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Art_By_Alida | May 24, 2009 at 08:26 am
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Press release from Nutro Products, May 2009.
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Franklin, Tennessee (May 21, 2009) -- Today, Nutro Products announced a voluntary recall of select varieties of NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Dry Cat Foods and NUTRO® MAX® Cat Dry Foods with “Best If Used By Dates” between May 12, 2010 and August 22, 2010. The cat food is being voluntarily recalled in the United States and ten additional countries. This recall is due to incorrect levels of zinc and potassium in our finished product resulting from a production error by a US-based premix supplier.
Two mineral premixes were affected. One premix contained excessive levels of zinc and under-supplemented potassium. The second premix under-supplemented potassium. Both zinc and potassium are essential nutrients for cats and are added as nutritional supplements to NUTRO® dry cat food.
This issue was identified during an audit of our documentation from the supplier. An extensive review confirmed that only these two premixes were affected. This recall does not affect any NUTRO® dog food products, wet dog or cat food, or dog and cat treats.
Affected product was distributed to retail customers in all 50 states, as well as to customers in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Israel. We are working with all of our distributors and retail customers, in both the US and internationally, to ensure that the recalled products are not on store shelves. These products should not be sold or distributed further.
Consumers who have purchased affected product should immediately discontinue feeding the product to their cats, and switch to another product with a balanced nutritional profile. While we have received no consumer complaints related to this issue, cat owners should monitor their cat for symptoms, including a reduction in appetite or refusal of food, weight loss, vomiting or diarrhea. If your cat is experiencing health issues or is pregnant, please contact your veterinarian.
Consumers who have purchased product affected by this voluntary recall should return it to their retailer for a full refund or exchange for another NUTRO® dry cat food product. Cat owners who have more questions about the recall should call 1-800-833-5330 between the hours 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM CST
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Go to this link to see a list of the recalled cat food. |
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http://www.nutroproducts.com/press-recall/affected-Products.html
Too much potassium can cause heart failure in felines. And too much zinc can cause death also.
Truemors
Nutro Products Recalls Cat Food. International Recall.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (28)
at 08:43 on May 24th, 2009
not good
at 09:47 on May 24th, 2009
thank you for this.
at 09:47 on May 24th, 2009
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/nutro05_09.html
http://www.nutroproducts.com/press-recall/press-recall.html
some good sites to look over. looks like great quality control
at 10:02 on May 24th, 2009
Yes, Nutro Products has good quality control.
However, one of their suppliers did not.
The USA is still reeling from the peanut and pistachio recalls, and kids all over are getting kidney stones, possibly from years of melamine contamination in the food.
I applaud Nutro Products for voluntarily making this recall.
at 10:40 on May 24th, 2009
Thanks so much. We have been using this product for our two cats in Israel and one of them has been vomiting up the food too often. I thought something was wrong with the food. Thank You for this report. This is the first time that I picked up news here that I did not see anywhere else on the net. Good for you Art_By_Alida
at 12:52 on May 24th, 2009
Oh, tikun, vomiting is one of the signs of too much zinc or potassium.
Save any bills you get for your cat if you have to take it to the vet.
Tell the vet if you take it.
Keep all bags of the food.
I hope your cat gets better.
at 10:41 on May 24th, 2009
Not only did Mars/Nutro's so called "Quality Control" procedures fail to find defective raw ingredients, it also failed to find defective finished products.
A properly designed QA/QC protocol would protect the manufacturer and its customers from such an error.
Clearly, Mars/Nutro is negligent in their business operations.
at 12:55 on May 24th, 2009
I didn't know Mars owned Nutro.
Thanks for that info.
Why don't you blog about quality control HERE, so word can spread around...that's how things get fixed.
at 12:40 on May 24th, 2009
Why isn't this in the news anywhere?
Cats could be dying and no one would know.
at 12:53 on May 24th, 2009
That's one thing I am always curious about...why isn't this stuff in the news on TV or in local papers?
Please spread the word.
at 13:57 on May 24th, 2009
This was published on May 22 and talks about the recall: http://www.wickedlocal.com/ipswich/news/business/x12067141/State-animal-health-officials-announce-recall-of-Nutro-cat-food. Thanks for posting here.
at 04:06 on May 25th, 2009
Hi..the link isn't working for me...
at 19:36 on May 24th, 2009
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at 01:44 on May 25th, 2009
sure this is good product?
at 10:14 on May 25th, 2009
Thanks for this. My cat is dying of pleurisy related FIP condition and won't eat at all. We have to force feed him every day.
Nutro choice (ナチュラル チョイス コンプリートケア - Natural Choice Complete Care) has been one of our main delivered foods during the last year. Our Vet bill is already in the 1000's of dollars. Will look into it.
at 07:44 on May 26th, 2009
Please tell your vet. Maybe there is something to counteract the zinc and potassium if your cat has had too much exposure.
Let me know what the vet says..I will blog about it if you have proof you can email me. I will give you my email and then I would like to talk to your vet via email if possible.
at 11:20 on May 30th, 2009
Glad to know Nutro has voluntarily withdrawn the product. It's always scary to know our pets might have been exposed to something harmful. The short-term effect will probably not kill so it's good the product has been recalled. Our dogs eat Nutro and thrive on it but I know if there was anything questionable I would want to know right away. I hope all the kitties are okay; surely they are since cats (and dogs alike) can live on the streets faring for themselves like our chocolate lab, Lindy (first five months of her life) and then lived until she was 12. Glad the recall came quickly.
at 07:26 on June 2nd, 2009
Nutro's recalled cat food was made in Dec 08, they put it out for sale without zinc & potassium level testing and the problem was found 6 mos later after a paper audit was done. There was no QC, there was no nutrient testing before the product was put out. What will they miss next time? This isnt the first with this company, am guessing it wont be the last. There is no such thing as mandatory pet food recall by FDA. And our pets might fare better with food off the streets such as mice, rather than with pet food that doesnt have quality control. Also just to remind people, the 2007 pet food recall that killed thousands of pets was also due to a supplier problem. Are the pet food companies negated of all responsibility because it was a supplier issue? Seems to me they know these things can happen, why arent they doing their own testing to avoid the same thing from happening again. You can use supplier excuse for so long, at some point you have a responsibility when you put the product on store shelves and claim stringent QC at website which is what Nutro does.
at 09:44 on June 2nd, 2009
Since we stopped feeding our cats this dry food they have stopped vomiting. I really want to personally thank you for your article. I would have never known about the recall.
at 13:28 on June 3rd, 2009
Cats ARE getting sick and dying. Liver failure, pancreatitis, excessive vomiting and diarrhea leading to dehydration... Nutro claims there are no complaints, but there are--according to one website over eight-hundred. I cannot substantiate that number, but I can assure you there has been at least one--mine.
I find it odd how confident they are of zero illnesses being caused, but at the same time list a very specific list of side-effects to watch for, and that list includes the same symptoms being reported online by concerned pet owners.
at 07:19 on June 8th, 2009
Food for thought. Zinc and potassium are basic nutrients to cats so why does Nutro not test these pre-mixes (yes it was 2 separate pre-mixes) to ensure they are selling what they print on the label. It was a paperwork issue that uncovered this 6 months later and was announced 3 days after discovering it...I am sure Mars has enough profit to afford basic nutrient testing wouldn't you think? And for that so-called "voluntary" recall...there is no such thing as a mandatory recall with pet food currently in the US..although they speak the truth about a voluntary recall...I happen to believe that it may just not get the attention of all it should...and yes I know what it is like to poison my cats just by giving them dinner...hard to shake that memory..I do want to try to prevent this memory for another unsuspecting pet owner.
at 23:45 on June 11th, 2009
Interestingly enough, I have had to take my cat Dora to the vet TWICE within the past month and a half for vomiting, diarrhea, and reduced appetite...and I just happen to have the exact same bag of food that was recalled. My cat has never had health issues like this before. I want them to pay my vet bills related to this case. Is this possible? I can provide them with the empty bag I fed my cat that was recalled, and the two vet bills stating her symptoms and the price I had to pay for them to run tests on her.
at 03:22 on June 16th, 2009
Brittany,
I just noticed in the last few days one of my cats vomitting (he still is today). I was at the emergency vet yesterday evening and they wanted me to admit him to intensive care at $2,400 for first 24 hours and $600 per day thereafter. I ended up paying $500 and left, they are calling me tonight.
Keep your vet bill receipts and the empty bag (DO NOT RETURN IT...that's what they want you to do...so you have no proof). And everyone who has problems, please keep my email address dan_giov@sympatico.ca. I'm going to contact a law firm in the next few days to commence a class action lawsuit against nutro. This is absolutely unacceptable. My cat is in alot of pain.
Worse yet, the vet didn't even know about this recall and I told them I was feeding my cat nutro.
at 03:30 on June 27th, 2009
Class action lawsuits rarely give the victims very much money. But, it is still a good thing to do to make the company make changes.
And their liability insurance generally pays any damages.
Good luck...
at 08:11 on June 18th, 2009
PFPSA's recent testing shows Nutro recall food contains 2100 ppm of zinc!!!!
http://www.pfpsa.org/news.html
Complaints continue at Consumer Affairs:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html
Why pet owners have to test the food is beyond me.
at 19:03 on June 29th, 2009
The link above provided by Homer09 has a story of a lady who has called Nutro twice about her sick cat but yet their website and press release says no reports of sick cats received. How are they allowed to continue with that, what appears to be, falsehood. It definately sounds like many have reported sick cats to them. This sure seems like an attempt by Nutro to cover up the facts and make this recall sound like nothing so that media wont cover it. Unfortunately it appears to be working as it hasnt been covered on any major new networks that I watch.
Also the report by the pet owner at that link says the Nutro rep had the nerve to tell her that her vet was wrong about the effects of tinx toxicity....what in the world is going on that a company is allowed to get away with this?
at 17:54 on July 7th, 2009
My cat passed away Friday..............just saw that her food was recalled on a sign at petsmart. My other three cats will go to the vet in the morning. It's amazing what they can get away with. They made zero effort to make the public aware of this recall and then deny any wrongdoing or part in these poor pets deaths. My cat would be alive if they had made me aware.
at 18:55 on July 8th, 2009
I've purchased Nutro Complete Care cat food for years. Most of my purchases have been with Petco. I buy two big bags at a time and empty them into a container to prevent other critters (raccoons) from getting into the food. We have no physical evidence anymore because once we found out about the recall; I emptied the container into the trash and bought different food. We have four cats, two indoor and two outdoor. Outdoor kitty's ages 12 and 13 years: Indoor kitties are 7 years old identical twins which I bottle fed from three weeks old.
One of my outdoor cats was sick, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, no appetite and looked jaundice. I took him into the vet and left him for treatment. I didn't know about the recall of Nutro food at this time. As I was sadly talking about how sick my kitty was, someone asked me what food I was feeding them. She told me about the Nutro recall but it was too late for my big boy. Unfortunately, Chewy lost the fight the next day. I told the vet about the food but at the time he felt, the condition, which was liver disease, could have been a result of the cat’s age (as uncommon as it is). I didn't agree but let it go. I began to notice one of my 7 year old twins not eating. Then the vomiting started, weight loss and the cycle was repeating it self. I took her into the vet yesterday and was diagnosed with the same condition as Chewy. The only humane thing to do was to say goodbye to my little bundle of love.
I called Nutro but they take the stance “no responsibility without proof”. They want lab work that shows the Zinc level. Since I stopped feeding them this poison about three weeks ago, the only way to get this information is to autopsy or take a liver sample. Very expensive procedures to prove they killed my pets!!
I've lost two loving family cats 12 and 7 years, so far. My Vet bills are over one thousand dollars thus far and I'm praying I don't lose the remaining two.