Deadly Pet Food - Diamond Pet Foods

13 WHAM ^ | 12/22/05 | Mike Doria

[Calpernia]

(Rochester, NY) 12/22/05 -- Some pet food contaminated with a toxic fungus is having deadly consequences.

Several dogs in the Rochester area have died from the toxin and others could be sick without their owners knowing.

Stores in 23 states have been notified to pull Diamond Pet Food products off their shelves. The contaminant, aflatoxin, grows on corn put in the products.

The food is sold under the brand names Diamond, Country Value, and Professional. The recalled batches have date codes of March-07 through June-07 and were made at the company's plant in Gaston, South Carolina.

Products from other facilities or with later date codes are not affected.

Dog and cat owners should have their pets examined right away if they’ve been using Diamond pet food products.

Signs of poisoning include lethargy, loss of appetite, increased water consumption and urination, bloody vomiting or diarrhea, and jaundice (yellowing) of the whites of the eyes or gums.

In severe cases, the toxin can cause death. Treatment includes a chicken and rice diet and pills to protect the liver.

Lori Hewett feeds her dog Sparta the Diamond products. However, Lori also happens to be the receptionist at Mendon Village Animal Hospital. She got Sparta tested immediately once she learned about the contamination.

"Since she happened to be with me at work that day, they did her blood work and her levels were very high," Lori said. "[However] she's been acting normally, still wanting to eat, playing, alert."

While some dogs get sick, others do not. Veterinarian Dr. Sara Sanders of Mendon saw this in three golden retrievers that ate the same food.

"Maybe some are resistant or the contamination was located in one part of the food…Some got the 'bad bite,' others didn't," she said.

Veterinarian Dr. Kent Burgesser of Rochester said his clinic has had a couple of cases where the symptoms were consistent with aflatoxin poisoning. He had not heard of any cats becoming ill from the poison.

Pet food companies test for aflatoxin, but it appears it can go unnoticed sometimes.

Seven of the sick dogs brought to Mendon Village Animal Hospital have been taken to Cornell and are under the care of more specially trained vets.

Rochester-area grocery stores Tops and Wegmans do not sell Diamond products.

Concerned pet owners can call Diamond Pet Food at (537) 229-4203 for more information. For details and a list of product names, click here to go to the Diamond Pet Food Web Site.

[Calpernia]

I wasn't able to get through by phone yesterday and Diamond's website was pretty inaccessible off and on yesterday too (matter of fact, their site is down now). I'm sure everyone is trying to contact them on this.

Not only do I want to see if they will release info on their private label products; but, I want to find out if the corn product got the fungus from their facility or if they bought it possibly contaminated. Because if it could have been contaminated when purchased, what other facility may have bought this same corn product? I buy rabbit food in pretty large quantities and now I'm interested to see if the corn product could be in the rabbit food.

[apackof2]

I'm interested to see if the corn product could be in the rabbit food.

Or cattle/horse feed?

[Calpernia]

I will tell you, I'm getting very frastrated that all the phone numbers I've tried have gone to automatic attendent.

The email submit form doesn't even work because of the DNS affect the high traffic has created.

I'm tempted to post my 'guesses' if I can't get an answer. I would like confirmation before I go and create rumors without information for follow up.

[Calpernia]

Any thoughts for founding out further information here?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1545310/posts?page=61#61

[Calpernia]

Company recalls tainted pet food
17 deaths may be linked to pet food contaminated with fungi

Friday, December 23, 2005; Posted: 4:43 a.m. EST (09:43 GMT)

(CNN) -- One of the nation's largest dog food producers has recalled some of its products in 22 states after receiving reports that they caused death and illness, a company executive said Thursday.

In a letter to thousands of its suppliers, Diamond Pet Food announced it found aflatoxin in products made at its Gaston, South Carolina, plant, said Chief Operating Officer Mark Brinkmann.

Products made at the Gaston facility are shipped to Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Vermont and Virginia.

Excerpt:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/22/dog.deaths/

[Calpernia]

>>>I'm interested to see if the corn product could be in the rabbit food.

>>>Or cattle/horse feed?

Or human food.

[Calpernia]

I got through to Mark Brinkman, 573-229-4203, attorney for Diamond Corporate.

The tainted product was the corn supplement.
The corn supplement was NOT tainted at the Gaston facility as per their latest tests.

This strongly implies the corn supplement was purchased tainted.

Diamond, Gaston facility always purchases the corn supplement from the same supplier.

Due to their contractual agreement, Diamond is unable to disclose the name of this supplier.

This supplier DOES supply to other feed companies as well as foods for human consumption.

[HairOfTheDog]

Important re-ping. Calpernia has been doing a lot of further research and a lot of good information is posted above.

Company recalls tainted pet food
17 deaths may be linked to pet food contaminated with fungi

Friday, December 23, 2005; Posted: 4:43 a.m. EST (09:43 GMT)

(CNN) -- One of the nation's largest dog food producers has recalled some of its products in 22 states after receiving reports that they caused death and illness, a company executive said Thursday.

In a letter to thousands of its suppliers, Diamond Pet Food announced it found aflatoxin in products made at its Gaston, South Carolina, plant, said Chief Operating Officer Mark Brinkmann.

Products made at the Gaston facility are shipped to Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Vermont and Virginia.

Excerpt:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/22/dog.deaths/

Dog and cat owners should have their pets examined right away if they’ve been using Diamond pet food products.

Signs of poisoning include lethargy, loss of appetite, increased water consumption and urination, bloody vomiting or diarrhea, and jaundice (yellowing) of the whites of the eyes or gums.

In severe cases, the toxin can cause death. Treatment includes a chicken and rice diet and pills to protect the liver.

Ping!

Other articles with keyword "DOGGIEPING" since 12/29/04

[Calpernia]

Update,

Just got off the phone with families from San Simon, AZ.

They use Safeway store brand pet food as well as all the other families that also have sick and dying pets.

We are not trying to get a hold of this corn supplement supplier from the dept. of agrculture

[RepoGirl]

Thanks for the ping. I'm a Science Diet person, myself, but the breeder I bought my pup from feeds Diamond to her dogs.

[Calpernia]

not = now

[Joe 6-pack]

About 6 months ago, I was introduced to Royal Canin. It's made in breed-specific blends to support the nutritional needs of a particular breed's metabolism, phsiology, digestive peculiarities, allergic predispositions, etc. My dogs love it and from all appearances it works as advertised. Even my Katrina refugee who had all sorts of infections, infestations, and appetite/digestive issues was kicking out firm stools and eating regularly within a few days of starting on it. The corporation is French, so I feel like a little bit of a whore for buying it, but what you buy here is made by their US division at their US facility. It's a little more expensive than a lot of other premium dog foods, but nothing's too good for my family.

[HairOfTheDog]

I have had good luck feeding a Chicken and Rice food that is packaged here for a local Farm supply. It's equivalent to the other premium foods such as Eukanuba.

It's not corn based, which to me is one sign of a quality feed. Corn is a filler, and in my experience, there isn't a digestive system in the world that can actually digest it. So - all the corn just ends up going out the dog remarkably unchanged from how it went in.

The other thing I look for in a feed is that it contains no unidentified "animal" as the meat source, as that almost always indicates horse meat (among other things at the rendering plant) and I refuse to support that.

[Andy'smom]

Wow, thanks for the link. I just got a new puppy 2 weeks ago and the day before I picked him up, I went to my local pet shop to buy some supplies. I was all set to buy Iams puppy food, but the sales rep from Wellness was there and she talked me into buying their puppy food instead, based on the type of issues that are raised on that website.

It's fairly expensive, but there are no by-products and no corn.

[Darnright]

My close friend feeds Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul dog food. I just left a message on her voice mail.

Surely, if other brands of dog food were contaminated, Diamond would have issued recalls on them?

I feed my dogs Eagle Pack Holistic Chicken, which is a pain to find, but I really like it, and it keeps the dogs in wonderful condition.

[Slings and Arrows]

Important re-ping. Calpernia has been doing a lot of further research and a lot of good information is posted above.

What she said. Also, related article here.

[Calpernia]

>>>>Surely, if other brands of dog food were contaminated, Diamond would have issued recalls on them?

Diamond issued recalls on everything they were able to.

However, Diamond has no contamination in their facility. Confirmed from lastests test.

The supplier of the corn supplements is now the issue. Who else have they sold to? More pet foods? Human foods?

I'm still on the phone with USDA, and still being transferred....and still being transferred....and still being transferred....

[NYer]

I was all set to buy Iams puppy food, but the sales rep from Wellness was there and she talked me into buying their puppy food instead, based on the type of issues that are raised on that website.

Congratulations on the new puppy! And, on heeding the advice of the Wellness representative!

Four years ago, I rescued a young basset hound to keep my other one company (hey, they're pack animals). Moses arrived with some grocery store dog food that I replaced with Nutro, a product I thought was much healthier. He also arrived with an ear infection and the vet put him on medication. Over the next 12 months, the ear infection would clear up and return. The vet kept switching medications. Finally, he suggested that we run allergy tests. Before we did, I came across the above link, read it through and switched both dogs from Nutro to Wellness. Over the next few weeks, I watched these dogs coats transform from dull to glossy. At his next vet check, Moses' ears were both clean as a whistle, and have been ever since.

Bottom line, you will pay more for a quality dog or cat food but you will be spared veterinary bills associated with the ailments and illnesses resulting from the cheaper food. You made a wise decision! BTW - Wellness has a frequent buyer program that will save you money over the course of time.

Merry Christmas!

[Andy'smom]

Merry Christmas to you, too!

It seems like a very high quality food, it is made locally. Glad to hear your dog is doing so well on it. My puppy loves it, he runs and jumps on the bag when it's time for a meal!

[RepoGirl]

The other thing I look for in a feed is that it contains no unidentified "animal" as the meat source, as that almost always indicates horse meat (among other things at the rendering plant) and I refuse to support that.

One thing I've also heard about "crude protein" sources, and this could be urban legend, is that they're not too picky about what constitutes "protein". For instance, say a turkey or chicken has a huge benign (or even malignant) tumor in its body-- that tumor ends up included in the protein source. Pretty ick, and possibly even dangerous, if you ask me.