The "gluten story," strike three

Itchmo's alerts are terrific. Another just came in, and as some of us suspected the corn gluten from at least one supplier is also tainted w/ Melamine. Melamine isn't even legal in the USA. It's toxic...generally a fertizer used in China and I guess some other parts of the globe. So Royal Canin, earler having recalls in S. Africa due to corn gluten, has had to recall a list of their products from the shelves here due to rice gluten. It was voluntary, but since it did test positive for Melamine what else could be done but pull it! I only hope the specialty pet supply stores get the word as quickly as those of us who have Itchmo alerts do.

The bad news is that corn gluten is in many pet foods here in the USA. I wonder how many got the tainted stuff??? The FDA doesn't believe any of the tainted corn gluten made it into the United States. Meanwhile, many pet owners are now waiting for another shoe to drop. FDA officials plan a trip to China to check out the factories involved in the manufacture of the imported gluten, but so far do not have visas.

Natura's Karma Dog Food

From news today on the Natura website, there is a statement that the rice protein (gluten) used in their Karma is 100% safe and not from the source that caused problems w/ other foods. This is good news for Jake, because he loves this particular kibble. It's even better news for me, because I became concerned when reading that it was indeed rice gluten that had been put into the Natural Balance products causing their latest problem. CNN has an excellent article up today on their site about the expanded recall. FDA finally has taken action! Note CNN's statement "The FDA has since embargoed all shipments into the United States from the Chinese supplier of the suspect wheat gluten." I wondered why this had not happened. Seems it has! Now if only this Chinese supplier doesn't get around the embargo by simply using a midde man to ship in from another country.

Karma dry dog food made it onto the Whole Dog Jounal list of "Top Dry Foods for 2007," along with a number of others from it's parent company, Natura. The list on Whole Dog Jounal was full of good foods, and although some of the companies did indeed have to pull a few products the exact products named in WDJ have not at this time been part of the recent recalls due to illness and death in so many dogs.

On a lighter note, I found "The DogGie BaG, a Bistro for Dogs" online today. They also have 4 brick and mortar locations! Gotta love it! If you are interested in home cooked meals for your canine, do take a look at their recipes for dogs. I have not tried these yet and I would suggest just to be on the safe side talk to your vet before starting a home cooked diet for the dogs in your life. I think Monica Segal's site is also a good place to start for home cooked meals for dogs. She has a book, as well as booklets available.

Feeding my two legged family is easy, but suddenly feeding Jake has become a complex responsiblity.