Posted on 08/22/2012 2:29:57 PM PDT by EBH
Chinese government officials overseeing plants that make chicken jerky pet treats blamed for thousands of illnesses and deaths among American dogs have refused to allow U.S. inspectors to collect samples for independent analysis, newly released records show.
Investigators with the federal Food and Drug Administration came away empty-handed after conducting April inspections at four jerky treat manufacturing sites in Liaocheng and Jinan, China, according to the records.
The plants make pet treats sold by the St. Louis-based Nestle Purina PetCare Co., including the popular Waggin’ Train jerky brands.
Chinese officials stipulated that FDA officials could collect samples only if they agreed to specific conditions, including a requirement that the samples be tested in Chinese-run laboratories.
As a result, “no samples were collected during this inspection,” wrote Dennis L. Doupnik, an FDA investigator who visited the sites.
In addition, the reports showed that the Chinese plants conducted either no laboratory tests or only sporadic tests of the raw materials, including meat used in treats fed to many of the 78.2 million pet dogs in the U.S.
(Excerpt) Read more at vitals.nbcnews.com ...
I lived in New Zealand for almost 7 years. In 1999 when we got our first German Shepherd, dry dog food choices in the grocery store were pretty slim, but there was lots of fresh and frozen raw meat dog food choices. One town we lived near had a dedicated raw meat pet food shop we bought our food from for a while. We were told that when dry dog food started being used, the vets started seeing a lot of health problems they hadn’t seen before, and particularly more tumors.
Can’t believe that Costco still sells the jerky of China. They prefer items with a fast turnover and the publicity can’t help sales.
A month later his ears are great without meds and he's lost down to where his weight should be.
I never feed any purchased treats. The cat food thing several years ago scared me to death. If we are traveling I buy him some made in TN human jerky for treats.
You are right, pops. This is what got both Billinghurst and Lonsdale thinking about the hazards of dry dog food.
Unfortunately, Billinghurst sold out to the “industry” and changed his point of view once he had a line of doggie vitamins to sell to the “BARF” followers.
Lonsdale never did sell out. He emphasizes the whole prey model, says a few veggies do no harm, and that organ meats do matter, in proportion to the whole.
One of his books is very easy to read, and one is for those who are seriously interested in the science. The easier one is all you need to have a happy healthy dog.
Our raw meaty bone dogs enjoy certain vegetables and fruits as snacks, but raw meaty bones are what I feed them, along with bits of liver and other edible organs (good source of vitamins not found in muscle meat and bone).
For those of you who hate to handle slippery bits of innards, they can be found freeze-dried, easy to handle, and give in the right proportions.
I get dehydrated liver and salmon snacks from SitStay (no relation to them, other than having ordered from them for years) to provide the required extras.
I am also happy to have a shop near me who sells ground whole raw meat, from rabbit, quail, turkey, chicken, duck, elk, bison - you name it, they sell it.
But most dogs prefer to crunch the bones in their back teeth for themselves. Why else do enterprising dog-toy makers make those silly sleeves for plastic pop bottles?
Do just a bit of homework before jumping in, however. It isn’t complicated to switch a dog over, but you have to be prepared for some stools full of slimy mucous as part of getting rid of the toxins built up in the dog’s intestines from the grains in kibble.
One thing you all will love is the clean breath, cleaner teeth (never had to pay for teeth cleaning), the loss of doggy smell, and the best of all?
Dog poops that are very firm, eliminating the “scoots”, that do not stink, and crumble away into a whitish powder needing no scooping, unless you are in an area requiring this by law.
If you do, you will find this task much less onerous.
I am going to stay with Blue Buffalo treats and Biljac liver treats are made in Medina Oh..US company.
I’ll say it again.......
Truman should have listened to MacArthur instead of firing him.
To Hades with the Chicoms. We should hit them with the biggest tariffs in history and do everything we can to destroy their economy and trade.
Anything that insults them and makes them lose as much “face” as possible.
We can start by refusing to buy ANY goods made by those jagoffs.
Nestle isn’t an American company.
It is very disappointing, isn’t it.
Funny....my dog loves Lima beans, which he gets at least once a week.
I have fed my kids the same things I eat for over 30 years. I make their slumgullion out of rice, meat, barley and garden vegetables. First the meat, fat and gristle go into the sausage grinder, then the vegetables and grains go into the food processor for a semi fine grind; then every thing goes back through the sausage grinder to get combined into a yummie sludge, then every thing goes into the cook pot for about 2 hours. Salt and pepper plus some herbs to taste and it’s done.
I use the waste cuts from the local butcher for the meat and large bones for marrow, during hunting season they get lots of venison. The butcher charges about $1.50 per pound for the meat and bones. All the vegetables I grow in my gardens and use fresh or canned (I can my own). These guys will eat more of the fruit out of the orchard than I do once the season comes around, so they must like it. I always tell my wife that my dogs eat better than about 90% of the people in the world and I love it.
Jerky - now with lead and melamine flavoring.
I buy a cheap cut of meat on sale at the grocery store and make jerky with my dehydrator.
My dogs love it, cheaper than dog jerky and no sulfides.
Plus it takes a couple of bucks out of the Chinese governments military program.
Forget dog food... You should see how much people food is now coming from China. Try and find apple juice not from China... You have to really look.
I also feed my Chow Blue Buffalo dog food. He loves it and has been thriving on it. He loved the jerky treats, but I stopped giving them to him years ago because I couldn’t find any that weren’t made in China.
I have to read the labels carefully. Anything that says the product is made is China or merely says the product is distributed by a US company gets a pass. Getting harder and harder to find safe treats that I can afford. I take my reading glasses and take my time. The clerks keep asking me if they can help me. I always answer the same way: “You have anything not made in China or made with ingredients from China?”
My dogs get Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw, too. They love it and they are thriving.
Small dogs are notorious for having bad teeth, my vet says it’s because their enamel is softer and the bacteria can stick on it easier. They are three years old, have no breath odor, snow-white teeth, no tartar, have never needed a dental, and have never had their teeth brushed. My vet just says to keep on doing whatever I am doing, which is NOTHING except for feeding them a raw diet. I haven’t told her that their teeth have never been brushed, she just assumes that I do.
one of my neighbors when I had the farm would order a 2 inch thick round steak and make the best jerky. Round steak is pretty tough just as steak but makes great jerky. He’d get it at the butcher shop not the grocery store. He also had a smoke house, been farming since the 40’s..could smoke any meat and once a year send one of his own cows to the local slaughter house....
Even my pampered dogs would be envious of your fixins. I’m changing my password on all computers so they don’t see this thread and get any notions, or militate for grander sustenance.
Yum, just what I want - candy made in South America, where they still have shit running in the streets!
thats a better treat than what you get in the store...but I can only vouch for green beans, thats what my old girl gets. I think green beans are the lowest in calories of other beans. I love lima beans....
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