Chenango Valley Expands Recall - NEW BRANDS and Ferret food

I have no words... updated recall lists will be available in a few minutes.

Chenango Valley Pet Foods Expands Voluntary Nationwide Recall of Certain Pet Foods

Contact:
Dennis J. Bobita
(610) 821-0608

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- May 17, 2007 -- Chenango Valley Pet Foods previously recalled dry pet foods manufactured with a shipment of rice protein concentrate supplied by Wilbur-Ellis that possibly contained melamine contamination. Chenango Valley Pet Foods is now expanding the recall action to include those pet foods that do not contain rice protein concentrate but were manufactured during periods when rice protein concentrate formulas were processed. The recall of these products is precautionary due to the possibility of cross-contamination.

The following dry pet foods are involved in this recall action:

• DOCTORS FOSTER & SMITH LAMB & BROWN RICE FORMULA ADULT DOG FOOD, NET WT. 6 LBS. (UPC 25141 28244), 15 LBS. (25141 30074), and 30 LBS. (UPC 25141 06043); Date Codes: Best By Feb 09 09 and Best By Feb 26 09;
• SHOP RITE REDI-MIXT DOG FOOD FOR DOGS, NET WT. 25 LB. (UPC 41190 00555), Date Code: Code C7107;
• LICK YOUR CHOPS KITTEN & CAT FOOD, NET WEIGHT 4 LBS. (UPC 32976 25915), and 18 LBS. (UPC 32976 25925); Date Code: Best Used By April 29 08;
• SHEP chunk style dog food, NET WT. 20 LBS. (UPC 41498 14142); Date Code: Best By March 14 08;
• 8 in 1 Ferret ULTRA-BLEND ADVANCED NUTRITION DIET, NET WT. 20 LBS, UPC 26851 00413, Code: C7072;
• Bulk Lamb & Brown Rice Formula Dog Food, Date Code: Feb 09, 08, sold to one consignee SmartPak.
• Health Diet Cat Food Chicken & Rice Dinner NET WT. 1.81 kg/4 LB (UPC 78198 01594), 4 kg/8.8 LB (UPC 78198 01599), and 8 kg/17.6 LB (UPC 78198 01585); Code C7072;
• EVOLVE KITTEN FORMULA, NET WT. 3 LBS. (UPC 73657 00250) and 7 LBS. (UPC 73657 00251); Date Code: Best Used By Sept 13 08. Evolve has recovered 99.5% of the product from its distributors and is working with dealers to recover the remaining inventory.

No illnesses or injuries related to these products have been reported to date.

Pet owners who have purchased the pet foods listed above should immediately discontinue using the products and return them to the place of purchase for full refund. Pet owners should consult with a veterinarian if they have any health concerns with their pet. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-610-821-0608.

Chenango Valley / Lick Your Chops recalls Dry Kitten and Cat Food

Therese at The Pet Food List found a mention of a new recall buried in a New York Times article, and tracked down a new recall...

Meanwhile, Chenango Valley Pet Foods said it is expanding its pet food recall to include foods that do not contain the suspect rice protein concentrate but were manufactured during periods when the formulas were being processed. The company said the recall is precautionary, due to the possibility of cross contamination.

http://healthypetfoodsinc.com/newletter.cfm

May 17, 2007

To Our Valued Customers,

In conjunction with our dry pet food supplier and the FDA, as a precautionary measure we have decided to initiate a voluntary recall of our Lick Your Chops Kitten & Cat dry food in the 4# and 18# bags with a Best By date of 4/29/08, due to the remote possibility this product may have been cross-contaminated.

Although the Lick Your Chops Kitten & Cat food does not contain any Wheat, Rice or Corn Gluten protein, it was produced around the same time there may have been other products manufactured that contained rice gluten, even though tests on these products did not indicate any presence of contamination. Although all equipment is thoroughly cleaned at our manufacturer between production runs, to be on the safe side we are initiating this recall with your cat's best interest at heart. There have been no occurrences of cats getting sick from this product.

We had previously initiated a voluntary recall on our Lamb meal, rice and egg cat dry cat food with a Best By date of 4/29/08. This was the only dry pet food we make containing rice gluten and this recall was also initiated as a precautionary measure. Since the recall we have removed the rice gluten from the Lamb meal, rice and egg dry cat food.

Again, the voluntary recall on the Lick Your Chops Kitten & Cat Food with a Best By Date of 4/29/08 is a precautionary measure we are taking with the FDA and our supplier. All other date codes on the Kitten & Cat dry food, including the most recent production run with a Best By date of 7/25/08 are safe to feed.

The Lick Your Chops brand has been on the market for over 20 years and is one of the original natural pet foods offering consumers an alternative to the chemical preservatives, by-products and other inferior ingredients commonly found in commercial brand pet foods. We will continue to strive to make only the healthiest, natural products for pets.

If you have purchased a 4# or 18# bag of Kitten & Cat dry with the Best By date of 4/29/08 please discontinue use and return to the place of purchase. If you have any questions regarding this recall please send an e-mail to healthypetfoods1@aol.com or call us at 1-800-542-4677. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Michael Gagliardi
President

Lax FDA allows us to be food guinea pigs

Great piece by the Contra Costa Times (thanks Mike!) (Bolding and red are mine.)

(Make sure to add Milk Protein Concentrate to your 'things to avoid' list)

By John E. Peck
COMMENTARY

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION needs to take a serious look at our food supply.

Late last month, federal officials were doing another round of damage control, this time contacting pork and poultry producers in nine states about melamine-tainted feedstock and culling suspected animals.

Unfortunately, some livestock could not be recalled because they were already on their way to your plate.

The Federal Drug Administration's response? Not to worry, there is no scientific evidence that eating melamine is bad for humans, so no grocery recall is necessary.

Consumers have now unwittingly joined their pets as subjects in a massive food-safety experiment.

Melamine is a plastic coal derivative used in the manufacture of fertilizer. It has never been tested or approved for animal or human consumption. And yet there is a large underground market in China selling melamine scrap for livestock feed as a cheap filler, boosting nitrogen levels and creating the appearance of higher protein content, according to the New York Times.

This is hardly the first case of an illegal byproduct getting dumped into the U.S. food system with the tacit approval of the FDA.

Milk protein concentrate, which enters the United States as an industrial-grade ingredient to make adhesives and which has never been subject to consumer-safety testing or given Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS) status by the FDA, is now found in hundreds of adulterated cheese products, candies, chips, nutritional drinks and other processed junk foods.

For powerful corporations like Kraft, it is much more lucrative to import milk protein concentrate to make Velveeta, Mac n' Cheese or Kraft Singles and hope pliant FDA officials turn a blind eye than to pay U.S. family dairy farmers a fair price for real domestic milk.

Responsibility for this latest food scandal lies with runaway globalization, as well as the corrupting influence of corporate agribusiness on government oversight.

As U.S. trade barriers came down and imports skyrocketed, corporations raked in unprecedented profits and consumers were left fearing the old Latin adage: "caveat emptor," or buyer beware.

The FDA, with barely 1,700 inspectors, checks only about 2 percent of all U.S. food imports.

In the wake of last year's E. coli spinach outbreak and this year's melamine pet food scandal, citizens should demand greater accountability from such agencies as the FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Country of Origin Labeling, which was mandated in the last farm bill but has been applied only to seafood, should be fully implemented for all imported food immediately.

Without this type of labeling, consumers and farmers don't have the choice to avoid products from those countries that have proved to be dangerous free-trade partners.

Something as essential as food deserves at least as much truth in labeling as clothing. And it deserves more serious government regulation -- not less.

Peck is executive director of Family Farm Defenders, a grass-roots organization that works on issues of sustainable agriculture, fair trade, consumer safety, labor rights, animal welfare, rural justice and food sovereignty.