Bones in Wellness Dry

[Perseus]

Betsy, can you please let me know the specific food/kibble name you found the "bones" in?  I need that in order to get the QC inquiry initiated.  Was it the Complete Health-Salmon?  TIA

[Betsy]

Hi, Perseus!

You are correct -- It is the "Complete Health – Salmon, Salmon Meal & Deboned Turkey Recipe". 

Let me know if there is any other info you need.

PS/ FYI -- Just in case, the reference # I was given on the phone by WellPet - #97579

Thanks for helping with this!
B

[kaffe]

    Thank you for posting about the bones in Wellness Salmon etc kibble.  I've never seen anythinike it either!  I ho OMH gets to the bottom of this QA problem!

[Perseus]

Betsy, it was after normal business hours so I sent Wellness an email instead.  I'm sure I'll hear a reply soon.

[Perseus]

I already received an email response from Chanda at Wellness, even though it is Saturday:

"Thanks for getting in touch. Hope you are doing well. I personally had not seen these photos. I’ve forwarded them on to Karalyn and her Quality Assurance team. One of us will be in touch shortly."

I'll of course let you know as I'm further contacted.

[Betsy]

I'm glad that Wellness has been so responsive and so quickly.  Thanks, Perseus, for sending the e-mail & photos!  I hope everyone is having a great weekend --

Kindest Regards,
Betsy

[Perseus]

Karalyn from Wellness responded:

"Regarding our QA practices with regard to bones:  as with any product that contains fish, bones are a risk.  We have a grinding and screening process to remove the visible presence of bones, but a few fragments may remain in the finished product.  The picture that is posted on Facebook is not the quality we would expect.  I would encourage the person who posted the pictures to contact us with date codes so we can research the matter."

Betsy, I sent you a PM with Karalyn's contact info so you can get in touch with her directly.  Please let us know how it turns out.

Thanks again for bringing this to our attention here.

[Betsy]

Thank you, Perseus!

I will reach out to Karalyn today.  Also, my pet store has asked Wellness to replace all of their dry food and the local Wellness Rep has a meeting with them Thursday to see the samples and address the issue from his end.

I will continue to post as I learn more information.

Betsy

[Betsy]

Important updates:

1. Spoke to Karalyn, Director QC yesterday and I felt it went well.  She basically restated what Perseus quoted in the earlier post, and added (and I'm paraphrasing) the following -- they aim for at least 99% quality; The photo I posted would not be acceptable by their standards; the food is scanned and also physically inspected/ spot-checked every 15 minutes; they are going to go back and check the exact lot & records (they can determine where & at what time a batch was made -- the letter/number code after the exp. date determines the manufacturing facility); they work closely with Vets to ensure the quality & safety of their food; she was definititely concerned and wanted to reassure me that they are addressing this; She also mentioned that there has been more "activity" regarding this issue lately -- they are not sure if it is because people are indeed finding more & unacceptable amounts of bone, or if it is due to the recent "You Tube" video, and that people are looking for issues -- in other words, are people finding a few pieces in a bag or several, and are they acceptable or not by quality standards?  Is someone pulling 1 or 2 pieces from several different bags & claiming they are from the same bag? (Which is what they suspect the guy in the video may have done).  She said it is somewhat "subjective" in what people think may be an issue or unacceptable which is why she needs the samples.  I reassured her that all my samples are from the same bag, and the Pet Store and the Wellness Rep saw it for themselves -- besides, the number of bad pieces is one issue, but the actual pieces, regardless of how many, is its own issue.  Plus the Salmon looks different from the Indoor & Core, and my store keeps records of customer purchases.  (FYI, I have asked the store to give me the original bag back so I can hold onto it until this is resolved...just in case.)  Karalyn also mentioned that she heard from their PR person, so word must be getting around.  I felt confident after speaking with her that they are doing all they can at this point.

2. I spoke with my Pet Store today -- The Wellness Rep came in & they opened several more bags of food.  The store is returning all the dry cat food at all locations and having Wellness replace it -- opened bags that were OK are being donated to shelters.  The Rep acted a bit strangely according to the staff, but he loaded up his vehicle and took it all back.  They did find more defective bags.  The Kitten, Healthy Weight/ Lite, & Chicken were all fine.  The following was found defective and they will be sending samples of these to Wellness:

- Salmon 12lb.: UPC 0 76344-08831 8 -- exp. 29-MAY-2009 Z21012
- Indoor 2lb.: UPC 0 76344-08845 5 -- exp. 31-OCT-09 Z3
- Core 5lb.: UPC 0 76344-08844 8 -- exp. SEP-29-2009-G 08:23

I will call Karalyn tomorrow to let her know this new information and that they are also sending samples of these back, so she knows they are coming & can start the investigation.  The store did receive their envelopes from Wellness today, so they should be mailing everything tomorrow.  From PA to NJ should only take a day or two.  Stay tuned...

B

[Geff]

My picture of the Wellness Dry Cat Food Salmon/turkey kibble is too big to attach here (over 500KB) -- so I posted it to our Facebook page (copy/ paste the below to browser & it should take you direct to the photo but only if you are a member of facebook).  If someone has a better way, please let me know, or else I am happy to e-mail it.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=16469&id=1356825737&saved#/photo.php?pid=270855&id=1356825737

This is the clearest & closest shot I could get with my digital camera.  The loose bones were some that I had picked out of the pieces in my cats' dish and then the full pieces were pulled from the bag. 

I will keep posting as I get new info & will call the store tomorrow to see how to get the lot#.

Thanks!
Betsy

Could someone with a facebook account please copy the picture here? They're requiring a login to view, & I don't with to give Facebook my info.

[Geff]

Just got a follow up call from OMH/Wellness (spoke to Teresa from "Well Pet").  She said that they haven't gotten any other reports of this & that the fish flavors sometimes get bone fragments but shouldn't be large.  Once she receives the samples she will forward to QA, and then she will call both the store and me back with the outcome.  Whole process should take about 2 weeks.

In the meantime my store recommended 'California Natural' as a similar product and high-quality.  Has anyone tried this brand???  I will continue to feed the Wellness canned and Indoor dry, but I may try to mix in some of the CN brand as an alternative for now.

I've had a lot of problems in the past with cal nat. Please see the threads here & on itchmo from late 2007 & early 2008.

[Geff]

Important updates:


- Indoor 2lb.: UPC 0 76344-08845 5 -- exp. 31-OCT-09 Z3

B

I was just browsing this forum today, hadn't been here for awhile. You've got me nervous! I'm currently feeding "Complete Health" Current bag is exp 30/10/09 "Z3". I haven't seen any bones, but now I'm going to start going through it with a fine tooth comb!

We've been on Wellness for several months.

Good: Diarrhea is mostly gone. Stools are starting to look normal.

bad: Spinal sensitivity has returned, & it's pretty bad. This is the first I've seen of his spine issues since the recall when we stopped Royal Canin. I SUSPECT it's an allergy; likely either to Salmon or Flaxseed.

[Bonkers]

  Betsy, Have you heard back from Wellness yet pertaining to the samples you submitted to them?

[Betsy]

No word yet & the store hasn't heard anything yet either.  If I don't hear anything by Friday, I will call them to get an update.

B

[Geff]

I did some research on Itchmo as Betsy's photo reminded me of the mess with Natura in 2007. There are 2 threads that folks may find useful:

First, some other people's experience on this issue with Wellness:

http://itchmoforums.com/your-problems-with-pet-food/problems-with-wellness-and-natural-balance-t7284.0.html;msg105483#msg105483

And second, here's a link to the 2007 85 page thread that (somewhere in the 85 pages) includes photos of various items found in Natura kibble

http://itchmoforums.com/news-recall-related/problems-w-innova-and-test-results-t1028.45.html