The Pet Food Recall and Concerning Implications

As some of you may know, Diamond Pet food issued an expansion to their recall Friday evening. This is commonly known as a dump and run by many who have dealt with these recalls before. A dump and run is when a company, in this case Diamond, Wellness and many others, issue a press release/recall after closing hours so they don’t have to deal with consumer questions and complaints. I guess they are hoping that we will all have forgotten about the recall by Monday morning.

What concerns me most (in addition to the latest recall) are the four other pieces I read late Friday and Saturday evening.

Distributor States Canidae, Natural Balance, and one Wellness Product Recalled  (May 4, 2012, Truth About Pet Food) Please note: it’s what is in this post and not in the Diamond Foods release that concerns me.

CDC: Salmonella in dog food sickens 14 people in US; SC plant had toxic mold problem in 2005 (May 4, 2012, Washington Post)

Salmonella in dog food sickens 14 people across US (May 4, 2012, Wall Street Journal)

State and Federal Programs Helped Catch Contaminated Dog Food: 14 humans ill; CDC says dog illnesses are not tracked (May 5, 2012, Food Safety News)

The toxic mold that was found in this same South Carolina plant in 2005? It killed dozens of dogs. Yes, the latest recalls have to do with Salmonella, but 5 people have already been hospitalized. What would it do to a person with a compromised immune system?

Maybe that’s why Therese Kopiwoda’s post over at PetSitUSA resonated with me so much. Dear Pet Food Companies Have some respect

I am guessing I am not the only one feeling a bit angry and frustrated by all these recalls.

What are we supposed to feed our dogs when even the most trusted brands are compromised? Already I have spoken with two different people who’s dogs or friend’s dogs were being fed the recalled food – both trusted brands. No answers seem to be forthcoming right now, but I think Diamond and the others need to answer a whole lot of questions before I  and many other pet food owners trust them again. I have decided to go completely with The Honest Kitchen.

I wrote this piece back in 2010, but given all the recalls I wanted to share it again - Why You Should Save Your Dog/Cat Food Bag. Please keep your dog and cat food bags. I don’t know where this will end, but I suspect that this is not over yet.

More information on specific company recalls:

Canidae (The recall affects only products distributed in the following Eastern U.S. states and were manufactured at the Diamond Pet Food Gaston, South Carolina plant. Further distribution to other pet food channels may have occurred. States: Florida, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Tennessee)

Diamond (The recall affects only products distributed in the following U.S. states and Canada.  Further distribution through other pet food channels may have occurred. States: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Canada)

Natural Balance (This one DOES include Minnesota. States: Recalled products may have been distributed in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, DC, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Wyoming and Canada.)

Taste of the Wild ((The recall affects only products distributed in the following U.S. states and Canada.  Further distribution through other pet food channels may have occurred. States: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Canada)

Wellness (No states listed)

For the latest updates on the recall, please go to PetsitUSA.

Why You Should Save Your Dog/Cat Food Bag

It might sound like a silly thing; having to remind people to save their dog or cat food bags but if you’re like me, and many other people with pets, you probably store your dog food in a sealable container of some sort.

I was just reminded this past weekend why we all need to be saving those bags. On Friday, Blue Buffalo announced a pet food recall for certain brands of their dog food. My mother feeds her Sheltie, Jake, this brand so I called her immediately to alert her. When I asked her what brand she fed him she said she wasn’t sure because she had tossed the bag after putting Jake’s food in another container. Oops! Houston, we’ve got a problem here!

Luckily, she was able to find out that her dog food was not part of the recall after calling the pet store, but this little scare has taught her the importance of keeping the bag. She plans to do so in the future.

So why do you need to keep your bag? Because there are several relevant bits of information on that bag that will help you to know if your dog or cat food is part of a recall, and it helps your vet to alert a company to a possible issue if they begin to see multiple illnesses with their dog and/or cat clients.

Here are some of the things that are on your pet food bag that will help you to know if your pet food is part of a recall:

– Exact name of the pet food (Many companies carry the same variations of food ingredients, but under different names, so knowing exactly which one you have is very important.)
– Bag size/weight (A recall may only include a certain brand of a certain size or weight. For instance, with the Blue Buffalo Wilderness Chicken recall the 4.5 lb., 11 lb., and 24 lb. bags were recalled, but only the 11 lb. and 24 lb. were recalled in the Salmon.)
– Best If Used By Date (Each pet food bag contains a Best If Used By Date. If you do not know what date is on your bag you have no way of knowing whether your food is a part of the recall.)
– Code date and/or UPC number (Not every pet food company uses the same identifiers, so having this additional information is helpful. For instance in the limited Iams cat food recall in August, the company issued the recall using these numbers.)

You should consider keeping those treat bags as well. There have had quite a few recalls in the past few months involving dog chews and other treats. Knowing which treats are part of a recall is just as important as pet food.

In the meantime, here is a great resource that you may want to bookmark.

And, don’t forget! Save those bags!
It could save your pet’s life, and possibly someone else’s pet.