Maker of Tainted Dog Food to Pay $3.1M (toxic mold case)

Source: Associated Press

Maker of Tainted Dog Food to Pay $3.1M

Friday January 4, 2008 6:01 PM

By MEG KINNARD

Associated Press Writer

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A company that made contaminated
pet food that killed dozens of dogs nationwide will pay
$3.1 million in a settlement with pet owners, an attorney
said Friday.

The pet food, which contained a mold called aflatoxin,
was produced at Diamond Pet Foods' plant in South Carolina.
The company will set up a fund to reimburse pet owners for
the loss of their dog, veterinarian bills and the cost of
any unreturned contaminated food, said attorney Jim
Andrews, who represented a Knoxville, Tenn., family that
sued the company.

Diamond Pet Foods, based in Meta, Mo., acknowledged that
workers at its Gaston, S.C., plant failed to follow internal
testing procedures to ensure its products were safe.
The company made the acknowledgment after the Food
and Drug Administration released a report showing the
company has no record of test results for 12 shipments
of corn in 2005, when grain tainted with the deadly
fungus slipped into the plant.

The company contends it did nothing illegal, according
to the settlement. Mark Schell, Diamond's assistant
general manager, did not immediately return a telephone
message.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-7198769,00.html

and they never would say the reason for her death. HOWEVER, she too had been fed this food!!! :mad:

:dem: :kick:

and, yeah, they would only say it was a virus or "an eating misadventure," implying she ate something she found when she was out. At the time, my pet food wasn't on the list, so I didn't press the issue.

and the awhole I got her from admitted that the dog had been fed this particular food from So. Carolina and told me it was "no problem".

The dog was sick when I got her and I kept taking her to the vet. She had other problems too, but none of them were bad enough to KILL her. However, a toxic mold could take awhile to manifest symptoms I'd suspect and could even go on for quite some time before the animal might begin to sicken and eventually die.

In the end, I found her in my backyard hiding under a tree about 6 ft. away from where my other dog is buried. She was very sick and it was so bizarre and creepy I cannot begin to tell you.

At least I now know why my dog died. :cry:

As for you Diamond foods, I hope you go broke and go broke FAST!!

You can find info. on this by googling Diamond dog food 2005 I believe. The story has been out there despite the China stories that flooded the market.

:kick:

Know how you feel. Miss mine, too, and he died of old age.

I recently switched from Nutro (pure crap) to Solid Gold Hund N Flocken and couldn't be happier. My dog is worth the extra $5.00/month.

I don't feed my animals cheap food. I have 3 cats now and they get organic cat food delivered to my house. It costs a few extra bucks yes, but it is well worth it!

I would have NEVER fed this poor dog that died that crap! NEVER!!!

It took me days of research to determine it's just mass produced junk. There are plenty of foods out there that are even worse.

I'm very glad you can afford to give you pets the best food available to them. but your post has the undertone in it that the buyer should have bought a more expensive brand and all would have been well. I can tell you this is not true and is also not the point.

Any brand put out to be bought in this country should pass food safety standards as we have always expected them to do. "Organic" cat or pet food does not mean it cannot be infiltrated by a fungus or other "natural" poison. Do not be fooled again. And do not believe that just because you pay a lot you cannot be caught in this trap.

My dog food was on the list of "not good for your dog" list and it cost a great deal, it came recommended from a dog enthusiast who treats her dog like a baby. Lucky she keeps up on pet info and called me right away when the news broke on the food.

The blame is clearly not on the buyer but on the manufacturer and on those whose responsibility it is to keep the food chains in this country safe.

This is not news to any of us. It is just one in a long line of disgraces.

:argh:

First I heard of it.

>> Diamond Pet Food Recalled Due to Aflatoxin

Contact:
Mark Brinkman
573-229-4203

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- December 20, 2005 -- Diamond Pet Food has discovered aflatoxin in a product manufactured at our facility in Gaston, South Carolina. Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring toxic chemical by-product from the growth of the fungus Aspergillus flavus, on corn and other crops.

Out of an abundance of caution, we have notified our distributors and recommended they hold the sale of all Diamond Pet Food products formulated with corn that were produced out of our Gaston facility (see complete list below). Please note that products manufactured at our facilities in Meta, Missouri and Lathrop, California are not affected. 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 " 11-June-07". Diamond's quantitative analysis records substantiate that Diamond's 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.

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

http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/diamond12_05.html

:dem: :kick:

That's probably why.

Dogs, Horses, and Cattle die from this that is known. You can buy expensive food that looks fine but is contaminated. Horse feed with corn in it is often contaminated. Grain grown under certan circumstances gets this mold and corrupt greedy pet food manufacturers know its contaminated and still use it.

I recommend petloss.com.