New dog and cat food recall

[Rileyoriley]

I'm not sure if this is the right section for this topic so feel free to move it if not. A new recall has been added. It's Natural Balance venison and rice formulas, both canned and dry for dogs and cats. Natural Balance is also known as the " Dick Van Patten" line of dog and cat food. The venison is popular with pets with food allergies. You can go to the Natural Balance website for more info. Deb

[paisjpq]

got this email today...
April 25, 2007

An Important Notice from SmartPak!

Dear SmartPak Customer,

As you may be aware, there has recently been significant recalls of numerous pet foods. The purpose of this letter is to alert you of these recalls, and to convey the information that we have at this time.

As background, the situation began in mid-March when a large manufacturer, Menu Foods, determined that a number of its pet food products contained an ingredient called wheat gluten that was contaminated with an industrial chemical, melamine. This chemical is used in the manufacturing of plastics and in fertilizers, and is suspected to have caused illness in cats and dogs.

Just recently, SmartPak learned that the same chemical had been discovered in the rice protein concentrate of two brands that we sell. Specifically, the affected brands are Natural Balance and LiveSmart. Natural Balance has issued a recall for all its Venison dog products and the dry Venison cat food. SmartPak has decided to halt the sales of all flavors of Natural Balance until they are able to complete their investigation.

On April 20th SmartPak initiated a voluntary recall of a single production run of the LiveSmart Weight Management Chicken and Brown Rice Dog Food. The particular lot of food recalled included rice protein concentrate that came from the same batch that was involved in the recall of Natural Balance foods. All customers that had been shipped this food were immediately contacted via both phone and email by SmartPak. No previous lots were affected, nor do we use rice protein concentrate in any other formulas of LiveSmart dog or cat foods. Thankfully, the product was just produced, and only a limited amount left our facility prior to the recall, and we have had no reports of any ill effects from either food.

This is an anxious time for all pet owners, and we are working hard to bring you the most up to date information. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions. We will continue to update our website as more information becomes available.

Sincerely,



Paal Gisholt
SmartPak CEO

[Buffymommy]

Thanks. My husband is thinking of making our own dog food. Atleast we will know what is in it. It really is a scary thing.

[byalip]

Venison and rice???? That sounds like a deer meat diet!!!

Some sound advice from my border collie message board is to feed the Raw Food Diet. There are many, many pet stores around my area that carry it---it comes frozen and all you have to do is thaw.

If your dog has allergies this diet will almost always clear that up. The coat will be healthy and shiny in about 3 weeks, teeth will be cleaner and your dog will be feeling healthier and better.

Basic rule of thumb: if the pet food isn't good enough for human consumption, it's not good enough for my dog.

[Cajungator26]

Originally Posted by byalip

Venison and rice???? That sounds like a deer meat diet!!!

Some sound advice from my border collie message board is to feed the Raw Food Diet. There are many, many pet stores around my area that carry it---it comes frozen and all you have to do is thaw.

If your dog has allergies this diet will almost always clear that up. The coat will be healthy and shiny in about 3 weeks, teeth will be cleaner and your dog will be feeling healthier and better.

Basic rule of thumb: if the pet food isn't good enough for human consumption, it's not good enough for my dog.

Agreed. I try to switch Coal's food every 3 months and I rotate it with Canidae, Orijen, Innova and Back to Basics Chicken dry food. I top dress her food with Steve's Real Food or the canned meat from Merrick or Neura. I used to do the real BARF diet for her using human grade raw chicken wings, blended veggies etc, but it took some time (that I don't typically have.)

[Downthestretch55]

Interesting thoughts here. I read on a site that Chinese food imports, whether gluten for dogs and cats, or vitamin C (as it's no longer produced in the USA) are completely under the radar of the FDA.
Bad enough that the critters are effected, wait until some humans get "hit".

[byalip]

The border collie message board has a pretty narrow consensus of "acceptable" foods: either the Raw Diet, Canidae, or the BARF.

If time is precious, why not cook extra and eat together?