Here's some additional info on the recalled Diamond Dog food.

[napi21]

Cosco's Kirkland Brand pet foods are made by Schell & Kampeter, who also make the Diamond Products. Chicken Soup is considered one of their super premium food, and they also make Nutra Nuggets. Cosco Kirkland is made at one or more of the Diamond plants.

If you feed your pet Cosco brands - or ANY other pet food brands (it is possible that other store brands are made at Diamond plants) - and see illness and symptoms as mentioned here, we urge you to get your pet to your veterinarian immediately for a liver profile.

We expect the Chicken Soup brands and the Cosco brands will be added to the official recall very soon if the test results from these two recent deaths provide proof that cause of death resulted from ingestion of aflatoxin in the food. We will keep you up to date if any changes are announced.

Because of testing conducted by officials in North Carolina, Diamond Pet Foods has added Diamond Professional for Adult Dogs to the list of recalled products manufactured in our Gaston, S.C. facility and distributed in the eastern U.S.

The product, Diamond Professional for Adult Dogs, contains a "Best By" date of January 29, 2007.

Testing performed by the North Carolina agriculture department showed a single bag of the product contained high levels of aflatoxin. The product was discontinued in August of this year.

According to Mark Brinkmann, chief operations officer for Diamond Pet Foods, the company will continue working closely with state officials and will not hesitate to take action if testing warrants.

Customers should return any unused product to their retailers and should consult their veterinarian if pets show any signs of illness. Complete information can be found at www.diamondpet.com, or by calling the Diamond Pet Foods Customer Information Center
toll-free at 1-866-214-6945.

What products are being recalled?
Recalled products can be identified by the Date Code and "Best By" dates listed on the back panel of the package. Recalled products will have a capital "G" (in reference to Gaston) in the 11th or 12th position of the date code (18 lb. to 55 lb. bags), and "Best By" dates between March 1, 2007 and June 10, 2007. The capital "G" will be in the 9th position on smaller 4 lb. to 8 lb. bags.

Diamond's quantitative analysis records substantiate that shipments were definitively clear of aflatoxin after December 10. As such, "Best By 11-June-07" date codes or later are not affected. Also, products with "Best By" dates prior to 28-Feb-07 are safe.


I receive this info in an email from the rescue group I volunteer for, so I don't have a web link. You will note that they said the Chicken Soup brand PROBABLY will be added to the list. I know this is not a confirmation, but I wanted to let all the pet owners on this list know there COULD be a problem. I know I'd WANT to know even if it were only a RISK!

[oasis]

1. Thank You.

[spindrifter]

2. What about "chicken jerky" for dogs?

I heard from a colleague at work that he bought some as a "nice" treat for his dog. After getting home, he started thinking about it. It looked like it was chicken breast meat. The package said it had been irradiated! It was made in China! Hmmm. Why would they be using chicken breasts for dog treats? Could it be this was from flocks culled due to bird flu? And why was the package marked "wash hands after handling?" This sounds totally bizarre.
Maybe the DU scientists know whether irradiating meat products is likely to kill viruses.

[napi21]

6. I don't think you can go by what a product LOOKS LIKE.

Believe me, manufacturers are very good at making things look like something they are not. The package should also have listed the ingredients. It might well have been chicken, but I DOUBT it was chicken breast!

I have a package of "Grilled Chicken Strips" dog snacks here for my dogs. (They don't like them BTW!) It says MADE WITH REAL CHICKEN on the front of the package. I just read the ingredient list. Wheat flour, water, chicken, soybean meal..... Now since ingredients MUST be listed in their order of content, even though they look like strips of chicken, they're obviously NOT.

I also wouldn't be concerned that the product your friend bought was made from birds involved with the bird flu problem. I suspect if China thought there was a way to use those birds, they would use them there, and not for export! My son lives and works in Sicily, and when I said something about people eating monkeys in China, he said "they eat ANYTHING that moves over there!" He's been to China several times, and things are very different there.

[tatertop]

3. Good update. I go thru lots of Chicken Soup for Cats.

I'll switch for the time being.

[napi21]

7. Keep a close eye on your kitty.

If he/she shows any signs of lethargy or starts vomiting, take him/her to the vet right away. I've read several articles on how animals respond to this poisining. First they stop eating. Some dog owners tried to entice their dog to eat by putting gravy on the dog food and they ate it. Unfortunately, they died.

[tatertop]

9. Thanks. Will do.

[karlrschneider]

4. ABC evening news had a piece on it, said their website had more info too

I haven't checked it cause we don't feed our doggies that kind of food but it might have some useful stuff. A terribly sad story, one couple lost one of their goldens and almost lost the other one. :cry:

[Seedersandleechers]

5. Feed your pets fresh raw food and they'll be better off.

[karlrschneider]

8. We do as much as we can afford to. 3 pretty big (now) adopted strays and

one kittycat (probably overfed :D)

[MiniMe]

10. I feed Chicken Soup to my dog.....so I emailed them weeks ago

They said that corn was the suspected problem, and that there is no corn in the Chicken Soup formula. I also think it is made at a different plant than the one that had problems. This disclaimer is on their website:

Diamond Pet Foods has received inquiries about Chicken Soup Dog food. It is important for consumers to know that this brand does not contain corn, and is thereby not susceptible to aflatoxin. Subsequently, it is not included in our voluntary recall.

We have great empathy for our customers who are affected by this unfortunate situation, and are working very hard to do the right thing to help them. Our focus at the moment is to communicate as much information and prevent pet illnesses. To that extent, we have opened a Customer Information Center staffed by veterinarians to help customers who are concerned about their pet's health. The Center can be reached toll-free at 1-866-214-6945.

http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/

This site has all the recall information:

http://www.diamondpetrecall.net/faq.html#5

[napi21]

11. That may well be right. I just posted the info I received. I also

noted that I have no confirmation, but if there was ANY question, I'd sure want to know.

I'm glad there appears to be no problem with yet another brand of dog food, and I'm having a problem understand just how the one with the Diamond Brand got out their door! The little I know about the manufacturing of dog food all indicated that each batch was tested BEFORE any of it was ever shipped! I worked for a food manufacturer (human kind) for 13 years, but we did know and interact with other co's that also made pet food. They did every bit as much testing on their pet food products as they did on their human foods. My guess is that somebody screwed up BIG TIME at Diamond!

[MiniMe]

12. From the site-it is just 1 plant in Gaston, SC

But yes, they screwed up big time. Maybe they should work for the Bush administration.

[napi21]

13. Well, it is SC! Maybe they do?

My appologies to all South Carolinians here on Du. I lived in Greenville for six years. There are a lot of very good people there...but there are also a LOT of, er, hmmm, different people too!