Regarding Costco's Kirkland Brand dry dog food

[Duer 157099]

Apparently, Diamond Pet Foods is the manufacturer of the Kirkland brand dog food from Costco.

Apparently, Diamond was one of the importers of the melamine-tainted rice protein concentrate from China.

Apparently, Diamond does not use this in most of their foods. Except for the ones where they do use it.

I'm going into full lock-down mode where it concerns my dog's food for the near future.

Quote from Diamond's website:

http://www.diamondpet.com/vet_notes/dogs/95/

Q: Is the rice used in your food safe? A: Yes - our white rice, brown rice, rice bran, rice flour, and brewers rice that we use in various formulas are all safe and free from melamine contamination. Q: How do you know that the rice protein concentrate did not contaminate other foods? A: We have procedures for cleaning out our equipment between batches, to avoid cross contamination. We were recently audited by Silliker Labs, a company that evaluates human grade manufacturing facilities. We scored 100% for prevention of cross contamination, something we are very proud of. Q: What is rice protein concentrate? A: Rice protein concentrate is a by-product of the rice syrup industry. Unlike other rice ingredients, it is very high in protein. It is not the same ingredient as white rice, brown rice, brewers rice, rice bran or rice flour. Q: Do you use wheat gluten or rice protein concentrate in your foods? A: We do not use these ingredients in any of our own brands. We did use rice protein concentrate in two Natural Balance recipes that have been recalled - Natural Balance Venison & Brown Rice dry dog food and Natural Balance Venison & Green Pea dry cat food.

Quote from article about the tainted rice protein:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4733635.html

Additional testing was under way to determine if the chemical, melamine, was present in the meat produced by American Hog Farm in Ceres since April 3, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

"Although all animals appear healthy, we are taking this action out of an abundance of caution," State Veterinarian Dr. Richard Breitmeyer said in a statement. "It is unknown if the chemical will be detected in meat."

State officials believe the melamine came from rice protein concentrate imported from China by Diamond Pet Food's Lathrop facility, which produces products under the Natural Balance brand and sold salvage pet food to the farm for pig feed.

[LisaM]

1. My friend lost her cat in December - she ate Costco food

Her cat was older, but she hadn't been ill - she suddenly got sick, wouldn't eat, threw up......so my friend lost her cat. We wondered since about the pet food scare - Costco food hadn't been on the list, but now I'm not so sure.

[renate]

2. thank you so much!

I love Costco and have always been really impressed with the quality of their store brand for everything from vitamins to sweaters, so when it was time to get another bag I actually thought that it would be the safest place to get dog food.

Off to the pet store I go, and thanks again!

[napi21]

3. I called Doamond Pet Foods yeterday re Kirklandpet food..

I've been feeding myfurkids Kirkland chicken rice and fegies pet food for well over a year. They explainedthat rice concentrate is a different ingredient thanwhat is used in their Rice formula dog food, and they ONLY use USproduced ingredients in their production.

I asked about the Natures Balance food and they told me they do processdog food for them, butthey supply all the ingredients and do all the testingof those ingredients. If there isany problems with theirproducts, Diamond has NO responsibility.

I have been feeding Kirkland chicken, rice& vegies to my kids for at least1 1/2 years, That is why I called them, and I believe themwhen they say there is no problem with their food. BTW, when I called, I spoke to a veterinarianemployedby them, and she was very helpful in answering all my questions.

[Duer 157099]

5. Thank you for that

I was deliberating whether to call Costco, but I unfortunately assume that I will just get some official corporate story, no matter what -- even though I really support Costco and generally trust them and their products.

It's very good to hear that 1) they only use US-based products and 2) that Diamond just does the processing for them.

I've been using both the Lamb/Rice and Chicken/Rice dry dog foods, and most recently even got a bag of the Organic version, just to be doubly sure...

On another note: I had gotten a large bag of peanut butter dog biscuits at Costco several weeks ago, and had put them into another container so do not have the orginal package to even know what the brand/ingredients are -- anyone know the treats I'm talking about, and what the specs are? My dog seems fine, but I'm just getting really suspicious of everything nowadays

[kestrel91316]

4. A number of my clients feed Costco Kirkland dry cat food to their

cats and it has never been an issue. This is the ONLY "generic" food I have never had a beef with - none of my patients on it have had any diet-related health issues that I can identify. And that goes for this melamine-related ARF.

Probably doesn't have either wheat gluten or rice protein concentrate as an ingredient, FWIW.

An unanticipated contamination problem is no reason to demonize an entire company out of hand, like I've been seeing.

This business of selling the recalled, contaminated food to the livestock feed market (pig farm) disturbs me more than a little, however. That's A SERIOUS CRIME. They KNOWINGLY sold adulterated food to the pig farm. Jail time is too good for whoever did it.

[Duer 157099]

6. Thanks for that input

Frankly, I would not be surprised to see Costco discontinue using Diamond for their processing IF it's shown that Diamond knew what they were doing wrt selling the melamine-contaminated feed to the pig farm.

I hope I wasn't demonizing Costco out of hand, although in any case, I'd rather err on the side of caution towards life, then caution towards profit. I'm a huge supporter of Costco, and hearing what's been posted in this thread reaffirms my opinion of them.