Equity firms and pet food brands.

Catterton owns Nature’s Variety.

Berwind (Wellpet LLC) owns Wellness, Old Mother Hubbard, Holistic Select, Eagle Pack.

http://www.cpequity.com/rep-in.....resVariety
http://www.wellpet.com/
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/

Very confusing, IMO.

Suzanne Schreck was kind enough to report the Nutro Recall on one of Bill Marler's sites, The Food Poisoning Attorney.

Would be good to get lots of comments on Suzanne's report, so Bill's firm will see there's lots of interest about the issue:

http://www.foodpoisonjournal.com/2009/05/articles/food-poisoning-watch/cat-food-recalled-for-incorrect-levels-of-zinc-and-potassium/

Email from friend:

"Just returned from indie pet store. Posted on Nutro dog food shelves is a sign. The sign says:

The following have been discontinued:

All Small Bite Lite
All Small Bite Senior
5# Large Breed

Store employee says store was notified by their Nutro representative."

I bought some just to see what it looks like.

OMG!  The worst I've ever seen.  The smell was terrible.  Had to burn the cwrap.

Who would feed something like that?

Raggiesrule,

So sorry to hear about sweet Hali.  She has lots of good company in kitty heaven, that's for sure.

Bonkers,

Many thanks.  You're the greatest.

Anyone have time to go through food list, and other sources.

Need concise list, including all pet food brands owned by Mars. Include links, any acquisition links also helpful.

For example:

Royal Canin
Pedigree
etc.

Want to show that Mars is buying up lots of brands.

Some info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars,_Incorporated

Got to go to vet.

TKS.

Please cross post the below to your other forums, blogs, sites.

Especially DOG ones, also Itchmo.  I got PC already.  Very concerned that this may (repeat MAY) become rolling recalls like we saw in 2007.

I don't do DOG sites.  Dog folks need to be contacting FTC, too.  More complaints, the better as that's what determines priority and when investigator will work on.

TKS very much.
----------------------------------------------------------------------


FTC says that pet owners should go to consumer complaint page and submit a complaint form. Here is link to the page:

http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/cmplanding.shtm

I couldn't access the form online, so I called and submitted my complaint over the phone.

(202) 326-2222

The FTC representative said to call and report the problem; the more complaints, the higher the priority, and the faster they'll take a look at it.

Here're the issues:

1. Consumer Affairs website has 800, or so, complaints of dog/cat illness and death.
2. Only some cat food has been recalled (so what's causing the dog complaints).
3 Nutro is saying "No complaints".
4. Recalled food is still on shelves and being sold.
5. Vets have not been informed of the recall.
6. When you call Nutro, they give you a number.
7. When you call FDA, no one answers, no one returns calls.
8. The media isn't covering the story well (who cares about cat food?), so people are still using the food.

Regarding Nutro recall,

FTC says that consumers should go to consumer complaint page and submit a complaint form. Here is link to the page:

http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/cmplanding.shtm

I couldn't access the form online, so I called and submitted my complaint over the phone.

(202) 326-2222

The FTC representative said to call and report the problem; the more complaints, the higher the priority, and the faster they'll take a look at it.

Here're the issues:

1. Consumer Affairs website has 800, or so, complaints of dog/cat illness and death.
2. Only some cat food has been recalled (so what's causing the dog complaints).
3 Nutro is saying "No complaints".
4. Recalled food is still on shelves and being sold.
5. Vets have not been informed of the recall.
6. When you call Nutro, they give you a number.
7. When you call FDA, no one answers, no one returns calls.
8. The media isn't covering the story well (who cares about cat food?), so people are still using the food.

Without being able to view the form, not sure what other info you guys may need. LOL, from the posts here, I don't believe you'll have any trouble. Just let me know.

I don't get the denial part. Many people contacted Nutro, and have the emails to prove it. It may (repeat, may) have something to do with assigning a Class (as in Class I, Class II, Class III). It's my understanding (may be wrong), that when death/injury are involved, it's Class I. At least that's how the FDA explained it to me in 2007.

Any questions, please ask.
__________________
What is man without the beasts? If the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected - - - Chief Seattle

We are the caretakers of our creatures . . . the peacekeepers of our planet

Has anyone contacted the FTC about this?

ReneeATNutro was offering to give away food today.

It was a LARGE amount, don't remember the details (a years worth?).

Got that PR stuff all figured out.

Comment from

 http://www.businesspundit.com/nutro-dog-food-issue-dates-mars-pr-approach/comment-page-1/#comment-14844


LOL, maybe they should separate marketing from customer service. Customers don’t want marketing BS, they want polite SERVICE. Mostly, they don’t want to worry about every bag of food they use.

Here’s a perfect example of the problem. I ask you, is this BS?

Hi,

I’m the Pet Specialty Communication Manager at Nutro. I think you raise some interesting points, though I’m not quite sure your analysis of our approach is necessarily complete.

We’re certainly not ignorant of the importance of online conversation, or the fact that “sterile” communications within online communities is often unwelcome. On Twitter, for example, we have three employees who represent Nutro, clearly disclosed as such, who addressed the concerns of those who posted the Consumer Affairs piece and/or had questions about the article. We also have employees on other sites who make themselves available to those communities.

A YouTube video is an interesting approach — it certainly worked for the likes of JetBlue, for example — but we wanted to focus our efforts on the places where the dialogue appeared to be taking place.

Also, we do understand and sympathize with owners who have lost their pet, and we ensure that our food meets all FDA, USDA and AAFCO standards. However, we do not sympathize with outlets who are not reporting the facts. Note: The FDA has confirmed that Nutro is not under investigation. More here: http://www.wxyz.com/news/local/story/FDA-No-Investigation-into-NUTRO-Pet-Food/hOoE48nKOkORqDNodwN3EQ.cspx.

Monica Barrett

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Too funny, and a perfect example of the problem.  There are 3 I's in the first paragraph.

If they hadn't screwed up the food, "outlets" wouldn't be an issue.

Glad he's home.  Can't keep a good Rufus down for long.

Something sure went "blooey" all of a sudden.

Lots of things ruled out, thanks to Peg's excellent care.

Just learned from someone:

More info from Nutro about the problem with the food:

In a given bag of food (my bag shows 200 mg/kg) that the zinc level (in my particular bag) may be EITHER too high or too low.

Rep wouldn't tell me HOW high, or HOW low - proprietary, you know.

I told her owners need to know, so they can tell vets.  May save time, and therefore lives.

Knowing a bit about how things can go "blooey" with processes, that means that:

1)  Zinc level is too low, something else is too high
2)  Zinc level is too high, something else is too low
3)  Zinc level is too low, other stuff is OK
4)  Zinc level is too high, other stuff is OK

So, vets may be seeing all sorts of weird symptoms.  Don't know - I'm no vet expert.

Hope this helps pet owners/vets know what testing to do.

That's interesting.