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Its been a wild ride!!!!!!!!!!!
2018 was a Busy Year in Pet Food
A lot happened in pet food this year. Sadly, mostly bad news. Here is a review of pet food for 2018.
http://truthaboutpetfood.com/2018-was-a-busy-year-in-pet-food/
Wishing you and your pet(s) a Very Happy New Year,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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2018 was a Busy Year in Pet Food
by Susan Thixton
December 28, 2018
in Pet Food News
A lot happened in pet food this year. Sadly, mostly bad news. Here is a review of pet food for 2018.
January 2018
In early January of 2018, we learned that industry hired a representative who submitted a proposal to AAFCO hoping to weaken the legal requirements of a human grade pet food. No decision has been made by AAFCO at year’s end.
January also gave us some misleading marketing published by Purina; highlighting the serious need for pet owners to have public access to pet food ingredient definitions.
Recalls in January 2018:
Just Food for Dogs cooked dog food – Listeria monocytogenes. This was a pet food recall that led to a human food recall (first in history) – the pet food caught the problem, human food did not.
February 2018
February 2018 brought news of more pentobarbital in pet food. Washington DC television station WJLA News tested 62 samples of dog food. “After months of tests and re-tests, one brand repeatedly came back positive for pentobarbital. In total, we tested 15 cans of Gravy Train. Nine cans — 60-percent of the sample — were positive for pentobarbital.” And following the news of pentobarbital in Gravy Train, a class action lawsuit was filed against manufacturer Big Heart Brands/J.M. Smucker.
In February, TruthaboutPetFood.com provided a comparison to FDA’s handling of a kibble recall to a raw recall proving absolute bias by the agency.
General Mills purchased Blue Buffalo pet food in February 2018 for an estimated 8 Billion dollars.
We provided an in-depth look into the ‘Complete and Balanced’ pet food regulations – proving existing regulations could cause nutrient deficiency in pets.
Recalls in February 2018:
Raws for Paws raw pet food – Salmonella.
Smokehouse Pet Products, Inc. “Beefy Munchies” – Salmonella.
Redbarn Pet Products, LLC Bully Stick three pack – Salmonella.
Darwin’s Pet Food raw pet food – Salmonella.
Smokehouse Pet Products expanding recall Beefy Munchies/Beefy Bites – Salmonella.
TruPet, LLC topper – Salmonella.
Northwest Naturals raw pet food – Listeria monocytogenes.
Carnivore Meat Company raw pet food – Salmonella.
March 2018
In March of 2018, a pet owner who lives across the street from a rendering facility provided us with horrific pictures of what FDA considers pet ‘food’.
The State of Ohio stepped up in a big way in March of 2018 – with Representative Laura Lanese submitting a bill requiring pet food to be free from any euthanized animal including dogs and cats used as a pet food ingredient. Ohio is the first state to do this!
We learned from a concerned veterinarian that FDA does little to require pet foods to update labels after any ingredient change is made in that pet food. FDA told this veterinarian that pet food “firms should update labels as soon as practical. The FDA does not provide a set timeframe.”
In March of 2018, TruthaboutPetFood.com explained the ‘False Friends’ of pet food labels (misleading information on pet food labels and websites due to pet owners having no public access to pet food ingredient definitions). Also, TruthaboutPetFood.com explained how FDA ignores the risk of dead bacteria on pet food ingredients (ignores the certain risk of endotoxins).
March 2018 brought a class action lawsuit against Champion Pet Food for “False Advertising”, violations of “feed law”, and numerous other charges. And we learned of more jerky treats imported from China killing beloved pets. And we learned of pet deaths in Australia linked to a Mars Petcare pet food.
In March of 2018 we learned some good (great) news too. Dr. Karen Becker and Rodney Habib published the ground-breaking documentary The Dog Cancer Series. Here is a clip from the film:
Recalls in March 2018
Blue Ridge Beef raw pet food – Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes.
Steve’s Real Food raw pet food – Salmonella.
The FDA has informed J.M. Smucker that the firm’s previous action to withdraw products from the marketplace is now reclassified as a recall. Pentobarbital.
Raw Basics, LLC. raw pet food – Salmonella.
Redbarn Pet Products, LLC treats is expanding their voluntarily recall initially issued on February 9th.
Radagast Pet Food, Inc. raw pet food – Listeria monocytogenes.
The J.M. Smucker Company dog treats – elevated levels of beef thyroid hormone.
Darwin’s Natural Pet Products raw pet food – Salmonella and E. coli O128.
Blue Ridge Beef raw pet food – Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes.
April 2018
In April of 2018 we learned just how deadly grains in pet food could be. A survey of mycotoxin risks of grain ingredients in North America found 80% of grain samples tested contained two dangerous mycotoxins.
FDA issued a Warning Letter to Darwin’s Pet Food that proved the agency enforces with a double standard – raw pet food is held to food law, all other styles of pet food are held to inferior ‘feed’ laws.
We provided an in-depth look into the ‘system’ of influence of pet food regulation.
In April of 2018, J.M. Smucker purchases Ainworth (Rachel Ray Nutrish) pet food. China complained that Honest Kitchen’s ‘No Chinese Ingredients’ marketing was offensive. And we learned that Wild Earth has plans to make
“lab-created proteins” pet food
Recalls in April 2018
K9 Natural Ltd raw pet food – Listeria Monocytogenes.
Vital Essentials raw pet food – Salmonella.
TruPet, LLC Topper – Salmonella.
OC Raw Dog, LLC raw pet food – Listeria monocytogenes.
OC Raw Dog, LLC treat – fish have exceeded the FDA compliance guideline for fish larger than 5 inches.
May 2018
May of 2018 Amazon introduced their own pet food line. But – Amazon could not provide answers to basic questions of their new products. Also in May, we learned that industry events are talking about us…
That’s a picture of TruthaboutPetFood.com from a presentation at Pet Food Forum.
May 2018 introduced us to Maria – a pet owner in Australia that stands on street corners day after day trying to educate fellow pet owners to the conditions of pet food.
We also learned that Wilbur-Ellis – a pet feed ingredient supplier pleaded guilty to “substituting lower-cost ingredients for premium, more expensive chicken and turkey meal”.
Recalls in May 2018
Merrick Pet Care treat – elevated levels of a naturally-occurring beef thyroid hormone.
June 2018
In June of 2018 – we detailed…
13 billion pounds cattle material, an equal 13 billion pounds of illegal poultry material and another 13 billion pounds of illegal pig material is also allowed to be processed into pet feed/animal feed for a grand illegal total of 40 billion pounds a year.
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