Blue Buffalo statement

[Jay Jay]

See Blue Buffalo statement in "General Recall Discussion"

[mgt818]

I was looking through the Blue Buffalo site and just noticed that they removed the statement... by looking at their web-site it seems as though it is difficult to locate where to find the recall information.  I went to the FAQ and saw this... not sure if I understand correctly, please correct me if I am wrong, they claim to not have found any melamine in their cans both for dogs and cats and their treats in one faq but in another they state "Some shipments of rice protein concentrate used by ANI in the manufacture of our products have tested positive for melamine"... so which is it? I am going to cut and paste here for easy review:

Why did you recall all BLUE dog cans, Spa Select cat cans and BLUE Health bars?

Our manufacturer, American Nutrition Inc. (ANI), has been adulterating our products by adding rice protein concentrate into our canned foods without our approval- this ingredient has never been part of our formulas for these products.

Some shipments of rice protein concentrate used by ANI in the manufacture of our products have tested positive for melamine, a chemical not approved for use in pet foods. This melamine-contaminated rice protein concentrate has been traced back to Wilbur-Ellis, the company that sourced melamine-contaminated rice protein concentrate from China.

Although ANI contends that it did not include rice protein in all of the products it manufactured for us, we decided to remove all cans and health bars as a precautionary measure, because we simply could not assure our customers as to the integrity of any products manufactured by ANI.


Have any BLUE dog cans, Spa Select cat cans, or BLUE Health Bars tested positive for melamine?

No BLUE dog cans, Spa Select cat cans or BLUE Health Bars have tested positive for melamine at this time.

Am I missunderstanding?  I very well could be...

[jenny]

I found the letter still out there:
http://www.bluebuff.com/company/news_letter.shtml

As many of you know, we have removed all BLUE and Spa Select canned foods and BLUE Health Bars from store shelves as a precautionary measure because our manufacturer, American Nutrition (ANI), has been adding rice protein concentrate to our canned formulas without our knowledge or approval. While there is no evidence that BLUE Health Bars were tampered with, we felt it was prudent to include them in this recall, as we clearly can't trust ANI to produce our products as directed.

No BLUE or Spa Select dry foods are part of this recall. They have been tested for melamine and are safe for your pet to consume.

[mgt818]

When the statement first came out it was the first thing you saw when you went to thier site...  now you have to go to the BLUE NEWS section and select the Press release, or at least I don't have any luck when I pull up the Blue site... I had to find it in the news.  Anyway what is your take on the FAQ?  I am a bit confused...  I visit the site because I occasionally fed some Blue cans up to about a month ago...  I am very concerned about it. 

[mgt818]

I wrote to someone at the Blue Buffalo co. asking them to elaborate on the situation and they have not responded yet... maybe tomorrow....

[garypen]

They have recalled ALL of their canned products. I thought they had recalled one or two dry products, as well, a few weeks before that.

[mgt818]

I think it was the spa select kitten canned formula they recalled before this latest recall of all canned products.

[garypen]

Actually, it was DRY kitten:
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/bluebuffalo04_07.html

[mgt818]

Your right... I coudn't quite remember but I thought it was the canned...  I wonder, maybe you know, if they manufacture the kibble in the same plant as their other dry foods... 
What do you understand by their FAQ...  (a earlier post)  I guess I am missinterpreting it... I see it as it says that American Nutrition put contaminated rice protein in their canned foods... yet none of their cans have tested positive.     Is that what you think it states?

[garypen]

It says that ANI put rice gluten in their canned foods, even though it was not in the recipe, without notifying them. And, that and they were withdrawing all canned foods regardless of the fact that they showed no presence of melamine simply because they couldn't trust the product of such a dishonest and untrustworthy company as ANI.

[Babs]

I was in Petsmart about a week ago, and saw a woman getting ready to buy Royal Canin.  She had a new puppy.  I told her she should be careful because of Royal Canin's recalls and that she should go online and check the recall lists before buying.  I told her that Royal Canin had had a number of recalls, and I personally wouldn't buy it.  She seemed confused and shocked when I told her that there had been deaths, illnesses and recalls of over 100 brands of pet food.  She knew nothing about ANY recalls.  I don't know what world she had been living in.  She seemed very nice and concerned about her new puppy.
I told her about the Itchmo and Pet connection websites, and where she could get info on all the brands and all the recalls, but she was in a state of shock, not having been aware of any recalls at all.  It was all news to her.

A store manager, was talking to her, and evidently recommending Royal Canin to her, he was not pleased with me, and took the woman away.

Next to them another man had been standing, and when the manager took the woman away, I asked him if he was a manager.  He said no, he was a Blue Buffalo rep, in the store to discuss BB with customers or managers,  I guess, and he had all sorts of paperwork with him, laminated statements etc.  and he said BB had cancelled their contract with American Nutrition because of their fraudulent activities tampering with the recipes, and that none of their foods had tested positive for melamine, and their had been no deaths or illnesses associated with their food.  They had simply recalled it out of an abundance of caution or whatever that phrase is that everyone uses now.  He went on and on about what a great product they had, and what great ingredients they used. 
Before I left, I saw the manager bring the lady back to the Royal Canin foods.  I don't know what she did. The manager was talking talking, and the poor woman was listening to him trustingly.  She had a bag of BB in her hand, I hope that is what she bought, since they haven' had any dry food recalled, I don't think.
I finally left.   
I just don't think I want anything to do with a company that was associated with AMI.
I am still searching for an alternative to Fancy Feast canned for all my cats.  They eat EVO, and Orijen dry, but need some safe canned desperately.  I have an FUS cat, a diabetic cat, and a CRF cat.in my opinion plus many others.  They will NOT eat the Evangers I tried,  I'll try some other flavors, but  some of their flavors don't look very appetizing at all.

[garypen]

Have you tried Merrick? Both of my cats like their chicken and turkey varieties. Also, depending on your feelings about buying products made by Menu, there are the Natura brands of canned foods. They are made at the one Menu plant that hasn't had any recalls. And, they say they are diligent about where they purchase there ingredients from, having an employee on site at Menu, and testing every batch for both melamine and cyanuric acid.

I have started temorarily feeding my cats their Innova Lite canned food, until the little one loses a little weight. Then, I will go back to Merrick, as I don't want to support Menu any more than these 12 cans I bought.

As for Royal Canin, I would have to say that before this whole recall thing, their dry food was working quite well for my cats, combined with other wet food. Of the mainstream premium brands, I have no problem calling it the best of that bunch. (Sort of like being a "good" Republican.)

[jenny]

Blue Buffalo recalled thier stuff a while ago.  I think they acted pretty well - by recalling their contract with ANI and they also accused ANI of adding rice protein without their knowledge/permission. 

Blue Buffalo updated their web page a few days ago.  I posted the info on the other thread here.