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FDA Blocks Nutro Pet Food Shipment from Entering U.S.

Products "appeared to contain poisonous substances and unsafe additives"

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

August 28, 2007

• RECALL LIST • Consumer Complaints --- News • FDA Orders Illinois Pet Food Maker to Clean Up Its Act • String of Illnesses Afflicts NUTRO-Fed Pets • Pet Owners Not Thrilled with Poisoning Settlement • Menu Foods Settles Pet Food Class Action • Many Pet Foods Still Missing From Store Shelves • Pet Owners Cheer Indictments in Toxic Pet Food Case • Indictments in Toxic Pet Food Case • Diamond Pet Foods Agrees To $3.1 Million Settlement • Tests Find More Toxic Pet Toys • Finding Safe Toys to Give Your Pet • China Agrees to Stepped-Up Food, Drug Inspections • Menu Foods Denies Acetaminophen Found in its Cat Food • Veterinarians Solve Pet Food Death Puzzle • Menu Foods Agrees to Test for Pain Killer in its Cat Food • Lab Tests Again Find Acetaminophen in Pet Food • Toxic Pet Toys: A Doctor's Advice • Consumers Respond to Toxic Wal-Mart Pet Toy Stories • Federal Import Safety Panel Outlines Proposals • Pet Industry Agrees on Need for Toxicity Standards • Industry Responds to Reports of Lead in Wal-Mart Pet Toys • Wal-Mart Attacks Lab Tests that Found Lead, Chromium in Pet Toys • Wal-Mart Reviewing Results of Tests on China-Made Pet Toys • Lab Tests Find Lead, Other Toxins in Pet Toys Sold at Wal-Mart • CANIDAE Denies Reports of Painkiller in its Pet Food • Lab Tests Find Painkiller in Samples of Pet Food • Purina Denies Claim on Bichon Frise Deaths • FDA Blocks Nutro Pet Food Shipment from Entering U.S. • FDA Testing Dog Treats Pulled from Wal-Mart Shelves • Wal-Mart Finds Melamine in Chinese-Made Dog Treats --- • More about Pet Food Recalls ...

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July blocked more than 100 Nutro Products -- various styles and flavors of its dog and cat food -- from entering the United States.

ConsumerAffairs.com learned the FDA took that action at the Port of Los Angeles -- and listed Nutro’s pet food on its Import Refusal Report -- because the products appeared to contain poisonous substances and unsafe additives.

The FDA has authority to block and detain any regulated products from entering the United States if they “appear to be out of compliance with The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.”

Some of Nutro’s pet food on the Import Refusal List include its Adult Turkey with Chicken Liver, Choice Adult Cat w Turkey & Duck, Choice Complete Care Kitten Rich in Chicken with Liver, and Adult Large Breed Chicken & Rice.

News of the FDA’s action alarmed Mike G. of Florida. He owns multiple cats and feeds them Nutro products.

“What isn’t clear is which ‘additive’ it is that is ‘unsafe,’ and which ‘substance’ it is that is poisonous,” he told us. “The three Nutro canned cat products I have in front of me all state ‘Made in USA.’ But they don't say which state or which US territory.”

He added: “I don’t so much care where (the products came from). It’s the 'which' (unsafe additives and substances) that concerns me.”

Mike contacted Nutro about his concerns, but says the company ignored his inquires.

He wasn’t surprised.

“From previous experience, most responses from Nutro have been non-responsive,” he said.

Mike shared with us the message he sent to Nutro, which echoes concerns we’ve heard from other pet owners:

“I want to know, specifically, before I feed any of these foods I have in the house to my cats, exactly where Nutro cat foods are made, exactly where those foods on the FDA Import Refusal Reports were made, and specifically which ‘additive’ it is which is ‘unsafe,’ and which ‘substance’ it is which is deemed ‘poisonous’ or 'deleterious.’ ” “If I do not receive a satisfactory response I will be taking these cans back to where they were purchased, and will never again be purchasing other Nutro products.

“In the aftermath of several thousand pet deaths,” he added, “Nutro and other companies need to demonstrate their commitment to pet safety by answering pet owners' questions satisfactorily.”

Non-responsive

ConsumerAffairs.com also contacted Nutro about the FDA’s action. It took the company more than a week to respond to our repeated calls.

Nutro, however, didn’t answer our specific questions.

The company’s Consumer Services Manager, Tamara Cerven, instead e-mailed us Nutro’s official, canned response.

“It has been brought to our attention that confusion has been caused by the Food and Drug Administration’s (“FDA”) Import Refusal Report,” the company’s statement said. “We wish to assure our customers that this report is in no way a cause for concern about the quality and safety of Nutro pet foods currently on store shelves.”

Nutro said the products listed the FDA’s Import Refusal Report are ones affected by Menu Food’s massive recall in March of melamine-tainted dog and cat food.

“This report lists recalled product(s) that have been returned to Nutro from overseas,” according to the company’s statement. “This product is not intended for sale.”

Nutro said it immediately discontinued all sales of its melamine-tainted products and removed them from retail stores, warehouses, and distribution centers after Menu recalled 60 million containers of contaminated pet food.

“Nutro also ordered recalled product to be shipped back to the U.S. from overseas for proper handling,” the company said in its written statement. “Some of this product is the subject of the FDA report.”

Nutro said customers with questions about the FDA’s action can call its customer service line at 1-800-833-5330 or visit its Web site at www.nutroproducts.com.

Mike doubts pet owners will get any answers, though.

“They failed to respond to my mail, responding only to you,” he told us today.

“My confidence was rattled with both Nutro and Iams in March when I learned that they both used Menu Foods. I'm one who drove further to the ‘pet-superstores’ to purchase what I had believed to have been better, safer' foods . . . only to learn they were made by the same company using some of the same unsafe contaminated ingredients which they also put into the ‘cheaper,’ ‘less-quality’/ ‘less-safe’ foods in the supermarkets.

“So their failure to respond to me now, personally, is the last straw for me. If and when products begin to flow from their own plant and I get a thorough read-through of the label, I might then reconsider purchasing their product. But not before.”

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