Blue Buffalo Spa Select Dry Formula for Cats Recalled
Due to the melamine found in the Wilbur-Ellis rice protein, Blue Buffalo has recalled one production run of their Spa Select Kitten dry food marked “Best Used By Mar. 07 08 B.”
Of the 4,752 bags produced in this one run, we were able to prevent the majority from ever entering retail distribution.
FDA confirms that Blue Buffalo is one of four other companies that received this supply.
Full release after the jump.
(Post bumped. Original timestamp 4:45pm Eastern)
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Voluntary Recall of Spa Select Kitten Dry Food
Dear Pet Parents:
The Blue Buffalo Company has undertaken a voluntary recall of one production run of our Spa Select Kitten dry food. The production code on the recalled product is:
“Best Used By Mar. 07 08 B.”
We have taken this action because the rice protein concentrate used for this run was obtained from Wilbur-Ellis, the same company who supplied this ingredient to Natural Balance. Test results received late last evening (4/18) indicated that this rice protein concentrate tested positive for melamine. This is the first and only time our manufacturing partner sourced an ingredient from Wilbur-Ellis, and we had no knowledge that they had imported the ingredients from China.
We have advised the FDA of this finding and will be working closely with them on this issue.
Of the 4,752 bags produced in this one run, we were able to prevent the majority from ever entering retail distribution. We are working closely with our retail partners to remove this product immediately and will be re-stocking the shelves with Spa Select Kitten dry food that was produced without any rice protein sourced from Wilbur-Ellis as soon as possible.
If you currently have a bag of Spa Select Kitten dry food, please check the code date and if it matches the one shown above discontinue use immediately and return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. If your cat has eaten any of the recalled food, please call your veterinarian immediately to discuss if there are any risks to your pet.
Should you have a specific question call our Customer Service Department at 1-800-919-2833 or email us at info@bluebuff.com. We understand your desire for immediate answers and we will be working to get back to you as quickly as we can.
No other Spa Select cat food or dog food, canned or dry, is included in this recall.
As a family owned company whose reason for being is to provide cats and dogs with the highest quality natural foods, we are extremely upset by this recall and can’t begin to apologize enough to our customers. From our perspective, it is unacceptable to produce even one bag of food with the potential to cause a pet to become ill, and we will further tighten our ingredient sourcing and quality assurance procedures as a result of this incident.
Sincerely,
Bill Bishop
President
The Blue Buffalo Company
April 19th, 2007 at 9:20 pm
And you know I’m even beginning to wonder if some brands aren’t actually overdoing it on the ingredients.
Some of these options look interesting but they have crammed so much stuff into it I’m not even sure if thats wise. Apples! Oranges! Beets! Avocado! Extra B-12! C-D-E! Stress Complex! Lamb! Chicken! Beef! Turkey! Fish! Fowl! Echinaciea! Herbs! Essential Oils! and more! Complete!
How bout just some wholesome and SAFE food.
April 19th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Deb G. Says:
April 19th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
I can’t believe we are still not hearing anything on the media! WHY???? It didn’t make sence to me yesterday and makes less sence today. I went to our location health food store today and the owner still didn’t know the lastest news on the rice protein, she hasn’t been on-line. She carries wellness, paul newman etc. but still, until we know for sure. she pulled all her products, just to make sure. We need to find out why the media isn’t talking. I read on the Huffington Post the FDA has confirmed some of this dogfood was regenerated and feed to HOGS!
If history repeats itself, the plant was a Diamond one:
http://72.14.209.104/search?hl.....d+pet+food
Gary Schell
President
Schell and Kampeter Inc.
103 N. Olive Street
Meta, MO 65058
Dear Mr. Schell:
An inspection of your pet food manufacturing facility located at 100 Wood Trail Drive in Gaston, South Carolina was conducted by a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigator from December 21, 2005 through January 19, 2006. Our investigation determined that your firm manufactures various dog and products under several labels including Diamond, Country Value, Professional, and [redacted].The inspection revealed significant violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act). Our investigator documented that your firm manufactured a number of lots of dog food between September 1, and November 30, 2005, which were released for distribution in interstate commerce, that were adulterated under section 402(axl) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 342(a)(1)] because they contained a poisonous or deleterious substance (aflatoxin) which may render them injurious to health.
In addition, these lots of pet food were adulterated under section 402(a)(4) [21 U.S.C.§ 342(a)(4)] of the Act. The inspection revealed that you failed to implement appropriate controls at the Gaston facility to prevent the adulteration of this pet food. The investigator also found that Gaston plant personnel failed to follow established procedures, which, if followed, could have prevented these violative lots from being distributed.
A review of the aflatoxin testing results performed on retained corn samples by an outside test laboratory revealed that four incoming shipments of corn that should have been rejected were instead accepted at the Gaston facility. Testing of the retained samples from these four shipments revealed aflatoxin levels between 90 and 1851 ppb. The Incoming Ingredient Inspection forms for three of these lots indicate that the product was tested and found to contain less than 20 ppb of aflatoxin. The fourth inspection form does not indicate whether the lot was tested at all. In fact, twelve of the [redacted] Incoming Ingredient Inspection forms reviewed from the September-October 2005 time frame -did not indicate that an a,flatoxin test had been performed.
A comparison of the analytical results from an outside testing laboratory on retained samples and your in-house testing results revealed some discrepancies that raise concerns as to the adequacy of the test you were using. Four corn shipments that were found to contain less than 20 ppb at the Gaston plant were found to have aflatoxin levels of 90 to 1851 ppb by the outside lab. Two com shipments found to contain over 20 ppb by in-house analysis were found to contain 2 to 4 ppb by the outside lab. Due to a lack of documentation, the investigator could not determine whether the positive and negative controls were utilized for the in-house testing.
Your Gaston facility did not follow significant quality control procedures that were in place to prevent aflatoxin contamination. Although retention samples were supposed to be maintained for incoming corn shipments, over 50% of the retained samples were missing for September- November, 2005. Quality control personnel did not ensure these retention samples were collected. Your firm also has procedures in place calling for incoming ingredients to be analyzed by near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIR). For example, incoming whole corn was to be tested for several characteristics, including moisture. There was no documentation of any NIR test results for whole corn for 2005.
Our inspection also revealed that the waste or salvaged material from pet food production (scrapes) was being sold to a local hog farmer in bulk. Some of the pet food manufactured at your plant contains protein derived from mammalian tissues. This scrape product, which may contain prohibited material, was not labeled with the statement “Do not feed to cattle or other ruminants,” as required by Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR), 589.2000(d)(1) (21 CFR 589.2000(d)(1)). This regulation is intended to help prevent the establishment and amplification of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). This labeling deviation causes the pet food scrapes you distributed to be misbranded within the meaning of section 403(a)(1) [21 U.S.C. § 343(a)(1)] of the Act.
At the conclusion of the inspection, the Inspectional Observations, Form FDA 483, was issued to and discussed with Robert R. Petruzzi, Plant Manager. A copy of the Form FDA 483 is included for your review in this letter. Neither the Form FDA 483 nor this letter is intended as an all-inclusive list of violations at your firm. As a manufacturer of pet foods, you are responsible for ensuring that your overall operation and the products you manufacture and distribute are in compliance with the law at all of your facilities.
We note that you initiated same corrective actions during the inspection, including undertaking a voluntary recall. We also acknowledge receipt of a response to the FDA 483, dated January 27, 2006, from Robert Petruzzi. The response appears to set out actions that would adequately address the violations. Please provide us with copies of a11 new procedures and protocols implemented at your firm. These copies should be sent to Philip S. Campbell, Compliance Officer, at the address noted in the letterhead. We will verify the adequacy of the corrective actions taken by your firm during a future inspection. If the actions have not adequately corrected the violations, we may initiate regulatory action without further notice. Such action includes, but is not limited to, seizure and/or injunction.
Sincerely,
/S/
Mary A. Woleske, Director
Atlanta District
Now–you CAN’T find this letter from FDA where it should be at:
http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/g5811d.htm
Doing a main page search there for “Schell” will turn up the reference, but when you try to access the letter at the link above, you get “page not found”; asking for the cached page WILL bring this letter up. There’s no further information that I found there regarding what was done about this aflatoxin situation last year; no response letter from Schell & Kampeter AKA Diamond Pet Foods or any records of follow-ups from FDA. If you do a Google search on “Schell and Kampeter”, you will find out that the firm is an elector in the New York State Health Care Reform Act:
http://www.health.state.ny.us/.....ect_d2.htm
JANUARY 1, 2002 (Term began–it has no end date so it’s still very valid)
DIAMOND PET FOODS DBA (doing business as)
See SCHELL KAMPETER INC.
http://www.health.state.ny.us/.....ect_s2.htm
JANUARY 1, 2002
SCHELL KAMPETER INC.
META MO
DRU HAINES (573)229-4203
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aflatoxin
Aflatoxin in dry dog food manufactured by Diamond Pet Foods was responsible for at least 23 dog deaths due to liver failure between Dec 2005 and early 2006. In an April 12, 2006 letter FedEx’d from the Department of Health and Human Resources to a manufacturing plant, the FDA warned Gary Schell, president of Schell and Kampeter Inc. of Missouri that independent testing of three samples of incoming corn to their processing plant showed between 90 and 1851 ppb, while paperwork on three (of four samples) showed aflatoxins levels
April 19th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
I personally will not EVER purchase any foods made by Menu or ANY of the other manufactures (once the names are released).
Old Mother Hubbard (verified by company 3/26/07)
“Menu does make some of our canned cat and canned dog foods. They make OUR recipes according to OUR quality standards.”
Wellness (verified by company 3/26/07)
“Menu does make some of our canned cat and canned dog foods. They make OUR recipes according to OUR quality standards.”
April 19th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
“Our facilities are regularly audited by Cook & Thurber, a HUMAN FOOD auditing firm.”
Maybe Wellness would like to supply a audit report from Cook & Thurber?
April 19th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
Sara WISC, it is more the wellness dry dog products that contain the rice protein, 2 foods and some treats for dogs. The wet food however is caned by Menu so I am scared of it.
I also wanted to comment that I notice Merrick New England Boil the only Merrick food both my cats will eat looked different when I open cans from to different stores, made me nervous. This whole thing is enough to make you crazy. Still have not found a dry to use, that I feel safe with.
April 19th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
This is one pet food company that several of us who work together are trusting for now. We have spoken to them. They are not a huge company
http://www.bil-jac.com/
April 19th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
Anyone ever research how many other brands have menadione.
April 19th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
Anyone with thoughts on Canidae dry dog food ? After losing one dog due to this outrageous issue, we surely don’t want to lose another. We switched to Canidae All Life Stages ‘dry’ dog food after so much confusion on what to do, who to go with, (after we made the switch to Canidae we almost thought we should have gone instead with blue buffalo, thank goodness we didn’t). So if anyone can shed more light on Canidae’s ingredients / manufacturing etc, please help a very very confused pet parent here.
April 19th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
I’m sorry Michele, but Bil-jac uses by-products and BHT. I would rather make my own pet food if I’m going to feed something with those ingredients
April 19th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Ok, all this is making my head spin…so does anyone know who makes an adult dog and cat canned and crunchies that won’t kill my pets? Has anyone made a list of companies and foods that are safe as of now 4-19-07 8;45 pm Chicago time?
April 19th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Thanks, Michelle. We don’t use the canned Canidae (only the dry and the Honest Kitchen) but its good to know that the canned version is made in a good factory too.
April 19th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Blue Buffalo was telling people right after the first recall where there food was manufactured and then a few days later said it was confidential. Dry food manufactured by C.J. Foods in Kansas, and wet food manufactured at American Nutrition in Utah. I stopped feeding Blue Buffalo when I called C.J foods and asked about outsourcing. They couldnt guarantee that their suppliers didnt outsource to other countries. So I stopped using it. They also asked how I heard that they manufacture Blue Buffalo. They sounded upset that I knew…..
April 19th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
Jenny that information on Solid Gold without a source seems to have been floating on the net for a while with both sides (those for and those against Sissy) freaking out on the other. I have spoken personally with Ms McGill and she has a very polarizing personality shes certainly someone you’re either going to like or hate. I think that she rubbed the FDA the wrong way and they decided to smack her on the hand and now we have these stories.
All I can share with you is that the reason we have called her is because we had issues with our dog that the vet was unable to “cure” we called Sissy she gave us advice we followed it and the repeat tests showed that the issue was cleared up. The first time was for crystals in urine and the second was for a ear infection that would not go away for months. She seems to really know her stuff.
April 19th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
We use Eagle Pack Holistic Select dry and canned, cans are made at menu which worries me, but contain none of the involved ingredients. Dogs are perfect! Might want to check into it, so far very pleased been using for several years.
April 19th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Concerned&Worried,
We are all confused. I’m feeding some Canidae to my kitten as well. I am just waiting for them to release the other companies that purchased the tainted products.
Canidae claims to have good ingredients but so did the rest. I just hope they are telling the truth.
April 19th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Wendy, we’re all in the same boat. No one knows what is safe or who to trust. I love my three dogs dearly, and have tried to do what is best for them. Based on the current situation, the best I can suggest is that you visit the Pet Food List and try to pick something that contains no gluten or plant-based proteins. Then call that company on the phone and ask them to e-mail you and tell you in writing that they don’t source anything from China. Of course, their supplier or “co-packer” might mislead them, so nothing is risk-free. I wonder if the Pet Food Institute and its members realize just how much they have harmed themselves with their despicable behavior. They will never be able to regain my trust and I suspect many others feel the same way.
April 19th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
I’ve been alternating Natura Evo and Homemade for my cats. Natura Evo doesn’t contain any grains, so I think I can use (cannot use the word trust) them for a while. I cannot recommend this for a cat with CRF, because of it’s high protein content. Also it’s expensive.
http://www.naturapet.com/brands/evo.asp
April 19th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Lacy,
Thanks for your post!!!!!
Rice protein concentrate shipped to Diamond Pet Foods plus 4 others. They are located in Utah, NY, Kansas and 2 in Missouri.
1) Diamond Pet Foods
2) C.J. Foods in Kansas
3) American Nutrition in Utah
4) ? - Missouri
5) ? - Missouri
2 more guys. Now we need to list what products they make. Any assistance here would be appreciated.
5Cat Mom - you out there?
Once we get Missouri we will
April 19th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
Correction: They said 4 others - I count 5.
Lacy,
Thanks for your post!!!!!
Rice protein concentrate shipped to Diamond Pet Foods plus 4 others. They are located in Utah, NY, Kansas and 2 in Missouri.
1) Diamond Pet Foods
2) C.J. Foods in Kansas
3) American Nutrition in Utah
4) ? - Missouri
5) ? - Missouri
6) ? - NY
3 more guys. Now we need to list what products they make. Any assistance here would be appreciated.
April 19th, 2007 at 10:11 pm
Pam The Pet Food Institute has zero credibility. First Rate Slime balls. They fought against product labeling and tracking by manufacturers and retailers during the mad cow virus scare a few years back.
Consumer Reaction to the Proposed Label
In short, PFI can determine no positive consumer effects of the proposed label. The
potential economic damage to the industry and the erosion of the positive nutritional gains
provided by commercially prepared pet food to companion animals far outweigh any possible
gains in public and animal health protections by the labeling of pet food sold at retail. PFI and its members strongly believe the use of the caution statement “Do not feed to cattle or other
ruminants†would have a devastating effect on the pet food industry, its suppliers, agricultural
commodities used in pet food products, and, possibly even, sales of products for human
consumption that contain beef, lamb and other animal-derived ingredients.
April 19th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Conclusion
Members of the Pet Food Institute support the FDA’s ongoing efforts to prevent the
introduction and amplification of BSE into the United States. Under the current rules, according
to the Harvard Study, even if BSE were to be found in the US, it would not spread as it has in
other nations with the disease because of the effectiveness of the rule and its enforcement. As
PFl’s consumer survey shows, changes to the rule that would require cautionary statements on
retail pet food products would have the unintended effect of alarming consumers who purchase
pet food, as well as beef and other meat products.
The economic damage caused by the imposition of a cautionary labeling scheme would
be enormous and unnecessary since, as all government agencies recognize, BSE is not present
in the United States. Therefore, PFI would urge the agency to abandon its proposal to place such a damaging cautionary statement on retail pet food and use its resources to attain its goal
of 100 percent compliance with the current rule.
Docket No. 02N-0273
April 19th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
Diamond makes Solid Gold and some other “premium” foods, right? Does that mean they are now suspect?
KC
April 19th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
http://www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKE.....4d34a.pdf.
April 19th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
A higher up at petsmart (and family friend) told me they didn’t even want to pull the kittem, but Blue insisted because they want thier customers to know they aren’t taking any risks. I completely stand behind them for this reason, you’re all a bunch of crazies… the ingredient was actually organic so have fun with your welness… could happen to them too, but I doubt they’ll take the initiative!
April 19th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
I would suspect ANY food made in a diamond facility - those foods include, but are not limited to, Solid Gold, Timber Wolf, Natural Balance, Chicken Soup, Kirkland, and others…
Last year it was Aflotoxin in the Diamond plant that killed all those dogs, this year it’s Melamine. What’s next?!?
If their track record is any indication of their quality, then I will make sure that I NEVER feed a food made at Diamond
April 19th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
For that matter have they checked for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)?
April 19th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
I think Blue Fan has a point. It could happen to anybody. The best we can do is research, research, research - and observe our pets. My thinking is that we need to be careful with the bigger companies. They are always trying to make their dollar go further by buying cheaper. Often they are more concerned with the bottom line then the welfare of our animals. Smaller manufacturers with a proven track record: that’s the way to go. Somebody mentioned Honest Kitchen - great. Other companies to consider: Addiction, FirstMate, or ZiwiPeak
http://www.addictionfoods.com
http://firstmate.com
http://www.ziwipeak.com
April 19th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
www.firstmate.com
April 19th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
From the safe pet food list I found
Back to Basics -Chenago Valley Pet food NY
All American Pet Co- CJ Foods
Burns Pet Health-CJ Foods
Diamond canned-ANI Utah
Dr Fosters Dry- Chenago Valley Pet Food NY
I have no proof but I am betting that on of the MO ones is Purina since my cat was made ill from Fancy Feast and so many Beneful complaints
And I am wondering if Mars plant that make Pedigree is located in MO as well lots of complaints about them also
April 19th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Lorie, I know my mother has been using the California Natural made by Natura and so far all has been fine; sad we have to say “so far.”
According to http://www.thepetfoodlist.com/petfoods_pg2.htm : regarding Natura:
Brands include Innova, Evo, California Natural, Healthwise, Mother Nature, Karma Organic
Manufacture their own dry food, using their own formulas
They use only US suppliers - no ingredients come from China or other foreign countries.
They use no corn or wheat products (including wheat gluten)
Wet foods made by Menu Foods (S. Dakota plant) but not involved in the recall.
No products manufactured by Natura Pet Products were implicated in the recent recalls, including the latest recall involving organic rice protein concentrate. (from website 4/18/07)
April 19th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
I don’t care where they source their rice protein concentrate, it still isn’t a natural food for any thing: they are only trying to save money. They don’t get it! I for one am willing to pay whatever I need to pay to assure my pets a healthy diet, and no I can’t afford it.
April 19th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
has anyone heard of Azmia Holistic Animal care dog good? does anyone know about Solid Gold, Senior Holistic dog food. It his one okay or because it is made by Diamond should I be worried. Please advise if anyone knows and can help. Thank you.
April 19th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Cats and Dogs don’t want Rice Protein Concentrate. If they did they would stalk rice in the wild instead of wild prey.
April 19th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Blue fan, did you miss the fact that Blue Buffalo tested the kitten dry food and it TESTED POSITIVE FOR MELAMINE??? Further, most people here understand that it “could happen to anyone”, why else do you think that people keep posting things like “sure hope it’s safe”? You must work for Blue Buffalo and you come off as the “crazie” not us!
April 19th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Lorie,
I have no proff either but bet you are right. Could be that such a power monster in the pet food industry has the ability to keep the FDA from releasing the companies involved.
April 19th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Proof,..I mean. I’m getting tired.
April 19th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Blue fan, further, your Blue Buff also admitted that they purchased from Wilbur-Ellis who purchased it from China, supposedly unbeknownst to them. And again, Blue Buff ADMITTED that their rice protien concentrate tested POSITIVE. Argh!
April 19th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Anonymous,
Regarding Diamond making Timber Wolf, do you mean TimberWolf Organics and Serengeti? Although they do not divulge their production facility, they flat out say on their website: “At one time, Diamond Pet Foods manufactured our food; however, we have moved production to another facility owned by another company.” I thought I read somewhere in the “northeast.” Do you know something to the contrary? I was thinking of trying Serengeti this week attracted by their grain-free ingredients.
April 19th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
Teric,
I went to yahoo yellow pages in St Louis MO and there are 3 different address listings for nestle-Purina 2 have web site links on them one goes to their live stock web site the other one address something Checkerboard square street goes to the pet food info site. Kinda makes you wonder. To be honest I know in my heart one is is Purina I have a sick cat to prove it 2 cans in to a new case of their food. Going to research Mars tomorrow
April 19th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
To Sheri in Ct:
In Feb one of my dogs collapsed and died before I could get him in to the vet. We had switched to Beneful 2 weeks before. Another of my dogs started vomiting up bile and having seizures. The vet couldn’t find a cause but told me to take her off of Beneful. He didn’t have anything good to say about the food. When I stopped giving her Beneful, her seizures stopped and she stopped vomiting. After that, I did a google search on beneful and seizures..there’s been many instances of dogs becoming ill and dying after being fed Beneful. The website doggybling.com has a lot of messages from people that have lost dogs to it. I called Purina and they said it couldn’t be their food and offered me coupons. I filed a complaint with FDA..I can’t understand why this food hasn’t been recalled. I have no doubt it killed one of my dogs and almost killed the other one.
April 19th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
And now that I think about it, what IS rice gluten??? Rice supposedly does not contain gluten! Wheat gluten, corn gluten, all that is not what animals or people eat! Correction—some vegetarians eat wheat gluten, hopefully they make it themselves.
April 19th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Is Timber Wolf made in Diamond facility? They say “privately owned manufacturer in the Northeast” and their website states:
“Is Timberwolf Organics, Inc. owned by Diamond Pet Foods, Inc.?
No. We are a private, independently owned company. At one time, Diamond Pet Foods manufactured our food; however, we have moved production to another facility owned by another company (we cannot give this information out, as it is proprietary). They specialize in manufacturing specialty formulas of pet foods and meet our high standards for exceptional quality production.
We are certain that Diamond Pet Foods, Inc. is a fine company, but to answer the above question, we have no business affiliation with them. “
April 19th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
“Blue Fan Says:
April 19th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
A higher up at petsmart (and family friend) told me they didn’t even want to pull the kittem, but Blue insisted because they want thier customers to know they aren’t taking any risks. I completely stand behind them for this reason, you’re all a bunch of crazies… the ingredient was actually organic so have fun with your welness… could happen to them too, but I doubt they’ll take the initiative!”
This is straight from the Blue Buffalo website:
“We have taken this action because the rice protein concentrate used for this one production run was obtained from Wilbur-Ellis, the same company who supplied this ingredient to Natural Balance. Test results received late last evening (4/18) indicated that this rice protein concentrate tested positive for melamine. This is the first and only time our manufacturing partner sourced an ingredient from Wilbur-Ellis, and we had no knowledge that they had imported the ingredients from China.”
April 19th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
Thanks, Alek. That’s the same info I got and was hoping to try it; would feel more comfortable if I knew WHICH manufacturer. . .
April 19th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
We can not trust packaging or company websites for ingredients!
April 19th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
Java’s Mom, I am using Serengeti since I am running out of options what to feed. I have started it recently, wanting to replace Felidae with grain free chicken based food. I used to rotate foods, one lamb based (Solid Gold or Nature’s Variety), one venison based (Natural Balance), and one chicken based (used to be Felidae, switched to Serengeti in Feb).
So far so good. Soon after the mess started in March I stopped Solid Gold and Natural Balance (fortunately!) when I found out they were made by Diamond so I used the food I had and didn’t buy new ones. I would also feel more comfortable if Timber Wolf would disclose manufacturer, but I guess I’ll stick with it while my supply lasts (I have more bags from the same batch that I am currently feeding and cats are doing OK). Not sure what will I do when I run out. They will not eat home cooked, but I’ll keep trying. They will eat freeze dried, so I may substitute that instead of dry.
April 19th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
Somebody PLEASE tell me whether Fancy Feast canned grilled chicken in gravy is safe???? I can’t find out from Purina…they say no Purina products have been involved in the recall…EXCEPT Mighty Dog something or other in pouches…..and the other one that keeps saying their dry food is in no way affected is IAMS!!! We have 8 indoor cats and they love Fancy Feast dry food (chicken flavor) and IAMS Lamb & Rice. Now I’m afraid of both of those…and the canned Fancy Feast is the only canned food several of them will eat! HELP!!!!!! I am SOOOOO angry at these pet food people!!! It gets worse every day! I bought a Healthwise bag of food the other day to try, since it said it had no additives, preservatives, etc., etc. Tonight I read on the bag and one of the ingredients is CORN GLUTEN!!!! What’s a pet person to DO?????
April 19th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
Forgot to add, I have e_mailed them to ask to confirm that Serengeti is indeed grain free and they did, but I am not sure whether that can be trusted. It wasn’t a standard response, but it wasn’t very detailed either. Some freeze dried manufacturers have responded faster and in a more friendly manner, though I suppose they probably haven’t recieved same volume of inquiries.
April 19th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
And furthermore, Blue Buffalo lied to Therese at petsitusa.com, and told her that all their ingredients were US grown, with the exception of lamb from New Zealand…which is why I went out and bought 2 heaping bags of the crap.
Big Blue Liar
Blue fan, tell your buddies they owe me $32
April 19th, 2007 at 11:32 pm
SLY,
Fancy Feast without gravy maybe okay but I swear ro you my cat is being monitored for kidney problems from eating FF elegant medley. The other cat show similair symptoms 12 hours after the little one did, vomiting, not eating, drooling, trouble with back legs, hiding, gagging at sight of food. I feel that if it is in the Alpo gravy from Purina it is in the FF.