ABC Action News Detroit: "FDA Not Investigating Nutro Foods"
Update 4/29/09:
FDA Denies any Current Investigation of Nutro Pet Foods
Original Blog 4-23-09:
In yesterday's blog, I challenged both ConsumerAffairs.com and Nutro Pet Foods to show us the evidence corroborating their completely different responses from the FDA about an investigation of Nutro foods.
While neither party has officially responded, a "Nutro Ambassador" on Twitter gave me the link to the ABC Action News Detroit (Channel 7) coverage:
(WXYZ) - There has been a lot of web buzz about an article posted on Consumer Affairs' web site regarding the safety of Nutro Pet Food. Action News has talked with the Food and Drug Administration and they insist there is no "investigation" underway.
An FDA spokesperson says, "Normally, we do not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation. In this situation, though, it's unfair to the company to leave the implication out there, so I want to state that there is NO INVESTIGATION currently underway into NUTRO products."
Although ABC Action News also did not disclose the name or department of the "FDA spokesperson," the fact that the information comes from an uninvolved source tends to offer credibility. It still begs the question, though:
Why is the FDA Dragging its Bureaucratic Heels?
While ConsumerAffairs.com has widely publicized complaints from pet food consumers who have lost or had sickened cats and dogs allegedly due to eating Nutro foods, I doubt they "made up" those complaints. My initial blog on this topic a year ago has attracted comments ever since, numbering 136 today. The lastest one, posted just two days ago, says:
Some months ago I notice that the Nutro cat food I was buying for multiple cats started having a strange smell. The cats would eat only intact kibbles and not fragments or crumbs. Also,the cat box started to have a horrendous odor. At about the same time we had adopted a young kitten which appeared to be in excellent health. We purchased Nutro Max Cat canned kitten food for our new baby. The kitten became very lethargic and hid most of the time. We had made an appointment at the veterinary hospital to have her checked out but she died hours before the appointment. We also have an older dog who was diagnosed with pancreatitis. The Vet put her on an antibiotic and special Science Diet formula and she improved rapidly. When returned to the Nutro lamb and rice food her symptoms gradually returned. I have now switched to a totally different brand for both cats and dogs and am waiting to see if anything changes. Cats and dogs seem to like the new products better.
Is the problem that consumers have failed to notify the FDA and send samples and lot numbers of the suspected products? Or that veterinarians have failed to follow-through with the FDA, or a combination of both? Are we to believe that all these sicknesss and deaths after eating Nutro are purely coincidental? By applying the 80-20 rule, it would seem that the comments here and reported on the ConsumerAffairs.com web site are just the tip of the iceberg. The question also arises that, "If Nutro Pet Foods are really all that bad, why are other dogs and cats able to eat them regularly with no ill effects?" Another comment, just posted today:
I have fed Nutro Indoor Chicken Dry formula to my cats for many years. I have NEVER had any problems with sickness, etc. If anything, they have always received great vet visits for coat health, teeth health, and overall health. We also buy Nutro products for our fosters in my rescue group.
Could it be that the FDA is just overburdened with tainted baby milk, pistachios, and peanut butter to spare time right now on yet another investigation into pet food? The "currently" part of the statement made to ABC Action News gives pause to wonder. I would think that the "guys in suits" at Nutro would welcome an FDA investigation, which would clear the company entirely, unless something untoward turns up.
Today, I have no answers. Today, I just have questions.
Nutro Consumer Services Department: 1-800-833-5330
FDA's Consumer Complaint Coordinators (by Region)
Comments
i have a 12 year old male Siamese cat and he is just gettng lazy an will use the restroom on the floor instead of his litter box even tho it is clean, any ideas on how to break him lo it?
So I ask…what the heck is a Nutro “ambassador”? Is that a fancy name for pet sales rep? I guess I would feel better about this to have the FDA publically announce that it mispoke or was misquoted by that investigative reporter with consumeraffairs.com. As the document that is now posted at the consumeraffairs article looks darn official! I know I googled her and read her credentials and was pleasantly surprised… Now can we see the credentials of that ambassador?
Never had a problem with Nutro. My one cat likes it. I was lucky to avoid the problem time period. I use the Pouch food and the hard.
My cat is very healthy.
-Tom
Here is a link to the FDA’s website with their statement on the whole thing. I’m not sure who mispoke consumeraffairs.com or the FDA but it would be nice if someone fessed up to making the mistake. But since the FDA source is “an annonymous source” i doubt we’ll ever find out who’s really at fault.
Forgot to paste the link
http://www.fda.gov/cvm/CVM_Updates/NutroProducts.htm
Thanks, SJ Brian.
Matter of fact, I posted that information yesterday. I need to add it as an update to this blog.