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Natural Balance Recalls Pet Food

One of the Few Brands to Use "Human Grade" Ingredients

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

April 17, 2007

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Another pet food company has recalled some of its products after receiving complaints that dogs and cats are vomiting and experiencing kidney problems.

Natural Balance Pet Foods announced on its Web site that it is pulling all dates of Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison & Green pea Dry Cat Food from the market.

"We do not know what it wrong with the food at this time," the California-based company states on its Web site, "but we have heard that animals are vomiting and experiencing kidney problems. Although the problems seem to be focused on one particular lot, as a precautionary measure, we are pulling all dates of Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Food from the shelves."

The message adds: "We are working closely with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Please discontinue feeding all Venison and Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison and Green Pea Dry Cat Food." The company said no other Natural Balance products are affected by the recall.

The FDA said that there is "no indication at this time whether this is related to the ongoing pet food recalls."

On the company's 800 number, a recorded message Monday night stated the only test results Natural Balance has received back are bacterial reports. And those tests did not reveal any abnormal findings.

Natural Balance's Web site said the affected brands of pet food contain no grains like wheat, barley, corn, and oats. And wheat gluten is not listed as an ingredient for either brand of Natural Balance's recalled pet foods.

The FDA says the nearly 100 brands of pet foods and treats involved in the nationwide recall -- announced on March 16, 2007, by Menu Foods of Canada -- were made with melamine-tainted wheat gluten imported from China. Melamine is a fertilizer and a chemical commonly used in plastics.

Expert Calls It "Very Upsetting"

Ann Martin's Books

Canadian author Ann N. Martin, who researched the pet food industry for five years, called Natural Balance's recall "very upsetting."

In earlier interviews with ConsumerAffairs.com, Martin said Natural Balance is one of the few pet foods on the market made with "human grade" ingredients.

"These are ingredients that have been inspected and passed for human consumption," says Martin, author of "Food Pets Die For ... Shocking Facts About Pet Food," and "Protect Your Pets ... More Shocking Facts." Martin says she feeds her dog Natural Balance Premium food when she boards him at the kennel.

When ConsumerAffairs.com contacted Martin late Monday night about Natural Balance's recall, she said: "I had heard about this yesterday morning and can't figure out what the heck is going on. If there is something wrong with this food, and it is one of the top foods on the market, I will just forget telling people what foods they should feed their pets. This is very upsetting. "

Pet owners can call Natural Balance's toll-free number at 800-829-4493 or visit its Web site for more information.

South Africa

In related news, the pet food recall has now spread to South Africa.

Royal Canin South Africa, which manufacturers Royal Canin premium dog and cat food -- and the cheaper brand Vets Choice -- announced that it was recalling the products because they'd caused kidney failure in dogs and cats, according to reports in The Namibian, an independent daily newspaper published in Windhoek, and allAfrica.com.

Royal Canin South Africa advised veterinarians in South Africa and Namibia to stop selling Vets Choice until further notice.

The paper said laboratory tests are being done to determine if the food is contaminated.

Nineteen dogs in Cape Town and Johannesburg -- that ate Vets Choice food -- have been diagnosed with acute kidney failure, according to News 24, South Africa's premier news source.

A statement sent to veterinary surgeons in South Africa said: "In the interests of patients and pending tests being conducted on Vets Choice products, Royal Canin South Africa has decided to suspend all sales of Vets Choice with immediate effect and vets are requested to advise clients to cease feeding Vets Choice products to their pets until further notice."

The South African subsidiary of Hill's Pet Nutrition previously recalled a batch of its Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry food in the wake of the massive recall in the United States. The prescribed cat food is only available from veterinarians.

The South African Veterinary Association called Hills' recall "a precautionary measure" and said it hadn't appeared to affect cats in South Africa, The Namibian reported.

Dr Guy Fyvie, spokesperson for Hill's in South Africa, told News 24, the potentially affected products had never been released from the warehouse to South African veterinarians and all food sold in that country is safe.

This isn't the first time South African pet owners have worried about the food they're feeding their dogs and cats.

Earlier this year, approximately 35 dogs in that country died after eating toxic pet food. In that case, the pets died from ethylene glycol-contaminated food -- manufactured by Aquanutro -- and sold at Woolworths in South Africa.

Finger-Pointing Begins

The United States company that imported the tainted wheat gluten -- ChemNutra of Las Vegas, Nevada -- says it was victimized by its Chinese supplier, XuZhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd.

In a letter posted on the company's Web site, CEO Steve Miller also said he is "appalled" that Menu Foods took so long to recall the contaminated pet food.

"The possibility that any animal fell ill or died because of an ingredient we may have supplied to Menu Foods saddens us and also angers us because it means that ChemNutra has been victimized as well, by our own supplier," Miller wrote, adding his company will no longer do business with XuZhou Anying.

"We are concerned that we may have been the victim of deliberate and mercenary contamination for the purpose of making the wheat gluten we purchased appear to have a higher protein content than it did, because melamine causes a false high result on protein tests," Miller said.

Miller was referring to allegations that the melamine could have intentionally been added to the wheat gluten -- a theory raised earlier this month by the director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine.

"Somebody may have added melamine to the wheat gluten in order to increase what appears to be the protein level," the FDA's Stephen Sundlof said. "Wheat gluten is a high-protein substance and by trying to artificially inflate the protein level, it could command a higher price. But that's just one theory at this point."

Miller said his company had never heard of melamine before this recall.

"We had no idea that melamine was an issue until being notified by the FDA on March 29," he wrote on the company's Web site. "It's simply not a chemical even on the radar screen for food ingredient suppliers."

Miller also said his company is "distressed" with Menu Foods' handling of the pet food recall.

"We are appalled and distressed that Menu Foods took so long to recall its products, although it clearly suspected there was a problem for weeks prior to the first recall," he wrote. "And it wasn't until eight days before they issued their first recall that Menu Foods told us that wheat gluten was one of many ingredients it was investigating."

Questions Raised about ChemNutra

Questions, however, have surfaced in recent weeks about ChemNutra and its ties to China. The Canadian investigative newspaper, Canada Free Press, describes the company's Chinese headquarters as a "rundown warehouse in rural China."

That warehouse, the paper adds, is located within 50 miles of XuZhou Anying, the company blamed for supplying the tainted wheat gluten.

The Las Vegas Review Journal says ChemNutra's Las Vegas office -- at Durango and Charleston Streets -- is "very small ... without even a sign on the door."

ChemNutra touts its ties to China, stating it "imports high-quality nutritional and pharmaceutical chemicals from China to the US. We purchase our inventory from quality-assured manufacturers in China; most of whom we have strong relationships over the past twelve years."

The company's president, Sally Miller, also has strong ties to China.

ChemNutra's Web site states she has "more than 12 years experience in China as QA Manager and Purchasing Manager ... and was responsible for purchasing large quantities of nutritional and food ingredients in China for export worldwide."

The Web site also states Sally Miller has an MBA -- and an Engineering degree -- in Food Engineering, but doesn't state where she earned those degrees. Canada Free Press learned she "earned an MBA from City University in Seattle, as well as (an) Engineering degree in Food Chemical Engineering at Hanzhou Institute of Commerce in Hanzhou, China."

More about the Pet Food Recall ...

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