Deadly Pet Food - Diamond Pet Foods

13 WHAM ^ | 12/22/05 | Mike Doria

[Calpernia]

(Rochester, NY) 12/22/05 -- Some pet food contaminated with a toxic fungus is having deadly consequences.

Several dogs in the Rochester area have died from the toxin and others could be sick without their owners knowing.

Stores in 23 states have been notified to pull Diamond Pet Food products off their shelves. The contaminant, aflatoxin, grows on corn put in the products.

The food is sold under the brand names Diamond, Country Value, and Professional. The recalled batches have date codes of March-07 through June-07 and were made at the company's plant in Gaston, South Carolina.

Products from other facilities or with later date codes are not affected.

Dog and cat owners should have their pets examined right away if they’ve been using Diamond pet food products.

Signs of poisoning include lethargy, loss of appetite, increased water consumption and urination, bloody vomiting or diarrhea, and jaundice (yellowing) of the whites of the eyes or gums.

In severe cases, the toxin can cause death. Treatment includes a chicken and rice diet and pills to protect the liver.

Lori Hewett feeds her dog Sparta the Diamond products. However, Lori also happens to be the receptionist at Mendon Village Animal Hospital. She got Sparta tested immediately once she learned about the contamination.

"Since she happened to be with me at work that day, they did her blood work and her levels were very high," Lori said. "[However] she's been acting normally, still wanting to eat, playing, alert."

While some dogs get sick, others do not. Veterinarian Dr. Sara Sanders of Mendon saw this in three golden retrievers that ate the same food.

"Maybe some are resistant or the contamination was located in one part of the food…Some got the 'bad bite,' others didn't," she said.

Veterinarian Dr. Kent Burgesser of Rochester said his clinic has had a couple of cases where the symptoms were consistent with aflatoxin poisoning. He had not heard of any cats becoming ill from the poison.

Pet food companies test for aflatoxin, but it appears it can go unnoticed sometimes.

Seven of the sick dogs brought to Mendon Village Animal Hospital have been taken to Cornell and are under the care of more specially trained vets.

Rochester-area grocery stores Tops and Wegmans do not sell Diamond products.

Concerned pet owners can call Diamond Pet Food at (537) 229-4203 for more information. For details and a list of product names, click here to go to the Diamond Pet Food Web Site.

[Calpernia]

Web Cast Coverage

[Calpernia]

Need the Doggy ping here please.

[Calpernia]

ping

[Calpernia]

Web Site

December 21, 2005

 

 

 

Diamond Pet Food Product Recall Notification

 

 

 

The following Items with best buy date codes between March 1^st 2007 and June 10^th 2007 with an 11^th or 12^th digit “G” are not to be sold.  These are out of our Gaston Facility only!  All customers please stop feeding these items if you are currently.

 

Recalled Items
Diamond Low Fat Dog Food   Diamond Hi-Energy Dog Food   Diamond Maintenance Dog Food   Diamond Performance Dog Food   Diamond Premium Adult Dog Food   Diamond Puppy Food   Diamond Maintenance Cat Food   Diamond Professional Cat Food   Country Value Puppy   Country Value Adult Dog   Country Value High Energy Dog      Country Value Adult Cat Food	Professional Chicken & Rice Senior Dog Food   Professional Reduced Fat Chicken & Rice Dog Food   Professional Adult Dog Food   Professional Large-Breed Puppy Food   Professional Puppy Food   Professional Reduced Fat Cat Food   Professional Adult Cat Food

Symptoms of illness include, sluggishness or lethargy combined with a reluctance to eat, yellowish tint to the eyes or gums and severe bloody diarrhea.  If your pet is experiencing these please consult a veterinarian and keep your product date code.

 

 

 

If you have any questions please visit www.diamondpet.com

 

 

 

·       Retailers please return all products to distributors for full reimbursement.

 

·       Retailers Please Display in your store. Your Diamond Regional Rep will be able to answer any questions.

 

[HairOfTheDog]

Good Grief! Head's up everyone!

Ping!

Other articles with keyword "DOGGIEPING" since 12/29/04

Ping!

[Calpernia]

I 'think' I saw HOTD post someplace that you have a cat ping list?

[redgolum]

Interesting in that most elevators test every load for afla toxin. That and just about every processor is required to.

It is a fairly simple test, but can be a bit spend. It is possible to miss some.

[Vaquero]

COSTCO has been selling dried smoked chicken breasts for dogs...not for human consumption...Made In China.

Now I would not for one moment buy this product and for no other reason that these have to be part of the millions of birds destroyed in China for having, or for possibly having the bird flu that has been in the media for months.....

[randog]

The contaminant, aflatoxin, grows on corn put in the products.

Has anyone notified the vegetarians?

[Ditter]

An 'aflatoxin' is what I lost my little 1 1/2 year old Jack Russel to last March. An 'aflatoxin' is a toxin found in nature and it destroyed Tooties liver. The vets said it was something moldy that she ate. It had to be something in my back yard, I suspect some mulch from last year that had grown mold on it. This 'aflatoxin' in the dog food is from moldy corn. It is a natural toxin not a chemical poison.

[Calpernia]

Oh! That is an interesting thought!!!!

Excellent point and thanks for posting that.

[Calpernia]

I'm sorry to hear that :(

[oxcart]

Aflatoxin is also a serious problem in peanuts. (see Jimmy Carter)

[Slings and Arrows]

I 'think' I saw HOTD post someplace that you have a cat ping list?

That's me. Thanks!

[Darnright]

I hope the word gets out effectively. Diamond is a pretty popular non-grocery store brand, and I know a lot of people who either feed it or have fed it in the past.

[Ditter]

Yeah, it was awful, it broke my heart to lose one so young. In 8 weeks I had Tooties full sister from a later litter and her name is Cookie. That is
the only way I know how to get over the hurt, get another one.

[rusty millet]

There is a company that makes a lamb-pearl millet and chicken-pearl millet dog food named Canine Caviar.

Pearl millet does not get aflatoxin like corn does.

You would need to search the net, but the product is easily found.

My disclaimer - I do not work for Canine Caviar.

[NeonKnight]

I just bought a 20lb bag of the Diamond puppy food yesterday....checked...no "G" in the date code. It had an MN, so I guess it was made in Minnesota.

[Slings and Arrows]

Whoops! Wrong banner!

[Slings and Arrows]

"Pearl millet"

"rusty millet"

NEPOTISM! (j/k)

[Buck W.]

Guess dogs don't like huitlacoche.

[GOPJ]

bump

[Dudoight]

I feed my dogs Diamond, but I checked the 'serial' number and it has no G. It from the Meta, Missouri plant. So I am assuming that this is okay. My dogs love the stuff. I get it from the local feed store where I buy my horse feed.

[null and void]

Ping to post #8

[null and void]

Different fungus...

[Lunatic Fringe]

The only food I ever feed my dog.

[netmilsmom]

How Horrible!
Just what every family wants for Christmas. A dead pet.

Thanks for putting out the word! We never used this brand but many do.

[anonymous_user]

So, no Diamond in the ruff. Gotcha.

[Buck W.]

I know. Just lightening a sad story.

[null and void]

*groan*

[null and void]

And I was just showing off that I knew what you were talking about...

[Buck W.]

We are so smart!

[null and void]

Yeah, regular fungi...

[Titan Magroyne]

Thanks for the headsup!

I knew there was danger from rawhide treats left on/in the soil, hard to imagine feeding Fido manufactured dogfood and ending up with a dead Fido. :-(

[NYer]

Every pet owner should read What's Really in Pet Food? .

Caution, graphic content!

[Fintan]

I suspect women and minorities will be hit hardest by this devastating news.

 

[Lady Jag]

Bump so others might read.

Thanks for the ping!

[who knows what evil?]

What a coincidence...read this excellent article about what REALLY goes into pet food at Mike Adams' NewsTarget website. One of the BEST 'alternative' health site on the web (he is just getting started on health issues for pets)...his 'webseed' concept for cataloging health topics is brilliant! (Just click on any topic to the left in the green column...you'll be reading for days!)

[Calpernia]

There are a few threads on that here too.

Off to work a fund raiser. Ciao for now!

[who knows what evil?]

What's really in pet food?

My "what's really in pet food" is way more disgusting than yours. HINT: what happens to euthanized animals? Now that's graphic content. Read it at the News Target link above...bring an air-sick bag.

[Cold Heart]

PING!

[Noumenon]

Yikes! We feed Diamond to our border Collies.

[SouthTexas]

Treatment includes a chicken and rice diet

First two on the recall list.

[chicagolady]

Your kidding!
If Sparky did not get a taco every Saturday morning I had hell to pay!!

He also loved it when I juiced vegetables!! He would it the pulp let over.

[Lunatic Fringe]

Every dog I've had loves Bil-Jac. It is fresh meat, and it must be kept refrigerated.

[Veto!]

Corn is not pet food, it's for cattle. At the very least, dogs fed corn develop a sort of "beefy" look. Not good.

My dog gets Nutro Senior, made with chicken and oatmeal along with some real meat that I simmer for her. Rice is OK too.

[Tunehead54]

Reference bump. Thanks! ,-)

[Calpernia]

Animal hospital confirms canine death due to dog food

December 21, 2005 - Three brands of dog and cat food manufactured by Diamond Pet Foods are being recalled because they may contain aflatoxin.

The food is sold under the Diamond, Country Value and Professional labels. It's distributed in 23 states, including Mississippi.

Our sister station, WIS in South Carolina, reported that a representative with Wateree Animal Hospital in Camden, South Carolina says they have one confirmed dog death due to dog food. The pet owner just got back toxicology reports and the cause of death was severe liver damage due to dog food. The dog was eating Diamond Dog Food.

Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring toxic chemical by-product from the growth of the fungus Aspergillus flavus, on corn and other crops. The fungus develops on crops during years with severe high temperature stress and drought.

The company has notified its distributors to hold the sale of all Diamond Pet Food products formulated with corn that were produced in its Gaston, South Carolina, facility. Products manufactured at other Diamond Pet Food facilities are not affected.

Mississippi is one of the states serviced by the Gaston, South Carolina facility.

The Gaston facility date codes are unique from other Diamond facility codes in that either the eleventh or twelfth character in the date code will be a capital “G” (in reference to Gaston). The range of date codes being reviewed are “Best By 01-March-07” through “Best By 10-June-07”. Diamond’s quantitative analysis records substantiate that its corn shipments were definitively clear of aflatoxin after December 10. As such, “Best By 11-June-07” date codes or later are not affected by this notice

o Gaston facility products removed from sale are:

Diamond Low Fat Dog Food
Diamond Hi-Energy Dog Food
Diamond Maintenance Dog Food
Diamond Performance Dog Food
Diamond Premium Adult Dog Food
Diamond Puppy Food
Diamond Maintenance Cat Food
Diamond Professional Cat Food
Country Value Puppy
Country Value Adult Dog
Country Value High Energy Dog
Country Value Adult Cat Food
Professional Chicken & Rice Senior Dog Food
Professional Reduced Fat Chicken & Rice Dog Food
Professional Adult Dog Food
Professional Large-Breed Puppy Food
Professional Puppy Food
Professional Reduced Fat Cat Food
Professional Adult Cat Food

All pet owners are urged to contact a veterinarian immediately if their animals show signs of illness including sluggishness or lethargy combined with a reluctance to eat, yellowish tint to the eyes and/or gums, and severe or bloody diarrhea.

For more information about the specified Diamond Pet Food products, call Mark Brinkman, Diamond Pet Food, 573-229-4203. For a list of dealers in each of the affected states, visit http://www.diamondpet.com.

Other states serviced by the Gaston facility are Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky (eastern), Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Vermont and Virginia.

[Tunehead54]

Thanks so much for the additional info - we're in the WDC area for Xmas and have our dog, cat and two bunnies at a vet in the Tampa area - I've got a call in but haven't heard back yet. Again, thanks. :-)

[Calpernia]

I found a PDF file on this company that says it sells to private labels too.

I'm wondering if they sell to stores for store branding.