Here is a scary twist on the problem with dog food. If you read my blog, you know that I am very skeptical of the quality control on the majority of dog food brands in this country. I never feed my dogs food with corn or wheat in it in. I don’t believe that the dog food companies for the most part are driven by a compelling need to provide our dogs with a healthy ration. Otherwise they would not be using corn and wheat in their formulas. And how much of their ingredients are imported from China? Remember that recall a couple of years ago when many brands of dog food were contaminated with the same compound that later poisoned and killed Chinese babies.
This story is not over. The following article appeared in the Shanghai Daily in China.
Emergency Recall of Dog Food after Pets Poisoned
A SHANGHAI dealer has issued an emergency recall of a batch of Optima dry dog food with a production date between August and September last year. Some dogs eating “Optima Puppy Lamb and Rice Dry Dog Food” have been poisoned by aflatoxin – a naturally occurring toxic chemical that comes from a fungus found on corn and other grains. It can cause severe liver damage.
“Three dogs have been confirmed dead, and they all ate the batch of Optima food,” said the Shanghai Naughty Family Pet Co, a pet clinic on Hongqiao Road. These dogs were fussy about their food, had diarrhea and vomited, all symptoms of aflatoxin exposure, staff said..
The clinic is now treating its fourth patient, a two-year-old Yorkshire who showed symptoms after eating Optima dog food. “Yesterday he vomited four times,” said a woman surnamed Tan, the dog’s owner. “Before he got so severely sick, he ate very little, shivered or just lay on the floor.”
Tan said she had bought the Optima dog food on November 18. “I started to use the brand last March. My dog never showed anything wrong until he ate this bag,” she said.
Since the end of November at least 20 dogs are believed to have died in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou from liver complications. Some pets died within 10 days of showing symptoms.
An agent of Shanghai Yidi Pet Co Ltd, a Shanghai dealer of Optima food, admitted that a “severe quality problem” was found in the batch, and they were recalling the products. Yidi said pet owners should return the contaminated food to be exchanged for other brands.
Yidi purchased the batch of Optima dog food from a Taiwan supplier, according to an agent who declined to be named. An imported feedstuff registration list posted by China’s Ministry of Agriculture shows that the Optima dog food’s production enterprise is Australia-based Doane International Pet Products. But Tan said her purchase order said the food was made in the United States. “American-made Optima is a very famous brand. That’s part of the reason I chose it,” Tan added
Jan 13th – The story continues – but will we ever know the truth? Isn’t this the same government that denied that melamine was present in the food chain of infants.. many of which died.
BEIJING, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — China’s quality watchdog Tuesday denied ever authorizing the import of Optima brand dog food allegedly linked to the deaths of dogs in Chinese cities. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ) said in a statement that local entry-exit inspection and quarantine units had also never allowed the import of the dog food.
Some media reported the Optima brand dog food was imported from Australia and caused the deaths of dogs in Shanghai and other cities. Chinese domestic media citing vets who treated the sick dogs said the food was suspected of containing aflatoxin, an extremely toxic and carcinogenic fungus found on corn and other grains that can cause liver damage.
The GAQSIQ said responding to the media reports, investigation was carried out immediately, which showed that the GAQSIQ has never authorized the import of such brand dog food and local entry-exit inspection and quarantine units across the country have also never allowed the import of such dog food from Australia. According to relevant regulations, domestic importers are required to apply for a permit before they can import pets’ food and the imported pet food much go through examination and quality safe test by relevant inspection and quarantine units before being allowed to enter country and put on sale.