Mars Petcare Food Recall – Pedigree
September 12, 2008
Filed under Dog Food Recalls, Pedigree Dog Food Recall
Franklin, Tennessee (September 12, 2008)—Today, Mars Petcare US announced a voluntary recall of products manufactured at its Everson, Pennsylvania facility. The pet food is being voluntarily recalled because of potential contamination with Salmonella serotype Schwarzengrund. This voluntary recall only affects the United States.
Salmonella can cause serious infections in dogs and cats, and, if there is cross contamination caused by handling of the pet food, in people as well, especially children, the aged, and people with compromised immune systems. Healthy people potentially infected with Salmonella should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. On rare occasions, Salmonella can result in more serious ailments, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation, and urinary tract symptoms. Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.
Pets with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Animals can be carriers with no visible symptoms and can potentially infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.
The company stopped production at the Everson facility on July 29, 2008 when it was alerted of a possible link between dry pet food produced at the plant and two isolated cases of people infected with Salmonella Schwarzengrund.
Even though no direct link between product produced at Everson and human or pet illness has been made, Mars Petcare US is taking precautionary action to protect pets and their owners by announcing a voluntary recall of all products produced at the Everson facility beginning February 18, 2008 until July 29, 2008 when we stopped production.
The company is continuing to work collaboratively with the FDA to determine the nature and source of Salmonella Schwarzengrund at the Everson facility. Since it has not yet identified the source of the Salmonella Schwarzengrund at the Everson facility, Mars Petcare US does not plan to resume production out of a commitment to the safety of our pet owners and their pets, customers, and associates.
The top priority of Mars Petcare US has always been and continues to be the health and welfare of pets and their owners. Consumers can continue to have confidence in the quality and safety of the products produced at other Mars Petcare US facilities. Only those products which were produced at the Everson facility are impacted by the voluntary recall.
Many of the brands involved in the recall are national brands produced at multiple facilities. A chart for all products is below. For example, PEDIGREE® is manufactured in numerous facilities throughout the country, and Everson represents a very small portion of the manufacturing base – 2.7 percent of total PEDIGREE® production.
Mars Petcare US will work with retail customers to ensure that the recalled products are not on store shelves. These products should not be sold or fed to pets. In the event that consumers believe they have purchased products affected by this voluntary recall, they should return the product to the store where they purchased it for a full refund. Specific product details and other information can be found at www.petcare.mars.com
So i bought pedigree/low cal for my golden retriever. Is there a danger in this, so far she is okay. Been feeding pedigree for years? Should i stop?
BETTER FOODS TO FEED YOUR PET AND WHY
If your dog has diarrhea mixing rice with their food and even some unflavored Metamucil helps to firm up stool. Pedigree is really not a very good food to begin with. Neither is IAMs Beneful Purina or any of the other foods you have usually heard of. The first several ingredients are usually corn (we know what happens when our body gets corn, we poop it out and don’t use it, same with dogs) meat by products (the take the meat off of whatever it is and you get the bones, feathers, coat, feet, beaks, etc) and white or brewers rice (no nutritional value, just a filler) because of this our dogs need to eat more to get the nutrients they need and poop a lot more too. Also…science diet and eukanuba are not very good foods either. They used to be but they were bought out by other companies who, to save money, changed the ingredients to fillers and by products. These foods cost about the same as the all naturals foods and you are getting pedigree quality food. You can check all the ingredients yourself. Stay away from the first 3 ingredients being corn, by products of any kind, and white or brewer’s rice. Go for foods with chicken, chicken meal, or any meats that don’t have by product after them, and BROWN rice. These are good foods. Try going to a specialty pet store and ask about a better food. Precise, Royal Canin, and Verus are all really good foods. When you look at the ingredients they will be along the lines of Chicken, brown rice (the only rice with nutritional value for dogs), and usually another protein source such as chicken meal (chicken meal is just dehydrated chicken, very good) your dogs will eat much less of the food so even though it cost a bit more you go through less food and it ends up saving you money. They also poop less, live longer, and are overall healthier. I have four shih tzus and I feed them Royal Canin dry food. 10lbs of that food last us over a month. 4 adults dogs eating only 10lbs of food between the 4 of them is pretty good! These foods are also all natural and organic so they are never involved in any recalls; you know your food is always safe. Go to your local pet store and ask about these brands (Precise, Royal Canin, Verus, Wellness, California Natural, Innova, Canidae, Merrik) many stores, such as Pets Plus, will even give you your money back for the dog food if your dog doesn’t like it and has programs such as buy 10 bags get your 11th free. It’s worth a try and trust me your dogs will love it.
Actually, Royal Canin is not a very high quality food, especially for the price. It almost always has just one protein source listed as a meal followed by grains, and many times by corn gluten meal. You want to avoid any corn in food, not just the first ingredients. Also, breed specific formulas are a marketing gimmick used to make people with purebreds feel special about their dogs. Not that their dogs aren’t special, but they don’t need a different food from every other breed on the planet. For how much it costs, you could could just as easily buy Blue Buffalo and at least you’d be getting a higher quality product with human grade meat in it.
Animal by-products are disgusting, but generally do not contain large amounts of feathers and hide/hair of the animal, mainly just the heads, feet and intestines.
Aside from that, you’re right about the eating less, pooping less, living healthier, and less vet bills.
Stick with Wellness, Innova, California Natural, Blue Buffalo, Canidae, Merrick, etc.
Some of Royal Canins food WAS involved in a recall ’07. As for good food a quality canned food is better than a quality dry food (as per Dr. Goldstein a well known vet). Dry food is dry food, animals need the moisture. No wonder they have skin problems and allergies. I use Wellnes Sr. canned for our old girl and Eagle Pack canned for the young ones in the morning, home cooked at night. Educate yourself before buying pet food and before homecooking. Read Dr.s Goldstein, Dr. Pitcarin, Dr. Shawn Messionier. Read Better Food for Dogs by Dr. Grant Nixon.
Almost a year ago I completely stopped feeding my dogs ANY commercial food. I have two big labs and both were getting sicker and sicker. I was paying $80 a bag for Natural Balance dog food, and $2.50 a can for the Canadea. My 15 year old black lab was coughing and slowing down quickly, also throwing up a lot. The vet said (the summer before last) that she would not live past that summer. So, I started making my own on a hunch. The old girl almost immediately stopped vomitting and coughing and now goes for walks and plays a little. My younger lab had serious elevated steroids in her blood and was getting sick. Once I stopped the commercial food her steroid levels started coming down and are now ‘normal’. Has anyone noticed that even on the ‘best’ dog foods, they never list the chemicals the meat source contained?