DVP Natural Balance, Breaking Voluntary Recall News

followedbydolls

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Apr 16, 2007
Messages
504
Purraise
1
Location
Where the fur flies
Breaking Voluntary Recall News: Thursday, April 26th, 2007
Our canned food manufacturer, American Nutrition, from Ogden Utah just informed us this afternoon that they are recalling all canned products made in their plant that contain rice protein concentrate. American Nutrition continued by telling us that they added this ingredient to four of our canned food products without our knowledge and consent. The four products involved are:

Chicken Formula Canned Dog Food 13 oz
Lamb Formula Canned Dog Food 13 oz
Beef Formula Canned Dog Food 13 oz
Ocean Fish Formula Canned Cat Food 3 oz & 6 oz

There have been no illnesses reported related to feeding these formulas, however, to comply with the American Nutrition recall of the four products, we are pulling all dates and batches of these four formulas. We also ask that our customers return unused product for a full credit to their store.

To make sure that this does not happen in the future, we are demanding from each of our co-manufacturers daily production record of all of our formulas before they are shipped to us and written certification of no rice protein concentrate or any other deviations in our formulas. We have reviewed all of our other products and determined that they are free of rice protein concentrate and that all of our other product labels are accurate.

Products NOT involved in the recall are:

DRY DOG & CAT FOOD FORMULAS:
Ultra Premium Formula Dry Dog Food
Reduced Calorie Formula Dry Dog Food
Ultra Premium Formula Dry Cat Food
Reduced Calorie Formula Dry Cat Food
Sweet Potato & Fish Dry Dog Food
Potato & Duck Formula Dry Dog Food
Organic Formula Dry Dog Food
Vegetarian Formula Dry Dog Food

DOG TREATS
Roll-A-Rounds Dog Treats
Sweet Potato & Fish Formula Treats
Potato & Duck Formula Treats
Crunch-E-Bones TreatsDOG FOOD ROLLS
Turkey Formula Dog Food Rolls
Beef Formula Dog Food Rolls
Lamb Formula Dog Food Rolls

CANNED DOG AND CAT FOODS
Liver Formula canned dog food
Duck and Potato Formula canned dog food
Sweet Potato & Fish canned dog food
Eatables Irish Stew canned dog food
Eatables Hobo Chili canned dog food
Eatables Southern Style Dumplinâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s with Gravy
Chinese Take-Out W/Sauce
Ultra Formula canned cat food
Turkey & Giblets Formula canned cat food
Venison & Green Pea canned cat food
Chicken &Liver Pate Formula canned cat food
Tuna w/ Shrimp Formula canned cat food
Salmon Formula canned cat food
Indoor Cat Formula canned cat food

FROZEN DOG FOOD FORMULAS
Lamb Formula Frozen Loaf
Beef Formula Frozen Loaf
Chicken Formula Frozen Loaf
Raw Chicken Formula
Raw Beef Formula

http://www.naturalbalance.net/
 

carrie640

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Dec 14, 2001
Messages
1,040
Purraise
203
Location
Michigan
Sick. Revoltingly sick. I am still going grain-free.....and NOT using the can of Ultra I still have. Never know!!
 

javern

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Apr 23, 2004
Messages
333
Purraise
1
Location
Iowa
thanks for this...I had checked the company website this morning and was nothing posted about this
 

sweetseamus

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Oct 2, 2005
Messages
84
Purraise
1
Location
USA
I can't believe this...so now we can't even trust that the labels are accurate? This is a crime!
I'm beside myself now because I fed my kitty the NB Ocean Fish within the last couple of weeks. He seems to be okay but it gives me a sick feeling that I fed him something that could be potentially dangerous! He doesn't even normally eat that food. I started buying NB after the initial recall because I thought it was safer!
 

jean44

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 15, 2006
Messages
1,252
Purraise
1
Location
Oahu island, Hawaii
I'm beginning to think nothing is truly safe. When the manufacturer (American Nutrition) alters ingredients without informing the contracting pet food company (Natural Balance) anything is possible. And even if the ingredients weren't altered by the manufacturer the label may not be accurate because pet food companies have six months to change the label after a change in ingredients and they do not have to notify the public of the change during that six months (thanks to sharkey for that information).
 

momto3cats

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Aug 1, 2006
Messages
1,143
Purraise
131
Location
TX
Originally Posted by Jean44

And even if the ingredients weren't altered by the manufacturer the label may not be accurate because pet food companies have six months to change the label after a change in ingredients and they do not have to notify the public of the change during that six months (thanks to sharkey for that information).
Actually, that may not be true, even though pet food companies claim it is. This is from the owner of the Dog Food Project site:

One topic that has come up frequently in the past few days, especially due to more foods being recalled due to possible contamination, is the legality of pet food companies using outdated packaging material.

Many claim that there is a legal "grace period" to use up packaging materials that do not correctly reflect the ingredients used. Time frames cited vary depending on who you ask, the replies range from 3 months to 6 months.

Not too long ago I learned that there actually is no provision by AAFCO for a "grace period" to let pet food companies use up outdated packaging material that does not reflect ingredients correctly, as many companies claim.

Yesterday the following question was asked on the forum at OurDogsOnline:

Natural Balance said label laws prevent them from putting ingredient stickers on bags, therefore they were 'forced' to continue using up their old bags even though the formula changed.

Eagle Pack made one formula, a Prism one, with rice protein. They've removed that ingredient and reflected the change with ingredient stickers on the bags until the new ones arrive in May.

Is Eagle Pack breaking some law, or is Natural Balance lying?



I wanted to provide up-to-date information, so I contacted John Marsman, the nutritionist at Eagle Pack for some first hand information, and this is what he told me:

For a while AAFCO sort of looked the other way about allowing makers to use up bags. At the AAFCO meeting 3-4 years ago they made a specific statement that they would no longer permit this.



A second source, Gregory Kean, Director of Product Development & Quality Assurance at Old Mother Hubbard, Inc. (Wellness brand foods) gave the following response:

Eagle pack stickering is correct. [...]

The entire industry seems to subscribe to some "6 month" rule by AAFCO or the FDA. The truth is that there is no such rule that allows for a grace period. I once asked Dave Dzanis (former head of the FDA/CVM) about this rule. He confirmed that there is no grace period. Interestingly though, some state regulators will give a grace period on old packaging for changing marketing claims they deem objectionable*. That is the only time I have heard of a grace period.



* Emphasis here is mine, for clarification.

Many people are currently upset after finding out that foods contain ingredients not even mentioned in the ingredient list, to which I would like to make the following clarification:

The ingredient list does not have to contain all the ingredients present in a food. There are two exceptions:

1. A company does not have to declare ingredients that it did not add but were already present in a food ingredient bought from a supplier.
2. Any ingredient that is deemed a "processing aid" rather than an actual food ingredient.
http://forums.dogfoodproject.com/sho...ge=0#Post33123

I am really, really tired of all the lies from the companies involved in this whole mess.
If my cats would eat my cooking, I would never buy packaged food for them again.
 

cloud_shade

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 19, 2004
Messages
2,807
Purraise
17
Location
Oregon
Originally Posted by Javern

thanks for this...I had checked the company website this morning and was nothing posted about this
I did too. I've been checking their website every day or two, as I still feed a couple of their foods to Odo and all of them to Willow. I'm sure I fed at least one, maybe two, cans of the Ocean Fish flavor in the past few weeks. Fortunately, I started letting the cans pile up on the counter instead of removing their labels and recycling them, so at least I will be able to verify that I have given it to her.

Edited to add: I just got home and checked my cans--I fed every flavor except for the newly recalled Ocean Fish. However, I no longer trust Natural Balance and will be setting aside the remaining cans. Odo will get just Evanger's until I can find something else to rotate with it, and Willow will get Trader Joe's, which at least has been tested and determined to be safe.
 

white cat lover

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Nov 17, 2005
Messages
22,206
Purraise
35
I've got Oceanfish cans for sure....maybe some of the others.
Off to check the cupboard again for recalled food!
 

touro1979

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Oct 29, 2005
Messages
380
Purraise
1
Location
NYC (Queens)
SOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Screaming out loud)

When is this going to end. I switched to NB becasue I thought they were a resposible company. Now I fund out nobody is minding the store. I dont know whether to scream
or cry
 

misty8723

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 16, 2006
Messages
7,688
Purraise
8,129
Location
North Carolina
Oh God, I've fed them at least 6 cans of the ocean fish. I switched to Natural Balance after the recall. I just want to freaking cry right now. I can't take much more of this. I'm so tired of greed and profit ruling everything. They aren't going to be happy until all of us are dead, I guess.
 
Top