Safe in Europe?

jennyr

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I have been surprised that no European division or manufacturer of petfood has made any announcements about safety of foods here. So I have tonight sent emails to Purina and Royal Canin (the brands I use) asking them for reassurance that they do not buy wheat or wheat gluten from China, and that they can guarantee their products' safety. I have said I will publish their responses on this site. Would anyone else like to approach their own favourite manufacturers, or if not, I will work my way through all the ones I know about on sale here.
 
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jennyr

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Just heard from Purina that I need to write to Nestle Petcare who manufacture it in Europe. So I will repeat my question to them, if you like to tackle Affinity.

Here is a text of my message:

In the wake of the terrible events in North America, resulting in the deaths and sickness of many animals from poison chemicals in petfood, can we in Europe be sure that none of the contaminated wheat gluten from China has made its way into petfood plants in Europe? I, and many of my colleagues on a large cat welfare forum, cannot believe that the Chinese supplier only sold this product to North America. Many Purina products, which I feed to my five cats, contain wheat or cereal glutens. Can you assure your customers that these come from a reputable named source and are guaranteed free of the problems currently hitting our friends in the USA and Canada?

Thankyou for your attention in this matter. When I have an answer from Purina I will publish it on theCatsite.com forum, which has over 7,000 members worldwide.

Sincerely

Jenny Ranson
Normandy
France
 

mooficat

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Originally Posted by jennyranson

Just heard from Purina that I need to write to Nestle Petcare who manufacture it in Europe. So I will repeat my question to them, if you like to tackle Affinity.
OK will do
will keep you posted !

thanks for the letter !
 

mooficat

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right I have done Affinity - it was from their main web page as no email contact details on the stuff I have, but it went ok, so we'll see what comes back from that - suppose it'll be tomorrow now as it has gone 11pm here in Spain now.
 
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jennyr

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Good. I have sent mine to Nestle Petcare in the UK and France! So we will wait and see what they all say.
 

jcat

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I've found absolutely nothing about the North American recall and how it might impact European consumers on the EU's official site. No email addresses are supplied for the individual commissioners, either.


It's quite within the realm of possibility that European producers are importing wheat gluten, and who knows what else, from China.

I'm absolutely disgusted with the lack of interest shown here by EU/national officials, importers, producers, and retailers. do they care about?
 

rosiemac

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Do you want me to contact Purina tomorrow as well Jenny?.

I had contacted Proctor and Gamble a couple of weeks ago, and they assured me that their pet foods were ok?.
 

jcat

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Originally Posted by Rosiemac

Do you want me to contact Purina tomorrow as well Jenny?.

I had contacted Proctor and Gamble a couple of weeks ago, and they assured me that their pet foods were ok?.
I'd say do it, Susan, without mentioning TCS, as Jenny already did so. The more emails they get, the more they'll be pressured into checking into their sources of supply, and formulating a public response.

I'm really enraged by the lack of responses I've gotten, or the asinine ones saying that the problem is limited to North America. Almost all the dry food I have, and some of the wet, was imported from North America. If people aren't aware of it, the problem doesn't exist????

One German importer of Canadian pet foods actually stated on his board that he couldn't find "reliable" sources of info on the Internet, and questioned whether this was a newspaper hoax! I directed him to the FDA website, as well as the TCS thread with all the links to newspaper coverage.
 

mooficat

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If someone posts the link(s) in this thread with all the official reports for the US etc, then I will email the BBC - I have already emailed SkyNews but nothing has come back
I will email them again if I have more ammo !!

Thanks - theres just so many threads now - I'm not sure which one (s) the links are in


p.s nothing back from Affinity yet - but its still early
 

karmasmom

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Why limit it to just the UK? All mebmbers from different countries and regions should do it too. This could be more world spread then we realize. I would but I am in the US. I think it would be for more important from the people who live there.
 

anakat

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Originally Posted by KarmasMom

Why limit it to just the UK? All mebmbers from different countries and regions should do it too. This could be more world spread then we realize. I would but I am in the US. I think it would be for more important from the people who live there.
It is not just UK, Jenny is in France, jcat Germany, mooficat Spain
 

anakat

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I have e-mailed Sainsburys, Asda, Tesco and Waitrose with a modified version of Jenny's letter regarding their 'own brand' pet food.
 

sophie's mum

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This is my first time post on any forum site but I am so devasted at the loss of my beloved cat Sophie who was almost 12. She died yesterday after a very distressing four days of watching her suffer kidney failure and other organ breakdown. Her vet had never seen such a rapid decline in a healthy cat who had so much time left and so much love to give. Her death was very unexpected even by the vet. The reason for my post here is that late last year (2006) I started to feed her on Purina gravy foil satchets – "As Good As It Looks." She really seemed to enjoy this brand even though I was alarmed at the way the food she left would turn so hard and dry and even blocked up the sink! This particular gravy version has strangely disappeared from the store's shelves (both supermarkets and pet stores!) in the past couple of months. Friends in the USA who were concerned for Sophie's health, have informed me of the terrible crisis that is currently raging with regard to food recall. I cannot believe that Europe's animal food standards are higher than the USA and so would like to know if any other cat owner's currently share my distress and shock at the sudden loss of their pet and what can we do to prevent other beloved pets suffering so much. We are very concerned for our other two other cats who have followed the same diet as Sophie. She was until very recently an extremely active and healthy member of our family and we will miss her terribly.
 

epona

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I have been worried about this myself. I just realised that the Royal Canin I feed Sonic (manufactured in France) contains wheat gluten so I'll be especially interested to hear their response.

For the UKers - JWB dry contains no wheat gluten, they use rice and maize. As far as wet goes - none of the Hi-Life pouches list any kind of wheat in their ingredients. The fish selection pouches contain tapioca gluten, not wheat gluten. Nature's Menu lists no wheat products in their ingredients. They do say 'Derivatives of vegetable origin' but I assume that refers to the added vitamins and minerals.

ETA: Sophie's Mum, I am so sorry to hear about your loss
What a sad first post to have to make, and I am sorry not to be able to welcome you to TCS under happier circumstances.
 

mooficat

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Originally Posted by Sophie's Mum

She was until very recently an extremely active and healthy member of our family and we will miss her terribly.
Oh my, I am really sorry to read this news about Sophie
I hope she passed quickly and she is now running free over the Bridge
As Epona mentions, you join us under sad circumstances, but please know we are all here to support you


The more I read about these 'events' the madder I am getting !!

Sophies mum mentioned how this brand 'suddenly disappeared' from the shelves - what is going on - is this being kept quiet one thinks


I think we should all send as many emails as we can to swamp people about this - not only the food producers but TV, newspapers, radio, anything to get this on peoples agendas !
 

anakat

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I have had this reply from Waitrose

Thank you for your e-mail.

We have been in contact with our buyers regarding your e-mail with details of the poison chemicals found in pet food products sold in the USA and Canada.

Our buyers would like to assure you that no Waitrose own brand pet food product contains any ingredients which have been supplied to the US and Canada.

Should you require any further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact us.




Regards,

Chris Zawadski

Waitrose Customer Service.
 
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