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Lesson to Learn from the Ainsworth Nutrish Pet Food Recall

Nutrish Pet Food provided additional information regarding their recent recall that is a good reminder for all pet food consumers – something else we need to pay attention to.

Nutrish Pet Food provided additional information regarding their recent recall that is a good reminder for all pet food consumers – something else we need to pay attention to.

First, I want to say thank you to Nutrish Pet Food for being open to discussion with me. I’m sure many pet foods hate to get that call from me asking questions on behalf of consumers. This pet food company didn’t hesitate to speak with me and responded fully (even to a follow email). So – thank you Nutrish.

My question to Nutrish Pet Food was regarding the press release of their recent recall. The statement in question: “After conducting a number of product tests, Ainsworth confirmed that the affected products have elevated levels of vitamin D. The high levels result from the natural levels of vitamin D that are found in some of the fish ingredients that were used in these specific formulas.”

The concern (and the foundation of the lesson for us to be reminded of) was that one of the cat foods being recalled did not list a fish ingredient on the label. How can a fish ingredient cause the elevated levels of vitamin D when no fish ingredient was listed on the label?

The Paw Lickin Chicken and Liver formula cat food – one of the cat foods recalled – listed the following ingredients on the label: “Water, Chicken, Liver, Vegetable Oil, …(all the rest of ingredients are supplements or gums).” No fish ingredient.

So again, how did the above chicken and liver formula cat food get recalled due to elevated vitamin D levels from a fish ingredient (no fish ingredient listed)?

The answer came from Nutrish. The ‘liver’ ingredient used in this cat food (and the other recalled cat foods) was ‘tuna liver‘. The Nutrish representative told me:

“Yes the issue was the fish liver, specifically tuna liver.  Although tuna liver has some positive qualities such as it’s a good source of protein, contains omega 3 fatty acids and is very palatable, it is also high in vitamin D.  Since it was mistakenly added, the levels of vitamin D were not accounted for in the formulation.”
 
“We have processes and protocols in place to prevent this kind of thing from happening, but obviously, they were not enough in this instance.  We immediately implemented an improved and even more rigorous set of protocols to ensure this does not happen again and we have already re-reviewed all of our existing formulas.”

Add to your list of things to look for when reading ingredients on pet food labels…look for generic ingredients such as ‘Liver’. Look for ingredients with no stated species source. Other examples would be ‘Meat’, ‘Meat and Bone Meal’, ‘Poultry’, ‘Animal Fat’. It can easily be assumed by consumers that when ‘liver’ follows ‘chicken’ in the ingredient panel, the species source of the liver would be chicken. But as proved with this pet food recall, that’s not necessarily so.

This is a good reminder. Look closely at the ingredients listed on the product label. If any non-species source ingredients are listed, call the manufacturer and ask if multiple species sourcing is allowed and what the manufacturer does about different nutrient values for each type of species.

Just as example, the following nutrient values are from the USDA Nutrient Database for beef liver and chicken liver (no tuna liver option available)…

[one_third]Nutrient [/one_third][one_third]100 g Beef liver raw [/one_third][one_third_last]100 g Chicken liver raw[/one_third_last]
[one_third]Protein

Iron

Magnesium

Phosphorus

Zinc

Vitamin D[/one_third][one_third]20.36 g

4.90 mg

18 mg

387 mg

4.0 mg

49 IU[/one_third][one_third_last]16.92 g

8.99 mg

19 mg

297 mg

2.67 mg

0[/one_third_last]

Pet food says they provide exact nutrition to our pets, but there is little exact with food. Especially when one ingredient is used to base added supplements on and a different ingredient (with different nutrient values) is used instead.

Keep asking questions.

Additional note: In looking for an ingredient listing of the Chicken variety of recalled Nutrish cat food I found the product still offered for sale on the Pet 360 website. Plus I found the product listed as “Made in the USA” – this product was manufactured in Thailand. I have sent Pet 360 a message about this.

Pet360NutrishMadeinUSA

Another good reminder for pet food consumers, verify everything with the manufacturer. Don’t assume any website has all the current information (this site included). Things can change in an instant with pet food/pet food ingredients. The manufacturer is the best source to ask.

Know your pet food manufacturer. It’s worth the effort.

 

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food

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16 Comments

16 Comments

  1. Hope Williams

    June 11, 2015 at 3:12 pm

    Sorry, but garbage in garbage out. It all sounds good but I don’t know WHERE Nutrish’s canned food is made and what levels of controls do they now have in place versus what level of controls were in place before that would permit ingredients in their cans that are not reflected on their labels. The lower the level of control at a contract manufacturer the higher the profit level. Goes on all the time but in this instance when I see all the hype on the front of labels and and bags from this brand I’m left with a big sigh over how the spin just goes on. Sadly.

    • Debi Cohen

      June 11, 2015 at 6:32 pm

      Hope, you are so correct, also the more you see this crap being advertised on TV., BEWARE, do not buy it, from Purina, furina in my book, Blue, Nutrish, etc, run the other way, these are huge corporations that can afford to put these ads on…………….run……..away, and buy something you do not see and something that you do some research on.

  2. Kenneth

    June 11, 2015 at 3:30 pm

    Or just feed raw and forget all these problems:)

    Dont give these hucksters another dime.

    • Laura

      June 11, 2015 at 4:19 pm

      Raw pet food is also subject to accidents and mistakes. Bravo sells raw food but has had A LOT of recalls. Unless of course you’re talking about making raw food at home for your pets, in which case I agree.

      • Kenneth

        June 12, 2015 at 2:19 am

        Yeah I should have specified, but yes, home made raw is what i meant.

      • Cynthia Williams

        June 16, 2015 at 5:01 pm

        I have a big question — and I’m not being facetious. I’m dead serious. How can we confidently believe that homemade raw meals are safe, when raw meat bought at the grocery store is highly questionable?

        I tried switching to homemade raw meals 15 years ago after reading Celeste Yarnell’s “Natural Cat Care” book. (And it was probably no coincidence that my desperately ill cat began to show signs of improvement during that period). But I stopped when my “trustworthy” butcher, who I thought I’d built a relationship with, sold me beef that looked like it was “painted red” on the outside (a supermarket trick to sell graying meat, which had been exposed on an investigative news program not long before).

        That did it, for me — I became thoroughly disheartened.

        Unless you actually raise and slaughter the meat yourself, how can you really know where it came from and how it’s been handled? Is there a satisfactory answer?

        I admit I haven’t kept completely up-to-date on changes/improvements in the raw pet food industry since then. But with continuing problems in the human-grade raw food arena, I’m not hopeful.

        Thanks.

        • Kenneth

          June 17, 2015 at 12:34 am

          You should not use meat already minced, grind your own. Whole meat is pretty sterile on the inside unless its very very old and extremely mishandled.

          I buy a 10kg lump of meat once a month and grind it myself, doesnt take more than 45 min. Incl. Cleanup and portioning/vacuum packing in 1 day portions so ene bag never sits in the fridge for more than 1 day.

          My cats love it with 20% organ meat mixed in, i useually use whole chicken hearts, they have to really chew those so it clean teethand give their jaws a workout 🙂

          • Kenneth

            June 17, 2015 at 12:46 am

            I forgot…

            Meat thats redder on the outside is not always a sign that its been “painted” red. Hemoglobin is what makes meat red, if the meat is stored so for example one side has been sitting so it didnt get oxygen or wrapped in plastic or clingfilm,, that side will be more greyish, so meat thats not totally fresh will not be as red on the inside.

            Ask the butcher about the age, where its from etc.. if he cant answer, time to find another butcher.

    • Nina

      June 23, 2015 at 2:41 pm

      Well, I have a sincere question I have yet to get answered in the multiple places I have posted it.
      If all dogs and cats became raw-fed…we are talking well over 144 MILLION pets, in the USA alone…where does the meat supply come from?
      If we can’t feed all of our humans…how do we then try to feed humans AND pets?
      Where do the leftovers from THAT production go?
      Do we then raise and slaughter food animals for our pets?
      I know it is a hypothetical question, but like I said…no one has ever answered it.

      • Susan Thixton

        June 23, 2015 at 2:49 pm

        For one, that probably won’t ever happen. But – if it did, the same meat sources that kibble and canned used would be/could be used for raw food. When pets eat true food ingredients (not feed waste ingredients) they actually consume far less food (than with feed).

        • Kenneth

          June 24, 2015 at 12:56 am

          We have to remember that people like us who registers on blogs and forums to inform ourselves and actually cares about what we feed, are a small minority, and with specialized subjects like here (Actually caring about what we feed our pets), an even smaller number.

          Out of everyone here, only a fraction is going to be feeding raw.

          I’ve been talking to my vet a lot about raw because she see’s the results with my 3 cats, and she asks me a lot of questions, and also who feeds raw.

          She’s been in business for over 30 years now, serving 4 cities, and I’m the only one she has ever heard of feeding raw. There was one other many years ago, but it was a puppy and it only had raw when it was still young, then the owner switched to dry cheap kibble because it was “too much work”.

          It’s the same argument with raw as with feeding a better quality canned food, “it’s too expensive”, but when the food has a lot more meat and less carbs, the animal will need much less food. So even though it’s more expensive to feed a better quality food, it actually comes out about the same, or even cheaper.

          One of the things you will notice when feeding raw is the size of the poop. Long time ago before I became informed, I was feeding dry to my cats and the poop my cats were depositing were huge, like a german sheppard had been using the box and the smell… could peel paint of the walls. When switched to raw, the size are like a pencil and they go less often, and there’s practically no smell. That’s because now they utilize ALL of the food they eat. With carb laden garbage, 90% of the food is going to go right through them, because cats are carnivores and can’t process all those carbs.

          Like Susan mentions, it’s a valid concern, but it’s a scenario that’s never going to happen.

  3. Casey

    June 11, 2015 at 4:10 pm

    Since they’re so free with the tuna liver, I wonder if they’re screening for mercury levels…

  4. Marcia

    June 11, 2015 at 4:19 pm

    Susan: Are there any pet food manufacturers who have NOT had a single recall of some sort? [It reminds me of a part in “Rain Man” where Dustin Hoffman said that the only airline that had not had a plane crash was “Qantas” in Australia!]

    Just thought i would ask! I wondered who manufactured “Nutrish” with Rachel Ray’s endorsement!

    Marcia

    • Susan Thixton

      June 11, 2015 at 5:37 pm

      I don’t have a list of who has not had a recall – but many haven’t. Ainsworth Nutrition is the manufacturer for Nutrish.

  5. Laura

    June 11, 2015 at 5:28 pm

    They have yet to address my concern about their dry cat food label that says no ground corn but then corn gluten meal is like the third ingredient in! I was fooled by the label into thinking no corn, wheat or soy. I finally got chewy.com to correct their listing since that is how they had it listed too. I’m not paying a premium price for the same old stuff, same goes for Blue Buffalo!

  6. Linda Honeycutt

    June 12, 2015 at 8:59 am

    Another example of why it’s important to rotate formulas and brands.

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