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Tests Find 'Sky High' Zinc Levels in NUTRO Cat Food

Test results provided to company; no response so far

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com
Copyright 2009 © All Rights Reserved

June 18, 2009
Lab results on a sample of the recalled NUTRO cat food reveal the product contains “concerning” and “sky high” levels of zinc that could cause gastrointestinal problems and liver and kidney damage in felines, according to a veterinary toxicologist.

The non-profit Pet Food Products Safety Alliance (PFPSA) hired Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory to test a sample of the recently recalled NUTRO Max Adult Roasted Chicken Flavor cat food.

Those test results reveal the food contains an excessive amount of zinc -- 2100 parts per million (ppm).

“The concentration of zinc identified in this report of 2100 ppm is very high,” said Dr. Stephen Hansen, a veterinary toxicologist and senior vice-president of Animal Health for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). “That zinc level jumps off the page. It is awfully high and does concern us. It’s certainly gotten our attention.”

Do those high levels of zinc pose health problems for cats?

“The problem in this case is that we believe no one actually knows (or at least has published) the effects of 2100 ppm dietary zinc long-term in cats,” Dr. Hansen said. “Typically, cats are more tolerant of high zinc than other species, including dogs and humans.

“But it’s certainly possible that those levels of zinc would likely cause health problems in cats that could involve significant intestinal upset and liver and kidney damage.”

"Deadly" levels

“Using this food by Nutro recommended feeding guidelines, a pet eating this food would receive over 38 times the amount of zinc recommended by the National Research Council, or 175 mg. zinc a day,” he said. “Using the most frequently cited median lethal dose for zinc of 100 mg. per kilogram of body weight, a 4 kilogram cat (9 pounds) would be exposed to the median lethal dose of zinc in slightly over 2 days.

“I consider it highly unlikely that any cat exposed to this food would survive much over a week.”

When asked to comment on Earl’s assessment of the excessive levels of zinc in the recalled NUTRO cat food, Dr. Hansen said: “That’s definitely a high level of zinc. Is it deadly? That’s an interesting question. It sure seems possible. But we don’t have access to information on the long term effects of high levels of zinc in cats.”

Those high levels of zinc in pet food, however, would not be allowed in the European Union, Earl said.

“The European Union sets a maximum level of 250 ppm zinc in all animal foods, with a recommended maximum of 150 ppm (mg/kg),” he said. “Compare that to the AAFCO maximum of 1,000 ppm in dog food and 2,000 ppm in cat food.

“By any measure of such things, the EU is light years ahead of the US in food safety.”

The sample of recalled food that Earl’s group tested came from an unopened bag of NUTRO Max cat food with a “Best by date of 07 JUN 2010 07:17 2AD6 "A.” The group purchased the cat food on May 22, 2009.

That’s one day after NUTRO announced its recall.

Not overly concerned?

“It is our understanding the store had not been informed there was a problem with the food,” Earl said. “NUTRO doesn't appear overly concerned if a few more pets are killed by their poisoned food after a recall is announced, but who knows, maybe Nutro would be more aggressive about getting its deadly products off store shelves if it knew there are concerned pet owners out there who will intentionally buy recalled products strictly for testing purposes.”

NUTRO recalled recalled seven flavors of its dry Natural Choice Complete Care and NUTRO Max cat foods, saying the products contained incorrect levels of zinc and potassium.

The company blamed the problem on a production error by its U.S. premix supplier, Trouw Nutrition .

One of the premixes contained too much zinc and not enough potassium, NUTRO said. A second premix did not have enough potassium.

“Both zinc and potassium are essential nutrients for cats and are added as nutritional supplements to NUTRO® dry cat food,” the company said.

When NUTRO pulled the cat food off store shelves, it warned pet owners to monitor their felines for such health problems as a reduction in appetite or refusal of food, weight loss, vomiting, or diarrhea. NUTRO also said -- and continues to say -- that it has not received any complaints about the recalled cat food.

But ConsumerAffairs.com has heard from scores of cat owners nationwide who say their healthy felines started vomiting, refused to eat, and experienced other health problems after eating the recalled food. Some blame their cats' recent deaths on the food.

And many say they’ve contacted NUTRO about their cats’ illnesses.

They’re pet owners like Stacey M. of Seattle, Washington. Her two felines became sick in April after eating some of NUTRO’s recalled cat food.

“The two-year-old started vomiting and refusing the food and our six-year-old started having motor difficulties, spacey behavior, and vomiting,” she says.

Stacey took the older cat to her veterinarian, who could not pinpoint any problems.

“Shortly after the vet visit I found out about the food recall,” she says. “Both our bags were that of the contaminated food.”

Stacey immediately contacted NUTRO.

“And I did not get a response from them for a couple of weeks,” she says. “They said they would contact me within 72 hours. I want it on record that I feel I received poor customer service, and I don’t feel the company has been truthful about the side affects and complaints from pet owners that had given their pets this food.”

She adds: “The company claims that no sickness had resulted from the tainted food, when indeed I know several people have had sick cats.”

Copy to NUTRO

ConsumerAffairs.com sent NUTRO a copy of the lab results on its recalled cat food. The company did not respond.

ConsumerAffairs.com also contacted NUTRO about the problems pets owners say their cats have experienced after eating the recalled food. The company hasn’t responded to those inquiries, either.

NUTRO, however, has publicly said that cat owners with questions about the recall should contact the pet food maker at 1-800-833-5330.

FDA

In the meantime, Dr. Hansen said the lab results on NUTRO’s recalled cat food should be brought to the attention of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). ConsumerAffairs.com sent a copy of the test results to the FDA’s Center For Veterinary Medicine today (Thursday).

The PFPSA has also posted the lab results on its Web site.

NUTRO’s recalled food isn’t likely to be the last sample of pet food the PFPSA tests. Earl vows his group will continue its watchdog efforts on all brands of pet foods.

“No one should have to watch their cherished companion animals die a slow and terrible death because the food they trusted to preserve their pet's life ended it.”

Read more ...

• Verbatim complaints and comments from consumers.
• Recall notice

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