Comments | rthstewart: Jerky Pet Treats Warning

rthstewart

Jerky Pet Treats Warning

Oct 23, 2013 09:48

I've been following this on and off since 2007 but did not realize until I saw a Salon article yesterday that the problem has persisted. Almost 600 dogs and cats have died since 2007 after ingesting jerky treats most made in China.

As the US FDA states on its website:

Within hours of eating treats sold as jerky tenders or strips made of chicken, ( Read more... )

fda, signal boost, dead dogs, real life

Comments 4

(The comment has been removed)

rthstewart October 23 2013, 15:06:50 UTC

I've been buying from Carolina Prime for a while now, http://www.carolinaprimepet.com/ because the packaging says they are Made in US. The dogs love the sweet potato and salmon treats and the price point is great. They've had two FDA recalls, both for salmonella, and one of those involved that huge peanut problem that nearly put Peter Pan foods under. (I've seen people flip out over irradiated treats and I"m thinking, BETTER IRRADIATION THAN SALMONELLA) I really don't want to abandon this product -- and we've been using them since 2007. But it's very worrisome ( ... )

heliopausa October 24 2013, 11:32:21 UTC

"...their active drug ingredients came from China and India (which is there they all come from now)."

I didn't know that. :(

adaese October 23 2013, 17:37:13 UTC

Disturbing. I'm extremely careful about human food (high proportions made by me from recognizable ingredients - though that's more because I love cooking than out of paranoia) - but the cat just gets kibble, and I've absolutely no idea what goes into that.

rthstewart October 24 2013, 00:21:10 UTC

The melamine issue here was really concerning for people who had been buying high end dog food, only to learn that all the dog food was made at the same plant that was purchasing all the ingredients from the same place. The formulas are different but the ingredients and manufacturing are not. I did have a very nice email exchange with the treat company about where they source their ingredients from. I'm going to keep on them because I'd like to continue with this product.

It is very concerning. And buying the freeze dried and "natural" or "organic" product isn't necessarily good either as you can have higher bacterial contamination. A lot of dog treats in the US are irradiated to kill things like salmonella, which I support buy wow, you can get into some really serious arguments with people about that. In the case of dogs, they are omnivores, so they can safely and will eat practically anything. But homemade product takes time and effort.