TruthaboutPetFood.com

I can't seem to find any information about this on the web...where can this be validated? There is nothing listed on their website either.

Maureen,
I had to call Nutro to confirm this. Since it is a 'Voluntary Withdrawal' instead of a recall, my guess would be they are not required to notify the FDA or post this on their website (just a guess).

Thanks so much Susan for keeping us informed!

No source given. Nutro's website (http://www.nutroproducts.com/press.shtml) does not have this info.

For the doubters out there---try calling Nutro yourself and see what they tell you---and post here...Thanks Susan for this info!

I agree with Carol, dont expect pet food companies to tell you everytime they pull something from shelves, there is nothing requiring them to notify anyone. PetSmart and PetCo should at least do the right thing and put a public notice out, are they there for the customer or the company?

If there is a voluntary recall, and they didn't tell anyone, then how did anyone find out, hmm? If anyone can name names as to who they spoke on the phone to, I'm sure that many of us doubters would be mollified. Yet, no one is citing names, departments or phone numbers.

Wow DK...do you work for Nutro?
I personally called Nutro - 1-800-833-5330 and spoke with Nicole.
Don't believe me? Call Nutro yourself!

Sorry to be blunt but Nutro is garbage, has been for a long time. One issue with their food after another. Really insulting to us consumers that they are charging us top dollar and using cheap ingredients.

Can we really trust any food from Petsmart/Petco anymore other than some of the more expensive holistic brands?

Menu foods makes “nutro”, menu foods killed thousands of pets, hills science diet killed one of my dogs and made the other 2 sick, one cancer the other liver disease, I wouldn't put any corporate pet food in my COMPOST pile, let alone feed it to my family canines.

No, Susan, I don't. I'm a journalist, and I don't accept anything at face value.

But DK, as a journalist, you would only believe this if it was at Nutro's site, thats what you posted above, that it wasnt at their site....Why are you waiting for Nutro to tell you they've removed food from shelves, do you really think they tell you everything? If Nutro posts it you believe it but if someone else does, you dont? This is the problem with pet food companies, they dont have to report anything, FDA hs no recall authority. Diamond just had a "call-back" of some of their dog food many weeks ago, you didnt hear about that either did you? Its because they dont have to report it. Sorry to sound so frustrated but this is what happens when journalists will only believe something if the company puts it at their site which is partly why pet food companies are being allowed to get away with these silent recalls. If you dont believe this, then contact Nutro and after you do, I hope you report it unlike the newsmedia who failed to report the Nutro cat food recall in May 2009.

Not true. I realize that their website might not always have this info. What I was looking for, was something to validate the claim. It doesn't necessarily have to be on the Nutro website. I also know that voluntary recalls don't have to be claimed. Since you made the claim, in my view, it would be your responsibility to provide information to validate it.

That's my point. It's the chicken and the egg conundrum. If you found out there was a recall, but the company isn't reporting it, then who did you find out from? That's all I wanted. =)

ABSOLUTELY ... PETCO & PSMART SHOULD ALERT EVERYONE OF THEIR
CUSTOMERS (WHO MAY HAVE BOUGHT) THAT FOOD TO THROW IT
OUT AND/OR GET A A CREDIT OR REFUND ...

And now that you have something to validate the claim, as a journalist, will you be reporting about it? Why is it left for people like us and Susan Thixton to be the only ones reporting silent pet food market withdrawals, you are in the position to help get word out or did you come to this site just to critique the writing and not the content.....

Sam: I will be alerting my own groups. I didn't come just to critique. =)

Sigh...once again, a journalist who refuses to write about a pet food company that is quietly pulling products off the shelves....have seen this happen many times, guess they are afraid of insulting the companies as I can think of no other reason they wouldnt want the public to know about these things...they have the power to help the public know that the food they are feeding their puppy might be harmful but no one wants to say anything except for people like Susan.

Wow -- you sure do assume a lot, Sam. My groups are dog breed and show dog specific. I am launching a website soon that will have a blog, and I'm looking for sources that are consistently reliable -- and will verify their information. Is this one of them? That's what I'm here to discover.

Any person -- journalist or otherwise -- should be able to expect you to validate the claims you make. Just because I'm a journalist, that doesn't give my word any more impact than anyone else's. All I can do is alert the people I am able to alert.

DK, during this entire interaction here, you have not stated whether or not you have called Nutro to confirm the recall. Susan has stated she spoke to Nicole; would it not be wise for you to do the same?
If and when you do confirm this information, are you, as a journalist, going to do the responsible thing and publish the truth about this issue in every outlet available to you?
I believe that is the crux of this conversation.

I bought Nutro teats from Petco (lambchop shapes) & when I opened them I found bugs & what looked like webs (think it was from larva cocoons). I emailed Nutro - they assured me it wasn't a problem from their end & they sent a coupon for some free treats. I got some from another store, thinking maybe it was just a Petco problem, but after a while I found bugs in that box too. Very gross!

Forgot to mention - Nutro had a previous 'voluntary' withdrawal of some cat food varieties earlier this year...too much zinc or something? I remember seeing it on their website.

DK Bingham wrote... "If there is a voluntary recall, and they didn't tell anyone, then how did anyone find out, hmm? "

Try looking up the contact info for Nutro on Google, then phone the company and ask for verification... otherwise you just give the apperance of being an antagonist not a concerned pet owner. Armed with your firsthand information you can then dispute Susan's information.

A huge thanks goes to Jackie for letting Susan know about this & to Susan for letting us know , that is what it takes nowdays, pet owners keeping their ears open. Its sad to say but if the companies arent going to come forward then its up to people like Susan and Jackie and the rest of us to do this. If it protects one pet, thats what its all about and thats what matters. I dont use this food but I hope if anything similar happens with the food Im using for my kitty, that someone like Jackie & Susan will step forward again because it appears we cant depend on the companies to tell us.

Thanks so much, Susan, as usual, for keeping us informed. It has been my experience over the years, that NONE of these businesses are going to put negative info on their website, and I have NEVER seen a store pull products that have been in the news as contaminated. Its just simply not that easy to verify this stuff unless you actually call the company and then you have to go thru a bunch of company watchdogs before you get to someone who will level with you....Certainly never the marketing dept., but sometimes if you get to the company vet or nutritionist they will tell you. Don't assume that this information is out there in the major dailies, because its not. That is why Susan founded this newsletter. The only time I saw companies being transparent about this, on their websites, etc. was during the food holocaust that happened a couple years ago and thousands of animals had to die first, resulting in tons of lawsuits. And for the most part, the lists of the contaminated foods during that situation was put up on special websites, developed by private individuals.

DK, I'm with you. How did Susan KNOW to call Nutro and speak with "Nicole" and find out the info?

Who' Jackie? How do I get on her freinds list?

I called Nutro this morning the lady confirmed the 5# and4.5# bags (not the 30# or the information on Petsmart/Petco only). I was initally told that is was more of a future supply issue problem. A couple of questions later and she confirmed the melted plastic problem, the "best by" date and recommened to take the unused portion back to place of purchase.

Thanks Susan. Just having this discussion means that people are finding out this information. Otherwise if no one will report this, especially Nutro or the food companies, then how the heck would anyone know?

I lost respect for the media during the Menu Foods issue, when they kept reporting only 6(?) dogs/cats died when there were thousands!

thank you, someone has to be on top of this type info, as we usually find out way way to late.
Lost a 13 yr. old Schip to kidney failure last time arnd. I was breeder not owner, did not lessen the heartbreak 1 bit

There was a time that Nutro was the only kind of food I bought my pets. I thought I was doing right by them - I certainly was paying top dollar! My cat struggled to develop an apetite for any other kind of food.

Still, for the past 6 or 8 months, I have steadfastly refused to buy Nutro products, despite Petsmart reps recommending them. I always tell them that Nutro has had one too many recalls for me - I certainly don't want to kill my pets by feeding them Nutro ... and I won't take that chance since they have far too many recalls - voluntary or mandatory - for comfort.

I think in this case as well as all other cases involving Nutro/Mars, it shows a company which choses to be proactive. I like that. If you read the announcement on their website (and you should) you will realize that they did not have to recall any food as they had found it to be highly unlikely that any plastic got into the food which was released to the public. "Based on our extensive review, it is highly unlikely that any pieces of plastic made it into finished product. However, upon learning of the incident, we voluntarily retrieved all potentially affected products." I think we need to thank them for releasing this information and recalling any food which had the potential of being contaminated instead of kicking them in the groin. If we kick them enough, maybe they won't say anything at all next time something like this happens. I wonder how many other manufacturers have incidents such as this and choose to do nothing about it because they don't have to and also because they don't want to be kicked again by people who don't appreciate a manufacturer's transparency.

Oh, and I don't know where you shop, Cotton's Mom, but there are many foods out there more expensive than Nutro Natural Choice and Nutro Ultra. Have you checked out "Nature's Best" by Hills, Blue, Natural Balance, or the many others located in that cute country section of PetCo? In my estimation you can certainly pay more for dog food, but you'd have a hard time matching the ingredients and guaranteed nutrition of the Nutro Ultra and Natural Choice products.

Let's thank Nutro/Mars for coming clean with us on this one in hopes that the next time something happens, they will not hesitate to tell us about it, too. I often wonder about the manufacturers from whom we hear nothing at all (Hills and others). Are they not telling us because they don't want to be seen in the negative light with which some of us are painting Nutro and others who report to us regularly about accidents and mistakes in their processes? I wonder....

Jon Landre, perhaps you havent read all of comments above. Nutro is not the party that notified anyone about this. It was a woman (not Nutro) who contacted Susan and she had to confirm it with Nutro. They had nothing at their website about this until 10-1. Susan confirmed it on 9-29. So it appears Nutro wasnt going to tell anyone about this and only ended up putting something at their site after word got out. My guess is these silent recalls have been going on a long time as proven by the recent Diamond cat food "withdrawal" that Susan also just exposed. Im sure this isnt the first, but it is one of the first where they got caught. Their statement saying they voluntarily retrieved all products sounds good on the surface but a couple of things people may not understand....they say voluntarily which implies they werent forced to do it...which no one can as FDA does not have recall authority over pet food in fact the only recall authority FDA has is with baby formula. They say they retrieved all product...actually I believe they may have retrieved all product...from store shelves. What about the people who purchased the product? What is Nutro doing to get that back so no dog will eat it?

As for your line of thinking, all I can say is unbelievable. We should thank them for what? For not telling the public in the first place about a problem with their food? For not putting a media announcement out about it so people that may be feeding it to their pet can take it away? For burying the announcement at their website so the only people that can learn about it would be ones that are specifically looking for it and therefore already know about it? For having questionable quality control and safety practices that allowed a hard hat get into the food in the first place and then let the food make its way into people's homes and dogs stomachs before they discovered the problem? For having two pet food recalls with months of each other (cat food recall due to harmful zinc amounts in May)? You can thank them all you want, I only hope that any pets you have that you are feeding the food to dont get harmed when they have their next silent recall. Why anyone wouldnt be asking these questions of Nutro or any pet food company in this situtation, is beyond me. We arent the problem here.....

There is a My Space Page with the name Jon Landre on it that says
"I have been studying pet nutrition with Nutro Products for the last year and a half." If that is you, your profession in dog rescue is very respectable and admirable, the place you get your nutrition training from...not so much.

Plastic in the food now? Since Marrs took over this company the quality has turned to shit. I would never feed my dogs this food! Never!

Nutro is crap ever since Marrs took over the company. Plastic in the food now? All you have to do is Google and see who many dogs and cats this company has killed or made sick. Sticking up for Nutro? You should be ashamed!!!