Del Monte Pet Products Voluntarily Withdraws Specific Product Codes of Pet Treats and Wet Dog Food

Del Monte Corporation ^ | 3/31/2007 | Del Monte Press Release

[Political Junkie Too]

Del Monte Pet Products Voluntarily Withdraws Specific Product Codes of Pet Treats and Wet Dog Food Products

SAN FRANCISCO, March 31, 2007—As a precautionary measure, Del Monte Pet Products is voluntarily recalling select product codes of its pet treat products sold under the Jerky Treats^®, Gravy Train^® Beef Sticks and Pounce Meaty Morsels^® brands as well as select dog snack and wet dog food products sold under private label brands. A complete list of affected brands and products is below.

The Company took this voluntary recall action immediately after learning this morning from the FDA that wheat gluten supplied to Del Monte Pet Products from a specific manufacturing facility in China contained melamine. Melamine is a substance not approved for use in food. The FDA made this finding as part of its ongoing investigation into the recent pet food recall.

The adulteration occurred in a limited production quantity on select product codes of the brands below. This recall removes all Del Monte pet products with wheat gluten procured from this manufacturing facility from retail shelves.

No other Del Monte Pet Products treats, biscuits or wet dog food products are impacted by this recall,and no Del Monte dry cat food, dry dog food, wet cat food or pouched pet foods are subject to this voluntary recall. The affected products comprise less than one-tenth of one percent of Del Monte Pet Products' annual pet food and pet treat production.

Del Monte Pet Products has proactively engaged and fully cooperated with the FDA since the start of its investigation. The adulterated ingredients were used in limited production over the last three months for those items identified by specific product codes. Del Monte Pet Products has not used wheat gluten from this manufacturing facility in China in any other pet products except those described below.

Consumers should discontinue feeding the products with the Product Codes detailed below to their pets.

Del Monte Pet Products are 100% guaranteed and all returned product will be refunded.

Del Monte Pet Products customers can visit our website or contact our Consumer Hotline at (800) 949-3799 for further information about the recall and for instructions on obtaining a product refund.

BRANDED	Production Code/Best By Date
Jerky Treats Beef Flavor Dog Snacks	Code: Best By:	TP7C05 Aug 05 08	TP7B07 Aug 07 08	TP7B08 Aug 08 08	TP7B09 Aug 09 08	TP6B10 Aug 10 08
		Code: Best By:	TP7B15 Aug 15 08	TP7C05 Sep 02 08	TP7C06 Sep 03 08
Gravy Train Beef Sticks Dog Snacks	Code: Best By:	TP7B19 Aug 19 08	TP7B20 Aug 20 08	TP7B21 Aug 21 08
Pounce Meaty Morsels Moist Chicken Flavor Cat Treats	Code: Best By:	TP7C07 Sep 04 08	TP7C12 Sep 09 08

PRIVATE LABEL	Production Code/Best By Date
Ol' Roy Beef Flavor Jerky Strips Dog Treats	Code: Best By:	TP7B06 Aug 06 08	TP7B07 Aug 07 08	TP7C05 Sep 02 08	TP7C06 Sep 03 08	TP7C07 Sep 04 08
	Code: Best By:	TP7C08 Sep 05 08
Ol' Roy Beef Flavor Snack Sticks Dog Treats	Code: Best By:	TP7B19 Aug 19 08	TP7B20 Aug 20 08	TP7B21 Aug 21 08	TP7C08 Sep 05 08	TP7C09 Sep 06 08
Ol' Roy Bark'n Bac'n Beef & Bacon Flavor Dog Treats	Code: Best By:	TP7C14 Sep 11 08
Ol' Roy with Beef Hearty Cuts in Gravy Dog Food	Code: Best By:	BC6M21 Dec 21 09
Ol' Roy with Beef Hearty Strips in Gravy Dog Food	Code: Best By:	BC7A19 Jan 19 10
Ol' Roy Country Stew Hearty Cuts in Gravy Dog Food	Code: Best By:	BC6M15 Dec 15 09
Dollar General Beef Flavored Jerky Strips Dog Treats	Code: Best By:	TP7C06 Sep 03 08
Dollar General Beef Flavored Beef Sticks Dog Treats	Code: Best By:	TP7B20 Aug 20 08	TP7B21 Aug 21 08
Happy Tails Beef Flavor Jerky Strips	Code: Best By:	TPY7B08 Aug 08 08	TP7B09 Aug 09 08
Happy Tails Meaty Cuts with Beef in Gravy Dog Food	Code: Best By:	BC7A29 Jan 29 10

[Arizona Carolyn]

There is an excellent food from Nature's Variety called Raw Instinct (Kibble). All natural and organic ingredients and not overly expensive. There is another called Nature's Logic -- also natural, not overly expensive and has a choice of Beef, Lamb, Venison in addition to chicken. They are grainfree which is what it should be to feed out pets dogs and cats are carnivores and it's the high grain content in food that is making them fat...

Merrick Foods are good as well, but they do have some grains, but no corn or wheat.

Both companies have websites.

IF you go to onlynaturalpet.com they have a good selection of the better foods out there.

You can choose to home cook (I feed raw but I recognize not everyone can or will) There is a good site called K9Kitchen on yahoo groups for anyone wanting to learn to home cook for their pets.

[Tolsti]

Thanks

[Arizona Carolyn]

I forgot to mention: These companies also have canned foods for cats as well as kibble for cats. I used to buy liver, kidney, hearts, etc., and grind for my cat and then freeze in meal-sized pouches ... then take one out and steam it for her dinner, she loved it.

[Arizona Carolyn]

No problem.. there is also a holistic cat site at yahoo if you really get in to this. I changed everything in my dogs lives when we lost a dog to cancer and I learned that grains turn to sugar and sugar grows cancer cells. Then I read the API report on what is really in pet food, was totally grossed out and the rest is history -- 9 + years later my dogs get only healthy food and very minimal vaccinations. We all have a tipping point and I think this recall may be it for a lot of people.

[AnimalLover]

PING

[Sally'sConcerns]

I've been having pretty good success in receiving updated information from the FDA via email alert prior to any news getting out from other sources.

There are also pig ear treats which have been recalled which is NOT affiliated with the current recall on pet food.

I'm posting the link to FDA where people can sign up for email alerts if they choose to do so. I signed up back during the spinach problem and have found the emails I've received from them to be interesting to say the least. I didn't sign up for every email alert, I signed up for only those that are potentially life threatening. So far the alerts I've received have run the gamut from medications-pet food-people foods (olives was one, bottled water another)-and so on.

http://www.fda.gov/emaillist.html

[tkathy]

Wow. I found a pak of ol roy bark n bacon. It will go in the trash. I cut up one for my Yorkie and she didn't like it.

[angcat]

I hope the company is not called Abdul's.

[angcat]

Thank you Slings this is very important to me!

[Ellesu]

No, I did not, thanks for the ping.

[Slings and Arrows]

You're quite welcome.

[HollyB]

Keep an eye on lil Harley. Hopefully, your batch is fine. My sister gives her dog those strips also, but the code # was different. Thx for everything. It means alot.

[lastchance]

I knew it was true. I did not mean to imply it was rumor.

[lastchance]

I put our dogs on the BARF diet when my lab/blue heeler mix developed allergies and arthritis. His health improved a great deal. Seeing how well he did made me put my other dogs on the BARF diet. He is gone now and I think we would have had a lot more years together if I had known about and started the BARF diet sooner.

We have 5 dogs now and 3 of them have never been on anything but the BARF diet and are doing great. Commercial pet foods even when not contaminated are not what are pets are designed to eat.

During hurricane season in case we have a power outage I buy Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance. But I was glad to see you name some other alternatives to mass market pet foods. It will come in handy to have such a list.

[girlangler]

Thanks, I'm signed up for alerts. Good info.

[Arizona Carolyn]

But.. how many other people here know this and know it is not a rumor. It is something all of us with this knowledge need to pass along, if only one person listens to us then one more dog is saved eating this diseased food.

[Arizona Carolyn]

I learned about raw feeding after we lost a cocker to cancer. I have never looked back and regretted that decision. We go on a boating vacation every summer with our three dogs and at first I tried supplemental feeding for those ten days, not we just make room on the dry ice for enough raw food to feed them.

I know not everyone is going to be willing to do this which is why I try to pay attention to what is available out there (but not in Grocery or Petsmart/PetCo)... Right now we have friends with a Standard Poodle with cancer, they won't do raw, they are cooking organic chicken for her and took her to our health food pet store where SHE (the dog) chose Raw Instinct as her supplemental food.

Dogs are not meant to eat kibble, but at least if it is a natural kibble without grains they are a step up their cousins eating the other stuff.

[4yearlurker]

Bummer. Our Willy loves those Ol' Roy bacon treats. I used to buy the dollar general brand once in a while. Looks like he will get cheese bits for treats.

[Arizona Carolyn]

Those bacon treats are full of sugar, that is why they like them....I was on a business trip one year and my husband ran out of healthy dog treats and bought some of those. I almost strangled him when I saw what he'd done and I read the ingredients on the label.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

From what I was able to find it's all from the same part of China,,,most also supply "people food"too...