Newman's Organic Beef Varieties from Uruguay

[coontuffy]

I am in contact with Newman's Own since yesterday as I am having horrible problems with the Organic Line from Uruguay.


Beef and Liver...............0023623  05/14/10
Organic Beef...............  0014085  05/13/10
Organic Liver.................0056144  05/29/10

I picked up some cans of each flavor in my local grocery store at the end of December.
All flavors were well received by all cats and it looked and smelled and tasted good to me.

So at the end of January, I ordered 2 cases of each flavor and have had nothing but problems.
Beef is absolutely GREEN.....I know it's grass fed, but this is insane.
Much like Ranger the cans seem to be so over filled that there is no hiss when I pull on the pull top.
Organic Liver has the most vile smell on the planet and I love liver so this smelled all wrong.
The Beef and Liver literally has a completely RED center under the green layer at the top of the can.

The few kitties that picked at this threw up immediately.
Other cats have refused the food out right.

The refusals and vomitting started right after I got the cases in mid February.
I tried again yesterday morning and everyone refused except Rikers who took 2 mouthfuls. 
Poor girl vomitted like there was no end in sight.

Newman's is sending me a prepaid mailer and they want 6 cans of each flavor sent to them.
I feel horrible about what happened with Rikers as this little girl has never even barfed up a hairball.

Her appetite this evening seems to be okay and I am debating whether or not to take her to the vet to be checked out.

The fact that I am being asked for 6 cans of each flavor bothers me too.

What I also found odd was when I called the company I ordered it from, they are usually quick to refund my money, if the cats don't like or can't eat something and they recommend I donate thie food to a shelter.  They told me NOT to donate.  It was at their insistance that I call Newman's.  They even provided the phone number.

These are the 3 oz cans only and my problems only pertain to the Organic Beef lines from Uruguay.

[coontuffy]

Just an FYI......raccoons are on a rampage around here.  Feeding and mating like lunatics.
Just for the heck of it, I put a can of the Beef in a paper bowl and left it outside.

Approached by 3 huge male racoons.  The 3rd one upended the bowl
No one ate it.

I picked up the paper bowl with the food and threw it in the trash inside my home.

Raccoons will eat just about anything and since they didn't get their cat food, they proceeded to my back yard and started digging for Grubs............

My back yard now looks like someone was playing golf........so many divots.........

[Bonkers]

  ct, Is it only the beef varieties that are from Uruguay and are they actually canned there or is just the beef sourced from there?  ETA:  Ok I see from looking at their website that only the beef is from Uruguay and I suppose Menu is the cannery that is used. What was Ranger's problem with the food??

[coontuffy]

Bonkers....the way I see it, the food is actually canned in Uruguay. 
I assume this based on all the markings and the fact that the cases are wrapped and distributors put additional wrapping over.

It is a question I will bring up with the Newman's people when next we communicate.

ranger had a problem of opening a can and the food was just oozing out.  I too had a similar experience with the plain Beef.  Pulled the pop top can and the food really rose up above the can quite quickly.......almost like it was over filled before it was canned.

[Bonkers]

  To me it sounds like either the food was possibly underprocessed or that there might be a defect with the seal of the cans. If either is the case, that very well could  be the cause of the stinky oozing food. 

[Perseus]

Coontuffy, I have to say if the raccoons won't eat it then it's absolutely not fit for any consumption.  I've lived around raccoons and they eat pure garbage so if they won't eat the cat food there's a major problem.  I hope your kitties that ate it recover soon.  The oozing out of the can may be from bacteria growing inside it and creating more mass. Please keep us updated on what Newman's responds with.

[Bonkers]

coontuffy, Do you have anything new to report from Newman's Own concerning the problems you were having with this food??

[coontuffy]

Early this evening I received a mailer from Newman's via UPS.
They are requesting 6 cans of each of the 3 flavors..........
              Organic Beef
              Organic Liver
              Organic Beef and Liver

I will be sending them 3 cans from each of the 2 cases that I have for each flavor.
The box will be sent via UPS back to Newman's in California.
They sent me a UPS prepaid label.

What I found a bit odd.....as I was packing up the cans, there was not one number on the can bottoms that were similar to each other.  Different coding system, I guess but I still found it odd.

Newman's has assured me that they will keep me informed as far as their test results are confirmed.
My vet wants answers as well and she will back me up if necessary.

I will keep you all posted the moment I hear anything at all.

I even have a tracking number, so I will post back when the package has been received by Newman's.

[coontuffy]

The cans I sent to Newman's were received yesterday.
Per the rep, they will notify me of their test results.

Stay tuned.............

[Bonkers]

  ct, any word on the test results???

[coontuffy]

I have sent 5 emails the last was yesterday.
I have left 4 voicemails.

My vet has been repeatedly asking me for test info.

I don't have anything.
I have had no responses to anything.

I went after them for weeks before they refunded my money, although they promised that would be immediately forthcoming.  Just got it...........took a very looooong time.

I am getting really pissed.............
I will not go quietly on this one.

[Bonkers]

  This does not suprise me in the least.  It really makes me angry when a pet food company thinks that by avoiding issues they are protecting themselves. Coontuffy if you have any of those nasty cans of cat food left I would consider having them tested for yourself.

[Bonkers]

  coontuffy, what was the outcome of all this?

[coontuffy]

Bonkers, I have been sending emails and calling on a daily basis both to the rep from Newmans that originally contacted me and to the vet who also contacted me and asked me to send them 18 cans for testing.  Both the rep and the vet said they would let me know the results of their findings.  To date, my latest email was to both rep and vet today, I have heard nothing.

My vet calls me weekly to see if I have been told anything .  Quite honestly it is embarassing me to tell her that they are ignoring my requests for information.

In my email today, I demanded that they let me know the results of their testing as they promised they would.  I also sent them the FDA Nutro recall information and told them I would contact the FDA about their Uruguayan canned cat Beef and Liver productsand potential problems.

I will not let this rest and I will contact them via snail mail first thing tomorrow.  I do have all my email correspondence showing that both the vet and the rep promised to keep incontact with me.

It is now over 2 months since I sent the cans to Newmans.   

[GreyGhost]

I don't know how I missed this thread. Are the kitties ok? I would be PO'd. How dare they ignore you. Of course this is what we have come to expect.