US Pet Food Killing Dogs In China?
This story is concerning dog food sold in China not the United States. However, there is a question whether this food was imported from the US or Australia, as well as exactly where the blame lies.
SHANGHAI, China – A local distributor of a popular brand of dog food said Monday it had suspended sales of the product following reports that dogs who ate it died from poisoning.
China’s recent food safety scandals have centered on locally made products; this time it wasn’t immediately clear whether the product was locally made or imported.
A customer service manager at Shanghai Yidi Pet Co. said the company stopped selling Optima brand dog food last week following reports that more than a dozen dogs who ate it had died from aflatoxin poisoning.
An Optima brand of pet food is made by Doane International Pet Products LLC, based in Brentwood, Tenn. Mars Inc. acquired the Brentwood-based Doane Pet Care Enterprises Inc. in 2006.
U.S.-based Mars Inc., the world’s largest chocolate seller and the maker of several pet foods, denied involvement Monday but said it was investigating the reports from China.
“To the best of its current knowledge, the Optima-branded pet food which appears to have caused these reported incidents in the People’s Republic of China was not manufactured by, or under the authority of, Mars or any of its affiliated companies,” the company said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.
This has turned into a bit of a blame game, no one taking responsibility. The saddest part is that while everyone is blaming each other over 30 dogs have died.
Thanks Kodi for barking this to me.
This product is produced in the factory in USA where I work not in Australia. They ship it to Taiwan then back to Hong Kong and smuggle it into China
Problem there is Chinese companies have a history of manufacturing copied products from other parts of the world.
It’s possible that this food did come from the U.S. factory, but it’s also just as likely that it came from a factory in China that is selling under the same name.
Wherever it came from, they need to pin it down, and make sure it’s not still being sold anywhere before more dogs die from it. I feed my own dogs nothing but Mars food (Pedigree), as it’s the only mass-produced dog food that I’ll trust.
I’m seeing a trend here with Mars pet foods; I can’t believe anyone who will still feed brands made by this company. I won’t even eat candy bars made by them, if they keep doing this with pet food, who knows how long it’ll take them to start messing up human food and snacks.