Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Will the pet food recall ever end?

The dry dog food Nutra Nuggets, made by Diamond Pet Foods of Meta, Missouri has been recalled after samples have tested positive for melamine. Melamine is a chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers. It is not approved for use in human or pet food. A veterinary in Visalia, California became suspicious of the dog food after four of his client's dogs went into kidney failure. After some investigation he was able to find that all these dogs were fed with Nutra Nuggets dry food which had been bought from the same Costco store in Visalia, California sometime in mid April. The doctor had the dog food tested and those samples tested positive for melamine.

One dog owner from La Fontaine, Indiana, says her two dogs became sick twice after eating Diamond’s Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul. When asked if she could feed her dogs with commercial dog food she emphatically said No! Her advice is for dog owners to cook their own dog food.

This recall comes only days after another pet food manufacturer Chenango Valley Pet Foods had recalled more of their pet food to include those pet foods that do not contain rice protein concentrate but were manufactured during periods when rice protein concentrate formulas were processed to avoid cross-contamination.

The pet food industry through the Pet Food Institute have formed the National Pet Food Commission to investigate the cause of the current pet food recall and come up with recommendations for the industry.


We hope Pet Food Institute will get to the root of this matter but in the meantime your best solution is to prepare food for your dog.
Check this website for healthy homemade dog food recipes.