So, I am being told in Twitter world that I have been remiss in posting Nutro's reply to me. As I mentioned in a previous blog, the first time Nutro sent information to me, it was nothing more than corporate speak. In other words, a lot of words really saying nothing.
When I followed up with Nutro, I spoke with their communications person who explained this to me: In the lots that were affected there were bags of premix that contained the excess zinc along with bags of premix that were correctly proportioned. Since both types of premix were used in the manufacturing process of these lots, the quality testing done after completion did not reveal any significant aberrations in the final product.
I can understand that. If I wanted to make up 10 batches of brownies all at once and just combined 10 bags of brownie mix into a bowl, I might not know immediately if 1 of those bags of brownie mix had too much of some ingredient in it. AND...a random check of my freshly baked brownies at the end might not find the small number of brownies that had excess ingredient "X". But, if I heard Betty Crocker had recalled the brownie mix after I baked the brownies, I would likely toss the whole tray rather than chance a problem that someone would eat a "bad" brownie.
She also mentioned to me the problems with the premix were noted during a paper audit after the lot had been sent. In an abundance of caution, the decision was made to recall the food, even though it was still unclear as to the effects of excess dietary zinc.
Again, as I have previously mentioned, this seems pretty straightforward to me. Recall the product to prevent any damage. Some posters have questioned the fact that they still saw bags of food on store shelves weeks after the recall and why didn't Nutro do more to get those bags away from consumers.
Well, again, we have to look at the complexity of the food industry. Do you realize that for 4 straight months we had daily recalls on peanut butter based products? More than 2000 products were eventually recalled, some as late as 4 months after the initial recall? My question is this: how does a company not know if it used those products? And the answer isn't clear....even Marion Nestle, noted food blogger, doesn't have an answer for that. So, I guess I am not surprised that some stores still had Nutro Cat food stocked weeks later. Do you think its possible that some stores simply ignored the recall? Maybe some were informed, but didn't follow through by informing employess to pull the product promptly....maybe some got the letter, the manager was on vacation, on his/her return, saw the Nutro envelope and assumed it was an advertisement or program his/her store didn't want to follow and trashed it. Our food supply system, for people and pets, is unbelievably complex and global in scale. There are going to be forgotten corners and out of the way stores that don't get the information as promptly as they should...but that is not the fault of the manufacturing company. As far as consumers, can we make someone watch TV or browse the Internet? NO...and, we as a country value our privacy, so trying to find out who bought what food when is a task that will never be accomplished.
One thing I have noticed is that it is a rare blogger or "twitterer" who has a workable solution to this on-going problem. It's much easier to say "bad company" than try to find ideas that might prevent the problems from recurring.
And finally, for KittyMadGrrr on Twitter...I posted this simply because I knew you would not rest until I did. Does it make you feel better reading it? No...you are convinced that Nutro (and probably a lot of other companies) are simply out there to screw people. Nothing I say, nothing Nutro says will ever make you change your mind.
Did Nutro food kill cats? Right now the evidence is scant. There are very few discussions about zinc toxicosis on any veterinary boards I have visited and these were all focused at the time of the recall.(and I did check as of this morning, looking back over the last 150 days). Addtionally, veterinary nutritionists and toxicologists have not given any indication that cats are dying from eating Nutro food. Yes, clients are saying that their cats got sick after eating Nutro food, but I will reiterate ONCE AGAIN, not all clients are reliable about providing all the needed facts to their veterinarian. Here's a personal example...my new Mastiff puppy is on Iams. I got a new 20 lb bag and within a day he had developed very soft stools and needed to defecate frequently. It would be really easy to blame Iams for producing a "bad" product unless you also knew that I have a 2 year old toddler at home who enjoys sharing his food and snacks with the dog. Maybe it's the "other" food my puppy is getting that is actually causing the issue and not the new brand of food.
Until it can be shown otherwise, I think I am moving on from this discussion. I apologize for the tardiness of this blog, along with any new ones, but I am still trying to feed my family and perform my job. I will be moving on to new topics...hopefully ones that are more productive than this one.
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5 comments:
Okay, Tomcat, you'd make a great apologist for the Chinese milk companies involved in the 2008 infant formula scandal, were the Sanlu job still open. Nutro cat food ran into this problem because
almost no commercial pet food producers use any kind of quality control/quality assurance testing. Consumers caught Mars Petcare and Nutro with their pants down around their ankles with 1800 to 2100 ppm of zinc in their food off the grocery retail shelves. I'm surprised it didn't set off metal detectors. Look at the symptoms of zinc toxicity in animals sometime. Might help you figure it all out. Nutro can't give you a response because there is no excuse. You putting something in those brownies so your late and lame excuses for Nutro make sense to you? If there was pet food industry/Nutro quality assurance testing, the pet food product wouldn't have left the factory. Would you care to volunteer to eat about ten times the recommended amount of zinc for six months and report back on the state of your health?
Tomcat...You were the one to write that you would get back to "us" after reading the corporate speak-- so that was how YOU left it---so what is so wrong about a concerned pet owner wanting you to do what you said you would do? I too think you should move on to other things---maybe to anything not relating to pets or petowners.
Anonymous #1: If I recall correctly, Chinese companies purposefully added melamine to boost protein levels. Comparing that to the accidental use of a premix (from another company) that was incorrectly formulated is a bit of a stretch.
Consumers didn't catch Nutro (Mars), there own internal audits did. They recalled the product prior to any complaints.
I have looked at the zinc toxicosis symptoms for animals. I have reviewed literature on veterinary websites and the vast majority of it relates to toxicosis as it relates to ingestion of zinc metal (i.e. coins), not an excess of zinc in the diet.
I completely understand the concern that pet owners have when something that they have no control over affects their pets. But seriously, do you think that the pet food companies are deliberating trying to kill pets? That what I read almost every time I follow a blog or read comments from folks who believe (rightly or wrongly) that their pets were affected by the food. The world is not perfect and there are times when things simply happen. Trying to place blame and smear the company is 1) not logical and 2) not productive.
Bottom line...someone in the supply chain made a mistake, the mistake was not caught until after the fact, despite a QC protocol. Nutro did the appropriate thing in recalling the food. Now, I ask you sincerely, what other steps should be taken?
If you can answer this question, then you might have the answer for fixing the food supply chain in both people and pets. And, in all sincerity and honesty, I hope you do have answers that work, because it is apparent that it is needed.
Anonymous #2: You are most correct, I did say that I would follow up and I had not done so until this point. So, I do apologize that I couldn't get to this sooner
BUT...the irritation in the blog is not because a pet owner simply wants to know whats going on. It stems from the fact that people with agendas will use tactics such as continued tweeting and comment posting to cause their agenda (their purpose) to rise back to the top of the list where it is more visibly seen. I understand that tactic and seen it used many many times.
I will continue to post my thoughts and stories here about pets and pet owners because it is what I know. I have spent more than 20 years working in all sectors of the pet industry from pet stores to shelters to veterinary offices. I know pets, I know owners and my experience working with them has taught me many lessons, including the fact that you can't make generalizations or assume certain facts to be true.
Despite the negativity in the previous comments, I do appreciate everyone who stops by to read and comment on this blog. Like politics, there will always be differing opinions about caring for our pets, but I know that most people are genuinely concerned about providing the best care that they can. That is why topics like this are so emotionally charged. I just hate to see misinformation and heresay being propagated and where I can, I plan to step in, comment, and hopefully slow it down.
I don't think a concerned pet owner continueing to tweet about this is an "agenda" ! Maybe they are simply trying to continue to bring attention to it since the paid Nutro reps ignore it.As far as QC & no complaints,Mars has been saying that for years,regardless of their many problems with salmonella. Which include human illnesses from owners handling the food.Our food saftey systems are a joke in this country as well as in Canada,personally I avoid all companies like Mars which prefer to deny any problems.If I contact any company [pet food or human] I want open answers & facts in writing. If they can't do that I can't use their products. And I don't think warning others about them is unreasonable.So I guess you will be posting about me as well soon because I think KittyMadGrrr is doing a much needed service by warning others !
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