TOTW recall

carolina · Aug 20, 2009

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

Is there a cat food company that has never had a recall and produces a good food for reasonable cost? ( if there is, I'd seriously love to know)

Yes there is - Champion foods, Orijen/Acana. Yes, there was the recall in Australia, but it was NOT because of the food, but because of the Australian required irradiation treatment upon entering the country.
Orijen is pricey, but Acana is not. Besides, cats tend to eat less of it, so the cost in the end is pretty similar.

snake_lady · Aug 21, 2009

Is there a cat food company that has never had a recall and produces a good food for reasonable cost? ( if there is, I'd seriously love to know)

Originally Posted by carolinalima

Yes there is - Champion foods, Orijen/Acana. .

Actually Champion foods has had a couple recalls/problems aside from the Australian issues.

Back in 2003 there was a recall due to BSE.... now champion does not include beef in their food, and Canada's legislations are tighter on beef.

As well as there was a incident involving large bone fragments being found in their food from salmon. (2008 I believe)

Strike another manufacturer off my list.

Anyone else? Is there any company that has not had a recall (voluntarily or not) in the last say 10yrs?

Personally, I have yet to find a manufacturer that has NOT had a recall or problem of some sort.

I guess its a case of picking the lesser of evils in the PFI.

carolina · Aug 21, 2009

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

Actually Champion foods has had a couple recalls/problems aside from the Australian issues.

Back in 2003 there was a recall due to BSE.... now champion does not include beef in their food, and Canada's legislations are tighter on beef.

As well as there was a incident involving large bone fragments being found in their food from salmon. (2008 I believe)

Links please -

followedbydolls · Aug 21, 2009

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

Actually Champion foods has had a couple recalls/problems aside from the Australian issues.

Back in 2003 there was a recall due to BSE.... now champion does not include beef in their food, and Canada's legislations are tighter on beef.

As well as there was a incident involving large bone fragments being found in their food from salmon. (2008 I believe)

Strike another manufacturer off my list.

Anyone else? Is there any company that has not had a recall (voluntarily or not) in the last say 10yrs?

Personally, I have yet to find a manufacturer that has NOT had a recall or problem of some sort.

I guess its a case of picking the lesser of evils in the PFI.

and their is where the problem lays... i don't think their is one? i have some california naturals/healthwise here for both my cats & dogs.. i don't think their has been a recent recalls with them.

Their natura foods http://www.naturapet.com/

Really i think you just have to weigh the pro's and cons and see how a company handles their recalls, I still have diamond feeds here{chicken soup & kirkland} my pets do well on it and the pricing is decent.

snake_lady · Aug 21, 2009

Originally Posted by carolinalima

Links please -

Google

as this forum seems to dislink links to other forums so I cannot provide you a link.

BSE was in 2003
Too large of bone shards were in 2008.

The explanation letter of the bone fragments is no longer on Champions homesite.

If curious, you could always email them.

I should be able to post this one:

http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/Enforcement.../ucm096238.htm

On May 26, 2003, the FDA learned from the government of Canada that rendered material from a Canadian cow that tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) also known as “mad cow disease” may have been used to manufacture pet food, specifically dry dog food, some of which was reported to have been shipped to the United States. The Canadian government prevented the BSE positive cow from being processed for human food. Therefore, consumers can be assured that their food does not contain any remnants of the BSE positive cow. There is no scientific evidence to date that dogs can contract BSE or any similar disease. In addition, there is no evidence that dogs can transmit the disease to humans.

FDA notified the U.S.pet food firm, The Pet Pantry International, of Carson City, Nevada, when FDA learned that the pet food that the firm received may have included rendered material from the BSE positive cow. The manufacturer of the pet food was Champion Pet Food, Morinville, Alberta. Even though there is no known risk to dogs from eating this dog food, as a prudent measure to help assure that the U.S. stays BSE free, The Pet Pantry International asked its customers who may have purchased the suspect product to hold it for pickup by the distributor so that the dog food would not mistakenly be mixed into cattle or other feeds if any of the dog food was discarded or otherwise not used to feed dogs.

The suspect dog food was produced by Champion Pet Food between February 4, 2003, and March 12, 2003. The Pet Pantry products were packaged in 50 pound bags, distributed to franchises around the country, and sold by home delivery only. There was no retail distribution of the product. Consumers purchase Pet Pantry products by phone or email orders. The product is then delivered by the nearest franchisee directly to the consumer’s home.

My point being, I highly doubt there is ANY food company that has not had an issue/recall/scare/etc.

Really i think you just have to weigh the pro's and cons and see how a company handles their recalls, I still have diamond feeds here{chicken soup & kirkland} my pets do well on it and the pricing is decent

exactly

My thoughts were based on the comment one poster mentioned about how using foods from companies that have had recalls is asking for troubles.

I have yet to find a company that hasn't had any recalls or issues with their foods.

carolina · Aug 21, 2009

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

Google

as this forum seems to dislink links to other forums so I cannot provide you a link.

BSE was in 2003
Too large of bone shards were in 2008.

The explanation letter of the bone fragments is no longer on Champions homesite.

If curious, you could always email them.

I should be able to post this one:

http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/Enforcement.../ucm096238.htm

My point being, I highly doubt there is ANY food company that has not had an issue/recall/scare/etc.

exactly

My thoughts were based on the comment one poster mentioned about how using foods from companies that have had recalls is asking for troubles.

I have yet to find a company that hasn't had any recalls or issues with their foods.

The example above was not of a recall - the product didn't hit the shelves.
I googled it, of course, and could not find recalls for Champion besides in Australia. That is why I asked for links...

carolina · Aug 21, 2009

And by the way: I also searched the FDA site for a recall for Champion, and Orijen, and there are no records. So....

snake_lady · Aug 21, 2009

Originally Posted by carolinalima

The example above was not of a recall - the product didn't hit the shelves.
I googled it, of course, and could not find recalls for Champion besides in Australia. That is why I asked for links...

The manufacturer of the pet food was Champion Pet Food, Morinville, Alberta. Even though there is no known risk to dogs from eating this dog food, as a prudent measure to help assure that the U.S. stays BSE free, The Pet Pantry International asked its customers who may have purchased the suspect product to hold it for pickup by the distributor

The suspect dog food was produced by Champion Pet Food between February 4, 2003, and March 12, 2003. The Pet Pantry products were packaged in 50 pound bags, distributed to franchises around the country, and sold by home delivery only. There was no retail distribution of the product. Consumers purchase Pet Pantry products by phone or email orders. The product is then delivered by the nearest franchisee directly to the consumerâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s home

Bolding is my own.

Point being, even Champion Foods has had issues. Thus the post stating that CF has never had a problem, is false. Technically the above may not be a "recall" but I don't know what else you would call having foods pulled from franchises due to possible BSE contamination.

I still have yet to find a company who has a completely clean slate.

snake_lady · Aug 21, 2009

Originally Posted by carolinalima

And by the way: I also searched the FDA site for a recall for Champion, and Orijen, and there are no records. So....

and btw: http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/Enforcement.../ucm096238.htm is directly from the FDA.

Why your search showed nothing, who knows, but the above is from FDA and has the term "Champion Foods" in the article.

sharky · Aug 21, 2009

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

I still have yet to find a company who has a completely clean slate.

No company is perfect , even a raw company had a recall

automaton2 · Aug 21, 2009

just emailed TOTW
asked about recall
will keep in touch asap

snake_lady · Aug 21, 2009

Originally Posted by sharky

No company is perfect , even a raw company had a recall

Thanks Sharky

That is entirely the point I've been trying to make.

Originally Posted by automaton2

just emailed TOTW
asked about recall
will keep in touch asap

Thanks

From the reading I've done, the current TOTW problem has to do with the dog food being too high in protein.... Do let us know if you hear about the cat food.

I've had no probs with this current bag. I believe I purchased it over a month ago. (it lasts me a while because I mix it with other foods)

stephanietx · Aug 22, 2009

Have we heard anything back on the recall? I just picked up a little sample bag of TOTW a couple of weeks ago and my girls love it! No negative side effects have been seen in either one of them.

zoe2009 · Aug 22, 2009

Now I am scared to put my cat on Felidae since both foods are made by the same company. Has Wellness had any recalls?

automaton2 · Aug 24, 2009

There is not a recall on any of the Taste of the Wild foods. One batch of Pacific Stream out of the Gaston, South Carolina manufacturing facility was called back because of low moisture and high protein. We received several calls on this single batch and we rarely receive more than a single call on any particular batch of food. The complaint was feed refusal, not illness. Extensive testing was performed and the food is safe, but did not meet the specs for moisture. To avoid having other customers experience a problem, the food was called back from the stores that still had it on the shelves. Since it was not dangerous to the dogs, a recall was not issued.

well this is their response

followedbydolls · Aug 25, 2009

Originally Posted by automaton2

There is not a recall on any of the Taste of the Wild foods. One batch of Pacific Stream out of the Gaston, South Carolina manufacturing facility was called back because of low moisture and high protein. We received several calls on this single batch and we rarely receive more than a single call on any particular batch of food. The complaint was feed refusal, not illness. Extensive testing was performed and the food is safe, but did not meet the specs for moisture. To avoid having other customers experience a problem, the food was called back from the stores that still had it on the shelves. Since it was not dangerous to the dogs, a recall was not issued.

well this is their response

Interesting, thanks for posting that. I don't use TOTW but i do use other diamond feeds here so i like to keep an eye on what is happening..

auntie crazy · Aug 25, 2009

I called both TOTW and Diamond last week. I haven't posted until now, because I hadn't managed to reach anyone who could honestly tell me what happened. I still haven't, but I decided to at least offer an update.

The woman who answered at TOTW immediately transferred me to their on-staff vet, who was delighted to explain the 151 quality checks, including, in detail, the alarms and how they work.

She could not, however, confirm that this run of food was tested. Nor could she explain why, if it was tested, the "out of specification" issue wasn't caught. Nor why the food was allowed to leave the plant, tested or not. Every question I asked was diverted back to the quality checks. When I pointedly, specifically asked, "Was this particular run of food checked or not? If so, how did it pass the checks? If not, why not?" she transferred me to the QA department, where I was sent to voice mail. I left multiple messages over multiple days and received one return call. After hours, when I wasn't there to answer the phone.

Diamond didn't answer any questions at all, they transferred me directly to the TOTW vet.

Based on the responses to date, Diamond and TOTW have no more integrity (despite their beautifully marketed "151 Quality Checks") than any of the other pet food companies.

I am ever so grateful I no longer have to struggle with choosing one commercial food over another. All recognizable, natural, human-grade and species-appropriate in my home.

strange_wings · Aug 25, 2009

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

Based on the responses to date, Diamond and TOTW have no more integrity (despite their beautifully marketed "151 Quality Checks") than any of the other pet food companies.

A very good point for people to remember. The FDA has strict qualifications that must be met for all companies. If a manufacturing plant can't meet them they either lose bids, get stuck making foods that don't include fresh meats, or get shut down.

A little thing for everyone to remember. Quality checks are done by people (and some people can be lazy), they go out and get samples from the food regularly during runs. It's tested to make sure it meets proper standards for the foods. Tests for toxins and bacteria like salmonella aren't done as frequently during the individual runs. These tests take longer to process, some plants may have some in house testing facilities but many send them to other labs. Salmonella, for example, can take about a week to get the results back from.

Food is constantly being "destroyed". If the mix was off somehow it may get mixed back in, or it may be put in the fines to be shipped off to be recycled for other animals (hog feed). Serious problems in the food does result in it getting trashed.

The plants don't always have enough space in their warehouses to hold foods for a while. Some of it gets shipped on to other warehouses and some goes to the stores. These little mini recalls happen and the food gets pulled/destroyed before it is actually stocked on store shelves so people don't hear about it.

ie, a local plant has had issues with salmonella, toxins, and glass, but these don't become public and the food never gets to store shelves before they catch these issues. (in the case of the various glass contamination, people lose their jobs over it)

If everyone tried to avoid every food that has had some sort of recall there would be no commercial foods to choose from.

sharky · Aug 25, 2009

Originally Posted by strange_wings

A very good point for people to remember. The FDA has strict qualifications that must be met for all companies. If a manufacturing plant can't meet them they either lose bids, get stuck making foods that don't include fresh meats, or get shut down.

A little thing for everyone to remember. Quality checks are done by people (and some people can be lazy), they go out and get samples from the food regularly during runs. It's tested to make sure it meets proper standards for the foods. Tests for toxins and bacteria like salmonella aren't done as frequently during the individual runs. These tests take longer to process, some plants may have some in house testing facilities but many send them to other labs. Salmonella, for example, can take about a week to get the results back from.

Food is constantly being "destroyed". If the mix was off somehow it may get mixed back in, or it may be put in the fines to be shipped off to be recycled for other animals (hog feed). Serious problems in the food does result in it getting trashed.

The plants don't always have enough space in their warehouses to hold foods for a while. Some of it gets shipped on to other warehouses and some goes to the stores. These little mini recalls happen and the food gets pulled/destroyed before it is actually stocked on store shelves so people don't hear about it.

ie, a local plant has had issues with salmonella, toxins, and glass, but these don't become public and the food never gets to store shelves before they catch these issues. (in the case of the various glass contamination, people lose their jobs over it)

If everyone tried to avoid every food that has had some sort of recall there would be no commercial foods to choose from.

In some areas Pet food goes thru more than Human foods do ...
the only COMPLETELY safe food is that you grew yourself and have had in a bubble for a hundred yrs

auntie crazy · Aug 26, 2009

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

Based on the responses to date, Diamond and TOTW have no more integrity (despite their beautifully marketed "151 Quality Checks") than any of the other pet food companies.

Click to expand...

A very good point for people to remember. The FDA has strict qualifications that must be met for all companies. If a manufacturing plant can't meet them they either lose bids, get stuck making foods that don't include fresh meats, or get shut down.

A little thing for everyone to remember. Quality checks are done by people (and some people can be lazy), they go out and get samples from the food regularly during runs. It's tested to make sure it meets proper standards for the foods. Tests for toxins and bacteria like salmonella aren't done as frequently during the individual runs. These tests take longer to process, some plants may have some in house testing facilities but many send them to other labs. Salmonella, for example, can take about a week to get the results back from.

Food is constantly being "destroyed". If the mix was off somehow it may get mixed back in, or it may be put in the fines to be shipped off to be recycled for other animals (hog feed). Serious problems in the food does result in it getting trashed.

The plants don't always have enough space in their warehouses to hold foods for a while. Some of it gets shipped on to other warehouses and some goes to the stores. These little mini recalls happen and the food gets pulled/destroyed before it is actually stocked on store shelves so people don't hear about it.

ie, a local plant has had issues with salmonella, toxins, and glass, but these don't become public and the food never gets to store shelves before they catch these issues. (in the case of the various glass contamination, people lose their jobs over it)

If everyone tried to avoid every food that has had some sort of recall there would be no commercial foods to choose from.

You may have missed the point in my comment. Your response implies I believe TOTW and Diamond are just as good as most other general pet food manufacturers, when, in fact, I believe they are just as bad.

TOTW/Diamond states it does 151 Quality Checks, so carefully crafted that actual alarms go off if the food is out of specs or otherwise has a problem. They state this so that consumers will believe their foods are safer and of a higher quality than that produced by other pet food manufacturers.

However, this lot of food either went out UN-checked, despite their 151 promises to do so, or the food WAS checked and went out anyway, despite their promises to the contrary.

Clearly, that beautifully crafted marketing piece is just that, a marketing piece.

You can disagree with me, certainly, just as long as my perspective is clear.

As for the FDA - they don't even follow their OWN rules and procedures (Dept of Health and Human Services Report on FDA's handling of the 2007 Recall), and we expect them to police their buddies over at the PFI? *sad laugh*

TOTW recall

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