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Melamine Blamed for More Pet Food Recalls

Natural Balance Recalls Several Varieties, Menu Foods Expands Its Recall

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

April 18, 2007

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The chemical melamine is again being blamed for causing kidney failure in cats and dogs.

Only this time, it's in the rice protein of Natural Balance's Venison and Brown Rice canned and bagged dog foods, Venison and Brown Rice dog treats, and Venison and Green Pea dry cat food.

"Recent laboratory results show that the products contain melamine," Natural Balance said in a press release posted on its Web site. "We believe the source of the melamine is a rice protein concentrate ... Natural Balance has confirmed this morning that some production batches of these products may contain melamine."

Melamine is a chemical used in plastics and fertilizers, but it is not allowed in human or pet food, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The nearly 100 brands of pet food products recalled in the past month -- and blamed for kidney problems and deaths of scores of dogs and cats across the country -- contain melamine-tainted wheat gluten imported from China, the FDA says.

Natural Balance products, however, do not contain wheat gluten.

And that's why the company's recall caught pet owner and industry experts by surprise.

"This recall blows my mind," says Canadian author Ann N. Martin, who researched the pet food industry for years and wrote the books "Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food," and "Protect Your Pets: More Shocking Facts."

Ann Martin's Books

"Prior to writing my last book (in 2003), Natural Balance was a company that was making its own food, using quality ingredients, and happy to answer any and all questions you had," Martin told ConsumerAffairs.com today.

"Now look what has happened. They grew and apparently the ingredients they are using are turning out to be the same as the inferior companies. I'm extremely upset, and needless to say, they will not be mentioned in the revisions to this book."

Menu Foods Expands Recall

Meanwhile, Menu Foods on Tuesday announced it's expanding its recall to include one additional product -- Natural Life Vegetarian pet food sold in 13.2 ounce cans. The recalled product has the date Nov/22/09 on the bottom of the cans and the UPC code 12344-07114.

The Canadian-based company said it recalled this pet food because: "Over the past several days, Menu Foods continued a detailed analysis of production records at its Emporia, Kansas, plant as part of the US Food and Drug Administration's ongoing investigation of this adulterated wheat gluten."

But how did adulterated, melamine-tainted, rice protein end up in Natural Balance's pet foods? This is a company known for using only human-grade ingredients in its products.

Natural Balance's Publicist Daniel Bernstein said the company started using the rice protein concentrate a month ago.

The company added the ingredient, he said, to increase the protein content of the food. It immediately discontinued using that ingredient after receiving calls about sick animals.

But the company recalled the other products -- Venison and Brown Rice Canned Dog Food and Venison & Brown Rice Formula Dog Treats -- because they also contain rice protein. "We have not found melamine in those products," Bernstein told ConsumerAffair.com today.

Finding melamine in any of the company's products came as a complete shock to Natural Balance, Bernstein said.

"For the past month, this has been about the wheat gluten in the pet foods," he said, referring to the nationwide recall of pet food announced in March. "This is brand new to everyone. No one saw this coming…this is shocking and upsetting."

Bernstein confirmed reports that a San Francisco-based company -- Wilbur-Ellis -- imported the rice protein concentrate from China.

That company then sold the ingredient to Diamond Pet Foods, which packs some of the Natural Balance products. Diamond Foods, however, told USA Today that it doesn't use rice protein in any of its foods.

Wilbur-Ellis also sold the rice protein concentrate to four other pet food makers, according to USA Today. The company would not disclose the names of those manufacturers, but said the other major pet food maker that received the ingredient -- besides Diamond Pet Foods -- tested the product and did not find any melamine.

Wilbur-Ellis also said it notified the FDA on Sunday that it had detected melamine in some rice protein concentrate imported from China about a week ago, according to USA Today.

The company said it has stopped importing the ingredient from that Chinese firm, Binzhou Futian Biology Technology.

When asked if Natural Balance will add rice protein to its pet foods in the future, Bernstein said: "It's not likely. But it if does, it's not going to use the same line of rice protein."

He added: "It's not an essential ingredient because until a month, it wasn't in any of the products."

Natural Balance's president told USA Today the company has received reports of about 10 sick pets -- mostly dogs -- since last Thursday.

The company says some pets developed kidney failure after eating its food. That's the same problem many of the pets who've eating the melamine-tainted wheat gluten have experienced.

"The first calls came in last Thursday and Friday," Bernstein said, adding they were from pet owners across the country. "By Friday, we had six calls and that's when we started testing (the food). And once we heard pets were getting sick, we contacted our distributors."

Bernstein said there are no reports of deaths in dogs or cats linked to the company's recalled foods.

Pet owners, he said, should immediately stop using the recalled foods. They should also have their pets seen by a veterinarian if they show any signs of kidney failure, including loss of appetite, lethargy and vomiting.

Bernstein said he did not know how many containers of pet food are included the recall, but added: "it's a relatively small number."

The recalled foods are packaged in bags, cans, and zip lock treat bags, and sold in pet specialty stores nationwide.

None of Natural Balance's other products contain rice protein, the company said. And none of its other products are involved in the recall. Natural Balance says it will continue to work closely with the FDA.

Pet owners with questions about the recall can contact the company at 1-800-829-4493.

In the meantime, author Ann Martin -- who used to recommend Natural Balance to pet owners -- doubts she'll ever buy the company's products again.

"I cook for my guys most of the time," she says, adding she fed her dog Natural Balance when she boarded him at a kennel. "(But) I'm almost afraid to try any foods now, even the quality ones, as they seem to have followed the lead of many of the multi-nationals and gone to the co-packers."

Cat owner Carolynne V. of Brick, N.J. echoes Martin's sentiments.

She says one of her cats recently developed kidney stones after eating Natural Balance's Venison and Green Pea food.

And she's angry the company didn't investigate its products after Menu Foods announced its recall in March.

"Until now, the Venison and Green Pea formulas had been the answer to my prayers in terms of feeding my allergic cats," she says. "But now I realize that I had only been putting my cats' health in jeopardy by feeding them (this) product. Our pets are loving family members and I cannot believe (the company's) irresponsibility in making health claims about (its) product that obviously are not true.

"This leads me to believe that despite all of (the company's) published claims, it is using inferior ingredients in its products and I have discontinued the use of all Natural Balance products."

More about the Pet Food Recall ...

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