Natural Balance Answers Back To Pet Food Lawsuit
Yesterday, we posted a story about a San Francisco lawyer filing a class action lawsuit against Binzhou Futian Biological Technology, a Chinese company that allegedly provided contaminated ingredients in pet food that resulted in massive dog and cat food recalls. The lawsuit is being filed on behalf of a woman whose cat died after eating Natural Balance cat food.
Natural Balance was also named as one of the defendants in the lawsuit.
Natural Balance’s president, Joey Herrick, is firing back against the lawsuit. He is surprised by the lawsuit because he said that the company has paid all claims of people whose pets died or were sickened by tainted food.
Herrick also said the company has paid out more than $100,000 dollars so far to nearly 200 pet owners including all their vet bills or the cost to replace the pet. In one specific incident, he paid $14,000 to a dog owner to cover medical care that saved its life. Herrick added that he won’t pay for anguish of losing a pet.
The class action lawsuit seeks damages up to $5 million dollars on behalf of pet owners whose animals ate contaminated food and it also asks financial compensation for mental anguish for loss of a pet.
In the lawsuit, it states that Binzhou Futian Biological Technology shipped contaminated rice protein into San Francisco, and then this rice protein went into some of Natural Balance cat and dog food.
Some legal experts say that this lawsuit against this Chinese company will face many challenges.
UC Berkeley Law Professor, Richard Buxbaum says that he has doubts that any money will come out of China on the decision on the case. Lawyers might be able to use courts in California to sue for damages, but there may not be money to collect. “They would look for assets in the United States and if they didn’t have any assets here they’d have to go to China and hope a Chinese court would recognize that and enforce it,” Buxbaum explained.
Although the lawsuit is seeking financial damages for mental anguish, Buxbaum said that it would be unprecedented for courts to decide to award compensation for emotional damage over losing a pet.
Source: ABC7News.com
August 10th, 2007 at 9:05 am
If and it is a big IF , Natural Balance has really paid ALL claims, Herrick has SOME credibility.
Does Natural Balance belong to the PFI?
If so then there CERTAINLY are claims that can be made that mental and emotional anguish and the intentional infliction of pain to pet parents is going to be brought up. I am MORE than willing to testify in any court about THAT nasty factor and I believe thousands of pet parents would just LOVE the chance to do likewise.
So, Mr Herrick, I have some questions.
Does Natural Balance belong to the PFI?
If so, then you sure as heck DID inflict horrible emotional damage and get ready to write some more checks.
Has Natural Balance paid or contracted any person or company to monitor this or any other pet related blog or group?
Has Natural Balance taken steps to avoid producing any more poisoned product?
Has Natural Balance identified the POISON that got into their products?
(hint-it aint just melamine)
Is Natural Balance willing to pay the ExperTox lab to test their products that are submitted by pet parents?
I would be the first person to applaud a pet food company doing the right thing but if Natural Balance is a member of the PFI then they can fark themselves sideways and keep paying legal bills because the PFI lied, covered up and insulted every pet owner who had a sick or dead pet.
NO member of the PFI can be trusted.
Mr. Herrick, I am asked EVERY single day if ANY pet food company can be trusted. I would love to be able to say yes and point people your way.
After all these months of pain and lies and cover up, well, it is going to take quite a bit more than I have seen so far.
August 10th, 2007 at 9:07 am
“UC Berkeley Law Professor, Richard Buxbaum says that he has doubts that any money will come out of China on the decision on the case. Lawyers might be able to use courts in California to sue for damages, but there may not be money to collect. “They would look for assets in the United States and if they didn’t have any assets here they’d have to go to China and hope a Chinese court would recognize that and enforce it,†Buxbaum explained.”
Which is, of course, why Natural Balance is named as well. They DO have assets that can be collected domestically. Lawyers always go where the deepest pockets are to be found.
As unhappy as I am about this entire situation, it seems pretty clear that the Chinese suppliers are the real villans here. Could domestic manufacturers have been more vigilant? Sure, but why would anyone have been LOOKING for melamine before this? Like it or not, there’s a great deal that has to be taken on faith and trust in business. If you make a product, there’s only so much you can do to ensure that your raw materials are what they’re supposed to be. Beyond that, you have to contract with suppliers who have a good reputation and trust that they’ll deliver what they say they will. It is utterly impractical for any company to try to self-manage every link of their supply chain from raw material to finished goods. Should Natural Balance be growing and harvesting their own grains, raising and slaughtering their own herds? That’s the only way you can hold them completely accountable for every ingredient that goes into the formula, you know. Same holds true of those who home cook: unless you grew the veggies, raised the chickens, cows, and sheep, and then harvested and processed everything yourself, you’re TRUSTING someone else in the supply chain to have done the right things. If your pets are poisoned, are you going to sue yourself then, or the suppliers who violated the public trust they were given?
I’m all for holding those who were responsible for this accountable. If NB has failed in their duty to compensate pet owners for vet bills and losses, then unleash the lawyers and take ‘em for everything they have. But to name them as responsible parties for the criminal misdeeds of a supplier (a supplier they didn’t know they were using, BTW, since their main supplier had subcontracted to the Chinese without notifying their customers!) just because they have readily accessible cash to feed the lawsuit seems wrong to me. And typical of the US tort system: attack the source of the most cash, whether they’re guilty of anything or not. A loser pays system would really change that landscape…
Let’s not forget that there are a lot of families (and their pets!) who depend upon Natural Balance and other pet food manufacturers for their livelihood. Driving these companies into the ground may feel good, but that doesn’t make it right.
August 10th, 2007 at 9:37 am
I do NOT believe that melamine is the only poison, I do NOT believe that China is the biggest baddy around and it was NOT China that paid the PFI to spin, cover up and insult!
That nastiness came from the pet food companies RIGHT HERE!!
And they used OUR money, obtained under false pretenses (which is theft and a criminal offense) to do it.
How many months into this nightmare are we now?
How many times have the pet food companies lied?
How many pets are dead or damaged for life?
NO company that is a member of the PFI can be trusted.
The poor “innocent employee” card is usually played when the company is in deep doo doo for some horrid thing they did.
And a company that is so stupid they have no idea what goes into their product is not going to be in business long anyway.
August 10th, 2007 at 9:40 am
I agree with Apollo’s Mom. If I recall correctly, Natural Balance was not one of the early recalls. They were part of the American Nutrition recall where the manufacturer was adding grain (contaminated with melamine) to food that was not supposed to have grain at all.
It would seem that if the lawyers want to sue someone it should be American Nutrition. Natural Balance resisted recalling food because to their knowledge, there wasn’t supposed to be ANY GRAIN in their foods. They recalled all the suspect products immediately once they understood that their formulas had been altered without their knowledge. I would put Blue Buffalo in this category as well.
This is a lot different than the companies who were working with Menu Foods who resisted pulling product even after the melamine problem was identified. (Nutro, etc).
August 10th, 2007 at 10:10 am
2CatMom, my recollection is: a month into the wheat gluten-related recalls, and after the rice protein South Africa recall, Natural Balance sent reformulated cat and dog kibble to stores.
It had been reformulated BY THEM using rice protein concentrate obtained BY THEM.
The ingredients for the kibble displayed on their web site AT THE TIME showed that they contained no rice protein concentrate.
Rice protein concentrate was added to a cat food that stated on the web and on the bag that it contained NO GRAIN.
And my recollection is that it killed at least three dogs within a day or two of eating it.
The recall was April 15th, and they changed the ingredient lists on their site literally as the recall announcement was made. Since I was feeding both kibbles at the time my recollection remains quite vivid.
August 10th, 2007 at 10:11 am
I am the owner of a westie affected by contaminated rice gluten. It took many weeks of calls, emails , and anger and stress to get any action by the NB people. No follow up at first and now they are calling me to settle! I dont feel NB was responsible until they HAD to get involved. I am still paying out Vet bills since my dog has a compromised immune system and allergies all triggered by what I thought was the right food for him. Go figure.
August 10th, 2007 at 10:25 am
I agree with everything E. Hamilton has said in her post at 9:05. A couple of things to add. Mr. Herrick said on the 9,07 post he paid 400 claims, this post 200 people paid. Did they only sell only 200 bags & cans of their food? What they said on their web site and on their labels was not true (wheat, rice flower, corn goten or whatever) was in their food. Imo that is not being honest with the people. How long did they waite to recall the first food or did menu do the first recall. Imo a good company would pull the food first while they where waiting for lab work. They said in their e-mails & phone call that they checked their food before, while and after making it, Later they said they didn’t check but they relied on other people to do it. Imo if a company is going to make the profit from selling their product the least they should do is tell the truth & check the product. They would have at least known it wasn’t wheat, rice, corn gloten or whatever that wasn’t supposed to be in their product anyhow. I trusted NB before to be telling me the truth, I will never trust them again with my babies food. I hope their is more & more lawsuits that is the only way we are going to find out the truth, change things and protect not only our pets but the people too. As for the people working with these companys I do fell sorry for them but that is not my fault, it is the fault of the companys & ceo’s. To all companys clean up you food and other products and you won’t get sued. People need to do something like this or it will just keep on happening.
August 10th, 2007 at 10:25 am
Natural Balance has a chance to come out of this smelling somewhat better than the others pet food companies but ONLY if they get out front and make the truth and doing the right thing their ONLY priority.
If Natural Balance is a member of the PFI then they get what they get and I am not going to feel sorry for them if they go bankrupt.
Natural Balance can do the right thing, do it in public and they have ALWAYS had that option, just like the other pet food companies have ALWAYS had the option to do the right thing. And they have had it for all the long months of this nightmare.
They just did not do it and that was their choice.
Natural Balance has held no press conference to get the symptoms of the poisoning into the news that I can find, nor told reporters that the “16″ death toll was an insult that should not be repeated, nor denounced the insults of the PFI, nor offered to pay for testing at ExperTox of their product because they REALLY WANT TO MAKE SURE IT IS SAFE, or any one of a number of things that they COULD have done.
And nothing, NOTHING any pet food company does NOW will ever make up for what they did not do when the pets were dying.
August 10th, 2007 at 10:27 am
$100,000 is chump change. I hope someone goes after Joey Herrick personally.
August 10th, 2007 at 10:38 am
I agree with Carolpw & marisa too.
August 10th, 2007 at 11:58 am
Here is a quote from above.
he paid $14,000 to a dog owner to cover medical care that saved its life. Herrick added that he won’t pay for anguish of losing a pet.
I have two things to say about that.
14 grand for ONE pet, so what, EXACTLY, is the extent of the expenses ALL the pet parents have paid out in this pit of lies and poison that has been the last few MONTHS??
Bigger than the entire national budget of some countries is my guess.
And second, Joey, you ARE going to pay. One way or another. You ALL are going to pay and it would have been a lot less if you had just NOT LIED and COVERED UP and INSULTED.
The cost goes up with every happy sappy TV ad blitz, every time Duane opens his mouth, every time you choose to make excuses instead of apologies.
August 10th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Note to Joey:
Your company flat out lied to me about what tests were being performed on your food. I have the email to prove it.
You were NEGLIGENT by not ensuring that your food was tested. You were NEGLIGENT by not having a proper contact with Diamond.
Here’s some more bad news for US pet food companies. Did you see the Darling recall notice? Melamine is STILL trying to get into the pet food supply.
US pet food companies are a JOKE. IMHO, their product isn’t pet food, it’s poison. And I have a dead cat to prove it.
August 10th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Just to be clear.
Natural Balance IS a member of the PFI.
Natural Balance has blamed suppliers MORE THAN ONCE.
Gee, PFI member, clueless as to what goes into your own product and you wonder why people are suing you?
August 10th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
Apollo’s Mom, I hear what you’re saying, but Natural Balance is guilty on many levels. Just because they provided one of the ‘better’ responses to the recalls doesn’t make it a good response, just a degree better than the even more negligent companies. And, sorry, but employing good people with pets doesn’t let them off the hook. They’re employees, not shields.
The woman whose cat died after eating Natural Balance has every right to name that company in the lawsuit. It was the brand of food she was feeding. Now, if Natural Balance wants to name their own suppliers in a lawsuit that they will in turn file, that’s their business. It isn’t the woman’s responsibility to do Natural Balance’s attorneys’ jobs for them. If they felt they were done wrong, they should file suit. In fact, if they don’t file, I’d love to know why. Maybe it’s because they are culpable, themselves, and the suppliers can prove it. Maybe not. But it’s THEIR responsibility, not the woman’s.
August 10th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
I agree with all of you. And, it seems that NB feels they are being picked on…well, hopefully all members of the PFI will be picked on. If they had been honest and truethful back in late 2006 and early 2007, they would not be looking to “clear” their names now. Every pet food manuf.,I called claimed they did in house testing and had their own people at contract sites checking product. They claimed their products had no problems..and in days they started to fall,one by one. It is time that the manuf. of human and pet food realize they have a responsibility to make sure their foods will not make animals or humans sick or dead. They are responsible not only for what happens “in house” but who they chose to be their suppliers and middle men. So Mr Herrick, I feel no sympathy for you or any other pet food manuf.
Katie
August 10th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Much as it pains me to HELP the pet food companies, here we go.
This is where you START, Joey.
“Of course pet owners are angry, thousands of their beloved pets have died or been damaged for life and the costs to those pet owners are staggering. The death toll has been repeatedly under reported and the “16″ official deaths so widely misquoted in the media are actually test animals that Menu Foods killed in their own feeding trials. Those test animals died about a month before Menu Foods got around to recalling the poison that was labeled premium pet food. This delay cost many lives and much pain.
The pet food industry has failed these pets and their owners and continued to fail them to this day. Pet parents organized volunteers to get bad pet food off store shelves and it should have been a priority for the companies that produced it, not people already struggling with sick and dying pets and huge vet bills.
The truth about the extent and the number of the toxins in the pet food has been withheld from both the American public and the people who most needed to know it. For several months.
My company resigns, effective today, from the PFI and publicly disavows any statements made by the PFI that might be construed as insulting to pet owners or which attempts to minimize the damage of this unfortunate event.
There is no excuse for the lies, cover up and spin that has been a part of the pet food industry response to the outrage committed on these pets and their people and I humbly apologize and commit myself and my company to making it right and doing much better in the future.”
And THAT, Joey, is how you apologize to those you have wronged.
August 10th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
E: RIGHT ON…….AMEN!
That letter should actually come from the PFI on behalf of ALL the PF companies, not just NB……but don’t listen to me……how silly of me to think that they’d actually do something kind & compassionate to right all their wrongs. These people aren’t even human IMO.
August 10th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Mea Culpa. I really thought NB were latecomers to the game. Apparently not. I’m must have confused them with another comapny. Sorry.
August 10th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
2CatMom,
Well, they weren’t exactly EARLY to announce recalls, but “early” and “late” are sort of relative anyway.
If you’re interested in the details, here’s a recall timeline that Itchmo posted:
http://www.itchmo.com/menu-foods-recall-fact-sheet
August 10th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
Phoebe:
I’m not saying NB should have no liability or that the original plaintiff has no suit. The thing here is that this is a CLASS ACTION. It’s not about this woman’s tragic experience with her beloved pet. It’s about dozens of law firms who will jump in and drain the cash off of NB with a huge sucking sound.
The average award in a class action suit that an individual claimant receives is small. Think in terms of hundreds of dollars (if lucky!), not thousands. The fees paid to the law firms, however, are immense. A class action suit against a large corporation where pictures of adorable furry animals and heartbroken children can be shown to a jury is like Christmas for lawyers, only better. Partnerships in law firms are made by class action wins; plaintiffs sometimes walk away with nothing more than a coupon for more of the product that caused the suit!!
An individual choosing to name NB as a plaintiff certainly has that right. What I’m objecting to here is a class action simply looking for accessible cash, which is what this seems to be. They know they’ll never see a dime out of China, and the link to the middleman wholesaler, American Nutrition, is tougher to explain and sell to a jury. But “This evil, rich corporation’s tainted food killed all of these beautiful animals, so make them pay and pay and pay!” is probably giving tort lawyers wet dreams. I just hope the original plaintiff understands that her suit is no longer really about her at all.
And btw, my baby Apollo was on NB Venison & Brown Rice dry at the time of the recalls so I’m also very familiar with the sequence of events. I did discontinue feeding, and have not gone back to NB mainly because they STILL don’t have a venison formula back on the market and my baby has so many food allergies I’m reluctant to even try another protein source. Yes, it worried me. No, I didn’t panic and begin blaming every upset tummy or episode of being a bit off his feed Apollo ever had on his food. He’s had allergies since he was weaned, and dogs have days where they just don’t feel like eating, same as people. Not everything is a symptom! He was, and is, healthy, in beautiful condition, and full of energy. NB was a good quality food; many other good quality foods were hit by this Chinese scam as well. So, what should we do, shut them all down tomorrow, throw thousands of families into instant poverty, and ensure that thousands of pet parents suddenly have almost no options for feeding, other than home cooked? I know that’s exactly what the most extreme her would like to see, but is that really the best answer for our society as a whole?
I’m angry that the US depends so heavily on a nation like China, with so few regulations and controls in place, for so many goods. Lead-painted teethers from Fisher-Price, anyone?? I’m angry that there are so few controls in the supply chain to prevent wholesalers like American Nutrition from re-sourcing their ingredients without telling anyone. (In case some have forgotten, the RPC being used in the NB formula was SUPPOSED to be domestic, not foreign! American Nutrition should be expecting lawyers at their doors, too…). I’m angry at the FDA for being little more than a bloated pool of career bureauocrats, most of whom got their positions through nepotism (and that’s been true for my entire life, which spans back to the Kennedy administration, so we can’t blame it all on Bush, as inviting a target as he may be.) But transferring huge sums of money from the bank accounts of pet food manufacturers to the bank accounts of huge law firms is NOT going to fix any of those things. Voting out congressmen who refuse to pass legislation to revamp and strengthen the FDA will help. If you want to strike a blow for pet - and human! - safety, vote out an incumbent. It’s not half as sexy as a lawsuit, but it’s a lot more effective in the long run.
August 10th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Go read the Don Earl site
http://www.petfoodrecallfacts.com/legal.html
Until I see a pet food company doing the right thing and telling the truth AND apologizing on a regular basis to boot, then I really don’t care what happens to them because the world spun just fine before they got here and if they were that bad, and they WERE, and the “innocent employees” said nothing?
My compassion for any jobs nobody has lost YET is less than it might be in that case. Way less.
Not in favor of making lawyers rich but folks make the choices they have to make and while I have hopes that individual lawsuits will be filed in more states, a good thing, some prefer the class action route.
I , myself, am not pinning any hopes of ANY kind on ANY politician.
Maybe a whole new bunch of scoundrels will be elected for the entertainment value alone, I am tired of the Republican act, but new scoundrels that actually do some good for us?
Yeah, right.
August 10th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
If I am not mistaken, didn’t the Chinese government put the managers of the villein gluten exporters on death row over the petfood scandal? I think their now former export minister is also due for execution for taking bribes from those export guten manufacturers. I guess in China they don’t have much money to pay victims, so they make them pay with their lives. I am NOT againt the lawsuit, but I seriously doubt whether we here in America can get any monetary compensaion from China. Also, along with Natural Balance, why isn’t American Nutrition named as a co-defendant? or are they named? They should be held accountable too! And what absolutely mystefies me is WHY ANI added rice protein concentrate to petfood formulas that did not call for that particular ingredient? As Monkut says in “The King and I” musical: “Is a puzzlement!”
At the time of the ANI recall, one of the wet foods I was feeding my cats was Natural Balance Venison and Peas. It absoluely freaked me out when they recalled the Venison and Peas formulas for dogs and the dry for cats.
August 10th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
last time i checked there were 100s if not 1000s of lawsuits against pet food companies..and this guy is ‘ surprised’ by one in particular?
is there a part of “people’s pets died from eating your food and there’s yet to be a definative explanation why and they racked up extensive vet bills and are pretty pissed off” that didnt get through to him?
i find his shock disingenuous and his facts flexible,ever changing. and his is one of the companies that popped up more recalled food after the first wave of recalls-all with the fanciful label of ‘ natural’. these guys are like freaking ducks- everything just rolls off them. they can sputter and whine all they like-why not take some responsibility for what your company did, track down the hows and whys, apologize and publically explain yourself instead of stammering self serving outrage at the people who are truly the ones who have every damn reason to be outraged and angry at the harm your company has caused them. you sir are NOT the victim here and no amount of your spinning and foot stamping is ever going to change that.
August 10th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
How can they put a price on a pet! To say that this pet is worth more or less then aother one. After having a pet for so many years I would think the price would be very high. The bond and the love and friendship that we have with our pets is priceless. Yes sometimes we pay a price to buy them in the beginning but that should not mean that is the price that they are always worth. Some pets are given away but that does not make that pet less valuable to the owner. The pain and heartache when they are gone from us is terrible. I still cry over my baby boy. I see him in my mind and he does not go away. I miss him so much. Someday I pray that they will finally consider our pets a part of the family and not just a piece of merchandise that has a price tag on it.
August 10th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
What a bunch of BS - Natural Balance has not paid out all claims. Show me the money Joey!!!
Natural Balance is up to some shady business. They (including Joey Herrick) are constantly lying to the public. NB won’t admit to the public that the venison and pea dry cat food will NOT be returning to the market. It’s the truth! They lie and keep giving false dates for it. They have for months. How do you sleep at night Joey? Shame on you!
NB has been lying to the public for 3 1/2 months pretending it will be back on the market, probably in a last ditch effort to keep some customers on their canned venison variety, leading them on with lies and false promises.
Furthermore, they are instead coming out with a duck and pea dry food that is expected to be on the market sometime this month, and to further insult our intelligence, will try to tell you that it’s almost identical to the venison! Duck and venison are two complete different meats fools! Most pets that are allergic to chicken and turkey are also allergic to all birds - including DUCK. The duck and pea formula is not a replacement for the venison because not all venison customers can eat duck. So what’s really up Joey?
You have to ask yourself, Natural Balance has the recipe for the Venison and green pea dry formula - that worked (prior to their reformulation this year which resulted in the recall) and made sales for them for many years. There has to be a reason they are not returning to the old venison and green pea formula (they already have the recipe and the packaging stockpiled) and for the matter, are not making a new venison dry formula for cats, and are willing to lose potential sales from this consumer group - WHY? Not to mention most importantly this is a very,very bad strategic move because NB will lose a lot of customers (more than they already lost) as a result of this. It doesn’t make sense - NB could have easily returned the venison dry in addition to the duck formula. What is the REAL reason behind this Joey?
There is something serious we don’t know for them to make this dumb and irresponsible move (to all the cats who were depending on its return) - in a time when NB lready lost a lot of business and money due to the recalls. It’s suspicious if you ask me.
They are just as bad (if not worse) than all the other PFI companies.
Natural Balance, including Joey Herrick will lie and tell you straight out that the Venison cat will be back soon, and it’s a blatant and bold faced lie.
For reasons unadmitted, Natural Balance are not and will not go back to that original venison and green pet cat formula and will not be working on a new venison formula. Stop waiting folks. There is a reason that they have a product that they know sells ($$ for them) and helps pets, but they are refusing to put it back on the market - there is a reason why they are not. It’s suspicious folks - and it’s deceptive for them to keep lying to customers who call and ask about the venison and green pea cat formula, and who are foolishly waiting for its return, to tell them it is coming back when they are not even working on it and have no intention of returning it. Be honest Joey!!!
They do not have the common decency to even put a statement on their website.
It is time for other natural pet food companies to take advantage of this opportunity and come out with a grainless venison and pea variety for all the customers and pets that Natural Balance screwed over, and for those they killed.
Stop lying Joey! When is my vet bills refund check going to arrive? When the venison and green pea cat is back on the market? NOT!!
August 10th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
FYI - IF, and that is a big IF, anyone received refunds from claims against Natural Balance, it was not Natural Balance that paid anyone. It was Natural Balance’s insurance company. Big difference.
August 10th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
It ain’t over yet! Nutro tried to ship food in July which was contaminated!
Go to http://www.fda.gov/ora/oasis/7/ora_oasis_c_us.html for the FDA refusal report for July. There are over 100 Nurto cat and dog food shipments on this list. Origin shows as Victorville California. Reason for refusal by FDA: unsafe additive and/or poisonous.
August 10th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
Anybody know what the unsafe additive in Nutro was? My cats were nailed TWICE by Nutro - so I’m much more familiar with their Time Line.
August 10th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
To: Natur-hell Balance,
Have you tried Addiction Foods? They make canned cat food that perhaps your cat can try. I’ve never tried it, so don’t know anything about it, but it looks interesting.
http://www.addictionfoods.com/.....enison.php
August 11th, 2007 at 1:09 am
I’ve posted this on another link, but here it is again.
Nutro Products Inc., had over 100 shipments of dog and cat food out of the Victorville, CA plant refused by the FDA in JULY. Reason: unsafe additive and/or poisonous!
To view this 13 page report - Refusal Actions by FDA as recorded in OASIS for United States - go to http://www.fda.gov/ora/oasis/7/ora_oasis_c_us.html
August 11th, 2007 at 1:13 am
This was also on MaineMom link: (Thanks MaineMom)
Intershore International
Torrance , Ca, CA 90503 LOS-DO DV8-0020860-0/1/1
72BFY05 VENISON & BROWN RICE FOOD UNDER PET FOOD RECALL
30-JUL-2007 UNSAFE ADD
POISONOUS
Intershore International
Torrance , Ca, CA 90503 LOS-DO DV8-0020860-0/1/2
72BFY05 VENISON & BROWN RICE FOOD UNDER PET FOOD RECALL
30-JUL-2007 UNSAFE ADD
POISONOUS
Intershore International
Torrance , Ca, CA 90503 LOS-DO DV8-0020860-0/1/3
72BFY05 VENISON & BROWN RICE FOOD UNDER PET FOOD RECALL
30-JUL-2007 UNSAFE ADD
POISONOUS
Intershore International
Torrance , Ca, CA 90503 LOS-DO DV8-0020860-0/1/4
72AFY05 VENISON & GREEN PEA ALLERGY UNDER PET FOOD RECALL
30-JUL-2007 UNSAFE ADD
POISONOUS
Intershore International
Torrance , Ca, CA 90503 LOS-DO DV8-0020860-0/1/5
72AFY05 VENISON & GREEN PEA ALLERGY CAT UNDER PET FOOD RECALL (HOLD
30-JUL-2007 UNSAFE ADD
POISONOUS
Intershore International
Torrance , Ca, CA 90503 LOS-DO DV8-0020860-0/1/6
72BEB05 NBP VENISON & BROWN RICE DOG UNDER PET FOOD RECAL
30-JUL-2007 UNSAFE ADD
POISONOUS
Intershore International
Torrance , Ca, CA 90503 LOS-DO DV8-0020860-0/1/7
72AEB03 CANNED DOG LAMB & RICE UNDER PET FOOD RECALL
30-JUL-2007 UNSAFE ADD
POISONOUS.
Does this sound familar to anyone?
PF companies still trying to pass on their leftover garbage. Where was this food going to be shipped to?
August 11th, 2007 at 2:36 am
Will need to post both the link and story here, as there are times the link says you need to pay to view it and other times not:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp.....804a9.html
Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007
Panel of experts to examine toxic pet food from China
Kyodo News
“The government said Friday that it will form a panel of experts to
investigate Chinese-made pet food that caused animal deaths in the
United States.
“The move follows a discovery that some of the pet food products
recalled in the U.S. have also been sold in Japan, according to
government officials.
“Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Masatoshi Wakabayashi
told a news conference the same day that the panel will consider
regulations against foodstuff containing toxins.
“The panel will convene its first meeting later this month and draw up
an interim report by November.
“The recent deaths of dogs and cats in the U.S. have been linked to a
chemical called melamine, which has been found in wheat gluten used
in various pet food products.
“Separately, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said Japan and
China are arranging for an expert panel to meet early next week in
Beijing to discuss the safety of Chinese food and other products amid
growing concerns about the quality of imports from China.
“”We are arranging with the Chinese government to have experts meet in
Beijing early next week to exchange views” on measures to secure
safety, the top government spokesman told a regular news conference.
“Sooner or later, we will come up with an answer with China.”
‘The discovery of chemical residues and banned substances in Chinese
exports ranging from toothpaste to toys has raised international
concern regarding products from the country.”
The president of Intershore International is Dwight Nakagawa:
http://www.zoominfo.com/Search.....=632948664
Intershore International–Dwight Nakagawa, President
There aren’t many links to this man–I’d believe he is or was an exporter. There’s no business listing for the company in Torrance Yellow Pages at AnyWho and trying the url:
http://www.intershoreinternational.com/
gets you “page not found”. Using Google maps to find the company gets you no results too.
It looks like at least the Nutro material was being shipped back to Nutro from Europe and other places–see the “Eur” & “Eu” prefixes on some brand names:
http://petfoodtracker.blogspot.....urope.html
http://www.magdrl-nj.com/news_.....ecall.html
“3/26 - Recalled batches of Nutro have been found in Europe. The Belgian government has posted a notice about it. It says that 40 boxes containing 24 items have been imported into Belgium and their Food Standards dept is trying to trace them, but the US manufacturer has not been helpful. It also states that 3440 boxes have been imported into Europe as a whole. Zooplus (websites all over Europe) sells Nutro but on their UK forum they say that none of them are affected batches. A person the reporter knows from The Netherlands *has* received affected Nutro but has not found out the source.”
http://www.favv-afsca.fgov.be/.....ods_nl.pdf
Belgian notice.
It also might be possible that the company Intershore International originally shipped the Natural Balance products elsewhere and they too were being returned.
OASIS is a listing of goods which were denied entry into the US, so it looks like all of this PF was being sent back to either the shipper or the respective PF company. If you remember, MF recalled some Euro “store brand” products which, by the name, appeared to be sold in Italy.
August 11th, 2007 at 9:20 am
Menusux: thanks for that info. I read about Nutro on the Oasis report a few weeks ago & have been trying to figure out exactly what was going on with it……I thought Oasis was for stuff coming INTO this country so I couldn’t figure out why Nutro would be coming IN when I thought it was made here. I wonder if the FDA missed it, would this be back on the shelves??????? Amazing the FDA even caught it.
Why am I not surprised that they tried to sell the recalled food (whether it was from a public or a silent recall) out of the country? God forbid they should lose a penny of profit. Have they no shame? I wonder if these people are functioning human beings…..how can they go home & look their wife & kids in the eye knowing that they have been selling tainted food killing innocent little fur babies. As long as they enjoy their blood money & can sleep at night, I guess they’ll have to wait to meet their maker to explain why they lived such a shameful life.
August 11th, 2007 at 11:08 am
Time for the Pet Food Recall Phase 2.
WHEN WILL the FDA get out the chains and locks and shut this nonsense down.
This is a disaster!
August 11th, 2007 at 11:21 am
“Intershore International
Torrance , Ca, CA 90503 LOS-DO DV8-0020860-0/1/7
72AEB03 CANNED DOG LAMB & RICE UNDER PET FOOD RECALL
30-JUL-2007 UNSAFE ADD
POISONOUS”
What kind of “poisonous”? As in melamine?
Or, as in aminopterin and acetaminophen?
August 11th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
that’s what i was wondering 5cat! melamine is listed as unsafe additive, not poison. so WTF are they finding in the food?! and what brand is that?! and where did this food come from? was it the previously recalled crap that they are trying to export or are they making new poison crap?!
insane.
August 11th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
does anyone know if Mars is producing Nutro’s food yet (or whoever’s buying them) i was just wondering if this is coming from a company that has foreign plants? and why does nothing come up on google for Intershore International ?!
August 11th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
Anyone associated with a large pet food - kibble company should be ashamed of themsleves….and please stop saying.. some of those pet food people are losing their jobs and it is hurting families because of the recall.
Millions..make that Billions of good money has been paid out for cheap, garbage pet food. Not one big pet food company has come out and said “we will now be honest and tell you exactly what is in the food we make”. No pet food president has dared to put themselves in a press room where questions can be asked….everything is just one way communication, ummm, maker that lies.
I was thinking about the big heat wave in the northeast where temperatures got over 100 degrees. I wondered how many trains or trucks were on the tracks/highway with tons of dry pet food - kibble.
August 11th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
My wife lost her job taking care of sick cats. What were we supposed to do? Put them down and keep buying PFI food? LadyCat died; Munchkin and TeenyCat are still hanging in there. These people don’t care about what happened to us, and I don’t think they care about what happened to their employees. BULL CRAPOLA!
August 11th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
My wife looked at this and posted on the forum. She called the FDA and was told to file a “freedom of information act” form. She wanted to know whether this food would be destroyed immediately, or would be returned to Nutro.
August 11th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Doubt if the FDA “caught” these returned shipments - just proves they can read! The containers would have been flagged and the accompanying documentation very clear.
The questions are: Who, when, where and how is it going to be “disposed of.” Per a news article from last year, there were noxious odors from the stacks at the Victorville food plant where these foods originated. No wonder!
August 11th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
I read the comments from Apollo’s Mom regarding the supposed harm to employees because injured (YES, INJURED, DUPED AND POISONED) consumers are fighting back with legal tools of the marketplace.
That’s what is supposed to happen in this system. Consumers whose products were poisoned can fight back. Because this is pet food is supposed to make it less egregious? If it were an serious life threatening injury caused to a child — E. Coli burgers from Burger King, for example — even if the child recovered parents would sue. And, if you resent the comparison, it is an apt one because the injured party did not receive what was represented by the manufacturer, i.e. a safe product consistent with federal, state and local regulations. END OF ARGUMENT.
Now as to the future for those employees, what enterprising people would do is come up with ways to capitalize on what is now an open scandal in America and produce safe quality products actually MADE IN AMERICA. Why should these manufacturers stay in business if they do harm?
August 11th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
maine mom and everyone else:
did you notice the only other item in that oasis list declared’ poisonous’ besides the pet food was a product for human babies called ” MasterBABY Dietary Supplement for babies” attributed to a company called ‘ch laboratories’
http://www.chlaboratories.com/liquid_products.html
they have a large vitamin and supplement catalogue and seem to be itching to poison our babies. nice. their contact numbers are in the usa and mexico but the site has a chinese translated page.
the oasis list was full of unapproved pharmacuetical products.
maybe the poison really is in the chinese synthesized vitamins-clearly a massive industry with far reaching implications well beyond the pet food( which is massive a problem and bad enough)-all the suppliments/added vitamins in the human food products/drinks or that we willingly consume on our own from the myriad of pills and supplemets bought for ‘ health reasons’. given that china makes most of these things- it’s a disaster of poisoned food that is near incalcuable. and no one is doing anything about it in anyway.
if all that product- nearly the entire scoop of our consumed processed food and animal food/ feeds-is tainted and they know it…..it would explain the inaction of the fda and the alleged ‘inability’ to track down the real exact cause of the pet food poisoning- they desperately don’t want us to know the truth.
August 11th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Please, there is someone fighting one heck of a battle to get the truth and force the FDA to test PROPERLY, under supervision, the foods and find out what really is in the poisoned pet food. We need to support Don and get the news out into the world, here is the link, please print the flyer and post it,
http://www.petfoodrecallfacts.com/active.html
or get the news out where ever you can!
Here is the link to what Don is doing on the legal front - Don is smart, determined and I am impressed!
http://www.petfoodrecallfacts.com/legal.html
August 11th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
re: Apollo’s mom:
re: Let’s not forget that there are a lot of families (and their pets!) who depend upon Natural Balance and other pet food manufacturers for their livelihood. Driving these companies into the ground may feel good, but that doesn’t make it right.
Natural Balance should have thought about that before they drove many animals into the ground …..into their graves. The only entity responsible for Natural Balance being driven into the ground, if that should happen (all fingers crossed) would be Natural Balance.
August 11th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
There seem to be a few who are perhaps as determined to blame the victims, us and our dead or sick pets, as..say..the pet food companies who monitor these blogs must be!
Just saying..
August 11th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
E.Hamilton — you are so right. They blame us. And I am sure the PFI laughs about it. I have gotten lots of nastygrams because Ladycat died.
August 11th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
The fact that a pet food company is trying to sell POISONED, marked by the FDA as POISON, pet food means that the recalled food was NOT destroyed and this news needs to be posted on every pet site or board on the net.
If there is recalled and poisoned food that has not been destroyed in one place, who knows where it could crop up?
Also means more food must be tested and that NO commercial pet food can be trusted. There was a poster in this very thread all het up that they could not get the very brand mentioned in the FDA refusal, though why you want to buy from a proven poisoner is beyond me.
NO member of the PFI can be trusted!
August 11th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
And Joey?
You are a liar and a POISONER and everyone who ever hears about the selling of POISON you tried to do WHEN YOU KNEW IT WAS POISON will know you for the lying CRIMINAL you are!
What Natural Balance did, trying to sell POISON is a CRIMINAL action and I think Joey would look great in a set of handcuffs doing the perp walk.
Bye Bye Natural Balance brand!!
August 11th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
e.-
i was not suggesting at all that no one was fighting back-don’s actions are needed and laudible but he has absolutely no power to stop all shipments of goods coming from china . more to my gist was that no one who can actually do something to stop these shipments-ie the federal government of the USA-is doing a thing. those reponsible for the safety of our food and safety of our imported and domestic goods are still not doing their jobs and this flow of poison will not stop until they do.
if this one shipment of mostly poisoned pet food was stopped-it means 1000s more just like it passed through unchecked and fancy free to be deposited on store shelves because the fda has no legislated power to force pet food companies to even recall product even if they were so compelled to do so which theyre not because theyre the paid handmaiden of a corrupt industry.
everything done to make citizens aware of this is important but i dont think i said anything to negate don or require chastizement or the implication that i was unaware and or dismissive of the efforts of private citizens-it was in no way the subject of my post.
August 11th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Mittens,
I have no idea what you are talking about. I NEVER made any post in reference in any way negative of you or your posts.
There ARE posters who have written things that are ..er..suggestive of the PFI party line and those are the posts I make reference to.
Please read the thread again and you will have no trouble picking out the poster I make reference to, and it aint you.
August 11th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
mittens
ps
In fact, I just got back from directing people to look at your very informative post!
Take that as a compliment because I am totally opposed to giving any more power or a single dime to the FDA. They are too corrupt to fix.
We will have to agree to disagree on this issue.
August 12th, 2007 at 4:57 am
So, is anyone going to do a Freedom of Information Act record request on the poisoned food? I can’t get that URL to work on my computer for some reason…
The BADministration has been making FOIAs difficult and time consuming ever since Ashcroft sent memos out telling everyone to refuse or drag out FOIA requests, but I’d really like to follow up on this in some way!
August 12th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Well, maybe the rest of the world might like to know that poison food is still being shipped and by a company that knows it is selling a deadly product?
There are countries that still have a free press.
I am not thrilled that the US no longer has a free press but even more important is that the US should not be shipping poison to the rest of the world and it seems the pet food companies will do just that if we don’t find a way to stop them.
They would not help get deadly food off the store shelves, they spent money on marketing instead of paying the vet bills like they promised and it appears that they are in some sort of contest to see how low they can go in dastardly acts.
August 12th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
silly question:
if those rejected pet foods were recalled product being returned to the manufacturers (per instructions?), why would the FDA refuse them? i can see confiscating and destroying the shipment perhaps, but a refusal?
August 12th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
If anyone wants to express their opinions directly to the pathological liar Joey Herrrick, his email address is:
joey@naturalbalanceinc.com
(It honestly is!)
August 12th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
Straybaby, they could very well be making NEW poison food, who knows at this point.
But if there is a buttload of poison food floating around still that the pet food industry can make a dime off of, then you can bet they will and not turn a hair at who it kills, humans included.
America ate chicken that would be outlawed in Chernobyl for quite a while and since testing is showing MORE toxins in pet food, I have no doubt the worst is yet to be revealed about the extent and number of toxins in the whole food chain, not just pets. If there was not worse to hide the pet food industry would have been less frantic to lie and spin. And the FDA to be so accommodating, that the FDA was a tool of the drug companies seems to be a long accepted fact though_I_ was shocked, but to be this ..eager to bend over for the PFI, the FDA must be complicit in hiding something even nastier than we now know.
August 12th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
My suspicion is that the recalled food was intended to be sent to other countries where it will be used as feed for cattle, pigs, ducks, buffalo etc. The USA used land in other countries for farming (cheaper to do that overseas) and then the meat (raised for USA) gets imported back in the USA to end up on your plates. It is cheaper to do this and other countries do not have the same type of laws as here - as you know they supposedly can’t feed the melamine tainted food to pigs or cows here for human consumption but in other countries they don’t have the same restrictions or supervision. Our countries don’t care what effect it would have on humans who later eat the meat - it’s all about $$.
The final key to this puzzle is that I believe HRK PET FOODS manufactures Natural Balance’s pet food. This manufacturer is not on the list of any of the PFI manufacturer’s list. If you do a search online, HRK PET FOODS prepares feed ingredients for animals and fowls - which used to exclude dogs and cats. JOEY HERRICK IS THE PRESIDENT OF HRK PET FOODS (and president of Natural Balance). Both are located in Pacoima, CA.
If you write to Jessica Flores at Natural Balance(jessicaf@naturalbalanceinc.com) her email signature is (drumroll) per verbatim: HRK PET FOODS/ NATURAL BALANCE PET FOODS!!! Tel: 818-897-2521 x118 Fax:818-897-4740
FYI - She is a bonafide liar just like Joey Herrick - although she is probably just the Sneaky Snake’s puppet, but a pathological liar nonetheless.
All the Shady business is going on in Joey’s backyard, orchestrated by Joey the Liar Herrick President of Both Companies.
Now why the heck do you think venison dry isn’t coming back on the market? Here’s a scenario - Joey gets contracts with farms (here and/ or in USA) and HRK provides the feed ingredients for the animals, which later are bought back by NB and made into pet food - for your pets. If Joey couldn’t gain control over the venison farms in New Zealand to contract with HRK to buy their feed, he wasn’t going to do business with them anymore. There are obviously less venison farms out there, and when they weren’t successful in getting contracts with any to buy his feed, venison product was discontinued. (do not be suprised if after their stockpile of venison is used up, even the canned food will be discontinued). HRK already has been providing feed for animals (cows, pigs) and fowls (ie chickens and ducks) so Joey already had the contracts for his feed, and bingo bango - a new duck and pea formula for cats! There already is a duck and potato for dogs. So now HRK PET foods manufacturers prepares feed for animals, and fowls and indirectly (via those animals and fowls) DOGS AND CATS.
There is a reason for everything - and Joey can lie all he wants but we are not fools. It is an insult to our intelligence to try to lie to us and blame us, and pretend like HE paid out all claims - which is a blatant lie. NB did not pay out any claims, if anyone got refund check, which I doubt, it was their insurance company that paid it out. Joey never signed one check himelf.
The truth is out there
August 13th, 2007 at 12:01 am
You need to back off. I know FOR A FACT that NB has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars PERSONALLY above and beyond insurance claims. Your whole email is a pack of rumors, lies and slander.
August 13th, 2007 at 11:38 am
re: NB has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars PERSONALLY above and beyond insurance claims
Since Natural Balance’s insurance company would be the one paying any claims, then why would NB be paying any money out above and beyond the insurance claims? Who were the recepients of thousands of dollars not part of insurance claims - who would NB be bribing, or paying off to shut up or ordered to pay in court?
It would be the same as if you have car insurance, and you get in an accident, and your insurance pays for the damages to the other person you hit. What possible reason would there be, for you, to pay anything extra above and beyond your car insurance claim? There’s one reason - because they sued you - just like they sued NB.
Wow, if you believe Joey Herrick, that NB paid out more than $100 000 in claims for vet bills for dead or sick pets. And anonymous claims that NB paid out thousands of dollars above and beyond this, then obviously Natural Balance murdered and injured a significant amount of pets by their food, to pay out that much money, don’t you agree?
August 13th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Do you realize that insurance companies have a cap on all payouts? If your car insurance is infinite I want their name please. I know MINE only goes so high and thats it. Most insurance companies in this instance only pay what they consider the animal’s value. NB is going above and beyond. Anyone who has had a claim paid by NB please respond to this brilliant individual. Apparently he has the inside track to the entire petfood industry.
August 13th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
I think there was another blog regarding pet owners being paid out by Natural Balance last week. I am one of the pet owners that have received not one but two checks. First off it’s taken some time to finally get everything settled. The insurance company was only willing to pay what the animal is worth, which in my opinion is a load of crap to set a value on an animal you have had for years and that you consider a part of your family. It didn’t matter how much my vet bills were because that is all they would pay. I have been dealing with Lori and Chris trying to get everything settled and they have been very pleasing to talk to and assured me that the vet bills would be covered by Natural Balance.
I received a claim release form that I had to sign in order to (1) get paid and (2) not go after the company later if something happens to the dog years down the road. My vet assured me that my dog would recover and not have any long term damages or illnesses. After talking with the family I signed the release and sent it back. I have since received a check from the insurance company which was for $415.00 and another check from Natural Balance for $2809.82 and it was signed by Joey Herrick himself. If I understand correctly most companies are just paying out $100 to every customer and they could take it or leave it. I was very skeptic about receiving money for reimbursement of my vet bills until I actually had the checks in my hand. I commend Natural Balance for doing the right thing after this horrible mess, after all it is only fair that they pay for what they did.
March 21st, 2008 at 11:22 am
I just wanted to say that in December my two cats both got really sick on Natural Balance food and I contacted Natural Balance and all they offered me was a free bag of food. I spent over $1000 on my cats and went broke for a few months.. that is a lie that they pay for everyone’s vet bills.
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:28 am
Hi from New York And thanks for the web site. It was just the thing I had been looking for. It has helped me no end. Thanks again
October 10th, 2008 at 10:52 am
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