Exclusive: Lab Reports Melamine In Unrecalled Dry Pet Food Exported From US
A lab report provided by a reader indicates that a sample of Country Value Puppy formula exported from the US contained melamine. The report obtained and translated by Itchmo states that the sample was tested by a South Korean university’s veterinary research center. This report has not been verified in the US. Country Value is also sold in the US, but has not been recalled.
This is also the first report of a lab — besides Expertox in Texas — reporting on possible contamination of unrecalled pet food.
Jim Fallon, a spokesman for Diamond Pet Foods, said that the food with the best by date of March 2008 was made in September 2006 at their South Carolina plant.
The lab reported finding melamine concentrations of 346.21 parts per million, a number that is higher than the amounts typically found through cross contamination according to the manufacturer Diamond Pet Food. Fallon also said that they have received no calls regarding Country Value through their recall hotlines. Diamond is working on pulling the retained samples and will test them for melamine and says they will pursue this “aggressively and cautiously.”
Diamond has recalled several products in recent months due to melamine contamination. The Itchmo reader also wrote that the importer denied that the food was contaminated.
The FDA could not be reached in time for comment.
The ingredient list for Country Value Puppy formula is after the jump.
Top 10 ingredients in Country Value Puppy formula according to About.com
Meat meal
Whole grain ground corn
Rice bran
Corn gluten meal
Chicken fat (preserved with mixed toco-pherols)
Wheat flour
Beet pulp
Natural chicken flavor
Flaxseed
Potassium chloride
June 8th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
GEEEEEZ, what is going on with Diamond?/
Consolidation of many companies to raise profits, is hurting not only human health but our furry friends.
Sandi
June 8th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
What comes around goes around….
June 8th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Lets see: Oh….its Mela-Friday again….with the recalls. You haven’t let us down Itchmo…Thanks for the info…..
What’s going on with Diamond Foods….Dec 2005-Jan 2006 your dry dog food was contaminated with Aflatoxin. Then in 2007 your food was tainted again and it just keeps getting worse.
I’d like to know how often do you test your product? Why is it up to pet owners to test your product.???
June 8th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
does anyone know or has heard any further on the kitty that passed/had cystals/lab said Melamine toxic from Artemis? also a Diamond produced food I believe.
I *think* it was here that i read it . . .
June 8th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
WTF do they mean by aggressively and cautiously? Recall the mela-crap, then test it. NO MORE DEAD ANIMALS!
June 8th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
So much for 151 Safety Checks by Diamond. And if this isn’t bad enough. I regret to inform you…..
Growth in organic dairies tests supply of feed
Farmers’ challenge: Feeding all these cows organically
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19113101/
Make sure to read the last paragraph on the first page. You might want to put a hat on so when your head explodes the pieces don’t fly everywhere.
June 8th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Makes me wonder if they (FDA) really tested the corn gluten. Maybe they just tested a clean batch.
Its got to be in the corn gluten. What are the chances that other countries have been getting the contaminated corn gluten, but we didn’t.
June 8th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
It was probably the wheat flour. Remember, the wheat flour was spiked and passed off as wheat gluten and rpc..
June 8th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Homegrown - Maybe the 151 quality checks was for their food, not food that they produce for other companies….
June 8th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Yeah, maybe, but then it wouldn’t explain why the Diamond Lamb and Rice was tainted.
June 8th, 2007 at 7:56 pm
I spoke with the folks at Midwest Labs today, to see if they would be Good to include in the lists of Labs for our needs for testing. They were very nice.
The gentleman even tests his own dogs food there to make sure it is safe to feed his own dog. {tho explained the product is about 1 meal a day and his wife makes a ‘homemade’ one for in the evening, they’ve stocked up several bags of the ’safe’ one}.
Tho he said they do NOT test for Acetaminophen and he had not heard much about that yet. {so I explained more on that and to come here to find the Reports and links etc}
He said it would take approx. 3 weeks, to even set up their lab to Test for Acetaminophen. And they are not sure if even if Numbers of folks Asking for it IF they would. {he said that would be more like a “pharmacology” type of testing, since it is a ‘drug’}
They DO test for the Melamine and Cyanuric Acid.
It’s: Midwest Laboratories
13611 B. St.
Omaha,Nebraska 68144
Phone# 402-334-7770
The Test cost: Melamine only: $120.00
The Test for: Cyanuric Acid only: $120.00
The Test for BOTH at the Same time is: $180.00
IF you’d like only these *two* tested for in samples, you can call them and ask how you need to ship them etc.
They are an *Independent* Lab, no funds from the Gov or Food Industry.
Their website is:
http://www.midwestlabs.com
I hope this helps if you are interested in these 2 being the only testing you might want.
June 8th, 2007 at 7:56 pm
When the recalls first began I contacted many pet food companies.
At the time, I was considering using Solid Gold dry which is made by Diamond, their contract manufacturer.
Diamond never answered my email or returned my phone calls, so I decided NOT to use Solid Gold.
June 8th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
PetSmart just responded to my phone call and email about the Acetaminophen and the Texas Lab reports, and the scanned test results.
“The information regarding the aecetominophen is not based on facts, at this time. We are investigating this story and have found nothing to substantiate these allocations at this time. PetSmart will make the right decision when the investigation is done. Thank you. ”
Due to that response, I will no longer buy from PetSmart.
June 8th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
If a pet food company is a member of the PFI then why bother asking anything else? That is ALL you need to know. Do you want to give Duane a raise for insulting you and lying-I sure don’t!
The PFI and Duane will only go away for good, if not straight to hell, when WE quit paying them! If membership in the PFI and Duane become a liability for pet food companies then they will drop the PFI like a dead pet. It is not like they understand loyalty . They will screw Duane as fast as they screwed us and the pets.
I hope the fact that THIS country shipped POISONED pet food out to other countries gets a big clue by 4 upside the head to some people.
June 8th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
In August/September 2006, W-E stated it began dealing with Binzhou Futian for RPC; they never stated if that was the only product purchased from them or not. Anyhow, W-E was the supplier who sold the RPC to Diamond for NB; it’s likely Diamond purchased other material from W-E–not just the RPC.
Record shows that Binzhou Futian was where the tainted corn gluten which went to South Africa originated as well:
http://www.thenewstribune.com/.....78624.html
DAVID BARBOZA; The New York Times Published: June 5th, 2007
Counterfeits not without consequences
“But few companies here were as successful as Binzhou Futian, which in 2006 won contracts to ship pet food ingredients to major suppliers in the United States and South Africa. The American and South African middlemen say they found Binzhou Futian through online advertisements and commodity-trading Web sites. The companies did not bother to visit Binzhou’s factories or to investigate its background or its export record.
““I’m not sure of the introduction, but I think it was through Google search,†said Leon Ekermans, a marketing director at Bester Feed and Grain, a South African grain trader. “We were told by an intermediary that they were once a government company and made good feed.â€
“Asked whether Bester researched the supplier or visited China, Ekermans acknowledged that it hadn’t. “We tested samples,†he said, “but it was very difficult to test for melamine.—
Binzhou Futian has 3 current items for sale on a well-known trading site:
Granule Corn Gluten Meal posted June 3, 2007
Fish Meal posted May 29, 2007
Corn Gluten Meal posted may 24, 2007
They have the same website URL as Wudi Jinliang Corn Development Co., Ltd., whose sell offers are similar to Binzhou Futian’s. They are connected and Binzhou Futian appears to be boldly doing business under its own name at the trading site beginning with the letter “A”.
My thought would be that Diamond purchased items other than RPC from W-E and that W-E purchased more than RPC from either Binzhou Futian or one of their aliases, Wudi Jinliang Corn Development Co,. Ltd. and it was used in the Diamond made foods.
June 8th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
When they said there was no Contamination and no recall of Nutra Nuggets, while telling Itchmo there was - that was it for me on Diamond also. I had an older bag of Chicken Soup Adult Cat Food - and it is at the bottom (because Baby Girl not really liking the Eagle Holisti Dry - was thinkin of gettin just a small bag of chicken soup for her).
Then - bam, another one. Methinks its another cross-contamination? Not. Its in there, and good.
June 8th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
That is horrible menusux! It is like we are turning into a rogue country haboring these outlaw companies churning out poisoned pet food just because they can get away with it here. And now we are even exporting it! These outlaw pet food companies are cherry-picking the worst companies to do business with in China by picking the cheapest sources and doing ZERO due diligence in checking them out. We are the Afghanistan of poison/shoddy pet food production.
June 8th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Reminds of what Union Carbide did in Bhopal, India. Except now they’re doing it here.
June 8th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Even without the melamine, IMHO this looks like junk to me, aren’t dogs primarily meat eaters??
Meat meal
Whole grain ground corn
Rice bran
Corn gluten meal
Chicken fat (preserved with mixed toco-pherols)
Wheat flour
Beet pulp
Natural chicken flavor
Flaxseed
Potassium chloride
June 8th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
And who knows what is even in “meat meal”? The whole concept of pet grade food is an open door for the ethically challenged. They know the payouts in litigation are capped and that the criminal charges might be trivial. (They hope.)
June 8th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
“Doug Says:
June 8th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Even without the melamine, IMHO this looks like junk to me, aren’t dogs primarily meat eaters?? ”
I wouldn’t buy that formulation for Dog or Cat - you are correct.
June 8th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
“A lab report provided by a reader indicates that a sample of Country Value Puppy formula exported from the US contained melamine.”
Ha, now just sit back and watch the Pet Food Companies self destruct. It went around….now it’s coming around!
June 8th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
And while your head is exploding, you realize that melahogs and melachickens have been with us for some time–dating back to at least September 2006, when the Country Value was made.
June 8th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Doug, Flaxseed is the only decent and healthy ingredient in that whole list!!!
June 8th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Elizabeth said,”Doug, Flaxseed is the only decent and healthy ingredient in that whole list!!!”
And even flaxseed is known to cause itching reactions with *some* dogs.
Lorna
June 8th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
How can a pet food company put a contaminant like this in a “puppy food” and have no personal feeling that they are making a puppy sick. This sounds to me as if they don’t mind selling their product and giving a child poisonous food! I called Diamond back in March to check out the Diamond Variety Medium Biscuits, they said there 151 checks but did not include the CA, Melamine, A & A, so I am wondering if 150 of the checks was a check mark on one paper that was moved from one desk to another desk only. I sent our treats for analysis, should here soon of a problem.
June 8th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Homegrown - actually that means we’re going to be hearing that is “false” or not true…
Instead of self-destructing.. they’re manufacturing spins- and one retailer, PS, IMO is helping them - and not interested in the welfare of our pets. Caution doesn’t seem to be in the PFI’s vocabulary.
June 8th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
straybaby re artemis
I remember that as well. I no longer use Artemis but still would like to know if the food was contaminated.
June 8th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
Is there any safe food? I have been cooking for my dogs but they have a weight problem and I’m afraid I am over feeding them.
I don’t know if I can ever go back to feeding them all commercially prepared food . Until lately I was not aware that they used animals that had been euthanized to make dog food. Maybe some of the poision is coming from that.
June 8th, 2007 at 9:35 pm
Sylvia, I am not sure the payouts are capped in the advertising/quality suit against the PFI. I think it may be capped in the ones related to the pet food recall.
June 8th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
How about starting a fund to independently test pet food on an ongoing basis? I welcome animal welfare organizations to start the ball rolling, but it may be up to us.
For example: members of this ‘fund’ could contribute a small amount of money each, and even select which pet food to test. Anyway, it’s a thought.
June 8th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
Starbaby, it was Me who told about the Artemis. The cat was eating Artemis dry food. the vet report said He died from Melamine toxcidity. He was full of crystals. It was a Norweigen Forest cat. Poor little kitty.
June 8th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
There is a good cat and dog food company called Flint River Ranch. Check out their site. After the recall I put all my animals on there food. It’s amazing, it’s worth checking out!
June 8th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
I wonder too about “safe” food…………
June 8th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
Another E-Coli BEEF RECALL
Tyson Fresh Meats, shipped to Walmarts in 12 states, 40,440 LBS.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/19126782/
Sounds like it was Fresh not frozen, and place in the meat coolers next to other fresh meats?
Don’t think it was those frozen meat patties.
June 8th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
I still want to know what foods the acetaminophen is in????
June 8th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
Thanks, YaYa, It says it wasn’t sent to N.C., but My daughter just bought some yesterday that said Fresh ground beef. At Wal-Mart.
June 8th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Trudy Jackson Says:
June 8th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
I still want to know what foods the acetaminophen is in????
Until they decide to release that info (or if someone can stumble on it through careful snooping) - there is nothing we can do.
Sorry bout kitty.
June 8th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
http://www.petfoodindustry-dig.....?u1=friend
June 8th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Has anybody checked with ConsumerLab.com about testing pet foods?
http://www.consumerlab.com/aboutcl.asp
June 8th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Saw an unusual commercial today, A&W’s issue with McDonald’s using New Zealand beef in their burgers. And saying A&W uses 100% USA Beef.
I’ll never figure out how shipping “things” on a huge ship in cargo containers, could be cheaper than Beef from right HERE! Gees the Fuel alone must be- BOING!
What a waste. Not to mention the polution on the seas.
I don’t visit either but glad it’s Not from China! LOL
Tho I feel New Zealand is a Very safe country for food stuffs. {I do use New Zealand lamb when it’s available in my homemade Cat food mix/mush now, tho don’t notice much dif in prices.
June 8th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Trudy Jackson Says:
June 8th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
Starbaby, it was Me who told about the Artemis. The cat was eating Artemis dry food. the vet report said He died from Melamine toxcidity. He was full of crystals. It was a Norweigen Forest cat. Poor little kitty.
http://www.thepetfoodlist.com/petfoods_pg1.htm
Artemis
Fresh Mix Line, Osopure Line, and AgaRx Line is made by Diamond Pet in Lathrop, CA.
According to their website, Artemis had their entire product line tested for melamine–they posted their results on their home page 5/8/07 & 5/18/07:
http://www.artemiscompany.com/index.asp
http://www.artemiscompany.com/.....Feline.pdf
Feline Fresh Mix (Diamond)
http://www.artemiscompany.com/.....uct=feline
Since they’ve tested everything beginning in late April, according to their posted test results, I’d believe the melamine was present at Diamond before the recalls–just like it was with Country Value. I don’t see any gluten-type ingredients in it, so unless Diamond took the liberty of substituting or this was cross-contamination, it’s possible that the melamine was present in a non vegetable protein ingredient.
This company appears to be trying VERY hard to produce quality products; there was a news article about them not long ago and how their business was really taking off as a result of the pet food recalls.
June 8th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
I wonder if the melamine and other additives to gluten has anything to do with corn being grown to turn into ethanol? There have been predictions of shortages for food . Who would benefit from doing this deliberately? Everyone is growing corn and much less of other grains.
June 8th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
To Trudy,
Please don’t hold your breath waiting for the manufacturers and/or the FDA to come forward with the names of the foods testing positive for acetaminophen. They would be more than happy to delay and stall, as they have in my case, until the story fades away.
My feeling is that it is up to the pet owners to keep this story in the news. I am doing what I can. At this point I am somewhat dissapointed that some of the national media contacts that I have made have not gone with the story yet. I get the feeling they are waiting on the FDA to make some more substantial comment or finding before they get involved. If that is the case we may be waiting a while.
June 8th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Haven’t seen this before, not sure if its been posted so here it is.
Help Change The Pet Food Industry
http://www.truthaboutpetfood.c.....cials.html
June 8th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
AnnH, I called ConsumerLabs and left my phone number for them to call back regard: food samples for contaminations for litigaton purposes. That was on Wens. and Nada back.
{litigation purposes is on their website too} But they’ve not called back. Had lots of “stuff” in their voice mail about this and that tho :-P
Lots of yada yada on their phone voice mail there. :-(
June 8th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Trudy Jackson Says:
I still want to know what foods the acetaminophen is in????
Yeah, me too!
I just came accross an article that pulls some things together a little bit @ consumeraffairs.com-http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/06/pet_food_recall56.html
(hope this link shows up!) Anyway, in this article it says this:
“The lab tested more than a thousand samples of different pet food for the past month, according to KTRK. In more than two dozen samples, the lab discovered either cyanuric acid or acetaminophen in the foods.”
In MORE THAN 2 DOZEN SAMPLES—-so now we have to wonder if it’s 12 or more DIFFERENT brands, or different varieties within the same brand?!? just freakin wonderful…
also, if you click on the videos @ the website then go to the “pet food recall” video ( which is from earlier in the recall), they make no mention of melamine, instead they speak of rat poison–which I’ve read here as well–so which is it rat poison, melamine, or both?
June 8th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Ann H
I was in touch with consumerlabs.com back in March re pet food tedsting. I am a member. As of then, they did not test. I will contact them again and see what upgrades they have made, if any.
June 8th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Here’s the phone# for ConsumerLabs
{who I’d think would be Wonderful if they’d get back to people, for testing, info etc, if they’d return calls}
Anyone else wants to leave a messages and see if they call You back, is welcomed!
ConsumerLabs:
White Plains, NY.
914-722-9149
June 8th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Is there anyway to figure out if cyanuric acid mixed with acetaminophen results in the formation of aminopterin the rat poison that the NY state lab first found?????