Pet Food Recall ALERT: Royal Canin recalls several varieties, do you know?

Question

Royal Canin Recalls Several Dry Foods
April 20th, 2007

Royal Canin is recalling several different formulations due to
contaminated rice protein concentrate. No illnesses are confirmed in relation
to these items.

The following formulas are recalled:

ROYAL CANIN SENSIBLE CHOICE® (available in pet specialty stores
nationwide)

Dry Dog Food
- Chicken Meal & Rice Formula Senior
- Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Puppy
- Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Adult
- Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Senior
- Rice & Catfish Meal Formula Adult

ROYAL CANIN VETERINARY DIET™ (available only in veterinary clinics)

Dry Dog Food
- Canine Early Cardiac EC 22™
- Canine Skin Support SS21™

Dry Cat Food
- Feline Hypoallergenic HP23™


---- from ITCHMO

Answer 1

I know a lot of people are worried about this, so even though this tecnically doesn't answer the question asked, I'm going to say this here:

When this recall broke out, I wasn't at all worried.

My roommate was a bit more worried because he's your "average consumer" when it comes to dogs, so he doesn't specifically know why I insist on feeding our dogs the food I do... but he certainly converted from the "why can't we buy whatever's on sale" line once this came up.

I haven't had to spend a single moment worrying if my dog's food or treats are tainted because I don't use a food that has any sort of wheat products in it.

If you're looking for a safe food that isn't going to end up on this food recall eventually, as it's discovered every bit of wheat byproducts used in pet food is tainted with cabinet laminate, look for Nature's Recipe food. They purposefully refuse to use wheat, corn, and beef in their recipes since dogs really can't digest any of those three ingredients and are, quite often, allergic to them.

I hate to sound like a commercial for the stuff, but it really is one of the highest quality foods on the market, including the food you can only buy from your vet, and very neatly avoids the pet food recall issues by avoiding the tainted ingredient entirely.

Plus, Nature's recipe gives you the advantage of a wide variety of protein sources. I myself feed my dogs a mix of chicken and rice and lamb and rice food, but they also have venison, rabbit, and fish meal if your dogs can't eat one of those protein sources (in both dry and wet), and even have a properly formulated vegetarian dog food for all those people who just can't stomach their canine companion's carnivorous ways.

Heck, just to prove a point, the last time we were at the vet, my roommate tried to score points by asking if we should switch to Science Diet because she sells it, and the vet's answer, without even thinking, was "Nope, you guys have actually got them on just about the best diet out there. You could come close with Science Diet, but just come close. It still wouldn't be as healthy for them."

Plus, I've never had a dog that didn't just wolf the stuff down.

If you need more info, check their website:

www.naturesrecipe.com

Anyway, that's just FYI. If you are still worried, there are actually dog foods out there that are made with human grade ingredients, such as Canidae (http://www.canidae.com/), The Honest Kitchen (http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/index.shtml), Bravo! (http://www.bravorawdiet.com/), etc.

And if you're STILL worried, you can always make your own dog food. There are plenty of resources out there on how to do it. Just google "making your own dog food" and then pick the source you like the best.

Anyway, I hope the above is helpful. If you've got any other questions, feel free to drop me a line.

Edit:

Nature's Recipe would not be affected by the pet food recall of the second ingredient, either (rice protein concentrate), because Nature's Recipe doesn't use that ingredient in any of their formulations, either. They only use rice itself. My apologies for not covering that earlier.

So, it's still safe.

Oh, and they do use soy in quite a few of their product formulations, especially in their wet foods (but it isn't part of the recall).

Answer 2

THANK YOU for posting this.
I am sure there will be more to come. Wilbur-Ellis distributed the contaminated rice product to five major dog food producing plants and at least a few brands have been having their food tested to get official word that YES it contains melamine in the rice product before recalling. Natural Balance recalled first, now Royal Canin. I am sure this is not the END but I sure wish it was.
I feed my dog's Nature's recipe and haven't had a problem, but I am still considering a homemade diet, partial raw because I just don't trust any dog food company at this point. Once the food is mass produced there is just too great a margin for error and too little regulation.
The recalls used to be quieter but now consumers are wise and better informed. Not only that, but people are learning what goes into the mix and that regardless of how "premium" a dog food it, there is a chance that there are products that go into cheap foods, and are the same products that go into the expensive ones. Yes, the different foods can have their own formula and exclusions. The Nature's Recipe does not have wheat, corn or soy. But it does have rice. It does not have brown rice though, so it may not be affected. We shall see.

Answer 3

I have fed my cat the Royal Canin HP23 Hypoallergenic diet for several years. She was diagnosed with renal failure in February. My heart goes out to all the pets and their families who are suffering because of the outsourcing of our food products.

By the way, Nature's Recipe Foods does contain corn and corn gluten in their cat formulas. It also contains chicken meal and animal digest (byproducts). You can read the ingredients on their website. It's also owned by Heinz/Del Monte Corp and while they aren't involved in the current recall, their products have been recalled in the past. I'm not saying it's a bad food, but it's worth thoroughly looking into their product before you make a decision to switch to it. I am currently looking into small companies that don't buy from China and that don't include fillers and byproducts.

Answer 4

In South Africa They have also recalled Maine Coon 31, in case there are any other South Africans out there also using it. I hope no one Else's cats are as fussy as my MC, who won't eat any other dry food. Fortunately, I have been going to the same vet for 16 years,and as soon as he heard about the recall, he let me know that he had one last bag from the previous , non contaminated, batch for me. I hope no ones cats will be affected by this food.

Answer 5

Thats it I am feeding my dog what ever I eat from now own.

Answer 6

Your're spelling is getting better. Keep up the good work.

Answer 7

Thanks !!!
Now you can actually look up the UPC code on your product
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/petfoodrecall/

Answer 8

Thanks for the info. When will the nightmare end?

Answer 9

Thanks 4 the heads up