Chicken Jerky Treats- FDA/CVM Caution!

[Pita_Purr_Parler]

http://www.fda.gov/cvm/CVM_Updates/ComplaintsChicJerky.htm
Preliminary Animal Health Notification

December 19, 2008

FDA Continues To Receive Complaints about Chicken Jerky Products for Dogs and Cautions Consumers

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to caution consumers of a potential association between the development of illness in dogs and the consumption of chicken jerky products also described as chicken tenders, strips or treats.  FDA continues to receive complaints of dogs experiencing illness that their owners or veterinarians associate with consumption of chicken jerky products. The chicken jerky products are imported to the U.S. from China.  FDA issued a cautionary warning to consumers in September 2007.

Australian news organizations report the University of Sydney is also investigating an association between illness in dogs and the consumption of chicken jerky in Australia. At least one firm in Australia has recalled their chicken jerky product and the recall notification stated the chicken jerky product was manufactured in China.

FDA believes the continued trend of consumer complaints coupled with the information obtained from Australia warrants an additional reminder and animal health notification.

Chicken jerky products should not be substituted for a balanced diet and are intended to be
used occasionally and in small quantities.  Owners of small dogs must be especially careful to limit the amount of these products.

FDA, in addition to several veterinary diagnostic laboratories in the U.S, is working to determine why these products are associated with illness in dogs.   To date, scientists have not been able to determine a definitive cause for the reported illnesses.  FDA has conducted extensive chemical and microbial testing but has not identified any contaminant.

FDA is advising consumers who choose to feed their dogs chicken jerky products to watch their dogs closely for any or all of the following signs which may occur within hours to days of feeding the product: decreased appetite, although some may continue to consume the treats to the exclusion of other foods; decreased activity; vomiting; diarrhea, sometimes with blood; and increased water consumption and/or increased urination.  If the dog shows any of these signs, stop feeding the chicken jerky product.  Owners should consult their veterinarian if signs are severe or persist for more than 24 hours.  Blood tests may indicate kidney failure (increased urea nitrogen and creatinine).  Urine tests may indicate Fanconi syndrome (increased glucose). Although most dogs appear to recover, some reports to the FDA have involved dogs that have died.

The FDA continues to actively investigate the problem.  Many of the illnesses reported may be the result of causes other than eating chicken jerky.  Veterinarians and consumers alike should report cases of animal illness associated with pet foods to the FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/complain.html in their state.
---------------------------------------------

I cannot help but wonder if the treats are irradiated in China and again when going into Australia.....

[Pita_Purr_Parler]

Phyllis Entis at eFoodAlert has written an article on the topic with reference to last year's problems and this year with Kramar.

It seems that government/industry "science" has yet to identify the source of the problems other than the product being Chicken Jerky treats imported from China.

http://efoodalert.blogspot.com/2008/12/chicken-jerky-dog-treats-fda-update.html

CVM has issued this new warning to alert pet owners who choose to give these treats to their dogs to watch for the development of any of the following symptoms, which may appear hours or days after a dog has eaten these treats. Small dogs appear to be especially susceptible.


* decreased appetite (dog may continue to eat the treat but refuse usual food)

* decreased activity level

* vomiting

* diarrhea - sometimes with blood

* increased water consumption and/or increased urination

A dog that displays any of these symptoms after having eaten chicken jerky treats should be seen by a veterinarian if the symptoms are severe or if they persist longer than 24 hours.

[JJ]

Why oh why are people not reading the packages as to where the treats, etc. comes from? If it says Made in China your may be taking a huge risk with the health of your pets. We went thru this last year - do you think for one moment these treats are now safe to buy and give to your pets? Come on already - please read the whole package and especially where it comes from. Your pet cant read the package - thats the hoomans job ya know!

[Sandi K]

bump

[raggiesrule]

Unfortunately it doesn't have to be made in China to cause huge problems for your pets even food made in what I would previously have called a safe country like Canada can cause serious problems for your pets health as we only have to look at our cats to see. Companies even ones that claim to have a "safe" product with only locally sourced ingredients and "don't" use synthetic antioxidants eg: BHA & BHT  don't do adequate testing on their ingredients to ensure these claims are true. Nor if you believe what they are saying do they keep any control over or monitor their transport delivery system to the end user. Time is past for me at least to believe any claims by any commerial pet food maker - they are in it for the money and it doesn't matter where it is made. Every time we put a bowl of kibble down, open a can or give our furry kids a commercially manufactured treat we potentially endanger their health (and given the salmonella issues ours as well). These companies appear to function without any need to monitor quality and all our governments allow it to happen - as pet food isn't really food is it? It takes huge number of complaints for a government to do anything despite these complaints relating to the ill health and death of what to most of us are family members. Why blame just the Chinese they are not the ones buying ingredients for the cheapest price they can regardless of the quality, they are not the ones that fail to do any quality control on their product, they are not the ones failing to monitor their delivery systems to the end user.

After what we have been through this year with Orijen (and remember this is "Pet Food of the Year" what a joke that is) and after last years debaucle were how many pets died anything made in China/USA/Canada has to be suspect as it is apparent there is no quality control at all. We have only ever fed a very small proportion of commercially manufactured food and we still have 5 cats with some level of partial paralysis 5mths after we saw the first symptoms in the first cat.

If any of us are going to continue to feed commercially produced food to our pets we all need to ensure these companies know their arrogance/disregard for the safety of our pets/priorities need to change or they will not have a market. They make a huge amount of money from pet owners but clearly think we are all stupid and will continue to purchase and feed our pets the crap they continue to dish out.

Jo

[mary blonde]

"Why blame just the Chinese they are not the ones buying ingredients for the cheapest price they can regardless of the quality, they are not the ones that fail to do any quality control on their product"


I have to disagree. The Chinese are the ones adding melamine, CA, etc. to boost their profits and still sell cheaply to US & Canada. They DO NOT have any quality control or there would be no melamine, CA, etc. in their food products. They even fake documents saying they are melamine free!! (from previous link on IMO)
I DO blame the Chinese for most of these problems as they are the ones who started all this with the Pet Food Recall of 2007! Not only did they not learn anything from that disaster, they continue to promote that cwap in other products! Melamilk comes from China!! The owners of Sanlu Diary are on trial right now for that!

[JJ]

I can see the point of that China is not the only guilty place producing adulterated food. A lot of companies have their food produced over there, why, when we have plenty of farms right here is beyond me. But it seems that China is the biggest one causing the greatest amount of harm from any one place in the world. Lead toys, toxic milk, toxic feed additives for pets, filthy fish, poison fish passed off as some other kind and sold in chicago (two people became very ill from these puffer fish as they can kill you with the poison they contain). Now its jump on canada time with the Orijen. At least they are checking all the ingredients for the source and found things in their food that they didn't know til now was in it. They are trying - no one is saying they are perfect, not one bit. What other pet food mfrs. are going to the length of testing every ingredient in their food besides Orijen - can anyone name another one? We on Itchmo feel for those who are going thru a very difficult time with their kitties right now but we have been there way back before this happened and a lot of us on here have had pets who either dropped dead because of the toxins in the food from china or had to be put to sleep because there was not one single thing more any of the pet parents on here could do to save them after pulling out all the stops. And to this day there are pets suffering still from this toxic cwap.

At least there is some glimmer of hope not matter how much sheet you will go thru nursing your babies back to health - at least they have a chance and will still be alive once their health returns slowly. But the pets who have died in 2007 and since never stood a chance-there was nothing to try or do to bring back their health - they were given the death sentence and many here watched with their guts ripped apart as their lil fur babies were taken from them day after day after day.

So we do feel for those who struggle with health issues. We have done and still are dealing with them too.

But China is the stand out place when it comes to toxins and recalls that can harm, poison, sicken and cause death. The pet food places that still continue to buy ingredients from there - well people should find out if they do or wherever the ingredients come from and if you do not like where any of it is from you have a choice to make. Either stop feeding that particular food or continue knowing what you know about whats in that food your feeding. No one is forcing you to buy this or that food and feed it - that is the pet owners decision but remember the pets are the canaries in the coal mine - if they refuse it it may not be because they are picky - there may very well be something wrong with it that they sense and know better than to put it inside of themselves.

So for the other places that produce cwap we need to let them know also like we already do for lots of others, that we won't buy that cwap and make it safe or keep it-its a no sale here.

[raggiesrule]

Whilst I agree that China is a major source of the contamination it seems to me that no one forces people to buy products from them and if they are correctly labelled you can make a decision not to use anything from China or that has chinese ingredients. The problem is we do not get the right to make informed choices not only about what we feed our pets but what we feed ourselves. Truth in labelling would be nice but it doesn't seem to be something too many of us see. Would any of you have been feeding what you were if you had known where the ingredients were sourced. And instead of banning Melamine our govt puts an allowed limit on it? why? we have to get rid of toxins and diseases carcases so we just cook them up and feed them to our pets and are expected to eat them ourselves. And i originally commented because there was an assumprion that if it was made in China it wasn't safe but my point is neither is pet food made elsewhere either. And I specified US/Canada as here premium foods only seem to come from the US or Canada - we did have a very good local product that was chicken and rice based but they changed their formual totally so that corn was the first ingredient (wasn't in the product at all before) so that is no longer a viable option.

And I certainly don't mean to play down what happened to people's pets in the 2007 pet food disaster but our governments appear to have learnt nothing from it as there are still ongoing issues with pet food safety.

And yes Orijen have made some effort to find out what is going on with their product but it is after the fact. I am sorry but I find it very hard to believe that they didn't know there food was going to be irradiated - did no one bother to read the import permit?? And even if that was true with the first shipment after they or their distributor had to take the products for irradiation, pay for irradiation and pick the product up from irradiation how could they still not know it was irradiated. How long ago did they become aware that BHA and BHT were in their food and if their food hadn't caused the problems it did in Australia would you ever have been told? And JJ you seem to be under the misapprehension that cats here will all be OK - if you know something we don't that info would be much appreciated. Cats here didn't just get a minor illness that they will get over - the white matter around their spinal cords has been made spongyform, their nerves have been demylinated, they have brain lesions - from what we see on the PM results of cats that had to be PTS who had the same symptoms as the cats that are still with us but those PTS didn't turn around despite the desperate wait of their owners & vets. Some of the affected cats are showing signs of recovering but how long will that last, how much better will they get, and how long will it take  - its been 5mths since our first showed signs of partial paralysis and she can still only slowly wobbly walk if she concentrates, she is still incontinent, she is still full of fear. and if we do finally get them healthy for how long will that last? The chemicals found by MSU might not be neurotoxic according to Orijens toxicologist I didn't hear they were not carcinogenic or kind to kidneys and livers. How many more cats will die because people here trusted Orijen and their claims about their food and were foolish enough to think a Canadian product was safe. And like most that purchased it I did research and spoke to people that have been feeding it for ages before I started feeding it but I still wasn't given the right to make an informed decision and nor was anyone else here.

And that is my point we (and I mean all of us not just Aussies) deserve to have the right to make informed decisions about what we eat & what our pets eat and we should have confidence that the food we buy is safe to consume and it certainly isn't at the moment. Do you know what products are irradiated for example. Here there has to be a label on human food if its irradiated but if its an ingredient that rule doesn't seem to apply, pet food also can be irradiated without anyone thinking we need the right to know. Why do we not have the right to know when food is Gm'd, why do we not have the right to know where ingredients are sourced, why do we not have the right to know if they are safe to consume? We don't even get the right to know what is in our food because companies aren't required to test to verify their ingredient lists are correct and can substitute an ingredient if need be and don't have to tell us about that either.

Jo

[Carol]

Jo, You are echoing what we all have been saying ever since our pets were affected last year...I never thought in a million years that my cats' or dogs' food had ingredients from China...especially a wheat product...I like so many others falsely thought food companies were on the ball with their product safety and knew enough to keep us safe...especially after the US attack on 9-11-01 I thought for sure any foods coming into the US were thoroughly checked.  It was not until my two cats were fighting to live  did I start to learn the real truth.  There is a common denominator in the 2007 recall victims and the victims now in Australia....those affected say "how come these pet food companies did not know"...it may not be melamine in the Orijen foods but the disaster and sadness is the same.  I like you want to see what I am feeding my family--entire family--and where it comes from... It is disgusting that I can know where my 29 cent foam paint brush is from but not my processed food!   I believe the only sure way of even moving a little bit towards what we all want is to stay vocal...and not to give up!   

[JJ]

Jo in my writing about the cats who recover I meant that they are still here whearas the 2007 pets never will be. I didn't mean to imply that the ones suffering so badly are not any less considered to try and see if they will be better. Sometimes it doesn't happen and sometimes miracles do. We have lots of pets still alive and dealing with continuing sickness from the 2007 pet food and many have gone to the bridge in the past few months also having fought so hard to be here and their lil bodies just couldn't do any more.

I agree no one would have fed their pets the toxic cwap in 2006 and 2007 had they known. No one would. And as far as being told - yes we get told when enough pets succomb to the food and reports are made that go beyond the normal couple of pets have an episode with a particular. Consumer reports has dozens from a company that states there is nothing wrong with their food.

And as for Orijen - your right about them knowing that the food would be blasted with cobalt radiation - how could they not know? Now in their testing of all the ingredients (to show they were concerned and doing something) they found BHA and BHT. Have not seen when or where it might be posted that the food last was tested for preservatives. Would it have been if the paralysis of the cats in Austrailia had not occurred and they looked at everything to find a cause with the testing of the ingredients?

And as far as knowing which foods just might have GMO's on organicconsumers.org they list the percentage of soy, corn, etc. that is genetically modified. So if it is in a food you purchase and its not organic, then there's a good chance it contains GMOs. All packaged food has it and that was just posted on here not too long ago. Might be under Pandora's Box thread.

So the more we beetch, carp, complain the more they do not divulge, they cover-up, hide ingredients and add more of the toxic cwap to the food. Life, any life, means nothing to them - its all about the money, follow the money, money never lies.

[menusux]

Something I just found re: Chinese chicken jerky and a manufacturer whose products were temporarily withdrawn from WalMart in 2007:

http://www.petfoodindustry.com/ViewArticle.aspx?id=21582

Pet Food Industry March 28, 2008

1 Year Later--Changes in China

Michael Wang, export manager with Shanghai Bestro Enterprises Inc., a privately owned petfood manufacturer, said the company has its own evaluation system to supervise the suppliers. Bestro makes chews and pet snacks that are exported to the US and Europe, with annual sales of about US$20 million, according to Wang.

""We have many suppliers and the evaluation system helps us keep the good ones," he said. "All suppliers are required to send us a copy of upgraded licenses, including the business license and the food sanitation license." The company also does sampling inspection at its laboratory and sends a lot of material for testing to the US.

""After the incident last March, it takes longer for the FDA inspection, but no matter how strict the process is, our pass rate is 100%," Wang added."

This is VERY false.

Shanghai Bestro/Pingyang Pet Products, whose website was apparently inactivated by the Chinese government after the chicken jerky treat illnesses and deaths here last year, is back online with more products than before, and shipping them to the US.

http://www.fda.gov/ora/oasis/1/ora_oasis_i_72.html

FDA OASIS January 2008 refusals:

China                              336-8041066-2  1    1       E
Shanghai Bestro Enterprises Inc
Shanghai CN-31, CN 200137                               LOS-DO
72BGY02   Chicken Jerky Strips
28-JAN-2008                        SALMONELLA

China                              336-8041089-4  1    1       E
Shanghai Bestro Enterprises Inc
Shanghai CN-31, CN 200137                               LOS-DO
72BGY02   Chicken Jerky Strip
28-JAN-2008                        SALMONELLA

http://www.fda.gov/ora/fiars/ora_import_ia7203.html

Salmonella detention list:

Pingyang Pet Product Co. (Factory)  5/6/05 Chicken Jerky Strips
Xiazhai Rd., Xiaojiang                            70Y[][]99
Pingyang, Zhejaing                         ***71A[][]01
Zhejiang (Province), China                      ***71A[][]05
FEI# 3004331518                                 ***71E[][]02
                                           ***71E[][]99
AND                                        ***71Y[][]99
                                             72B[][]02
Headquarters for the above factory:                    72B[][]99

Shanghai Bestro Enterprises Inc. 8/29/07 Chicken Jerky Strips
258 Gaozianghuan Road                             70Y[][]99
Gaodong Industrial Zone, Pudong                 ***71A[][]01
Shanghai, China                                 ***71A[][]05
FEI# 3005299066                                 ***71E[][]02
FEI# 3006238093                                 ***71E[][]99
***71Y[][]99  72B[][]02 72B[][]99

http://www.bestros.com/

Website is now active--Chinese government no longer disabling it despite their paper tiger talk about being tougher on exported food.  Website is redesigned and you can see ALL of their filthy products scroll by on the home page.  There are dog and cat treats which are, quoting site, "Premiul" (sic).

http://www.bestros.com/index.asp?class=about

"Shanghai Bestro Enterprises Inc. is engaging in manufacturing, processing and selling pet treats. With registered assets of 15 million RMB and 2000 employees, the company is one of the most modernized and professional pet treats manufacturer in China. It has three pet treats processing plants. The first one is Wenzhou Golden Choice Pet Products Inc., which was established in 1989 and covers an area of 400,000 sq.ft. The monthly capacity is 100 full container loads (FCL¡¯s).

"The second plant is Shanghai Bestro Enterprises Inc., which was established in 2004 and covers an area of 200,000 sq.ft. The monthly capacity is 30 FCL¡¯s. While, the third one is Jiangsu Hongtai Pet Products Inc., which was established in 2005 and covers an area of 800,000 sq.ft. Its monthly capacity is 50 FCL¡¯s.

"With advanced technology and equipment, we are capable of providing high-quality products to you. Our main products include dog Rawhide Chews (beef hide, pork hide), Real Meat Treats (chicken, beef, lamb, jerky & treats), Dental Treats (Greenies type treats) and pet toys.

"We have been exporting our products to USA, Canada and Australia as well as to European and other countries. We have built long-term cooperation with customers and supply our products to the world famous supermarkets, such as Walmart, Kmart and Target. With the best quality and service, our products have enjoyed a high reputation both at home and abroad. Meanwhile, we also have our own brand, Bestro, sold in the Chinese market.
With our constant effort, we promise you always find the best at Shanghai Bestro. We would appreciate your interest in detailed information about our company and production. We are looking forward to co-operating with domestic and oversea customers."

http://www.bestros.com/index.asp?class=product&type=8

New Real Meat Treats--view all here. More meat jerky products--packages of chicken jerky re-designed since problem.

http://www.bestros.com/index.asp?class=product&type=2

Dental products-bones--view all here.

http://www.bestros.com/index.asp?class=product&type=3

Munchy rawhide-view all products here.

http://www.bestros.com/index.asp?class=product&type=4

Natural rawhide-dry process-view here.  We have other rawhide links--so how are THEY processed?

http://www.bestros.com/index.asp?class=product&type=6

Rawhide--no process indicated--view products here.

http://www.bestros.com/index.asp?class=product&type=7

Rawhide with meat-view products here.

http://www.bestros.com/index.asp?class=product&type=5

Pork chews-view products here.

http://www.bestros.com/index.asp?class=product&type=1

Cat treats-view products here.

OK--they have a new alias, Jiangsu Hongtai Pet Products, many new products which you can see at the links above.  They've now entered into the cat treat business--see the link above.  Also keep in mind that this company does "jobber" work for others, so it would be possible for someone to purchase any of their products and import them with a different package--one with their company name on it.

You see that Wal-Mart, K-Mart and Target continue to deal with them, as per their website.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293874,00.html

Fox News August 21, 2007

Wal-Mart Quietly Pulled Dog Treats Off Shelves After Pets Reportedly Fell Ill

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_523443.html

Pittsburgh Live.com August 22, 2007

Wal-Mart: Tests show traces of melamine in dog treats

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/23/business/23imports.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin

New York Times August 23, 2007

U.S. Is Checking Dog Treats Wal-Mart Says Are Tainted

http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSN2241548220070822?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

Reuters August 22, 2007

Wal-Mart says removed tainted dog treats

The original November 3, 2007 Sun-Sentinel story is off the internet, but here's the statement made by W-M in its entirety, regarding not re-stocking Pinyyang Pet/Shanghai Bestro:

http://www.itchmo.com/lab-reports-acetaminophen-in-eagle-pack-senior-dog-food-3778#comment-74932

South Florida Sun Sentinel November 3, 2007

"Continuing investigations by the Food and Drug Administration and a Cornell University team, which began about two months ago, have uncovered nothing dangerous in the products and have not definitively tied a spike in cases of a rare kidney disorder to the treats. The FDA has not requested any recalls of jerky treats. But the investigation is not yet completed.

"Officials with Wal-Mart, the discount chain that removed two brands of Chinese-made jerky treats in July, said the company has no plans to restock those items. One was from Shanghai Bestro Trading and one from Import-Pingyang Pet Product Co." (Same company, different aliases.)

Here you see their aliases--Pingyang Pet Products, Shanghai Bestro Enterprises, Wenzhou Golden Choice Pet Products Inc., Jiangsu Hongtai Pet Products Inc.  You see that the Pingyang Pet Products  and Shanghai Bestro's Enterprises aliases have been on the FDA Import Alert for salmonella contamination (Shanghai Bestro's since 2007 and Pingyang Pet Products since 2005) and that FDA OASIS refused two of their shipments for salmonella contamination in January, 2008.

If they had a 100% FDA pass rate, two of their aliases wouldn't be on the salmonella detain without physical examination Import Alert list, as this is a list of "repeat offenders", nor would OASIS have refused two of their shipment for salmonella in January 2008.

Since you see on their website that they brag about exporting to Australia in addition to the US and Europe, I wonder if this company isn't the source of chicken jerky treats which were recently withdrawn in Australia.  The problems caused by the treats are VERY similar; the Chinese companies do "jobber" work, where they will use your custom packaging.

http://web.archive.org/web/20070429224404/www.dogchews.com/notice.htm

Site archives June 27, 2007

"Dear Customer:

"There is lots of production recall, but not our production, you could visit web at: http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_dog.html . to find the list of recall production names. If you still have any question, pls feel free to contact us at : info@bestros.com

"To our valuable customers who purchased Bestro's Roasted Chicken Jerky Treats

"According to WHO (World Health Organization),The H5N1 virus is sensitive to heat. Normal temperatures used for cooking (70¡æ or 158¨H in all parts of the food) will kill the virus. For more details about Avian influenza ("bird flu"), please visit the web page below:

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/avian_faqs/en/index.html#poultry

"How were the Bestro's Roasted Chicken Jerky Treats made?

1) Materials only derived from the vet. office & department of agriculture approved farms & slaughterhouse.
2) Roasted under 75¡æ-85¡æ (167¨H-185¨H) for more than 10 hours.
3) Go through our unique microwave system under 120¡æ (248¨H) to ensure the CORE temperature meets the minimum standard of 70¡æ (158¨H) to kill the virus in ALL PARTS.
4) Treated by irradiation (Gamma Ray) to eliminate the harmful bacteria.

Any queries, please send email to info@bestros.com .

Sincerely yours,

Bestro's Customer Service"