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10 Years Later, Remember Them

On March 16, 2007 the most deadly food recall in history began. 10 years later, the FDA and Washington DC has forgotten about the pets that died and suffered in 2007. But we cannot forget them.

On March 16, 2007 the most deadly food recall in history began. 10 years later, the FDA and Washington DC has forgotten about the pets that died and suffered in 2007. But we cannot forget them.

On March 15, 2007 Menu Foods notified FDA that pets were dying. One day later, March 16, 2007, the first recall was announced. Less than 3 weeks later – April 5, 2007 – the FDA had “12,000 consumer complaints” – pets were dying and suffering permanent kidney damage in shocking numbers (in the first 3 weeks of the 2007 pet food recall the FDA received double the number of consumer complaints than was typical of an entire year). Over the next several weeks recall after recall after recall was announced until more than 150 different pet foods – 5,500 specific products (considering product sizes and manufacturing dates) were recalled.

Thousands of pets died, hundreds of thousands more suffered permanent kidney disease for years to come.

Promises were made, promises were broken.

Just after the recall, the 2007 Congress jumped into action (though probably more of a concern for human health, that a ‘2007 recall’ could happen in human food) and developed new laws to assure consumers food and pet food would be safe. Congress wrote the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act (FDAAA) which was signed into law by President George Bush in September 2007. Specific to pet food – specific to preventing another deadly pet food disaster – FDAAA required FDA to…

  1. Establish an early warning surveillance system.
  2. Regulation for (1) Ingredient Standards and Definitions; (2) Processing Standards; and (3) Labeling Standards Including nutritional and ingredient information
  3. Ensuring efficient and effective communication during a recall. Create searchable public database for recalled human and pet foods.

All three of these FDAAA requirements were to be completed within 2 years – were required by law to be completed by September 2009.

But only 1 has been completed. FDA has established an early warning surveillance system for pet food – the Safety Reporting Portal (an online system where consumers can digitally report a safety concern with a pet food).

The FDA has NOT completed regulations for ingredient standards and definitions, has NOT completed pet food processing standards, has NOT completed pet food labeling standards, and has NOT completed a searchable public database for recalled pet foods.

Yes…elected officials – just after the recall – took swift action to write laws hoping to prevent another deadly pet food disaster. But…not one elected official since has bothered to assure those laws were ever implemented. They all just forgot about all those pets that died, forgot about deadlines, forgot about pet food safety. Every single elected official in Washington DC from September 2009 to present day – has ignored the legal deadline law required of FDA to protect pet food.

Today is a significant anniversary. 10 years. Today – let us not allow them to forget those pets that died and suffered.

Please take a moment today and remember those pets by sending an email or two – making a phone call or two – to remind those in charge promises were broken. Pet food consumers were promised safer pet food, were promised pet food ingredient standards, processing standards, and improved label information. We want what thousands of pets paid with their lives for. Now.

Remember those pets.

Write an email to your representatives in Washington DC. Example email:

Dear ___________,

Ten years ago today was day one of the deadliest pet food recall in history. Thousands of pets died, hundreds of thousands of pets suffered permanent kidney damage. Based on that recall, founded on the many lives that were lost in 2007 – Congress promised consumers safety standards would improve through laws of the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act (FDAAA).

We were promised regulations for pet food ingredient standards (Section 1002) – to date we do not have pet food ingredient standards.

We were promised regulations for pet food processing standards (Section 1002) – to date we do not have pet food processing standards.

We were promised regulations for updated standards of pet food labels (Section 1002) – to date we do not have updated pet food labels.

Has Congress, has FDA forgotten those pets that died and suffered in 2007? I haven’t. As my elected representative in Washington DC, I would like your response to why none of this significant pet food safety work has been completed by FDA. We are 7 1/2 years past the deadline.

The requirements of FDAAA need to be completed. Now. Please assure me you will take an active role is pressuring FDA to complete these pet food safety tasks. I await your response.

[your name]

Pick up the phone and call your representatives in Washington DC. Phone call example script:

My name is ___________ and I would like to register a complaint with the [Senator/Congressman/Congresswoman] regarding FDA not completing requirements of pet food safety. Ten years ago we experienced the deadliest pet food recall in history – thousands of pets died, hundreds of thousands of pets suffered permanent kidney damage. In 2007 Congress wrote the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act requiring FDA to establish pet food ingredient standards, improve pet food ingredient definitions, and update pet food label requirements to give consumers more information. This work was required to be completed by September 2009. But none of it has been completed. In section 1002 of FDAAA, item (a) – tasks 1, 2, and 3 have been ignored. Pets died for those laws. Pets suffered permanent kidney damage for those laws. I expect them to be completed. I am asking your office to personally address this issue with FDA. I would like a response back from your office as to what you have done to assure me these laws – which again, pets died for – will be implemented. Thank you.

[end of example phone script]

The top section on this page provides you with information on how to contact your elected officials in Washington, DC: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

And tell the FDA that those pets that died and suffered in 2007 will not be forgotten.

Example email to FDA:

Dr. Marcia K. Larkins –

FDA was required to complete by September 2009 several significant updates to pet food – including (but not limited to) establishing pet food ingredient standards and updated pet food labeling laws. This work was required of FDA based on the 2007 pet food recall – the deadliest recall in pet food history. Thousands of pets gave their lives for these laws, these pet food safety updates. Hundreds of thousands more paid for them through permanent kidney damage they suffered with for years.

FDA has NOT established pet food ingredient standards, has NOT updated pet food ingredient definitions, has NOT updated pet food labeling laws giving consumers the information they need to purchase a safe and quality pet food. FDA seems to have forgotten those pets that died in 2007, forgotten the 2009 deadline of FDAAA.

I have not forgotten those pets that died and suffered in 2007. I have not forgotten your deadline. There is no excuse you can give me, give those families that will suffice. I respectfully ask FDA to accomplish what FDAAA required you to accomplish 7 1/2 years ago. Get it done.

[your name]

Below is the contact information for the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine Ombudsman (individual that handles complaints about the agency).

Marcia K. Larkins, D.V.M. (CVM)
Ombudsman
FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine

Phone: 240-402-5674
Fax: 240-276-8127
Email: CVMOMBUDSMAN@fda.hhs.gov

 

Remember them. Remember all of those pets that died and suffered 10 years ago. Send your emails – make a few phone calls. Those pets need us to fight.

 

 

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

What’s in Your Pet’s Food?
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19 Comments

19 Comments

  1. Pacific Sun

    March 16, 2017 at 12:52 pm

    Just think … and there’s only 1 person even keeping these groups accountable.
    Thank you Susan Thixton!

  2. Hannie

    March 16, 2017 at 12:53 pm

    I will never forget the recalls of ’07. My whole attitude towards commercial pet food changed that yr & I don’t think I’ll ever go back to thinking that pet food is safe. I did a lot of research during those recalls & couldn’t believe what I found out about ingredients, etc. Yuk. TG my Lab never got sick. I would buy a new food & it would get recalled but luckily, she never had more than a meal or two before I brought it back. That’s when I decided to cook for her. She now gets less than 1/2 c/day of dry, grain free & the best I can find. The rest is cooked for her. She’s 12 yo & still out chasing her tennis ball. Enough said!

  3. Dyan Kirkpatrick

    March 16, 2017 at 1:05 pm

    Hi Susan,
    Is it okay if I re-post some of this on my Instagram page with a link to your website? I didn’t want to do it without permission.

    • Susan Thixton

      March 16, 2017 at 1:39 pm

      Absolutely you can re-post.

  4. Brenda Shanley

    March 16, 2017 at 1:42 pm

    I lost my beloved Afghan Hound, Fudgie to the melamine Chinese evil added to Iams. He died a painful death from a cancer noy even in the vet books.No one even cared. We got nothing.
    Brenda Shanley.

    • Donna

      March 16, 2017 at 11:45 pm

      Brenda, my heart breaks for you and for the suffering your Fudgie experienced. I can only wonder how many of our pets were impacted later in the life for what they were exposed to.

  5. Karen Lucas

    March 16, 2017 at 3:02 pm

    Thank you for being there Susan

  6. Donna

    March 16, 2017 at 3:15 pm

    I well remember the day. My two dogs had been ill, sporadically, for several weeks. I heard about the recalls. No, it couldn’t be “my” high-priced, premium dog food. I made the decision to have the pet food tested – I searched for a lab who would do it and handled everything on my own.
    I remember that day – the lab called and said “are your dogs ok”? Their next statement: “stop feeding this food immediately.” They advised of the test results.
    From that point forward I home-cooked for the dogs. I researched it thoroughly. Still to this day, I will not purchase commercial feed/food.
    My heart hurts for those who lost pets and those whose pets suffered as a result of pet food.
    “They” lost my trust … forever.

  7. B Dawson

    March 16, 2017 at 4:29 pm

    Thank you for this wonderful proactive memorial, Susan. As tragic as this was, it is ancient history now as both elected officials and consumers move on to the next outrage, and the next and the next. Only by resurrecting the consumer outrage of those horrific months can our elected officials be motivated to finish what they started.

    This event is indelibly marked on my soul. As a holistic store owner during the recall, the front window of my shop was literally covered over with printouts of recalled foods, only one of which was ever on my shelves – Natural Balance Venison and Rice. It contained rice protein concentrate even though none was listed on the label. How was that possible? I refused to carry any foods with fractions like that and took NB to task. I found out that the law says companies can use up their existing stock of labels when they change a formula. Is this still allowed? I’m willing to bet it is still standard practice, given that FDAAA has been put on the back burner.

    Further, NB blamed their co-packer, saying it was Diamond who supplied and used the contaminated ingredient and therefore NB was just as much a victim. Deja vu, huh?

  8. Lisa W.

    March 16, 2017 at 5:54 pm

    Thank you for doing all you do. I don’t even know how many cats I lost that were directly related to this because I had been feeding Iams at the time. I am like most here. I read, read, read labels, etc. I don’t trust the big pet foods. I laugh at all the bullshit commercials the put on tv and try to tell anyone who will listen that they are bullsh**.

  9. Tania Cummings

    March 16, 2017 at 7:29 pm

    Dear Susan,

    You now have a new President who certainly seems determined to make some changes in (formerly) lazy Washington. May I respectfully suggest you personally contact the new administration and explain who you are and why you do what you do and ask for direction to the appropriate contact with whom you can liaise on all these issues. Explain all your findings at the meetings of AAFCO etc. and how they have tried to block you.

    You will remember me, I think, from 2009/2009 when we had so many cats die or be paralysed by irradiated cat foods in Australia. My Colette finally passed in August 2014, she had a seizure and died in my arms. Not related to the big USA pet food recall but it was at this time I became aware of your work and we corresponded and you applied some pressure from your end on the pet food company concerned, with your high profile and helped to publicise it to shame them into action. I am ever grateful to you for that. After a concerted effort and much lobbying of government and quarantine services here we got the irradiation of imported cat food banned. We were so influential that they now, unofficially and off-record, warn dog food importers away from irradiation as a quarantine measure and label any that is irradiated “Must not be fed to cats”. (Cats that grazed from the family dog bowl were also affected though the dogs were, to all appearances, not.) I lobbied for the reason why to be placed on the packs also, but they won’t. Of course! No one would buy it even for their dogs!

    You have a brand new government there now and maybe you can exert some influence to get some change. I know the country is polarised over this new Presidency but it IS a fresh start and it DOES seem determined to “drain the swamp”. Whatever people’s political opinions are perhaps they could put those aside and on behalf of pets everywhere, use this opportunity to try to effect meaningful and lasting change and get those FDA proposals enacted.

    For all the affected pets and their owners, in memoriam, God Bless and may you meet again one day at the Rainbow Bridge.

    With kind regards and thanks for all you do
    Tania Cummings
    Sydney Australia.

  10. Danita

    March 17, 2017 at 1:06 am

    Susan was my lifesaver in 2007. We sent misty, Holister, and frak to the rainbow bridge, DEC, Jan, and March, before the recall was announced. It’s hard to find out the food you thought was the best for your kids actually was the cause. Susan rescued me with her website, support, knowledge. I cook all my kid’s homemade food. Susan has a great cookbook to get you started. It’s sad that we’ve been on this journey for ten years! But Susan has been a steady, strong, diligent advocate for all pets and pet parents. Thank you Susan.

  11. Terri Christenson Janson

    March 17, 2017 at 9:26 am

    I will never forgot. Shame on the FDA…..! Thank you Susan for all that you do. THANK YOU.

  12. Michelle

    March 17, 2017 at 10:54 am

    Thanks to Susan, we know about pet food and how to avoid the very bad stuff. I do know that Chinese based food and treats were still on the market in 2012 or so when finally reputable pet stores took them off their shelves. We had been giving some treats that turned out to be horrible for our Collies. Package said made in the U.S.A. I had heard of the recalls and tried to be careful. I was unaware that ‘made in the U.S.A’ meant very little. We had ‘adopted’ two retired show Collies from a very reputable breeder in 2010 and fell in love with them immediately. They were healthy and happy. One was 4 (boy) and the other 5 (girl). A few months after they came to live with us, they were getting sores on their tummies and then the boy on his head. We were stunned and neither the vet nor we could figure it out. I started really researching (instead of listening to the slick, deceptive advertising) and found Truth about Pet Food and Susan. We changed the food and treats, but it took months for the sores to go away. Then in 2013, our boy became very ill and had a ‘rare’ disease of his gall bladder; it had to be removed. The specialty vet called it ‘dying tissue’ and he had only seen it in Shelties. Terrifying as it was, he recovered and seemed to be doing fine. We worried so about him we took him monthly to a holistic vet. About a year after the surgery, he went deaf. Two years later, at the age of 9, he died of bowel cancer. He fell very ill quite suddenly as his monthly vet visits did not reveal an issue. I believe this is directly related to the food we misguidedly gave him the first 2 years. I still feel very guilty about it. How could I be so stupid to trust those pet food makers? I still miss this sparkling boy. We still have the girl; she will be 12 in May. She has chronic diarrhea. We also have two 3 year old Collies now who get mostly home cooked food, with a little Verus and Honest Kitchen. I am hopeful and my warmest thanks to Susan for all she does for our beloved pets.

  13. David Boothman

    March 18, 2017 at 8:45 pm

    In the real world there is a standard proven mechanism for dealing with this type of failure of responsibility. Mandated ten percent annual staff reductions until the failure is rectified. Failure to comply is interpreted as a resignation by Senior Management. The outcome is either a functional organization or it’s elimination so it may be replaced by a new and functional one. This is why airplanes stay in the sky and the products of other organizations rarely get off the ground. Pet food is regulated by the latter type.

    • Reader

      March 19, 2017 at 11:48 am

      In theory your model is correct for inanimate businesses. “Agri-Business” might be under a little bit of a different impression however. If an INDUSTRY has already sold its soul (as in failing to serve the better interests of what’s living) then the next step is an easy one (to that of greed). How else can those who’re a part of it justify a corrupt platform of operation. Just a thought ….

  14. Anonymous

    March 20, 2017 at 5:04 pm

    My dog was affected by this recall and my life changed forever. She didn’t die but there was permanent damage- all because I trusted some marketing. I have since sought to educate people-one by one, and more recently on a larger scale by taking a different approach. It’s only by reminding people and keeping this memory alive that together we will change a broken system. Thank you Susan, for changing my life and giving me courage to quietly go against the industry and thank you to everyone else who perseveres to get the message out and change Big Pet.

    • Reader

      March 20, 2017 at 8:08 pm

      What do you mean by a different approach and on a larger scale? If you have an effective method, maybe we can all benefit from you experience. ?

      • Anonymous

        March 23, 2017 at 11:56 pm

        I went to work on the “inside”…

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