Natural Balance Recall Expands to Canned Food and Treats
Itchmo has confirmed with Natural Balance that their recall has expanded and now covers the following items for all dates:
- Venison and Brown Rice Treats for Dogs (New today)
- Venison and Brown Rice Canned Formula for Dogs (New today)
- Venison and Brown Rice Dry Food for Dogs (Reported Sunday)
- Venison and Green Pea Dry Food for Cats (Reported Sunday)
The problem stems from melamine found in the rice protein concentrate (described by the company as rice gluten) used by Natural Balance. They confirmed that FDA testing has found melamine in the rice protein concentrate. The ingredient was produced by a US vendor, according to Natural Balance. Natural Balance recommends avoiding all rice protein in their products.
They have also confirmed that customers are reporting “a few cases” of kidney failures, which their original announcement described as “kidney problems”.
The items recalled are packaged (but not manufactured) by Diamond Pet Foods. The problem was discovered Friday and the FDA is testing all other ingredients and formulas. In the packaging process, the final food is run through Diamond Pet Foods machinery, but are overseen by Natural Balance quality assurance staff.
Natural Balance says it will reimburse the pet parents for medical expenses related to the melamine toxin.
NOTE: The recall expansion has not made it out to the mainstream media, but we expect it to do so shortly.
UPDATE: Natural Balance is not yet releasing the name of the US supplier. We’ll let you know as soon as we know.
UPDATE at 7:37pm Eastern: Natural Balance updates their site. Full release after the jump.
Natural Balance Pet Foods,® Inc. Issues A Voluntary Nationwide Recall on Specific Venison Dog & Cat Food Products
Contact:
Consumer Inquiries:
(800) 829-4493
Media Inquiries:
Daniel Bernstein
310-275-0777
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Pacoima, CA — April 17, 2007– Natural Balance, Pacoima, CA, is issuing a voluntary nationwide recall for all of its Venison dog products and the dry Venison cat food only, regardless of date codes. The recalled products include Venison and Brown Rice canned and bagged dog foods, Venison and Brown Rice dog treats, and Venison and Green Pea dry cat food. Recent laboratory results show that the products contain melamine. We believe the source of the melamine is a rice protein concentrate. Natural Balance has confirmed this morning that some production batches of these products may contain melamine.
The recall was prompted by consumer complaints received by Natural Balance involving a small number of cats and dogs that developed kidney failure after eating the affected product.
Dogs or cats who have consumed the suspect food and show signs of kidney failure (such as loss of appetite, lethargy and vomiting) should be seen by a veterinarian. We recommend our customers immediately stop feeding our recalled venison products regardless of date code and return unused product to their retailer for a full refund.
The products are packaged in bags, cans and zip lock treat bags and sold in pet specialty stores and PetCo nationally.
No other Natural Balance products are involved in this voluntary recall as none of our other formulas include the rice protein concentrate.
Although the problems seem to be focused on a particular production period of the venison products, over the last four days we have notified our distributors and retailers by phone and e-mail to immediately stop selling and return all recalled Venison dog foods and treats and the Venison dry cat food. Venison canned cat food is not involved.
The source of the melamine appears to be a rice protein concentrate, which was recently added to the dry venison formulas. Natural Balance does not use wheat gluten, which was associated with the previous melamine contamination.
None of Natural Balance’s other dry formulas, none of our other canned or roll products and none of our other treats are involved with this voluntary recall.
We continue to work closely with the FDA in their ongoing investigation.
Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-800-829-449 or email info@naturalblanceinc.com.
April 17th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
Please also save the statement on the cat food that says it CONTAINS NO RICE!! You all are awesome
April 17th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
I read on the pet connection that all rice gluten and corn gluten is going to be recalled!!!!!! Can anyone confirm this?
April 17th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Of course the ingredient list changed. They just reformulated it.
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.c.....lease.html
April 17th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Hi Itchmo, thanks again for the warning. I just exchanged the venison and brown rice for “Duck and Potato” and also the “vegetarian formula”, which includes brown rice as well. Could that be recalled as well?
I e-mailed the company, after I received your first warning 2 days ago, but have not received an answer from them. They don’t seem to care. We lost 2 of our dogs, one in February and one in March of kidney failure. It is so sad.
Do you think all dog foods which include rice could be recalled?
My son feeds his 2 puppies a different brand, but with rice and chicken and rice and lamb.
April 17th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Kiki, I just looked up the ingredients list of the Karma food. It includes”rice protein” the supposed culprit in the NB recall. If you do get the bag tested, I hope you’ll post the results.
April 17th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Geff,
This isn’t a recent thing with the good ole boy network of George Bush. This has been going on for decades. Did Bill do anything related to the pet food industry when he was in office for 8 years? No. I don’t think this is a democrat/republican issue. This is the big greedy pet food companies governing themselves. That is why we are having this problem. Also, would you name a company that sold you something without having firm evidence to back up your accusations? Lawsuit!
Finally, a dire enough situation has occured and maybe, just maybe we can finally have our pet food regulated as it should have been for the past 30 years!
April 17th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Is the rice protein that NB used human grade?
April 17th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Why would a company change their formula to add a gluten when there was just a huge recall involving a gluten???? Granted this is rice gluten not wheat gluten, but why add any gluten?????
April 17th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Let’s try not to jump too far to conclusions — the fact that the website listing of ingredients was just updated doesn’t mean that the food on the shelves was mislabeled, it might just be that no one got around to changing the webpage. The company might also recall more product than is strictly necessary, to be cautious.
There’s no indication that the melamine contamination has anything to do with GMO grains. A well-researched diary over on dailyKos (http://tinyurl.com/3y97ny) suggested that melamine may have been introduced to the wheat gluten via polluted water during processing — if this is accurate, then it could be a wider problem. I wouldn’t be at all surprised, given the pollution (and regulations) problem in China.
Until timelines come out, let’s try to avoid blaming all & every affected food producer — they may have done nothing more than trust that the ingredients they legally purchased had more FDA oversight than “right, there’s food in that crate? Got it, you’re good to go.” Remember, the wheat gluten was sold as human food grade.
That said, I’ve been planning to gradually switch my cat (recently diagnosed with IBD) to a grain-free diet — I think I’ll do that a bit more quickly now. Like, starting with the next can I open. So far, she likes the Innova dry (although she did have a bit of bowel upset when I tried to change too fast), and loves Merrick (it looks and smells like real people food!). There are several other brands available, I think Howl911.com had a link to a site with brand listings. Or go to a local pet store and check out the labels — and bring a magnifying glass!
I’m going grain-free because my cat already has IBD, and these foods cost roughly the same as prescription diets. At this point, I’m suspicious of all processed ingredients from China — which may turn out to be overgeneralization, it may be one particular plant or company. But since there’s so much confusion about the source, I’m going with overcaution (I may even go through my own pantry, I cook with rice noodles a lot). You might be safe with companies which only use US/Canadian-originating grain ingredients…
April 17th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Rice protein concentrate seems to have been added to the website list of ingredients today. So either:
-they have been using it for a while without listing it on their website or their products,
or
-they just added it so that everyone thinks that rice gluten is the culprit.
April 17th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
[…] http://www.itchmo.com/read/nat.....s_20070417 […]
April 17th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
Can someone please explain to me why a limited protein allergy formula added a new source of protein to their food, especially without warning? OK, I know the real reason: money. But what were they thinking? Even without the melamine, a new source of protein could cause problems for pets with allergy problems. That’s irresponsible of them, just so the shareholders could make a few more pennies. Shame on them.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
From what I understand, the ingredient was new to the company. in the last few weeks, in a recent batch. I have read that a company has up to six months to change their packaging after changing ingredients.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
I read the ingredients on Natural Balance - venison & green pea formula and noticed the same thing - no rice gluten listed???? It is a allergy formula single source protien
April 17th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
They need to state exactly when this crap was added.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
karen-
how long have your cats been eating the canned NB venison food, and how are they doing? Hope all is well with them! one of my cats has been eating it for no more than a week and a half- and she seems fine so far. she had previously been on the Hill’s d/d venison canned food at the vet’s reccomendation due to symptoms she was having on different chicken based foods. I was never thrilled at feeding a Hill’s product, but her symptoms subsided on the venison food. I decided to try to subsitute the NB venison recently. As of tonight though I’m feeding her the old Hill’s until I can get another brand of venison based canned cat food.
Lanie
April 17th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Chris:
Although the posts here are in response to the latest info in re Natural Balance, I feel compelled to reply to your endorsement of FirstMate as a safe pet food.
Per Firstmate.com’s homepage, they state their MAIN INGREDIENTS are sourced in the US, Canada, & Australia. That specificity begs the question of which of their ingredients are imported from other areas and what are those areas. At this time, I would not trust *any* pet food manufacturer that does not fully & completely disclose ingredients and origination of said ingredients.
Copied from www.Firstmate.com :
“TO OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS:
IN LIGHT OF WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE INDUSTRY WITH RECALLS, PLEASE REST ASSURED THAT FIRSTMATE PET FOODS MANUFACTURES ITS OWN PRODUCTS AT OUR FACTORY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA. WE SOURCE OUR MAIN INGREDIENTS FROM CANADA, THE USA AND AUSTRALIA.
FIRSTMATE PET FOODS IS NOT INVOLVED IN ANY WAY WITH THE MENU FOOD RECALL OR ANY OTHER MANUFACTURER’S RECALL. FIRSTMATE FOODS DO NOT CONTAIN WHEAT GLUTEN.
MIKE FLORIAN
PRESIDENT “
April 17th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
What I want to know is WHY there was a RICE protein concentrate in a food that was supposed to have NO RICE (Venison and Green Pea Cat food).
I JUST changed my cats to this stuff. Argh.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
I cannot help but continue to think “Terrorism”! How else would two different glutens from two separate suppliers be tainted?
I do not feed gluten of any kind to cats or dogs, and never have, and never will. This is the only thing that saved me. I do not bring this inferior, cheap, grain source crap excuse for protein home. It is not fit for a carnivore under the best of conditions.
The Canidae company is looking real good about now. www.canidae.com
This is the one I switched to after the first recall, as I am so disgusted with my previous company for even being part of the recall even though they had only a few products recalled. The Eukanuba company has now jumped onto the asinine, breed/environment specific bandwagon which is lunacy at its finest. Not only that, but they have cheapened their products since P & G took over. I don’t want anything to do with them.
The Canidae/Felidae food is fresh, has only one carb source which is brown rice, has 10 coat conditioners, multiple meat sources, probiotics, enzymes, and is for all life stages, and it is cheaper than the rest of them. Look at th money they save in packing alone! And they actually pass the savings on to the consumer. All USA sourced, and stringent controls.
Litter box is odor free. Dogs love it too.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Why wont the President of NB inform us who Diamond purchased the product from?
Other companies could have purchased it from them as well.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
What human food can I feed my Boxer to make sure he is getting a proper balanced diet-other than dog food?
They are not killing my baby!
He just survived what I think may have been this type of poisoning and now has major allergies. We have just had his blood tested today, and I am not feeding him another brand of store bought dog poison!
I can’t believe this is happening. The lies that I have been told, it is just a matter of time. Everyone should stop buying the food-all the food! I bought the NB duck & potato treats and ya know what?-let them eat their treats, I don’t want anything coming from their warehouse or any other that won’t tell where they get there ingredients from.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Judy Says:
April 17th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
I cannot help but continue to think “Terrorismâ€! How else would two different glutens from two separate suppliers be tainted?
This very well could be the case.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:52 pm
Judy - I started giving my cats Felidae just this weekend. One of the three isn’t eating as much of it as I thought he would. But doesn’t seem hungry. So, waiting to see what happens. The regular cat/kitten formula is really impressive if I believe the label. If I calculate the protein on a dry matter basis it is 50 %. And several meat ingredients on the list before it even gets to a grain. Hope this one is OK.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
“I cannot help but continue to think “Terrorismâ€! How else would two different glutens from two separate suppliers be tainted?”
My husband thinks I’m crazy b/c I keep saying this is sabatoge. I really think it’s a possiblity, but maybe I really am paranoid. What a coincidence that a couple of months after the first recall, the company that’s receive the most business from that, gets hit with a recall. Of coure, they DID change their own formula, so who knows? Maybe they just screwed up.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
Judy, you may have a good point. I remember thinking after 9/11 that the food supply would be an easy target. All the terrorists would have to do is get entry level production line jobs at food manufacturers. I would think they’d go after us though, not our pets.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
@ lanie April 17th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Hi lanie
We switched to Natural Balance venison & pea *canned* cat food about a month ago, and both cats (the allergic & the non-allergic) have and are continuing to do very well on it. I don’t want to start feeding Hills but this new recall is unnerving…
April 17th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
We tried Felidae a couple weeks back. It does have one of the better reputations. Unfortunately, my kitty was allergic to someting in the Felidae Chicken & Rice; he started licking compulsively 24/7 & I was able to isolate it to the Felidae. Speculation by others who know more then me that the allergy may have been to the kelp or Alfalfa.
April 17th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
I would think they’d go after us though, not our pets. - Geff
Test run?
April 17th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
I think it’s time we didn’t trust anything that the FDA or the Pet Food Industry is saying. It’s not being reported, daily, as it should be, and many animals are continuing to become ill and suffering. There is definitely something that is being hidden from us and I wouldn’t feel my animals any commercial food.
Has anyone been wondering why our animals have been so ill, w/ allergies, tumors, diarhhea, vomiting, etc for many years now? I would like to introduce those of you who don’t know about www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com
The Pet Industry has been slowly poisoning our animals for years.
The food is and has never been premium quality food, not tested appropriately, ever. Testing on a few animals and only for 6 mos is no test in my book. Have they followed the 6 animals they tested throughout their lives to see the illnesses that they have suffered? NO!
The same goes for the Advantage, Frontline, Revolution, etc. Those products were tested on rats for no longer than 6 mos and then they introduced to our beloved cats and dogs. They are all toxic, some worse than others. Frontline is a class C CARCINOGEN, that’s cancer folks, plain and simple. So, take away the fleas, and itching and trade it for cancer, and a depleted immune system. Fleas are a pain in the you know what, for all involved, but not compared to cancer and there are so many ways to naturally get rid of fleas, just takes more than a droplet on your dog or cats’ neck.
It’s all about money, and they are robbing us blind. There has never been sufficient safety codes and regulations in place and our animals have suffered for many years, and now it’s time to do something about it. They will not, WE MUST TAKE THEM TO TASK! And then we must continue to get reports, public access to any and all safety regulations for all pet products. The sales reps don’t know, the vets’ don’t know. They believe what they are told b/c vet’s are not required to take any courses in nutrition in their 4 years and the sales reps are just that. It’s their job and they believe what their employers are telling them.
Did you all know that 10 yrs ago there wasn’t any accountability on our dog food bags. They didin’t have to tell us anything, about the ingredients or where it was made.
Sign the petition and organize an event in your community to get more signatures and then send it to your local state reps and the FDA. I think PETA is right in suggesting the president of the FDA to resign.
that’s all folks,
~jill
http://www.shewhisperer.com
April 17th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
Even though the canned cat foods aren’t included in this “melamine-rice-protein” discovery in NB foods, I’m reading the labels on all my cats NB food now and notice “rice flour”. Is this a case where “rice is rice is rice”?
Could anyone explain to me why the rice flour wouldn’t be affected as is the rice protein? Unless it has to do w/the processing. ???? Thanks.
April 17th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
I just got a few samples from NB food i am not sure i wanna feed them to my dogs now eventhough they did not send me the vension.now that this recall is taking place i am glad i returned a vension can dog food.i felt unsure about feeding it anyways thank god.i am now sure this could be terrorism as well.Beside i think they should not have hiden the ingredients from us in the first place.
April 17th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
To Kiki, I called Natura and asked if they had any rice protein in it and they said NO, just whole rice!!! But Rice Protein IS an ingredient in Karma!! I am so angry that they lied to me! I just switched my cats TODAY on Naturas california natural. I feel like there are no other options. Now Im scared! Can someone point out some good website for homecooking for cats, at least for now!!???
April 17th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
I also just changed cat food from Science Diet, Iams and Purina One to Natural Balance. I bought a bag of Venison and Green Pea and THANK GOD, they didn’t care for it. That goes back tomorrow. I also bought the can food, which they love, but now I’m afraid to keep them on it. I guess all the can food has the rice protein in it. I already have my one furry baby with kidney problems and I think it started with the other ” good food”. She has to go back to the vet tomorrow because her urine has no red or white cells. This can food hasn’t helped either. But in all fairness, they have only been on it for about 2 weeks. I’m not sure what else to do until I can find honestly good food.
April 17th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
I don’t think it’s all that likely that terrorists would do a ‘test run’ on pets.. I mean, wouldn’t that just serve to tip the general public off to the fact that something was amiss?
I’m thinking you’ve got a supplier who used the melamine in an attempt to make it appear as though its shoddy products were higher in protein (thus higher quality) than they actually are.
My guess is there’s some connection between the supplier of the wheat gluten and the supplier of the rice protein. (Of possible interest, Xuzhou Anying manufactures rice protein powder, too.)
One thing I wonder is.. if this were an intentional addition (for the purpose of making the products appear to be of a higher quality), how long has this been going on? Is it a new practice, or did somebody simply botch things by adding too much, thereby tipping us off to something that may be more commonplace than we’d like to think?
April 17th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
Linda F Says:
April 17th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
Even though the canned cat foods aren’t included in this “melamine-rice-protein†discovery in NB foods, I’m reading the labels on all my cats NB food now and notice “rice flourâ€. Is this a case where “rice is rice is riceâ€?
Could anyone explain to me why the rice flour wouldn’t be affected as is the rice protein? Unless it has to do w/the processing. ???? Thanks.
I would like to ask this same question. Evy from Kumpi may be able to explain it. She is on another board. I’ll see if she will comment on this on the other board.
April 17th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
Newsflash for many of you, since my comments are scattered and take time to read through, but this is very noteworthy.
The pet food industry (yes, I own a small pet food company) got SLAMMED with a 20% increase of ingredient costs in Oct/Nov of last year. I pay the bills, so I can testify. Do some homework on commodity markets and you’ll see it.
This is why I fear that Natural Balance will not be the last recall we’ll see and I have been trying to post about this issue as often as I can. Companies are being forced into trying to meet a certain price point with their products and looking for ways to keep you happy in both price and product. It’s a crisis point for every major manufacturer of pet food. Corners had to get cut and some choices got made that are hurting them now.
As small as I am (and since I’m heading out to my garage soon to prep FedEx for pickup! being a working president) it doesn’t have that large of an impact on me.
Also, that is why some of your pets aren’t touching their food that they’ve always eaten with such gusto. Formula’s are changing like crazy - and you’d be AMAZED at how you can change a formula with the exact same label, bag after bag and year after year.
And I also wonder about this. The recall dates for the Natural Balance are for Sept of 2008??
The natural preservative most every company uses (Naturox is an industry standard, the mixed tocopherols, etc.) keeps the food most fresh for one year. One and half years is a stretch. I always have my bags date stamped one year out from production, not one and a half years. That’s part of why some foods still use BHA, BHT and/or ethoxyquin. They can run large amounts of food, bag ‘em and run quantity since the food will be preserved longer.
Things that make ya go hmmmmm. Think about that.
Ok, off to do my FedEx !!
April 17th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Teresa Holladay says:
“Life’s Abundance…..There is no corn or wheat and a search on “gluten†comes up empty.”
I’ve got a sample pack of Life’s Abundance cat food in my hand right now. Wheat grass is listed as an ingredient.
April 17th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
teric ~
Just saw your post about that. Rice flour is not a ‘derivative’ from something else. The protein concentrate is much like ‘gluten’ is. Corn gluten meal is used in a lot of cat foods to raise the protein and keep down the ash content - however, it’s sadly lacking in the essential amino acids they need.
Gluten is the protein substance of it’s respective component.
Wheat gluten meal is the “protein” of the wheat processed out. Corn gluten meal is the “protein” of the corn processed out.
When my nutritionist formulated my products he was careful to stay with “whole” sources vs. anything that is derived from a source.
Gotta go do FedEx !!
April 17th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
Breeder’s Choice Pet Foods - AvoDerm is a very good food, not implicated in any of the recalled ingredients. They are expensive but might be a good supplement with home-cooked food.
April 17th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Menu Foods just updated their site and now “Natural LIfe” is on the list of recalled foods.
http://www.menufoods.com/recal.....172007.htm
Nothing on Natural Life web page yet.
April 17th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
Thanks Evy,
I’ll post your info on the other board.
April 17th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
I have been feeding my cats the NB venison and peas canned and dry for about a year now. I just checked the canned food….no mention of any rice gluten, rice flour or rice protein concentrate. Both cats seem fine. But I am not feeding them the NB anymore, canned or dry. My one cat has food allergies and has to eat a limited ingredient food. I just got a bag of IVD limited ingredients venison and peas from my vet. I read the ingredients….no mention of any type of grain and/or gluten. I hope that is the case.
Why would a company add another protein like rice gluten to a food that is suppose to be a limited ingredient food for cats with allegies???
Maybe if we don’t get answers from the company’s president, we should contact Dick Van Patten himself!
April 17th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
Brian that may be so, but look at the email that I got from Natural Balance. If they test their product before production, after production, and before the product ever leaves, and they STILL miss it! Either they are lying and product is not tested at all. Or, they are testing and their methods are so incompetant that bad product cannot be caught in all this testing. It IS the fault of Natural Balance. Especially when they changed their formula to rice glue and failed to let the public know, until pets started getting kidney failure from their product.
Jane
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
We also have our OWN quality control over seeing any manufacturing/production of our products. Further, all of our products are tested prior to production, after production, and then once again at our facility before the product ever leaves for distribution
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Brian Says:
April 17th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
There may be a larger overall issue going on here with the quality of the raw ingredients going into pet foods. If that is the case it’s not really the fault of Natural Balance or any other Brand that’s been involved in the recall, but the suppliers intentionally doctoring the raw ingredients so they make more money.
.
April 17th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Evy,
Can’t wait for that bag of KumpiKat to get here!
Tell Fed Ex to hurry it up.
Just kidding.
April 17th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
The following is my email, which was immediately bounced from their site (If they’re in crisis mode and really trying to help their customers, they would immediately take measures to ensure their email box doesn’t “fill up” because it’s more than their usual amount. What company these days would be utilizing an ISP that places restrictions on the size of their email box? That’s absurd. You know damned well someone is in their offices right now, if only just performing serious PR damage control, at least with the media.)
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am horrified to learn that Natural Balance has issued a recall on their dry pet foods. My wife and I decided to switch to your brand of pet food from the Hill’s Nutrition-Science Diet line that we’ve been purchasing in the past, specifically because we were led to believe you obtained all your ingredients from U.S. or New Zealand sources.
With this new recall, your website explains that you suspect rice protein concentrate in your Venison formulas. How do we know you’re not going to trickle out more additions to your recall in the coming weeks, as Menu Foods has done with their wheat gluten recall? What can you possibly offer to reassure consumers like us who’ve purchased Natural Balance thinking we were escaping the blatant negligence on the part of pet food manufacturers by using cheap filler imported from other countries instead of growing, manufacturing, and producing their own product?
My wife and I purchased Natural Balance cat and dog food, what I’d assume could be referred to as your “basic” formulas, the pink (cat) and blue (dog) bags. We’ve removed about half to two-thirds of the bags’ contents as we’ve slowly mixed them in with our existing bins of Science Diet food to make them slowly used to the new food. I’m placing these bags away from where my animals can get to them, and dumping all the food in our bins. After that, I’ll wait quietly in fear for the safety of my pets, afraid of the possibility that you’ll expand your recall to the foods we’ve purchased, and wondering now who we can trust to spend our $100+ a month in pet food on.
Some may defend your company by saying you didn’t know the product was contaminated; and while I will commend you for issuing a recall quickly, unlike the criminal players in the wheat gluten debacle, I’m still disappointed that you’re producing your food at plants outside of your company’s direct control. I’m still disappointed that you’ve failed to disclose who is your source of rice gluten. I’m still very disappointed that after many hours of research on the internet to find a company who wasn’t involved in the Menu Foods scandal and obtained their ingredients from within this continent, I’ve been duped yet again.
I know you’re not perfect, and humans make mistakes - that’s why we’re human. But you market your product as a superior choice, a product that can be relied upon and trusted. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, you’ve blown that trust and reliance. You’ve put our pets who, for at least my wife and I, are actually our children, in harm’s way. We trusted you, but we can do so no longer. And that is really a shame.
-Andrew & Heather (withheld),
& our “kids” - Doxey, Mitzi, Wiggles, Fester, Ryo-Oki, and Snowball.
Ogden, UT
April 17th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Buying rice (white or Brown) by the bulk and chicken, beef or fish in large amounts when on sale can save you alot of money. Simply cook a large pot of rice with a meat or fish, which will make a broth. You can add a bag of frozen peas and carrots on sale too. Separate the cooked food into freezer bowls and use as needed. Your dogs and cats will be healthier, happier, safer and you will be richer. And the pet food companies will feel the pinch as they should. We have become lazy and very dependent on the convenience of foods. But we are paying the price in more than one way. Our pets are worth it. So are our kids. >^..^
April 17th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
A lot of people have already written to me about “brown rice” vs. “rice gluten”. I posted a quick blog on it, drawing largely from Dr. John B. Symes, a/k/a “DogtorJ”. He has recovered from celiac disease and is an expert on gluten intolerance and allergies in pets.
Basically, rice GLUTEN is a by-product of rice milling. It’s GLUE. It’s the least adhesive of glues but it IS glue.
Brown rice is gluten-free. It hasn’t been milled, yet, and is generally not coated with “additives”.
So, while we are all beginning to wonder who and what we can trust, brown rice has not yet raised red flags. If it ever does, we will all be in trouble.
The link is at:
http://safepetfood.wordpress.c.....nd-gluten/
April 17th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
okay sooo Im a little confused. If you go to Naturas website and click on Karma Organic, the ingredients say RICE PROTEIN AND WHEAT! Now go to their ingredients wizard and you will discover that when you click on those two ingredients, it will come up saying NO NATURA PRODUCTS CONTAIN THIS INGREDIENT!! I really want to use California Natural..well Im calling tomorrow…I hope they have snuck rice protein into that…
Evy, does your food have any sort of gluten, or protein concentrates in it?? Also I am taking all three cats to have blood tested tomorrow from the NB. Ill let you know how it goes!!
April 17th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
I am feeding Innova dry to my dogs. They have a line called EVO which is high in protein and the label says ‘no grains’. I get it at Pet Supplies Plus and PetSmart does not carry it. I also buy their regular adult dry and recently bought the puppy formula for my new little ones. Saw on TV that they have their own processing plant and were not involved in the recall. Do I need to expect to see it on the recall list soon? My dogs seem fine but how do I know for sure they are not being damaged?
April 17th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
LOL 5CatMom, just you wait until they tear up their first bag :) They have become souvenirs of sorts for me from customers. They actually let me have them and we use them at trade shows. Claw marks are very distinct!!
Anyways, TERRORISM NOT. Just our own inbred kind it seems. Please remember what I’m trying to share about the HIKE in costs in Oct/Nov. Manufacturers are scrambling on how to save money right now. I don’t think they realize that y’all rather spend more money on a safe product than them having to meet a certain price point. Or maybe not. Marketing is not one of my skills.
But the terrorism would have been a concern to me if I didn’t KNOW about the increases we have all faced. Again, as a small company, not so much of an impact. For me, it means getting more serious about using all of my Office Depot coupons more diligently on print jobs or purchases. Face it man, when groceries went up higher, didn’t you find yourself creating fancy ways to save money??
Unfortunately, there are no ‘coupons’ in the pet food industry that we can use. Just need to shave corporate fat and not mess around so much with trying to save money on the product.
psssssst 5CatMom’s cat food - hurrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeee