Diamond Pet Foods RECALL (Expanded--Cats involved)

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Beth & Atlas

Member Since 2010
Good Morning FDMB,

I am posting a series of links here for pet foods that are being voluntary recalled. All are kibble and were made at the Gaston, SC plant. It looks like Diamond did a Friday night information dump on the pet community, even the FDA recall website isn't updated yet with the new information.

So please bear with this post, the information may be of vital importance to your dogs, cats, and yourself. As I get the information I will post updates if the mods permit.

Diamond Pet Food Recall

Natural Balance

Wellness

Diamond Pet Foods recalls several brands of pet food due to salmonella From this link: Brands included in the recall include:
■ Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul
■ Country Value
■ Diamond
■ Diamond Naturals
■ Premium Edge
■ Professional
■ 4Health
■ Taste of the Wild​


As you can see from the Press Releases information at any one site seems to be incomplete. Please check your foods if they are made by Diamond.

Salmonella in dog food sickens 14 people in US


While I know we advocate to use a canned food diet, many still may be in transition from kibbles or many of us own both cats and dogs.
 
Re: Diamond Pet Foods RECALL

The list just keeps getting bigger.... APEX DOG FOOD

http://www.petsitusa.com/blog/?p=5078


Diamond Pet Foods has voluntarily recalled some brands of dry pet food that it manufactured in Gaston, S.C., between December 9, 2011 and April 7, 2012 due to potential Salmonella contamination. The brands that were recalled on May 4 have not tested positive for Salmonella. The company is recalling multiple brands, however, as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety and well-being of customers and their pets. Consumers should check this website for the production codes and best-before dates on the bags of recalled food, and discontinue feeding it. To learn whether or not the brand of pet food you use is included in the recall, please select it from the list below. Please note: we have issued CORRECTED production codes for all the brands below except for Apex. Each brand's page will have the CORRECTED production codes.

Diamond Pet Food Recall

They have made a real mess of this recall by trickling out the information. Trust in some of the brands is huge. I stopped in a colleague's dog boutique on Saturday afternoon where she had bags of consumer returned dog foods and pulled lots piled on her shop's basement floor ...can you say she was way over the top angry! In fact, she is already attempting to bring in other brands of food that only produce in their own factories, not along with everybody else's supposed 'exclusive' brands.
 
Re: Diamond Pet Foods RECALL (Expanded Again 5/18)

http://www.petsitusa.com/blog/?p=5181

Diamond Naturals Small Breed Adult Dog Lamb & Rice Formula samples, 6 pound and 18 pound bag sizes, manufactured on Aug. 26, 2011, have been added to the limited voluntary recall, due to potential exposure to Salmonella.

DSL0801, 26-Aug-2012
DSL0801, 26-Aug-2012
DSL0801, 27-Sept- 2012 (Product manufactured on Aug. 26, 2011 and packaged on Sept. 27, 2011)
DSL0801, 18-Oct- 2012 (Product manufactured on Aug. 26, 2011 and packaged on Oct. 18, 2011)
DSL0801, (Samples)

PetSitUSA says it best!

Thanks, Diamond for making it yet another DUMP AND RUN Friday. Seriously, why can’t you just get your food RIGHT?

For those of you who are still feeding food manufactured by Diamond to your pets, why are you continuing to defend this company? STOP defending them, and do something for your pets!
Click to expand...
 
Re: Diamond Pet Foods RECALL (Expanded--Cats involved )

Montreal Shelter Cats Die After Eating Diamond Pet Food;

A shelter says that some cats have gotten sick and died from eating pet food associated with the salmonella recalls of several brands made at a plant in Gaston, SC. An inspection of the plant found unhealthful conditions.



The Montreal Gazette reports that two Montreal shelter cats have died and another is seriously ill after eating Diamond pet food thought to be contaminated with Salmonella.

Monica Campo runs Humanochat cat shelter in Rivière des Prairies, where the deaths occurred, and is quoted in the report saying “This kind of thing happens, but couldn’t we have known about it sooner? Health Canada did not issue a recall of the potentially contaminated foods until May 9, a month after the recalls began in the US.

The recall included several premium dog and cat food brands made at the Diamond plant in Gaston, S.C.

On Tuesday, the FDA released the findings of their week long inspection of the Diamond plant in a Form 483 Report. The FDA became involved in the pet food contamination investigation after several people contracted Salmonella. The FDA has not released information on how many pets may have been affected by the food, but the CDC confirmed that at least 15 people in nine US states and one person in Canada became infected with Salmonella from contact with the pet food or from contact with a pet that had eaten contaminated food, as of May 11.

The FDA report can be viewed HERE. It makes four primary observations based on the plant inspection:

!. All reasonable precautions are not taken to ensure that production procedures do not contribute contamination from any source.

Specifically, no microbiological analysis is conducted or there is no assurance that incoming animal fat will not introduce pathogens into their production and cause contamination of finished product. Also, the firm’s current sampling procedure for animal digest does (sic) preclude potential for adulteration after sampling and during storage in warehouse. On 4/13/12, an employee was observed touching in-line fat filter and oil with bare hands.

2. Failure to provide hand washing and hand sanitizing facilities at each location in the plant where needed.

Specifically, there are no facilities for hand washing or hand sanitizing in the production areas where there is direct contact with exposed finished feed/food.

3. Failure to maintain equipment, containers and utensils used to convey, hold, and store food in a manner that protects against contamination.

Specifically, paddles in conveyor (South or Middle conveyor leading to the screeners going to packaging) were observed to have gouges and cuts, which exhibited feed residues. The damage to the paddles may allow for harborage areas for microorganisms and are difficult to clean and sanitize.

4. Failure to maintain equipment so as to facilitate cleaning of the equipment.

Specifically, firm utilizes cardboard, duct tape, and other non cleanable surfaces on equipment. These materials were observed to have residues adhering. The foam gaskets around access doors to the bucket elevators were observed in deteriorating condition and exhibited an accumulation of feed residues and dust.

The recalls for potentially contaminated pet foods were mostly for dog food, but, as has tragically been shown in Montreal, cats have been affected, too, and will remain at risk if they continue to eat food made at the Gaston, SC plant during the time frame in question.

Specific details on the affected brands and be found here.

For tips on how to deal with potential contamination in the home, see Recommendations for Pet Owners Affected by Pet Food Recalls

http://www.lifewithcats.tv/2012/05/...-food-fda-releases-plant-inspection-findings/
 
“Diamond Pet Foods has voluntarily recalled some brands of dry dog and cat food that it manufactured in its Gaston, S.C. facility between December 9, 2011 and April 7, 2012 due to potential Salmonella contamination.”

The cat foods added to the recall include:
•Kirkland Signature Super Premium Maintenance Cat Chicken & Rice Formula
•Kirkland Signature Super Premium Healthy Weight Cat Formula

Well jeez, guys, thanks a lot! It's not as if cat lovers would care whether their companions' food might be toxic or anything!
 
I'm putting together a mailing (Chicken Soup Dog Lover's Soul store receipts, nasty letter, etc.) for my Diamond Pet Foods refund of $146, and ran into this article. Apparently, this is old news, but I haven't seen (unless I've missed it) any mention of the Missouri plant, or the second strain of Salmonella, on the Health board.

BTW, I can't imagine how much money this company has lost...but it isn't enough. During my most recent conversation with "Recall Customer Service", I was informed that only 2 bags of food have tested positive. Really? I don't recall anyone testing the bag at my house...I was told to "throw it out". I guess if all of the "evidence" is thrown in the trash, as they would like, it's easy to come up with a figure like "only 2 bags". I suppose that's one bag...per dead shelter cat?

Hopefully all of this "food" is off the shelves by now, however, one can never tell with Diamond. Add to the mix the careless suppliers...and there's just no telling. The bag I purchased should not have been on the shelf...and when the supplier started finger pointing...well...you get the picture. They lost a customer...Diamond has certainly lost a customer (didn't even know they made Chicken Soup until this)...and my poor dog is sadly eating expensive Purina "corn in a bag"...at least for now. Her shiny coat turned to crap within a few weeks.

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/...ions-how-big-is-the-diamond-pet-foods-recall/
After Eight Expansions, How Big is the Diamond Pet Foods Recall?
by James Andrews | May 29, 2012

Update (May 29, 3:30 p.m. Eastern): U.S. Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman Laura Alvey has told Food Safety News that the Salmonella contamination found at Diamond's Meta, Missouri plant is not from the same strain as that of the Gaston, South Carolina plant. The contamination at the Missouri plant comes from Salmonella Liverpool, while the South Carolina plant -- connected to all products except those in the most recent recall expansion -- has been contaminated by Salmonella Infantis.

Alvey also said that the Missouri plant has now been included in the FDA's ongoing investigation into the Diamond Pet Foods Salmonella outbreak and recall.
Click to expand...

"The sloppiest recall I've ever seen"

Since 2005, Susan Thixton has been writing about pet food problems in the U.S. on her website TruthAboutPetFood.com. She's covered numerous pet food recalls in that time, including the melamine outbreak of 2007 that involved the recall of more than 90 brands.

But when it comes to disorganization, she said, Diamond's recall surpasses them all.

"This has got to be the sloppiest recall I've ever seen," she told Food Safety News.

From the initial one-brand recall on April 6 to the latest expansion, the Diamond recall has been plagued by hiccups such as corrections to production codes and best-by dates.

What's more, the company seems to make -- and then correct -- the same mistakes with successive expansions. Thixton detailed these maneuvers on her website in a post titled "Sloppy, Sloppy, Sloppy."
Click to expand...

Another glaring red flag, both Thixton and Entis said, was that the company seemed to withhold information that would indicate the latest recalled batch was made at the Missouri facility.
Click to expand...

Some decisions by the FDA related to the recall have left Entis similarly perplexed. Following Diamond's outbreak and recalls, the FDA inspected their South Carolina facility and found a number of sanitation deficiencies, but did not perform more tests sometimes done during such inspections.

"I'm certainly surprised and disappointed that FDA did not perform environmental and ingredient testing, especially considering the problems they observed during their inspection of the Gaston plant," Entis said.

The FDA has given no word on whether it will investigate the Missouri plant responsible for the latest expansion, or whether or not it will look into a connection between the contaminations at the two plants.
Click to expand...

Also, International FDMBer's Beware (follow the link to see the photos):
http://efoodalert.net/2012/06/08/diamond-pet-foods-recalls-international-buyers-be-wary/
This latest round of futile effort at communicating with Diamond Pet Foods was triggered by a pet owner in Malaysia who communicated with Mollie Morrissette of Poisoned Pets. This consumer purchased a bag of Taste of the Wild dog food with an unusual label.

When he peeled the label off of the bag, he discovered that the dry dog food he purchased from his local supplier was actually included in the list of recalled production codes and bore a Best before date of 19/Jan/2013.
Click to expand...
 
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