Comments on: Canidae Releases Statement: Canidae’s Pet Food Tests Negative For Acetaminophen

By: Tina

Tina — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:24:30 +0000

What I want to know is WHO submitted the so called sample that Expertox said contained the acetaminophen. Was it perhaps DONNA who also claimed that Natura’s Innova contained acetaminophen??? If is was then I would start to wonder what her motives were against these companies and why. Honestly people it ruins the reputation of some companies that really do try and make a difference. They strive to make healthy pet foods and some claim such as this can ruin them for a long period of time or worse. So my interest is in WHO claims the food was contaminated.

It amazes me to follow some of the postings here on this board. While I find good and useful information I am often worried at the comments that indicate to me so many are followers and not capable of even trying to form their own opinion and just go with the flow. If there is something I am interested in or concerned about, I look into it further before just taking the word of someone else. To just believe everything you read on this site and many others is not responsible in my opinion. I realize that I am jaming my opinion right now but I would hope if I made a statement that my pet got sick from eating Company A’s food, not everyone would just toss it out and stop feeding it. I would hope to have my story TRUTHFULLY backed up and solid.

Having said that, here are some facts about Natura (yes I used to work for them and was there just after the recall hit so I do have some real knowledge here. And I am no longer an employee but I do still trust their foods)

Sorry but Natura does NOT make Canidae foods. Natura only makes their own brand foods (EVO, Innova, California Natural, Karma and Healthwise) in their own plant that is very well monitored and maintained and located in Fremont, NB. Natura is ISO certified, Baker certified and also ORGANIC certified- here is link: http://www.naturapet.com/about.....turing.asp

And guess what?? They have NEVER had a recall AND all their foods have a 100% China Free Guarantee. Here is the link: http://www.naturapet.com/about......asp?id=38

Infact, there is a lot of good information in their “News” section of their web site so have a look for yourself: http://www.naturapet.com/about-natura/news.asp

And one last thing…when I was working for them, I had several calls come in about the “Donna Sample” of bad/acetaminophen contaminated food. Each time the caller wanted information and was not very friendly or pleasant. At the slight bit of hesitation on my part or my co-workers, we were blasted with foul language and acqusations. Any attempt on my/our part to discuss this like mature adults was just fought against by the person/people who called in. And the first call I took went from bad to horrible when I merely asked “who is Donna”? I had not encountered any “Itchmo Callers” up to that point and hoped I would not again after it ended. So I have been on both sides of this and really do try to weigh information that is presented. When I was at Natura, they had the actual test results posted on their site. There was not any blacked out areas to hide anything and yet people still took the word of Donna and Expertox.

So I hope this post does not offend anyone or cause any negative replies to me. I stated above that I am no longer a Natura employee but sure would go back if they called. I feed their foods to my pets, I buy it just like everyone else and have changed many family and friends over to it and they are so happy with the results that the product speaks for itself.

Thank you for having the information that you do provide to so many pet owners. I just wish that peoople would be strong and able to make some of their own decisions or form their own opinions and not run with the “scared pack”.

By: GiGi Zybko

GiGi Zybko — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:45:04 +0000

I have been feeding Canidae ALS to all my yorkies for over a year. I am a show breeder and have respect for the dog food companies trying to make the best dog foods they can with the knowledge they have to date. I also believe Canidae would NOT knowingly do anything to harm our dogs. My dogs have done wonderful on this food. I have over the past 20 years tried different foods even the high qualtiy foods, and have found Canidae ALS to suite my needs. I do know they have changed the formula recently hitting the stores now and made it better.
I do know they have changed where it is made as well. I will always from now on keep a watchful eye on what I feed and what is in it. Hoping it is not all about the mighty dollar and some do care. I choose to be an optimist. There is a website http://www.nutrapet.com/tools/ that has an ingreedient wizard on it that tells you what every ingredient is in a dog food and what is it about.
GiGi

By: Debbie

Debbie — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:59:31 +0000

I did call Canidae and they told me on the phone that they have all of their own facilities, make their own food (though I think that it’s more recent that they built their own facilities to make the food), that they have never in their history been affected by a recall, etc. She reassured me that they test each ingredient that comes in several times for every contaminant possible, as well as testing the finished product.

I too have been pretty diligent about researching this subject. Our pets are on Canidae and Felidae and are doing very well.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:13:32 +0000

Just to change the subject slightly.

Made in China this, made in China that….itâ€™s all garbage!!!!
Anything that comes from that place only comes from there for one reason “ITS CHEAP LABOUR, CHEAP MATERIALS AND NO ONE IS WATCHING”. I would not buy anything much less dog food from that place. What we need to do (for our pets) as pet owners who love their dogs & cats is to boycott ALL companies which deal with China, period. I am reminded of one company in the US which stated their pet food came from the US but somehow forgot that there canned food was from you guessed it â€œChina. Shame on them for polluting our loved ones with garbage from there!!!

Enough said, if it says China anywhere on anything relating to pet food â€“ DO NOT BUY!

By: JC

JC — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:11:30 +0000

I understand those who want to see the lab results. I am one of those people who has become very sensitive to what is in my dog’s food. I’ve started making my own jerky and dog cookies as a result of the recalls. However, I think that even if the lab results were published, some people would have complaints or suspicions that they didn’t release the entire report, or they only published a result that made them look good, etc. At some point you just have to decide what you are going to believe and what you are going to do about it. I’m not a scientist or chemist, so I doubt I’d understand the lab report anyway. My dogs do well on Canidae so I will keep feeding it to them, but I am trying to keep myself informed on what is happening in the dog food world. I add in other brands that I feel safe about from time to time, home-cook some of their food, and generally do the best I can. This can be argued to death. If you trust Itchmo to tell you the truth, and Itchmo says they saw the lab results, that ought to satisfy you. If you don’t trust them, then you don’t.

By: John

John — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 22:15:47 +0000

I think the whole Canidae claim is bogus. I don’t believe any of it. I find it to be a great product and will continue to use it.

By: Phoebe

Phoebe — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 12:12:25 +0000

“Better, yet, realize that Quality Control and Quality Acceptance programs must include proper sampling procedures.”

Exactly my point about the samples provided to ExperTox by the original client, thank you. One can’t criticize Canidae or any other company for SUSPECTED ‘improper’ sampling procedures when the report they are being damned with resulted from the testing of DOCUMENTED improper sampling - as indicated in writing by ExperTox, itself.

By: DW

DW — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 05:45:25 +0000

I’m sorry they did not release the lab reports. Two of my three dogs do not want to eat Canidae anymore. (My cats made the same decision years ago with Felidae.) I’ve got one unopened 40 lb bag and the leftovers from the last one I opened. I’m not sure what to do with the unopened bag …but I’m going to buy Eagle Pack Large Breed for a while. They are eating that. Maybe it’s just a palatability thing but I’m sad to be moving away from 8 years of Canidae use.

By: Skeptic

Skeptic — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 01:39:35 +0000

Yep, I was wrong - Natura indeed does not make Canidae.

Sorry!

I don’t know why I thought they did…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 20:58:17 +0000

A suggestion- does anyone have the time and resource to open a blog for research only? There are some valid points and relevant information that should be considered as far as who, what, when, that have been lost in the shuffle.

Some topics to cover:

rendering and slaughter practices/chemicals and possible toxins

Known and possible toxins associated with overall food production, ie: vitamins, vegetables, grains

Known supplement suppliers and products: Imported

Supplement suppliers:USA

List of toxicology labs and testing procedures: US and Elsewhere

You get the idea.

By: Rocky

Rocky — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 18:38:05 +0000

Better, yet, understand that if pet food companies were serious about making pet food, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.

Pet food would be safe to use, and pet owners wouldn’t have to have food tested.

By: 5CatMom

5CatMom — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 18:31:16 +0000

Better, yet, realize that Quality Control and Quality Acceptance programs must include proper sampling procedures.

Here’s a good reference on the subject:

http://www.amazon.com/Handbook.....0873894758

If Canidae won’t release copies of the lab reports, maybe they can elighten us as to what QAP’s they’re using to ensure that the samples they tested do, in fact, represent the finished product of the batch in question.

Maybe their QA Manager can log on and explain their QC/QA program, and their sampling acceptance procedures.

By: Louie W.

Louie W. — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 17:51:32 +0000

Better, yet, just make your own food.

Then you won’t have to deal with pet food companies.

By: Phoebe

Phoebe — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 17:30:53 +0000

Better, yet, submit unquestionable samples from the original client to both Expertox and another independent lab of her choosing.

By: Phoebe

Phoebe — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 17:23:40 +0000

It never fails to amaze me that simply asking questions and refusing to take everyone’s claims as “fact” can be considered “trolling.” We want the truth and aren’t predisposed to insulting and dismissing those who don’t agree with our worldviews.

The chain of custody in the original ExperTox test on the mixed samples was more than a little flawed. ExperTox even points that out in their written lab test results. They make it VERY clear that they are only taking the word of the client as to where the samples originated. http://www.petfoodrecallfacts.com/canidae.jpg

This is sounding more and more like the Tylenol tampering case back in 1982. Someone opened bottles in stores and poisoned the contents with cyanide. Seven people died as a result. In the current environment it seems that some people would be jumping all over Tylenol for making ‘poisoned’ pills and accusing them of not being honest when the co. showed that other bottles from the same lots weren’t showing any signs of cyanide - because the poison had been added IN THE STORES.

Submit a sample to ExperTox that doesn’t have a questionable background and get them to re-do the test. That shouldn’t be difficult, if the story is true. Surely the original client didn’t submit the very last pieces of kibble she had in the ’suspect’ bags. Surely not.