Natural Balance expands their recall

Sad, bad news… Natural Balance has expanded their pet food recall.  The recalled products all contain an ingredient called rice protein concentrate, which has been found to contain melamine.  This ingredient is manufactured by a company in the United States, and not imported from China, so it really makes you wonder who you can trust!  All along, veterinarians investigating the melamine problem have wondered if the problem is truely with melamine, or if melamine is just a marker for something else.  Maybe finding an entirely new source of the stuff will lend extra clues to the mystery.  Sincere condolences to all the pets who died while their owners tried to avoid wheat gluten.  If you’d like to read details of the recall, the information is on the Natural Balance website.  Please note that no extra cat food products were recalled; for cats the only affected product is Venison and Green Pea dry formula.

One other interesting observation is that Natural Balance says, “The source of the melamine appears to be a rice protein concentrate, which was recently added to the dry venison formulas”.  The wheat gluten problem was a result of a new wheat gluten supplier.  Perhaps with pet food, we’ll find out that consistency is key to safety.  When manufacturers find a good supplier and a good recipe, they should just leave it alone.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 04/17 at 03:55 PM

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  1. This makes me heartsick.  In fact I just recently almost bought Natural Balance dry for Yoshi after worrying about her usual Wellness being made at the Menu plant.  A little voice told me to just leave well enough alone and I am so glad I listened to that voice.

    I have been really wrestling with making Yoshi RAW food myself but then I’d worry that the vitamins/suppliments I’d have to add might be tainted too.  This is because I feel that the whole story has not been discovered yet.  I am wondering if it is something completley different than melamine. 

    Not to mention that no recipe I’ve seen seems to be the same and I worry that I might be missing an important ingredient or giving too much or too little of something vital.

    So for now I’ll continue with Wellness with my fingers and toes crossed.

    This all just sucks.

    Posted by Von Krankipantzen  on  04/18  at  11:46 AM

  2. I am shocked by this.  I have used Natural Balance for years.  Luckily I do not use the venison products.. but my faith in this company has been shaken.

    Posted by Coll  on  04/19  at  09:48 AM

  3. Kranki, I was going through my email and just reread the comment you left here.  You mentioned almost buying Natural Balance dry, but sticking to Wellness, so I assume you meant Wellness dry food, too?  If so, you don’t have any Menu Foods worries about the Wellness—Menu Foods only produces wet food.  I have no idea who manufactures Wellness kibble.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  04/23  at  02:20 AM
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