Safe Pet Food

[goldiphlox]

There is a web site that tells you all the brands of pet food that only use ingredients from the us with a few exceptions. The list tells you exactly where each of these brands get their ingredients from. It is:
http:/www.thepetfoodlist.com/petfoods_pg1.htm

[Arrooh]

Good idea

but reported that Natural Balance is all U S made. I'm really getting concerned about all this.

[goldiphlox]

but reported that Natural Balance is all U S made. I'm really getting concerned about all this.

Yes the report did say to contact the company to verify. That is why they have a link to each co.'s web site. But then how do we know if they're telling the truth. I just don't know

[HoundLover]

ah yes but what had happend was that the people who makes natural balance (diamond foods makes it for them) said that they recieved a bag of rice gluten (again from china!) in a PINK BAG MARKED MELAMINE! they then proceeded to call the china company and asked why it was in a diffrent bag (while all the others were in regular white bags)...and was told that the bag was put into the wrong bag because it had broke open during shipping and was just placed in that bag. what I DONT understand is WHY you would use it anyways!
dosnt make any sense to me!
Hound
(and ill get the emails to post it for you too)

[HoundLover]

heres the info i got it from...also this came from my Barfing (raw diet) list.

TIP Pet food recall - rice protien concentrate - watch for future recall announcements


Last paragraph:
Wilbur-Ellis first detected melamine in one of the bags that was pink — while
all the other bags were white — and had "melamine" stenciled on the outside.
When Wilbur-Ellis asked the Chinese firm about why a rice protein concentrate
would show up in a bag marked melamine, Wilbur-Ellis was told that the rice
protein concentrate had simply been put in a wrong — but new — bag after its
original bag broke during loading, says Thacher.

Comment: Well, now we know how it is getting contaminated. The bag breaks,
shovel it into a plastic barrel (never mind that it has poison in it),
repackage and ship it. This is a different product, so who knows how many more
pet food products will be affected. 4 more manufacturers for this particular
product.

Are these guys handling any human food products?

http://www.usatoday .com/money/ industries/ 2007-04-19- recall-usat_ N.htm?csp= 15

FDA: Tainted pet food ingredient came from China
By Julie Schmit, USA TODAY

Testing by the Food and Drug Administration has detected melamine in imported
rice protein concentrate from China, and the company who imported it said late
Wednesday it had recalled it.

The company, Wilbur-Ellis, had shipped the concentrate to five U.S. pet-food
manufacturers, but only one company has recalled pet food so far.

That company, Natural Balance Pet Foods, on Tuesday said melamine had been
found in some of its venison-based foods and it suspected the rice protein
because it was the only new ingredient in the food. Natural Balance tested the
food after consumers reported dogs and cats suffering kidney failure. The food
was made for Natural Balance by Diamond Pet Foods.

The other four manufacturers have yet to be named, but are located in Utah, New
York, Kansas and Missouri, Wilbur-Ellis said in a news release.

Melamine is the same industrial chemical that was found in wheat gluten
imported from China and used in pet food made by Menu Foods, which recalled 60
million cans and pouches of dog and cat food in mid-March.

Wilbur-Ellis is the second importer this month to recall pet food ingredients
from China. On April 2, ChemNutra of Las Vegas recalled about 800 tons of wheat
gluten from a different firm in China because it, too, was contaminated with
melamine, an industrial chemical not allowed in food but used in plastics
making.

ChemNutra had sold the wheat gluten to Menu, who launched a recall suspecting
that wheat gluten might be the problem, and three other pet food makers, who
did smaller recalls after the FDA detected melamine in the wheat gluten.

Wilbur-Ellis, an 86-year-old distributor of agricultural and industrial
products, first detected melamine in one of 146 one-ton bags of rice protein
concentrate on April 11, says Wilbur-Ellis CEO John Thacher.

The company immediately quarantined the shipment, which arrived in Portland,
Ore. on April 4. It didn't find melamine in any of the other bags it tested.

It brought the matter to the FDA's attention on Sunday. The news release
Wednesday from Wilbur-Ellis said the FDA found melamine in product that had
previously tested clean.

Wilbur-Ellis has ceased importing rice protein concentrate from the Chinese
firm, Binzhou Futian Biology Technology. Thacher says his company had been
importing the concentrate from that Chinese firm since July and has had no
problems.

"This is a company that, on the surface, looks like a good company," Thacher
says.

Rice protein concentrate is used as a protein source in some pet foods although
it does not appear to be widely used in North American products or as widely
used as wheat gluten.

Diamond Pet Foods only used the rice protein concentrate in Natural Balance
foods and none of its own foods, Diamond has said.

Wilbur-Ellis first detected melamine in one of the bags that was pink — while
all the other bags were white — and had "melamine" stenciled on the outside.
When Wilbur-Ellis asked the Chinese firm about why a rice protein concentrate
would show up in a bag marked melamine, Wilbur-Ellis was told that the rice
protein concentrate had simply been put in a wrong — but new — bag after its
original bag broke during loading, says Thacher.

__._,_.___

[goldiphlox]

Where's the info about natural balance

but reported that Natural Balance is all U S made. I'm really getting concerned about all this.

Arrooh, I checked this list 5 times. I could not see where they even had natural balance on the list. Can you tell me where you saw it. Or did you make a mistake? I posted this so that people could check the foods to see where the ingredients come from, who uses what ingredient, etc......to be a helpful tool, but I'm afraid that if they see your post they may not trust this list. can you please verify for me?

[Arrooh]

goldiflNatural Balance ox

it is not on the main list. They've volutarily recalled products that have rice protein (I E Rice Gluton) because Melamine was found in it. It is brand new, and in my local newspaper. If you bring up Natural Balance under search you'll see some threads regarding it.

The people should be concerned, as I am. I would have recommended Natural Balance for those worried.

Trust in safe food is lost.

[goldiphlox]

it is not on the main list. They've volutarily recalled products that have rice protein (I E Rice Gluton) because Melamine was found in it. It is brand new, and in my local newspaper. If you bring up Natural Balance under search you'll see some threads regarding it.

The people should be concerned, as I am. I would have recommended Natural Balance for those worried.

Trust in safe food is lost.

Ok I already know this , but this thread was not about Natural Balance. It was a thread to list the web site that has a list of many pet food co's showing where they get their food and what ingredients are in them. I wanted people to be able to see all the brands to maybe help them choose a company's pet food that only used ingredients from the us and had no glutens, etc.

[Arrooh]

Okay

it is a good site, no question. Now they need to add whether corn gluten is used it seems. Thanks.

[Chicken]

Does anyone know if Eagle Pack & all of its ingredients are safe (so far)?

I have a very elderly customer who has to buy her dog food locally, and the choices are supermarket garbage, or 3 choices from the feed store: Natural Balance (out), Diamond (out, IMO), and Eagle Pack.

I know it isn't ALL of the Natural Balance foods (yet) but I don't feel comfortable recommending that company to her either now. So I was thinking Eagle Pack would be the lesser evil?

[goldiphlox]

Does anyone know if Eagle Pack & all of its ingredients are safe (so far)?

I have a very elderly customer who has to buy her dog food locally, and the choices are supermarket garbage, or 3 choices from the feed store: Natural Balance (out), Diamond (out, IMO), and Eagle Pack.

I know it isn't ALL of the Natural Balance foods (yet) but I don't feel comfortable recommending that company to her either now. So I was thinking Eagle Pack would be the lesser evil?

I just looked on the site that I posted for this thread and it says eagle pack uses corn gluten from the us. I would want to contact them to see if in fact this corn gluten was made in the us or not.

[Chicken]

I feed Solid Gold to my cats & know a lot of us feed it. This is from their website - I found it pretty comforting:

http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/news/

We at Solid Gold Health Products for Pets, Inc. ("Solid Gold') realize that consumers are very concerned with the recent product food recalls. We would like to assure our customers that there are no safety concerns with Solid Gold products. The product recalls and removals have centered around ingredients sourced in China, in particular wheat gluten and now rice protein concentrate. [b]These products are thought to be contaminated with melamine. Neither of these ingredients are used in any Solid Gold food products, nor do we source any ingredients from China, either directly or indirectly. We do not use gluten meal of any kind in any of our foods.[/b]

All the ingredients in Solid Gold products are sourced domestically with three exceptions. The lamb meal used in our dry foods is sourced from New Zealand, which produces some of the cleanest meat in the world. The potato protein used in Barking at the Moon is sourced in Europe. Our Blended Tuna canned cat food (grain free) is produced offshore due to the lack of tuna processing plants in the United States.

Menu Foods does not make Solid Gold foods in any of their manufacturing facilities. Solid Gold is not subject to the current recall. Furthermore, Solid Gold does not use wheat gluten in any of our dry foods, canned foods, treats, or supplements. Wheat gluten is the suspected cause of the problems involving the recalled food. Gluten is the protein found in grain. [b]Gluten meals such as wheat gluten and corn gluten are included in pet food as a protein source in lieu of meat, which is a more expensive form of protein. Solid Gold believes dogs and cats should receive most of their protein in the form of meat, not grain.[/b]

[hairdevil]

is solid gold made by diamond? I've always used nutro max...always. but even they have lost my faith due to some recalls. I'm thinking of switching to Abundant Life. Does anyone use this? all made here..formulated by a veterinarian. gee, this is getting ridiculous. and no Im not paying for more groceries than I already do! I don't hardly cook for myself let alone 3 dogs! no thanks lol Let me know if you have had good luck with the Abundant LIfe products! I think I am going to become an executive field rep for them. researching!

[elliemae]

i think Solid Gold is made by Solid Gold.

[bow_wow_wheels]

Elliemae, Solid Gold is made by Diamond Foods in Gaston, South Carolina. I used to feed it all the time to my personal dogs and recommended it to many of my clients. About 5 years ago they started changing their processing method constantly (read: changing manufacturing plants) and I saw a lot of my clients, and my own personal dogs, having skin and ear problems again. They started with the sticky, runny eyes and the red staining around the mouth and eyes. Paw licking also started up and my Cocker boys had chronic Cocker ear again. I changed to Innova Evo and any of the Timberwolf Organics formulas with 2 protien sources and, knock on wood, no more problems. SG was at one time a good food IMO; but, when they started out sourcing the processing they started to go down hill fast! Diamond has had problems with aflatoxin contaminants in their plant and that can and has killed many pets. It is so difficult to know who to trust in all of this mess! My old guy, Riley the Engie, is 16.5 and couldn't stand a serious challenge to his immune system at this point in time so I just stick with the Innova Evo for him.