A new lawsuit filed by National Feeds against United Pet Foods brings some questions. This suit claims United Pet Foods made “rancid dog feed and mink feed.” National Feeds is suing United Pet Food for damages, however no recall was ever issued to protect pet owners.
Per the complaint, Plaintiff National Feeds contracted with Defendant United Pet Foods to manufacture mink feeds and dog foods (National Feeds produces a line of dog foods – National Dog Food) “The mink feed manufactured at Defendant United Pet Foods, Inc.’s Elkhart, Indiana facility in 2010 was rancid, toxic, or otherwise harmful to the mink and manufactured in such a way as to cause illness or death in mink. Tests showed that the mink feed was rancid, and that the mink suffered from a lack of vital nutrients, consistent with rancid feed.
The dog feed produced at Defendant United Pet Foods, Inc.’s facility had high peroxide levels, which is indicative of rancidity of the feed, had excessive fat manifested itself by bleeding fat through the bags of feed, and otherwise. As a direct and proximate result of the Defendants’ actions, Plaintiff National Feeds, Inc. incurred expenses lost goodwill, lost actual and potential customers, and lost profits. Further the Defendants’ actions caused harm to customers of Plaintiff National Feeds, Inc., including but not limited to, harm to their animals and business operations.”
“When used by Plaintiff National Feeds, Inc’s customers, the rancid feed led to illness and death.”
National Feeds is suing manufacturer United Pet Foods because they lost business from these tainted foods. However, no recall was ever issued for National Dog Food.
Despite complaints from mink farmers and consumers being reported to manufacturer United Pet Foods by National Feeds, United Pet Foods never issued a recall for National Dog Food or any mink feed.
In other words, although Plaintiff National Feeds initiated a $3 million law suit to recover damages because of tainted mink feed and dog food manufactured by United Pet Foods, it appears they themselves never issued a FDA recall on the dog food or mink food. As well, although – per the court complaint – National Feeds reported consumer complaints to manufacturer United Pet Foods, it appears United Pet Foods never bothered to issue a recall of reported tainted foods either. No recall was found for any National Dog Food or any mink feed during this time frame.
Questions…
Why was a recall never issued for the dog food(s) National Feeds reported (in the complaint) was rancid?
How is it just to initiate a $3 million lawsuit for corporate damages when it appears preventative measures to alert petsumers of a rancid/risky pet food was never considered?
Did United Pet Foods manufacture other dog foods or cat foods?
IF information provided by manta.com is correct, United Pet Foods manufactures various private label foods along with some varieties of Ol’ Roy, Purina, and Pinnacle.
Did United Pet Food or National Feeds report this rancid pet food/mink food to the FDA?
We don’t know.
Was there any dog food/cat food recalls relating to this rancidity?
No, there does not appear to be any. A search of 2010 pet food recalls on the FDA website show nothing that could be related.
Each and every pet food consumer deserves to know who manufactures the pet food they purchase. Existing pet food regulations do not require this information be provided to the consumer/petsumer.
Each and every pet food manufacturer should be required to report every complaint they receive to FDA – AND – all reports should be public information easily accessed by any petsumer. Give us the transparency and we will make our own decisions.
If indeed there was a recall issued by either United Pet Foods or National Feeds for dog foods or mink feeds and I simply can’t find them – my apologies. If there was no recall, there is no excuse.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author, Buyer Beware
Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
PetsumerReport.com
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