry doesn't come close to what I feel. What we were feeding Nina was Little Champions in a foil packet. I have joined several class action lawsuits but haven't decided what I will do about this. The more I read about the dog food industry the madder I get about what these killers are doing to everybodys animals. They only care about money and not giving our animals a good life.

[Spike88]

I am sorry for your loss, I would be sooooooo angry. Join the fight in NInas name its the least you could do for her memory. God Bless all of you who have lost your furkids to this disaster. Rest in peace Nina

[bugbite2007]

JTMO wrote:
Sorry about your beloved Nina, she and our Luna will keep those pesky dogs at bay. Luna got to the point where she was not doing weel, she is buried out back. All for poison food....

What foods were both of yours on?

To think many pet food companies still killing animals have not reported poisonings to the FDA. No recalls exist for these foods. Some recalled foods are still being stocked.

I cry for both of your families.

With tears,

BB

[JTMO]

Sorry about your beloved Nina, she and our Luna will keep those pesky dogs at bay. Luna got to the point where she was not doing weel, she is buried out back. All for poison food....

[bugbite2007]

OH I am so sorry about your lil Shih!

Do look at the Itchmo and Pet Connection. They are on this thread.

There are Yahoo Groups specifically addressing this legal fight and putting real pressure on Congress to force the FDA into finally doing something... however Congress hasn't been blame free... they haven't given the administration the money to beef up the USDA and FDA.

Haven't passed the truth in labeling so we know where and who is producing every ingredient in pet food and human food. More and more those involved since last summer are calling for the immediate refusal of all Chinese food products coming into this country. There are other countries too who are selling us lethal products also.

I am buying American as best as I can.

Do join the fight. You are not alone at least 10,000+ some think a much higher figure of animals that have died and more dying everyday.

I once again give you and yours my sincerest regrets at the loss of your beloved family member.

We are homefeeding ours. Being careful even what human ingredients we give them. They both have an elevated Alkaline Phosphatase level which indicates some sort of poisonous ingestion. We figure this has cut years off of their lives.

Your pup is in Heaven... see the comforts here on this page. The watch was stopped the very instant our dear Cairn passed.

Inspiration

[RNG_Travelers]

Our beloved Nina died Monday June 18,2007. Her kidneys were ravaged by this poisoned food. She spent a week in the vets hospital trying to shock her kidneys into working again but after 5 days in the hospital and the weekend at home, her little heart just couldn't take the strain any more. She just collapsed and died. I want to do something to the rotten producers of the poisoned food but don't know what yet.

[bugbite2007]

Make sure your pet food is not on the very, very long recall list that the FDA has confirmed. The brands continue to grow. Dry foods are being added.

Find out who is REALLY making your pet's food vs. the brand saying they make their own. One pet food i.e. at least one brand has a class action lawsuit against it for fraud.

It is distressing to say the least to pay what is more than the average cost of petfood from special name brands just to find out they are being made by Menu or Diamond.

Remember also not all poisoned food brands have voluntarily withdrawn their food. The FDA has no mandatory power to recall. And would they use it if they had?

An independent lab, ExperTox confirms vets finding that acetaminophen is found in pet food. FDA disputes this... for now. Stay posted. This is the next killer still to be uncovered and finally be recalled we pray.

Pets are still dying or so sick their lives are shortened. Many headed for cancer.

It is a very sorry state of affairs and a heartbreaker. Make sure your pets have had a full blood panel to rule out them being poisoned. The poisoning may not be readily apparent. Your pet may be gradually poisoned.

http://www.itchmo.com/recalls.html

The above link is not commercial and has no advertising. Approved by the moderator to post since not commercial.

Visit and pass along so you can save lives even if your pet's food is not on the list, chances are one of your family members or best friends pet is on the list.

I ran into a broken hearted family camping whose Scotty was poisoned and died.

[bugbite2007]

I too have heard if one wants to continue feeding dog food that Evangers or Canidae the only ones that still may be safe.

We immediately went to home feeding our two the date the first recall was announced. I would highly recommend everyone get a full blood panel run. Ours did show an elevated alkaline phosphatase level which means along the way the Pedigree canned or Nutro Natural Dry with the accumulation of melamine caused this damage. Melamine has been in almost all dogfood brands for years and other toxic chemicals also.

Pets continue even now to be poisoned and die. Many dog foods are still being made by Menu and Diamond. Many brands have not announced recalls and still are killing animals. The FDA still has not been granted mandatory recall power so they must depend upon companies self-reporting.

The only reprieve now is for the individual and class action lawsuits working their way through the courts. Many states have federal cases going. Since these are big corporations no doubt cases will need to make it passed a federal court upon appeal.

Make sure everyone here becomes educated to this Pet 911 by visiting the links I have posted and spread the word.

[enjoying_the_vi]

Hello.
If you really care for your pets you will get them Evangers dog food. It is made in Chicago and is a high quality dog food. Go to the web site which is Evangersdogfood.com Our dogs have been eating it for years and we have never had to worry. Their menu is way different. It costs a little more but these our your best friends. The selections is great and they won't get tired of eating the same old thing.

[bugbite2007]

FDA Pet Food Recall
http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html

FDA Recalls, Market Withdrawals and Safety Alerts
(Pet and Human Food Recalls)
Subscribe to their alerts sent to your email box.
https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=fda-recalls-l&A=1

FDA RSS Feeds
http://www.fda.gov/oc/rss/

Press Releases
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/rssPress.xml

Recalls & Alerts
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/rssRecalls.xml

Itchmo
Human Food Recalls
http://www.itchmo.com/

Pet Food Recall News
Subscribe to alerts sent to your email box
http://www.itchmo.com/itchmos-pet-safety-alert-email-list/

[Little_Kopit]

This morning CBC Radio, The Sunday Edition. If your on it you might want to check Sirius 137.

Sunday, June 10, 2007, 9:12 a.m.
10/06/2007

This week on The Sunday Edition, host Michael Enright has a question about eating Chinese. While it has become the number one exporter of everything, a number of nasty incidents have occurred lately and all involve products from China. Just think of the thousands of dogs and cats that were poisoned in North America. So just how safe is our food?

:C

[sue_t]

China to crack down on unsafe products with new recall program
Last Updated: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 | 1:09 PM ET
CBC News

China has announced plans to introduce a safety recall system in an attempt to weed out unsafe products being manufactured within the country.

Wu Jianping, director general of the administration's food production and supervision department, said the system will focus on "potentially dangerous and unapproved food products," according to the state-run China Daily newspaper.

China's food and drug safety record has come under scrutiny in recent months as tests on the country's exports have detected the presence of potentially harmful ingredients

Tests have indicated that wheat flour, used in North American pet food, was tainted with melamine — a chemical used to make plastics and fertilizer. Toothpaste, exported from China to the Dominican Republic, Panama and Australia, was found to contain diethylene glycol, a chemical used in antifreeze and brake fluid.

Last week, Canada's food watchdog intercepted a shipment of corn gluten imported from China that tested positive for melamine. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is continuing to check shipments of wheat, rice, soy and corn gluten and protein concentrates coming into the country from China.

Former regulator to be executed
Meanwhile on Tuesday, China's former chief food and drug regulator was sentenced to death for accepting bribes — valued at $832,000 US, according to the Xinhua News agency, citing a court report issued by Beijing's No. 1 Intermediate People's Court.

Zheng Xiaoyu was found guilty of allowing eight companies to sidestep the drug approval process, according to the court report. Zheng's Food and Drug Administration approved six types of fake medicine, including one antibiotic that killed at least 10 people last year.

It is not yet known if the former chief will appeal the court's decision.

[sue_t]

Pet food company recalls food sold in B.C.
Last Updated: Thursday, May 24, 2007 | 1:52 PM ET
CBC News

Diamond Pet Foods is recalling one of its products in British Columbia for fear of melamine contamination.

Melamine, a chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers, was found in more than 100 brands of contaminated pet food that were recalled from the marketplace in Canada and the United States in mid-March.

Diamond Pet Foods is recalling its Nutra Nuggets Lamb Meal and Rice Formula sold in 18-kilogram (40-pound) bags with a best-before date of Oct. 9, 2008. The recall applies to bags stamped with the production codes NLR0404A2SL or NLR0404B2SL.

No deaths have been reported, but pets who have eaten the product should be watched closely, the company said. Affected animals will be very thirsty and will vomit within 24 hours of consuming the food, it added. Other symptoms include loss of appetite and lethargy.

Diamond Pet Foods, based in California, said the recalled product was manufactured at the same facility as other products that contained rice protein concentrate later found to be tainted with melamine.

The pet food was sold in B.C., Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

Consumers are being asked to return unused portions of the pet food to the retailer for a refund.

Melamine in food chain

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has fielded about 17,000 consumer calls about contaminated pet food and related pet illnesses since March.

Contaminated pet food has also been found in animal feed, but FDA officials have told consumers that pork, chicken and egg products from animals that were given feed tainted with melamine are safe to eat. The U.S. agency said tests on the feed showed low levels of the industrial chemical.

Canadian fish farms have also been affected by melamine contamination. In May, Vancouver-based Skretting Canada recalled its fish feed after learning it was tainted with the same contaminated Chinese wheat flour linked to the pet food recall.

The FDA last week said that fish given the contaminated feed are also safe to eat.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued border lookouts for wheat gluten, soy proteins, corn glutens and rice proteins from China.