As of April 27th, Howl 911stopped updating headlines on this site. For recent news updates on the pet food recall, please visit Itchmo.com. For current recalled food lists, please visit PetFoodTracker.com. Howl 911 will continue to leave these headlines on this page for archival purposes. |
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| USDA-FDA: TRANSCRIPT OF 4/26/07 TELE-NEWS CONFERENCE 04/27/07 |
| Our thanks to Suzy for the heads up on this. |
MODERATOR: Thank you. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Julie Zawisza, assistant commissioner for Public Affairs with the Food and Drug Administration. And we're very happy that you could join us this afternoon for an update on the contaminated pet food investigation and the animal feed investigation.
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| I have with me several senior officials with the FDA and with the USDA. And I will introduce them in a moment to you. |
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RECALLS: AMERICAN NUTRITION CANNED FOOD, BISCUITS 04/27/07
BLUE BUFFALO RECALLS ALL CANNED FOODS, BISCUITS | DIAMOND PET FOOD RECALLS CANS |
| The nightmare that keeps on giving. Today, as was predicted, Blue Buffalo and Diamond Pet Foods, who both contract with American Nutrition to make their canned pet food and/or biscuits, have initiated recalls due to the melamine-laced rice protein concentrate American Nutrition purchased through Wilbur-Ellis, a U.S. importer of ingredients from China. |
BLUE BUFFALO: April 26, 2007 - Due to a product-tampering incident, I regret to inform you that we are recalling all BLUE dog can products, Spa Select cat can products and BLUE Health Bars effective immediately. It is extremely difficult for us to make this announcement as we spoke with many of you last week, before this tampering incident was known, and assured you that only one production run of Spa Select kitten dry food was unfit for consumption.
The product tampering came to our attention when American Nutrition, Inc. (ANI), the manufacturer of our canned dog and cat foods and biscuits, informed us that they had been adding rice protein concentrate to our canned formulas without our knowledge or approval. Apparently this has been going on for some time, and ANI only chose to inform us when the FDA began an investigation of their rice protein concentrate supplies. MORE ► |
| DIAMOND PET FOODS: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Meta, MO -- April 26, 2007 -- Because of the canned pet food recall initiated today by American Nutrition Inc., Diamond Pet Foods has announced it is withdrawing a limited number of canned products manufactured by American Nutrition. This action is limited to three specific canned products: Diamond Lamb & Rice Formula for Dogs 13 oz. cans, Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul Kitten Formula 5.5 oz. cans, and Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul Puppy Formula 13 oz. cans. FULL PRESS RELEASE ► |
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| COSTCO'S "KIRKLAND" LABEL NEXT ON RECALL HIT LIST? 04/26/07 |
| Just received this email from Therese, who runs the PetSitUSA blog and maintains ThePetFoodList. We will report more on the Kirkland canned food recall as details become available. |
| I just got of the phone with Costco and American Nutrition. Both have confirmed that Kirkland Signature canned food has been recalled. American Nutrition just announced it and doesn't have an official statement yet but they'll contact me as soon as it's available. |
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| UT HOGS TESTED, FED RPC FROM AMERICAN NUTRITION 04/26/07 |
The below article from today's news pretty much confirms American Nutrition in Utah is the remaining unnamed "pet food maker" who purchased potentially tainted RPC from Wilbur-Ellis. The five pet food makers Wilbur-Ellis sold the melamine-laced Chinese RPC to are 1) Diamond Pet Foods, makers of Natural Balance dry foods (plant in MO), 2) Chenango Valley Pet Foods, makers of Drs. Foster & Smith and SmartPac/LiveSmart (plant in NY), 3) Royal Canin, plant in MO, 4) C.J. Foods, makers of Blue Buffalo dry foods (plant in KS) and 5) American Nutrition, makers of Blue Buffalo and Natural Balance wet foods. This story, however, is far from over, as Sen. Durbin contends there is a second supplier whom the FDA has yet to name which purportedly sold potentially adulterated Chinese RPC to several pet food makers, also as yet unnamed. |
SALT LAKE CITY — The state is testing hogs from three northern Utah farms to see if they ate pet food that was contaminated with an industrial chemical, agriculture officials said Wednesday.
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| There's a possibility the hogs ate feed made from "scraps and sweepings" from American Nutrition, a pet food plant in Ogden that received potentially contaminated rice protein concentrate from China, said Leonard Blackham, commissioner of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. |
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| RICE PROTEIN RECALL: DRS. FOSTER & SMITH LITE DRY FOODS 04/25/07 |
| Yet another company whose contract manufacturer purchased rice protein concentrate from Wilbur-Ellis outs themselves. The following recall announcement appeared this afternoon on the Drs. Foster & Smith website -- TEN DAYS after the first RCP-related recall was initiated by Natural Balance. |
As part of this precautionary recall Drs. Foster & Smith requests that customers discontinue feeding the following products purchased during the periods listed, until all FDA testing is complete:
- Adult Lite Dry Dog food item numbers 14180, 14262, 14263, or Adult Lite Dry Cat food item numbers 12855, 12856, 13864, 13865 purchased between January 22, 2007 and April 19th
- Adult Lite Dry Dog food item numbers 14178 and 14179 purchased between February 2, 2007 and April 19, 2007
- Only Adult Lite Dry Dog (Item #'s 14178, 14179, 14180, 14262, 14263) and Adult Dry Lite Cat foods (Item #'s 12855, 12856, 13864, 13865) are included in this precautionary recall.
The health and well being of your pet is always important to us, so as part of this precautionary recall:
- Drs. Foster & Smith is contacting all customers who have purchased these items during this period.
- These products are being reformulated to eliminate rice protein concentrate. The new formulation should be available by mid-May.
- Please call Customer Service at 1-800-239-7121 between 9:00 am and 7:00 pm CST or email [email protected] if you have questions.
- None of our other Drs. Foster & Smith foods contain the ingredients in question.
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| Note: Drs. Foster & Smith and SmartPac/LiveSmart products appear to both be made by Chenango Valley Pet Foods, located in New York. Thus, there is STILL one more manufacturer of the five Wilbur-Ellis sold the tainted RPC to; by process of elimination, that leaves one manufacturer in Kansas still unaccountedd for (remember, W-E sold the RPC to five pet food makers--one in UT, NY, KS and two in MO. Chenango Valley is located in NY. Diamond (makers of Natural Balance) and Royal Canin both have plants in Missouri. That still leaves plants in UT and KS as yet unidentified. American Nutrition in UT makes wet food for Natural Balance and for a number of other pet food companies. Hill's and Menu Foods both have plants in KS, either of which could be the "other major company" Wilbur-Ellis is reported to have sold the Chinese RPC to. This mystery is far from over. |
| Wilbur-Ellis CEO John Thacher said his company sold the concentrate to five pet-food makers, but that most of it went to two firms ... The other major customer, which Thacher would not name, tested the rice protein and found no melamine... |
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| AN ANGRY REP. ROSA DELAURO THREATENS THE FDA 04/25/07 |
| We need more leaders in Washington like Rep. Delauro and Sen. Durbin. Go get 'em, Rosa! |
| WASHINGTON -- An angry Rep. Rosa DeLauro, fed up with what she sees as a Food and Drug Administration reluctant to act quickly and effectively to protect consumers, threatened today to withhold salaries from top FDA officials unless they became more vigilant. |
| DeLauro, D-3rd District, chairs the House panel that writes the FDA budget, and she said she would "zero out" management pay beginning in the fiscal year that begins Oct .1 if she does not see progress soon. |
| "There is a pervasive pattern of failure at the FDA," she charged. |
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| MR. PET FOOD SUPPLIER GOES TO WASHINGTON 04/25/07 |
| It's not often that I applaud right-wing conservative viewpoints, but reporter Judi McLeod hits a home run with this one: |
| How to recoup lost revenues on pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical killing off an unknown number of pets? Brand it as "salvaged" and feed it to thousands of farm animals. |
| Within hours of yesterday's congressional hearing into food safety came the alarming news that tainted pet food on recall was fed to hogs in as many as six states. |
| As a worried pet owner wrote Canada Free Press: "That leaves one remaining manufacturer who was supplied by Wilbur-Ellis, and if Senators Durbin and Cantwell and a HealthDay writer are correct, five more manufacturers who were supplied by that second importer." |
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| And speaking of yesterday's congressional hearing, Spocko's Brain has uploaded the video of Menu Foods' CEO Paul Henderson's opening statement: |
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| REPORT AN INCIDENT: Centralized sites for reporting illnesses or deaths of pets as a result of eating the recalled pet food. It is recommended you report your case to BOTH the FDA and to Pet Connection's Online database. |
| FDA Consumer Compaint Coordinators: District Phone Numbers |
| Pet Connection Online Submission Form | Pet Food Recall Blogspot Comments |
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PHONE NUMBERS & COMPANY WEBSITES:
If you’re having trouble getting into the various websites associated with the Menu Foods recall, here are the phone numbers.
Menu Foods 866-895-2708 or 866-463-6738
Procter & Gamble (Iams, Eukanuba) 800-882-1591
Nutro Products 800-833-5330
Purina (Mighty Dog) 800-551-7392
Hill's Pet Nutrition (Science Diet) 800-445-5777
FDA Consumer Compaint Coordinators: District Phone Numbers |
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| NEWS LINKS: |
FDA Expects Death Toll to Rise
ARCHIVED Yahoo News | Comcast News |
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| PRESS RELEASES: (many of the below press releases provide lists of specific foods that have been recalled) |
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| MENU FOODS ADDITIONAL INFO: |
| Menu Foods Tests Dish Out Pain & Suffering | Panic & Suffering, All in a Day's Work |
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