When Your Pet Food is Recalled
Yesterday I got the news that every caretaker dreads: My dogs’ food is on a recall list.
Natura has issued a voluntary recall of some of their Innova, Evo, California Natural and Healthwise products. The products on the recall list include food for dogs, cats, and ferrets.
What my companion animals eat is important to me
I was afraid, and could not rest until I’d checked the list of potentially contaminated products to see if I had any in my home.
Fortunately, I do not.
But I was still worried. What do I do? Do I keep feeding my dogs this same brand, or do I try something else?
Unless I am willing to go it like Celi at The Kitchen’s Garden, I’m going to have to trust somebody to provide me with food for my animals.
Who am I going to trust?
Two things about Natura impressed me yesterday. First of all, they chose to issue the voluntary recall. If you live in the US like me, you know that doesn’t always happen so quickly. And second, I received an email last night from Tammy Barker of the company, letting me know about the recall.
I can’t tell any of you what to do. But I’ve decided that what’s right for me is to trust that if Natura did the right thing this time, they will keep doing so in the future. For now, I’m sticking with them.
I do encourage you to regularly check recall lists. I am fortunate to have some wonderful Facebook friends who regularly post recalls. The FDA list of recalls is here. Another good online resource is Dog Food Advisor.
Have you found yourself in a similar situation before? What did you choose to do?
March 19, 2013 at 6:33 AM
I got worried too when I saw that Waggin Train was voluntarily recalled by nestle-purina. It’s been my dogs’ favorite treat for at least 4 years. I give them each a half piece every 2 days and we’ve no problems so far. They’re more than halfway through one large pack now. I wonder if I’ll be overly cautious if I stop giving it to them right away.
March 19, 2013 at 6:36 AM
I don’t know as much about that recall, but I have heard lots of folks complaining about the product long before the recall was issued.
March 19, 2013 at 6:43 AM
I’ve read of recalls of jerky tenders before but not of Waggin’ Train but this January they voluntarily recalled it. Dogswell, too. I guess I’ll stop it for now until everything’s cleared. Thanks for this post.
March 19, 2013 at 7:05 AM
We’ve never had a recall of dog or cat food here. I imagine it must be quite scary.
March 19, 2013 at 7:13 AM
It is scary! I wonder why you don’t have them there?
March 19, 2013 at 7:21 AM
It’s not necessarily a good thing. I mean it doesn’t necessarily mean, that our food is better, after all some of the brands are the same.
March 19, 2013 at 7:45 AM
Fortunately by now we had good luck with my food. Thanks for the links Rumpy.
March 19, 2013 at 7:52 AM
That would give you a scare I imagine, even though it’s voluntary.
March 19, 2013 at 7:57 AM
thank you for sharing the links.. i’m glad my pets’ dog food is not included..
March 19, 2013 at 7:57 AM
Thanks again pal for keeping us informed and for passing that link along. M said she’s going to make an effort to check that link herself frequently. Like you, we would probably trust Nutro also because they issued the recall themselves before they were forced to.
March 19, 2013 at 8:40 AM
So far we haven’t had any problems with my food, it is worrying though and difficult to know what to do in that situation
March 19, 2013 at 9:09 AM
I feel the same way. I am feeding Innova and I was especially worried because Brooks was not feeling well. But I was impressed with the way Natura handled the situation. I called the phone number to check if my bags were okay, and not only was my call answered after only a short wait, but also the person on the phone was genuinely concerned and helpful. Then I also got an email from Tammy Barker at 10pm, and I know they are all concerned and want to get accurate information out there. So I am continuing to feed Innova and I feel they have earned my trust.
March 19, 2013 at 9:36 AM
“yoove been to my house” — you’ve seen we run an orphanage of sorts (or it runs us) … so we brand-swap and shop and tend to go, uh, low-cost. so re-calls ‘n such are not in our realm of Xpeerience, usually. however, we would easily trade brands …
March 19, 2013 at 9:46 AM
Hmmm…we haven’t had any those experiences for our food…..but if we had, we wouldn’t buy any of products from the same company for a while……..
March 19, 2013 at 9:53 AM
I love that Dog Food Advisor will email alerts. Another thing to do is to sign up for email alerts from the company too. Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do if my dogs’ food got recalled. Scary.
March 19, 2013 at 11:18 AM
I think it’s important that they voluntarily recalled it. Unlike the tainted chicken from China and the companies that blatantly refused the recall. Nutra is showing good faith.
March 19, 2013 at 11:25 AM
For us, with our allergies to grains, and still struggling with grain free dry foods. We opted to feed a raw diet. We have more control what is fed to our pack and if it is grain fed or not.
March 19, 2013 at 11:25 AM
It’s very scary when this happened! It happened to us once and I read some horrible complaints about the dog food on http://www.consumeraffairs.com that made me switch Simba’s food. I think it is good that Nutra voluntarily recalled it. I don’t remember that happening with the dog food that Simba used to be on.
March 19, 2013 at 11:26 AM
*Natura
March 19, 2013 at 11:55 AM
Thanks for sharing the links, not sure how I would find out about a recall otherwise. Hopefully I’ll never need them, but it’s nice to be prepared.
March 19, 2013 at 12:40 PM
Such a scary situation. You always worry. Thanks for the link.
I’ll never forget the time Olde Tiger suddenly refused, refused, and refused food – it turned out that brand was one of the first discovered to be tainted and deadly. Tiger knew before we did. Shook us up…and still a big concern
March 19, 2013 at 2:03 PM
Thanks for the links. I need to check. Sounds like Natura is a good company, with a savvy PR department which understands its customer. I’m sure it helps that they have a good product.
March 19, 2013 at 2:12 PM
Crap, that’s terrible, we have never had a re-call ( Paws crossed we don’t ) You eat with that cat Rumpy.. I would eat the kibble, after I has eaten the cat. Bawahhaaaawaa xx00xx
Mollie and Alfie
March 19, 2013 at 2:15 PM
[...] When Your Pet Food is Recalled. [...]
March 19, 2013 at 2:56 PM
I have HEARD… but do not know for a fact… that if you order food or treats from Chewy.com… THEY will notify you if there is a recall. It is really scary … when a recall goes out.
March 19, 2013 at 3:18 PM
Wow, that’s scary indeed!
March 19, 2013 at 5:30 PM
Having two dogs, it’s always so scary. I’ve had to deal with recalls, and my experience (with 2 different companies) has varied from being notified, to hearing about it well after people were complaining–and they finally pulled the product. Take care, Rumpy!
March 19, 2013 at 7:49 PM
Good for Natura for issuing recall AND for emailing. That puts in perspective, they care about animals and doing right thing. Always good to check on recalls. Thanks for passing info on
March 19, 2013 at 7:59 PM
We are all currently eating one of the California Natural grain free products, so Mom freaked when she heard earlier today about the recall. Ours is not on the list, but it still does make Mom a little worried. We will stay on it for now since we all seem to be doing OK with it. Changing food with four dogs isn’t always easy and Mom loves it when we can all eat the same one. All paws crossed things stay OK for us and you.
Woos – Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning
March 19, 2013 at 8:11 PM
I think you probably made a good choice. I read that they’ve never had a recall in 21 years. It seems like every food company is in the recall boat right now :/
March 19, 2013 at 8:26 PM
Back in 2007 when there was the massive recall of many pet foods because of melamine found in the food, some of the foods that we ate were involved. Our mom spent time talking to the various manufacturers and researching foods. At that point, our mom decided that she wouldn’t feed us anything with grains because that seemed to be the big issue.
It seems like no company is immuned to problems. But it’s how they handle them which is telling. It sounds like Natura did the right thing here.
March 19, 2013 at 8:50 PM
Food recalls are so scary, there should be heavy fines involved if food is contaminated. You think you are doing something good for your pets by buying expensive food and it could kill them. We feel really sorry for the people who have lost animals due to this problem. We buy Halo’s Spot’s Stew. The kitties love it and it is doesn’t have fillers or grains.
March 19, 2013 at 9:17 PM
Food recalls are scary. I’ve never heard any from our local brands which I guess isn’t such a bad thing but I do hope that our local companies will issue a recall when there is a need to do so.
Hey Rumpy! Want a cookie?
Huggies and Cheese,
Haopee
March 19, 2013 at 10:48 PM
It’s good to know. I am so glad mom gives me Halo.
March 20, 2013 at 4:45 AM
Hi Rumpy, we just read about you from Clowie’s blog and would like to say HI to you.
Thanks for sharing the links. We are glad that our food is okay! Phew! Those recalls are really scary.
~Eva and Mika
March 20, 2013 at 9:53 AM
Reblogged this on The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap and commented:
Pet Food Recall info and great links for FDA recall and Dog Food Advisor. Thank you Rumpy Dog for posting this. We’re all grateful for all you do to spread the word to help us help our fury family.
March 20, 2013 at 9:57 AM
Thanks tons for this and all you continue to do to help end suffering in our fury kids and friends in the world. Just reblogged this. Your biped sounds like she’s a very smart & wise mom who is doing well by you. We love you guys. Max, Bella, and Paulette (biped)
March 20, 2013 at 5:54 PM
Thank goodness my kitty’s brand isn’t on the list. I’m in Canada and haven’t heard anything about ANY recall. I can imagine how terrifying this might be. Thanks for the heads up.
March 20, 2013 at 8:15 PM
Wes so furry happy that what we’s eats is not on any list. Mommy makes most of the hairy slobbery sister’s foods and is furry picky about the crunchies wes is allowed to eats.
Kisses
Nellie
March 21, 2013 at 4:01 AM
The stuff of nightmares! For my humans at least.
March 21, 2013 at 5:46 AM
That is impressive of them! I had already switched from them, not because I don’t love their food but because my poor 16 year old can’t chew it anymore.
March 22, 2013 at 4:19 AM
Thanks Rumpy for reminding me that even the high quality foods are subject to recalls…glad you haven’t had any problems
March 22, 2013 at 11:08 AM
The Honest Kitchen issued a voluntary recall of some of their formulas about a month ago. Luckily, Taylor’s formula was not part of the recall. I decided to stick with The Honest Kitchen because I was thoroughly impressed by the good business ethics they uphold, which resulted in the voluntary recall.
March 24, 2013 at 10:36 AM
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April 20, 2013 at 7:34 AM
[...] Recently Jen wrote that our food had been recalled. [...]