TruthaboutPetFood.com

MOLD IN PAST WYSONG PET FOODS

-Notice, Explanation, and Response-

Mold has been found in some bags of Wysong dry extruded foods manufactured in June and July of 2009. To be safe, no suspect products from these batches should be sold or fed. The affected products are:

Wysong Maintenance™: lot #: 090617
Wysong Maintenance™: lot #: 090624
Wysong Maintenance™: lot #: 090706
Wysong Maintenance™: lot #: 090720
Wysong Senior™: lot #: 090623

Mold spores are in all natural foods. When there is heat, oxygen, and sufficient moisture the spores can bloom into mold. Everyone has experienced this with foods at home. 

From what can be determined, the problem with the Wysong foods stems from unusually high heat and humidity on those summer dates. This combined with a malfunctioning moisture checking device is believed to be the cause of the higher moisture.

Sometimes the enrobed dust-on ingredients used on Wysong foods are confused with mold. If there is a question, discontinue feeding and contact Wysong for a determination.

As noted in the article below, mold is a ubiquitous problem in all packaged foods. Wysong takes many measures to address this:

1. Incoming ingredients are tested for moisture and mycotoxins.

2. Finished products are also tested.

3. Ingredients are used to inhibit mold growth.

4. The NutriPak oxygen and light barrier packaging inhibits aerobic mold growth.

5. Products are nitrogen flushed to remove oxygen.

6. Products are fresh batched.

7. Ingredients are used to help adsorb toxins should they be present.

8. People are advised to refrigerate or freeze unused product, i.e. treat it like any fresh natural food is treated.

9. Most importantly, Dr. Wysong has advised for the past 30 years against feeding any singular food meal after meal. Diets should be rotated and fresh foods incorporated into meal planning in order to decrease the risk of chronic exposure to toxins that may be present in any one food. This information is on all Wysong packaged pet foods.

Notice of the problem:

1. Immediately alerted all distributors and retailers.

2. Posting to website

3. Report to FDA and attempted contact with USDA/APHIS

4. Replies to all customer inquiries

Concerns, questions, allegations:

We ask that you please consider the following before giving credence to allegations and committing to an opinion. Also consider that Wysong has led the pet food industry in almost every natural and healthy food innovation for the past thirty years. This has resulted in wonderful health to tens of thousands of pets through multiple generations.

As will be seen below, the primary complaint seems to be about the speed with which we gave notice. At first report of potential mold in our products, Wysong launched an internal investigation. Batch records were re-examined, numerous bags of product opened and scrutinized, product samples were acquired from customers, and testing in-house and out-of-house conducted

Once Wysong ascertained that there was mold presence and the potential for mold (based on moisture tests) in certain batches we alerted our distributors, who were the primary recipients of these batches of product. Distributors were instructed to dispose of the product, as well as pull product from stores that had already received the product. Product from these problematic batches that remained in-house was disposed of.

Additionally, Wysong immediately contacted stores that received recalled product from us directly, and asked them to remove the products from store shelves.

Much of the criticism regarding the recall has centered on us purportedly not publicizing the recall enough, or that we are attempting to downplay or hide the recall. What is missed here is that we keep thorough records pertaining to who receives what products. Accordingly, when we determined a recall was necessary we put our focus into alerting those that actually received the products, and not those that had no reasonable chance of acquiring the affected products. Also, consider that Wysong is a small family business, not on the scale of most pet food companies that sell products far and wide with no knowledge of who purchases. Such companies would need to do a more generally publicized recall.

Wysong response to comments on Internet sites, blogs, and messageboards:

>Heard about recall but do not see on website

W (Wysong) response: Recall notice was/is posted on the website.

>Questioning of cat products and has our line somehow been compromised

W response: No problem with cat products as of this date. The production line is not the problem, mold spores are ubiquitous in every food production facility. The problem products were too high in moisture.

>So…..You “put principle ahead of market”, eh?Where’s the recall notice?????I will NEVER AGAIN buy your product and I will tell everyone I know to avoid your products as well. Liars.

W response: See above. The recall was targeted at the people who actually purchased the products, not to the population at large.

>There is no date on that document. Recall post.

W response: The date of the recall notice to distributors and retailers was the date mold was confirmed in the products – 9.29.2009.

>Been feeding recalled product Please advise me if there have been adverse effects on dogs that have eaten this product.

W Response: There have been reports that we cannot confirm as cause/effect. If there are problems, please contact us.

>Where to find lot numbers on bags or boxes.

W Response: The lot numbers are on the top flaps of our boxes and pressed into the bottom seal of bags.

Lot numbers are unreadable.

W Response: Contact us if difficulty in reading.

>I’m seeing no difference between Wysong and Diamond and Nutro…

W Response: There is no difference among any foods in terms of potential vulnerability to mold. See below article.

>Wysong? Thank you for showing me what kind of company you really are, it just saved me from buying some of your food for my pet.

W response: Any food you purchase could have this or a similar problem. That is why all consumers are told to follow the Wysong Optimal Health Program. Dr. Wysong has alerted the public to the dangers in all foods for the past 30 years, and we are the only company to actively help people feed in rotation and variety, including foods that have nothing to do with Wysong.

>I made repeated phone calls and emails before they posted the information. I was told “we’ll get the info to you” but had to hound them to get it. And what do they do - they hide the darn recall notice! 

W response: That is the opposite of what we do and have done.

>Just out of curiosity - is Wysong being produced at the Diamond plant?

W response: No. We have our own facility that has produced our products for the past 20 years.

>A week after notifying retailers, Wysong Pet Foods just put a notice on their website about a recall.

How about apologizing for taking a week to tell.

That's a shame.

W response: Our primary focus was on alerting customers who actually purchased the foods, not people who were buying products unaffected.

>I'm feeling better and better about my decision to go all raw. I guess it just goes to show that bad things can happen even with good companies, which I think Wysong is.

W response: Thank you. Please keep in mind that raw products have their dangers as well. Try to follow the Optimal Health Program for not only best health but best safety.

(Excerpt from June 2009 Petfood Industry magazine)
Mold in pet foods
Greg Aldrich, PHD

Preventing the appearance of mold in foods is a constant battle, and petfoods are no exception.  Everyone has experienced the gray-green mold on bread or splotches on cheese; with petfoods, many have had an encounter with "fuzzy" biscuits or green kibbles.

Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, mold is an inescapable part of food production regardless of whom the food is intended to serve...

Mold: insurmountable challenge

In elementary school we learned that starting a fire requires three simple elements: fuel, oxygen and heat. A mold-bloom is similar in that it only requires three elements: food, mold spores and moisture. Because we are making food, element one is obvious. All that remains for a mold-bloom are spores and moisture.

Mold spores are easy enough to find. The soil is loaded with them— molds are the earth's machinery for decay and rejuvenation. Because of this, any ingredient produced from or near the ground will be inoculated by billions of spores. This doesn't just apply to grains and tubers; meats are affected, too.

Given that petfoods are produced from raw agricultural commodities, inoculation with spores is inevitable. Agronomic practices can influence the level of inoculation; for example, modern no-till practices leave more crop residue in the field, resulting in increased mold production.

Mass transit system

Seasons can affect mold counts, too. Considering that mold spores are light enough to float in the air interminably, harvesting grain in the fall can release them into the air. Case in point: Altenaria mold counts are often reported with the weather as part of autumn allergy alerts. The net effect is that the air we use to cool and dry our products in the manufacturing plant serves as mass transit system for mold spores and food inoculation.

This is exacerbated by petfood production systems that depend on repetitive additions and subtractions of water. Regardless of food or treat type—extruded dry and semi-moist or baked—we add moisture as free water, steam or part of other ingredients. Once our purposes have been achieved, we drive off that moisture with super-heated air via dryers and ovens.

The only purpose behind drying is to decrease the water activity to a point that it limits microbial growth. Unfortunately, achieving just the right level of heat and dryness while not overcooking or damaging the food is tricky. Sometimes if we err on the side of saving a little energy by drying less, or if problems occur with the dryer or oven controls, or if we have product "case-hardening" that prevents moisture escape from the interior of the food piece, the water activity may be high enough for mold to occur.

Wishing you and your pet the best,

Susan Thixton
Truth about Pet Food
Petsumer Report
www.TruthaboutPetFood.com

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