CINCINNATI ---- Debra Tarter's 2-year-old boxer, Patchez, is just like a member of the family. That's why the national recall of the dog food that Patchez had been eating for two years prompted Tarter to switch to brands that cost twice as much, but contain organic and natural ingredients."My children are grown, and Patchez is our baby," said Tarter, 55, of Cincinnati. "We would pay anything to keep her safe."
And pay she does. Tarter, who has taken Patchez for tests to make sure that her kidneys weren't damaged by the recalled food, had been paying 84 cents a can for the recalled wet food she mixed with a dry food costing about $20 per 16-pound bag. Now she pays $1.69 a can and $40 a bag for a brand with more-natural ingredients.
Concerned pet owners such as Tarter are helping to increase already booming sales of organic and natural pet food, according to industry officials and store owners. An executive at Wild Oats Markets Inc., the specialty food chain that caters to health-minded consumers, says that it's still a little early to measure the recall's impact on the natural and organic food segment for pets that has been growing at 15 percent to 25 percent a year."People are extending their food ethic to their whole family, including the pets," said Rickard Werner, director of dry grocery for Wild Oats, based in Boulder, Colo.Daryl Meyerrenke, owner of Anderson Township Family Pet Center in suburban Cincinnati, will be stocking an extra brand of organic pet food this week, spurred by increased customer demand for organic and natural products since the recall."The demand for healthier pet food has been skyrocketing over the past few years, but since this recall, I've had a lot more people coming in asking for organic products," Meyerrenke said. "Sometimes it's not even organic they want ---- just a higher-quality food with more natural ingredients."Before the recall, Meyerrenke had carried only one brand of organic dog food costing about $15 for a 5-pound bag. He has added a second organic brand.Grocery stores charge as low as around $2 for a 5-pound bag of nonorganic brands.But Meyerrenke stocks more than 30 dog-food brands, many of which include ingredients such as carrots, rice, broccoli and even cottage cheese and often are geared specifically for dogs with sensitive stomachs or allergies.As far as taste goes, Meyerrenke said, "dogs don't turn their noses up at much. They'll usually eat what's there. It's the owners that sometimes decide what they think looks tastier or more appealing."Menu Foods Inc., which makes pet food for most of North America's top retailers, recently recalled 95 brands of products believed to be responsible for the deaths of cats and dogs around the country. A veterinarians information service said Tuesday that it had reports of 104 animal deaths. The maker of the recalled pet food has confirmed the deaths of only 16 pets.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that it found melamine in samples of the Menu Foods pet food, as well as in wheat gluten used as an ingredient in the wet-style products. The FDA was working to rule out the possibility that the contaminated wheat gluten could have made it into any human food, but was not aware of any risk to people.It wasn't immediately clear whether the melamine, a chemical used to make plastics, was the culprit in the deaths of the cats and dogs and the illnesses of hundreds more, said Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine.Shelley Gunton, co-owner of Clackamas, Ore.-based Castor & Pollux Pet Works, reported an uptick in orders from stores. She also reported that she has received 10 times the number of usual hits to the pet product company's Web site."This is going to reinforce to pet parents that there are choices," said Gunton, whose company makes organic and natural pet foods.Proponents of natural and organic pet foods and treats say that those products can help prevent disease in dogs and cats. Some products avoid chemical preservatives, fats, fillers, salt and sugar. Others are free of ingredients exposed to pesticides, herbicides or insecticides that also may harm pets.Dog and cat food sales in the United States reached more than $14.3 billion in 2005, according to the Pet Food Institute that represents manufacturers of commercial pet food. Surveys by the Organic Trade Association indicated that sales of organic pet food increased from $14 million in 2003 to $30 million for 2005.The fast growth of the organic pet food industry and disagreement about what qualifies as organic food led to the creation of an Organic Pet Food Task Force. The task force has proposed labeling standards that organic manufacturers would have to meet in addition to existing requirements that apply to all pet foods. A committee of the USDA's National Organic Standards Board is reviewing the standards that could go into effect by 2008."Hopefully, it will clear up a lot of confusion and let consumers know more what they are getting when they buy pet food," said task force member Rochelle Lavens, president of Heidi's Homemade Inc., an organic dog and cat bakery in Columbus.Meyerrenke, who has been in the pet store business for 34 years, said that pet owners have become much more selective."People have increasingly elevated pets to family member status," Meyerrenke said. "And that means doing what you can to keep them healthy."Associated Press writers Anne D'Innocenzio Dan Sewell contributed to this report.
Pet Food Recall Continues To Grow
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Pittsburgh-based Del Monte Foods is adding some of its products to the long list of recalled pet food.
The company is voluntarily recalling several pet treats including Gravy Train Beef Sticks dog snacks and Pounce, Meaty Morsels Chicken Flavor cat treats.
Ol' Roy jerky strips and snack sticks have also been recalled.
Del Monte said it was recalling the food after learning that the wheat gluten supplied to it from a Chinese plant contained melamine.
No other Del Monte products are part of the recall.
On Saturday, Nestle Purina also added Alpo to the recall list.
Alpo's "prime cuts in gravy" wet dog food was pulled from store shelves.
A dry cat food was also added to the list of recalled items Saturday -- the first dry food on the list. Hill's Pet Nutrition said its Prescription Diet M/D feline dry food also included the tainted wheat gluten.
The company is voluntarily recalling several pet treats including Gravy Train Beef Sticks dog snacks and Pounce, Meaty Morsels Chicken Flavor cat treats.
Ol' Roy jerky strips and snack sticks have also been recalled.
Del Monte said it was recalling the food after learning that the wheat gluten supplied to it from a Chinese plant contained melamine.
No other Del Monte products are part of the recall.
On Saturday, Nestle Purina also added Alpo to the recall list.
Alpo's "prime cuts in gravy" wet dog food was pulled from store shelves.
A dry cat food was also added to the list of recalled items Saturday -- the first dry food on the list. Hill's Pet Nutrition said its Prescription Diet M/D feline dry food also included the tainted wheat gluten.
Pet food recall spreads, and so does confusion
The exact nature of the contamination that has led to an expanding North American pet food recall and reports of thousands of sick pets is a mystery that's confounding toxicologists.
It's also confusing pet owners who were told two weeks ago that all potentially contaminated food had been recalled only to learn over the weekend that it wasn't so.
Since Friday, three other pet food makers have recalled small amounts of pet treats, more wet dog foods and one dry cat food. They join Menu Foods, which in mid-March recalled more than 60 million cans and pouches of wet dog and cat food.
The contaminant is now believed to be the chemical melamine, which is used in the making of plastics and as a slow-release fertilizer, the Food and Drug Administration says. It was found in wheat gluten imported from China and used by Menu Foods and other makers, the FDA says. But toxicologists question whether it is toxic enough to cause kidney failure in animals.
The FDA has not publicly identified the firm that supplied the contaminated wheat gluten to the USA. But on Friday, the agency issued an import alert — found on its website — saying wheat gluten from the Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. of Peixian, China, could be detained without inspection until it produced results from "the firm's investigation(s) into the problem of melamine contamination" and documents showing that corrective action had been taken.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Food and Drug Administration Stephen Sundlof Pet Products Petcare Pet Nutrition
Since Friday, the FDA has tracked potentially contaminated wheat gluten shipments to Hill's Pet Nutrition, Nestlé Purina PetCare and Del Monte Pet Products. All three companies issued recalls of various pet food products.
The expanding list has pet owners reeling. "Consumers are now in a panic, and they don't know what to do," says Mark Witriol, co-owner of Pet Food Express, which has 31 stores in the San Francisco area.
Wheat gluten in wet pet foods is largely used as a binding agent. In dry foods, it's used as a cheap source of protein. Wheat gluten is also used in some human foods and is an important component of flour, allowing bread to rise. The contaminated batch of wheat gluten is not believed to have been used in any foods for humans.
Whether other pet food makers may have received wheat gluten with melamine is unclear. The FDA said Friday that it was tracking down companies that may have received contaminated wheat gluten.
A New York state laboratory first said it discovered a rat poison in samples of Menu's recalled pet food on March 23. The FDA's chief veterinarian, Stephen Sundlof, said Friday that the agency's laboratories had not been able to reproduce those findings. A statement from New York agriculture commissioner Patrick Hooker said her agency stands by its findings.
The FDA has registered 14 animal deaths, 13 cats and one dog, officially connected to the recall. By Friday, the agency had received more than 8,800 calls from pet owners but hasn't had time to investigate those reports, Sundlof says.
Though the industry expressed relief that the culprit appears to have been found, toxicologists are baffled. Scientific literature says melamine is not very toxic, says Steven Hansen, a veterinary toxicologist and director of the ASPCA's Animal Poison Control Center in Urbana, Ill.
Levels for the melamine were as high as 6.6% of the wheat gluten, FDA's Sundlof says.
That would mean if a wet pet food contained even 5% wheat gluten, it would have 3,300 parts per million melamine, Hansen says.
But a study on dogs in 1953 fed them 30,000 parts per million of melamine for one year and "nothing happened," says James Popp, president of the Society of Toxicology.
Hansen notes that cats are more sensitive to toxins than dogs.
It's also confusing pet owners who were told two weeks ago that all potentially contaminated food had been recalled only to learn over the weekend that it wasn't so.
Since Friday, three other pet food makers have recalled small amounts of pet treats, more wet dog foods and one dry cat food. They join Menu Foods, which in mid-March recalled more than 60 million cans and pouches of wet dog and cat food.
The contaminant is now believed to be the chemical melamine, which is used in the making of plastics and as a slow-release fertilizer, the Food and Drug Administration says. It was found in wheat gluten imported from China and used by Menu Foods and other makers, the FDA says. But toxicologists question whether it is toxic enough to cause kidney failure in animals.
The FDA has not publicly identified the firm that supplied the contaminated wheat gluten to the USA. But on Friday, the agency issued an import alert — found on its website — saying wheat gluten from the Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. of Peixian, China, could be detained without inspection until it produced results from "the firm's investigation(s) into the problem of melamine contamination" and documents showing that corrective action had been taken.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Food and Drug Administration Stephen Sundlof Pet Products Petcare Pet Nutrition
Since Friday, the FDA has tracked potentially contaminated wheat gluten shipments to Hill's Pet Nutrition, Nestlé Purina PetCare and Del Monte Pet Products. All three companies issued recalls of various pet food products.
The expanding list has pet owners reeling. "Consumers are now in a panic, and they don't know what to do," says Mark Witriol, co-owner of Pet Food Express, which has 31 stores in the San Francisco area.
Wheat gluten in wet pet foods is largely used as a binding agent. In dry foods, it's used as a cheap source of protein. Wheat gluten is also used in some human foods and is an important component of flour, allowing bread to rise. The contaminated batch of wheat gluten is not believed to have been used in any foods for humans.
Whether other pet food makers may have received wheat gluten with melamine is unclear. The FDA said Friday that it was tracking down companies that may have received contaminated wheat gluten.
A New York state laboratory first said it discovered a rat poison in samples of Menu's recalled pet food on March 23. The FDA's chief veterinarian, Stephen Sundlof, said Friday that the agency's laboratories had not been able to reproduce those findings. A statement from New York agriculture commissioner Patrick Hooker said her agency stands by its findings.
The FDA has registered 14 animal deaths, 13 cats and one dog, officially connected to the recall. By Friday, the agency had received more than 8,800 calls from pet owners but hasn't had time to investigate those reports, Sundlof says.
Though the industry expressed relief that the culprit appears to have been found, toxicologists are baffled. Scientific literature says melamine is not very toxic, says Steven Hansen, a veterinary toxicologist and director of the ASPCA's Animal Poison Control Center in Urbana, Ill.
Levels for the melamine were as high as 6.6% of the wheat gluten, FDA's Sundlof says.
That would mean if a wet pet food contained even 5% wheat gluten, it would have 3,300 parts per million melamine, Hansen says.
But a study on dogs in 1953 fed them 30,000 parts per million of melamine for one year and "nothing happened," says James Popp, president of the Society of Toxicology.
Hansen notes that cats are more sensitive to toxins than dogs.
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