The District Manager of the Philadelphia District of USDA told TruthaboutPetFood.com “The pet treats are NOT manufactured under USDA inspection.”
The following email was sent to USDA District Office (PA) Sunday 7/30/17….
I was provided with the USDA establishment number of 8556 by Earth Animal Pet Products as the manufacturer of a dog treat titled ‘No Hide Dog Chews’. That establishment number is for Pony Express Foods, 121 Jalyn Drive, New Holland, PA. I contacted Pony Express and they confirmed they are the manufacturer of the dog treats. The pet company claims the treats are manufactured under USDA inspection. I’m trying to verify that claim. Can someone at USDA verify that a USDA inspector is present and on duty during manufacture of the No Hide dog chews?
Thanks –
Susan Thixton
Received today (7/31/17) from USDA…
The pet treats are NOT manufactured under USDA inspection.
Susan G. Scarcia
District Manager
Philadelphia District Office
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
The Food Safety and Inspection Service
Office of Field Operations
Mellon Independence Center
701 Market St. Suite 4100-A
Philadelphia, PA. 19106
(The USDA statement included all capital letters for the word “NOT”; that was their emphasis, not mine.)
The Earth Animal response to TruthaboutPetFood.com’s previous post on the No-Hide dog treats included the following sentence…
Our products are manufactured entirely in a USDA-registered human food facility where USDA inspectors are present on all days when production is taking place and where, by law, rawhide material would never be present.
On the No-Hide FAQ page is a similar statement…
How does Earth Animal assure the quality standards for No-Hide?No-Hide is made in a human food processing facility that is certified by the USDA and the FDA to manufacture food for people. Because this is a human food processing facility, USDA inspectors are present whenever production is taking place. This ensures you that the safety guidelines set up by both the USDA and the FDA are being adhered to. All raw ingredients that are used in No-Hide have been USDA inspected and approved for human consumption.
The Earth Animal statements do not directly say the treats are manufactured under inspection, it is only alluded to. Note the careful wording: “USDA inspectors are present on all days when production is taking place” and “USDA inspectors are present whenever production is taking place”. Earth Animal does not directly specify what “production” they are referencing in these statements. USDA inspectors most certainly are present when Pony Express Foods is manufacturing human jerky (product of this company). But per USDA (District Office, District Manager) – USDA inspectors are not present supervising the production of the dog treats, they are “NOT” made under USDA inspection.
Is Earth Animal misleading consumers with these statements? Or does Earth Animal believe their treats are manufactured under inspection (does not fully understand USDA inspection) and did they make what they believe is honest statements (based on lack of understanding of USDA inspection)?
Hopefully – we will learn the answers to those questions from regulatory investigation into this issue. When more is learned, it will be shared.
FYI: What does manufactured under USDA inspection mean?
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service
“Assuring the safety and security of the food supply is a vital part of FSIS’ public health mission. FSIS has more than 7,600 inspectors and veterinarians working in plants with meat, poultry, and egg products and at ports-of-entry every day to prevent, detect, and respond to food safety issues. FSIS also has more than 100 employees across the United States who monitor meat, poultry, and egg products at import facilities, including docks, loading areas, and refrigeration and storage areas. They also monitor the movement of product through distribution channels.”
“FSIS enforces the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA), the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act, which require Federal inspection and regulation of meat, poultry, and processed egg products prepared for distribution in commerce for use as human food.”
‘Manufactured under USDA inspection’ means a USDA employee oversees the production of a food product to assure all applicable food laws are adhered to.
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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What would we do without your ‘eagle eyes’ for issues like this!
Thanks, Susan. One more company exposed for making false and deceptive pet food advertising claims, …. only 9,999 left to go.
Earth Animal, the new Evanger’s?
WOW! That’s a blatant lie isn’t it? That’s the end of that company, hopefully the owners can’t start up again under a new name!
“Under USDA inspection” is part of the standard sales pitch from The Pony Express sales team, I would imagine. It would be something that human food manufacturers would need to know and would thoroughly understand. But as you point out Susan, did Earth Animal understand what that meant? Did they bother to ask if it applied to non-human production or did they make their own assumptions?
At the very least Earth Animal should have verified what that statement meant. I’m sure this will figure into their explanation now: “We didn’t think to ask, just took the assurance at face value. We are now wiser and it won’t happen again”. Hard lesson learned.
USDA inspectors aren’t always on the floor either. When I lived in Georgia and purchased goat meat directly from the packing house, my contact told me the inspectors were usually up in the office drinking coffee with the foreman. I found this out one day when he called to offer me a free goat carcass. When I asked “why free?”, he replied the carcass was accidentally dropped on the floor and for once the inspector was around to see it so they couldn’t process it for human consumption. I was offered a free goat (halaal, no less!) every few months. Really gives you confidence about human food processing, doesn’t it?
Re halal, any words I write do this no justice: http://www.barenakedislam.com/2012/05/03/whitewashing-barbaric-halal-slaughter-to-make-it-palatable-to-ignorant-americans/ AND http://freedomoutpost.com/the-meat-you-eat-is-halal-but-usda-wont-label-it/ BTW, dogs are considered “unclean:” http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/10/islam_and_dogs.html
Not trying to change the subject, but people have no clue what they’re eating. I post this with the understanding that we live in a dystopian culture where seemingly everyone is offended by everything, especially the truth.
It seems like there’s just no oversight, so these companies can claim whatever they want – until they get caught, at least. And that’s usually not until after there’s a tragedy. You’re being kinder than I would be in even entertaining the idea that it might be because they don’t understand.
I wish this was surprising to me… I was told when I questioned an organic label (as there were no organic ingredients present in that product) that this is “just the way it is in pet food, everyone does it” I got the same reply when I questioned the “no GMO’s” label. So yes the manufacturers know exactly what they are doing. The “pop up” pet food company that uses a private label manufacturer may not know because a lot of them have no idea how to make a pet food or treat.
If the ingredients are all USDA inspected and approved for human consumption as they claim, then that should be enough to rule out rawhide. Rawhide is not approved for human consumption.
But isn’t it true that if it’s a usda certified human food facility, doesn’t it mean the raw rawhide material wouldn’t be allowed on site to begin with? The volume of hide they’d have to be shipping into that plant would be massive- these are nationally distributed and popular as heck. There’d be no way to hide that sort of volume
This No Hide Rawhide nearly killed my dog, who got obstructions from it. He spent a week in the hospital and because he couldn’t keep his meds down, spiraled into uncontrollable seizures for a week. He’s at home now but still in terrible condition.
Then, the product is misbranded under the 1908 act in that the statement is false and misleading. Then, check to see if the manufacturer is authorized to sell this product in your state. Most states animal feed requires registration before the product can be sold in that state. If not, the product could be illegal and/or adulterated. Check the ingredients list for other ingredients to see if they are on AAFCO lists.
Just for the heckuva it, I decided to send the 2 links re: the “No Hide ” treats to some online companies selling them.
Natural pet warehouse
Only natural pet
Muttropolis
Arcatapet
Best buddy pets
Jet.com
Petspawsplus
Dee-O-Gee
Murdoch’s
Wonder what they will say.
Have gotten replies from Muttropolis and Arcatapet. They contacted Earth Animal and posted to me their response. I appreciate that very much.
Susan, I’m sure you’ve received a copy of Earth Animal’s response. What do you think?
I understand they want to defend themselves – I think all but one thing is their right to say. That one thing is the report about the pet owner. I’ve talked to her many times (again today). The report they give on what happened is not how this transpired. That part I don’t understand – how/why they would alter the story.
Susan, I would be happy to share with you how this product nearly killed my dog and landed him in the ER and hospital for 5 days.
I’d disagree that EA is only “alluding” to the inspection issue. The company’s offers a statement, on the topic of its dog chews; not other products: their dog chews. The caption/heading written by them: “How does Earth Animal assure the quality standards for No-Hide?” The statement declares (not implies) that the product is made in a specific facility, and that “USDA inspectors are present whenever production is taking place” in that facility.
After reading the first email from Susan Thixton I went to my pet store and brought back a partially chewed and new “No-Hide” bone. I explained why I was making the return. They asked that I forward the email to them which I did. This occurred on a Saturday. They tried to reach the Earth Animal’s company rep but told me they would probably have to wait till Monday. On Monday, 8/7/2017, I received an email from the pet store forwarding to me a response they received from Earth Animal. The email defended Earth Animal’s use of USDA inspections but never mentioned the question of whether or not they are truly “hide” free. I should never have given this product a try!! I’m always so careful about what I give my dog but it just sounded so good! Right! Too good to be true!!! I’m very upset with myself for falling victim to this company and am waiting to see how this all pans out. I’ve received no other response from the pet store I use and I bet they are still selling the product. I’m just feeling that there are other pet parents out there that might unknowingly be doing harm to their pets!
I spoke with an FDA investigator yesterday who told me that no way would a USDA inspector be inspecting the production of dog food or dog treats. It just isn’t done. So, yes, their claim that a USDA inspector is present is definitely misleading. A USDA inspector might be present in the same building or the same factory where human products are being produced but in no way would be present or in the area of where the dog treats are being produced.
If there were tests done that identified raw hide and beef in all the no hide products then
why would they not have been recalled by now?
Will you report on Luna Science and Nutrition LLC’s finding that there is NO rawhide in No-Hide treats, and that the methods the other person used to identify rawhide were not scientifically valid?
I just published a post providing Earth Animal’s science and added a few questions: https://truthaboutpetfood.com/no-hide-rebuttal-brings-more-questions/
I know of 2 independent pet supply shops in my city where they have pulled the No Hide products from their shelves due to the concerns being discussed here. I regularly do business with both of them and know that the owners are closely following the news on this.
At least 1 state has issued a Stop Sale order because the products were not registered for sale in that state.
Anyone can contact their state’s Department of Agriculture to ask if the products are registered for sale in their state, and tell the state officials why you are asking.
I just wanted to point out a blatant lie from Pony Express the makers of No-Hide treats. They say in their letter posted on Earth Animals site (https://www.earthanimal.com/no-hide-statement/) that they had been questioned about the products they import from China. Their claim is that the products were finished goods including rawhide that were sold exclusively at a local farmers market that was open one day a week. I just checked (http://www.usaimportdata.com) to see the type of volume that they are importing and discovered that between 08/01/2017 and current date Pony Express has imported at least 4 full containers of pet products from China which is roughly 20,000 cases of dog chews. There is no way they are selling 20k cases of dog chews at one farmers market that is open one day a week. Sorry not buying it. Check it out for yourself.