Natural Balance/Melamine

I know a lot of people are moving to a new food from Nat. Balance. I love the fish formula and I am afraid if I change that the next food will have a problem down the line. How does anyone know that the next company with good food doesn't always tell the truth, etc? I am sad about losing faith in foods in general. Not sure if anyone can be trusted.
 
Just scared. Feel so vulnerable.

It's not grains that are contaminated. It's grain-based proteins. Big difference. If he had said stay away from grain-based proteins like glutens; great, but according to the article as posted, he said stay away from all grains which would be an exaggeration of the situation.

 
   I agree. Whole grains should be safe; the melamine was added to the glutens so that when they were tested for protein content, they would test higher in nitrogen, which would give the products the appearance of being higher in protein, which would make them more valuable; 
    [linkhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.petfood19apr19,0,4141728.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines]http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.petfood19apr19,0,4141728.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines[/link];
Federal investigators are probing whether Chinese producers laced a key ingredient in pet food with an industrial chemical in order to boost the price of their shipments, Sen. Richard J. Durbin said yesterday.
 
According to Durbin, investigators are examining whether Chinese manufacturers added nitrogen-rich melamine to wheat gluten in order to raise its nitrogen level. Nitrogen levels are measured to calculate the protein content, which determines the value of a shipment.
 
 
   
  

What about the corn gluten in some of the EP cat foods? I am unable to feed the Holistic varieties as they are too high in fat for my lump of lard (aka Tigger). lol

Maybe John's reply to Dyan's e-mail helps;

"I really appreciate John (Brittanys Dad) for posting here. Many of us are talking Eagle Pack,,, we can all feel a little better. I know I do!
John answered my persona email ( since I bugged him a couple of times about it..lol ) but he said three things that mean a lot to me.

All our grains are domestic.
 
We are EU Certified, which means you must have ingredient source tracebility; and we do. "
 
AND  we have tested everything.
 
   Eagle Pack's corn gluten is produced in the U.S.;
"In asking John at Eagle Pack about this,,, his answer is:
We use some Corn Gluten, it is shown on the label and it is made and purchased domestically a few miles from our plant. "
 

They are probably referring to a law preventing them from putting stickers on the bags to list ingredients and specific nutritional info, not just stickers in general.

That's what they might be referring to but in my e-mail she said "stickers on the bag" and wasn't specific about if it was just ingredient stickers. But, if Eagle can put stickers indicating new ingredients then why can't they?

Hmm dylan your making me think of switching to Eagle Pack too! I was thinking of going with Innova Evo or another Grain Free dog food, but I just might try this instead...which formula do you use?

 
I use several formulas. I do use most of the holistic formulas except the fish.....I just don't like Bubby breath when I fed her the fish. BUT I like to change formulas so I use all of the rest and I also use the Natural formula.  I change off between them all.
I'm taking John for his word. He assures us that they can trace all of their ingredients. He assures us that everything is tested. 
By all of Natural Balances answers, I'm not too sure. 
I hated that last night I was reading their ingredient list on the website and 5 minutes later it changed.

ORIGINAL: willowchow

They are probably referring to a law preventing them from putting stickers on the bags to list ingredients and specific nutritional info, not just stickers in general.

That's what they might be referring to but in my e-mail she said "stickers on the bag" and wasn't specific about if it was just ingredient stickers. But, if Eagle can put stickers indicating new ingredients then why can't they?

It may be one of those regulations that exists, but isn't highly enforced. Maybe Eagle felt that it was worth it to let customers know there was no rice protein in the food.

What about the corn gluten in some of the EP cat foods?  I am unable to feed the Holistic varieties as they are too high in fat for my lump of lard (aka Tigger).  lol

 
In asking John at Eagle Pack about this,,, his answer is:
We use some Corn Gluten, it is shown on the label and it is made and purchased domestically a few miles from our plant.I am feeling better and better about feeding Bubblegum and Oliver Eagle Pack.

I spent an hour in the feed store earlier and struck up a conversation with the owner. They're dropping Natural Balance completely. They've had nothing but problems with the company and this was the last straw.

not sure if anyone has considered this, but why is a company like natural balance (or any dog food manufacturer for that matter) buying ingredients from china in light of what happened recently with the government sanctioned dog killings?

Rice Gluten, Corn Gluten and trust, to answer a bunch of questions. I am 432 emails behind so sorry I have not responded. We have help but we want to be very accurate and honest when we answer something. If any of you have specific questions write me direct and flag your mail.
Why did we remove rice gluten? It was removed from the one Prism label even before the recall started. We wanted to up the meat meal protein content so not to worry. INGREDIENT LABELS: There is NO law saying you can't use ingredient label stickers. In fact AAFCO specifically stated about 4 years ago there was no grace period on changing ingredients and using up old bags. We are making certain that ingredients listed on the label/sticker accurately reflects what is in the bag and what is in the bag is listed on the label. GLUTENS VS. GRAINS: There is a distinct difference. I'm GUESSING the 5 brands UC davis is noting is the same 5 that got the Wilbur-Ellis product. We do use corn gluten and it is MADE in the U.S. and in Indiana and Iowa. Anything else, write me and flag it. When I get to you on my emails I will probably forget you noted my answer here and answer you abain. Thanks for being nice, I'm trying. 

not sure if anyone has considered this, but why is a company like natural balance (or any dog food manufacturer for that matter) buying ingredients from china in light of what happened recently with the government sanctioned dog killings?

 
   Natural Balance  didn't know the rice protein came from China; Diamond bought the ingredient from Wilbur-Ellis, which had bought it from a company in China.

either way i would think that natural balance would want to monitor closely where its raw material comes from since they consider themselves to a super premium food.

edit: i guess my question ranges further than just natural balance. how many of you were outraged when you heard that the chinese were beating dogs to death in the streets? i know i was. i would hate to think i contributed to their (the chinese) economy by buying dog food made from chinese raw materials. regardless of branding.

I wanted to say thanks to the suggestions re: grain free puppy.  I spoke with Natura today and they say that pups that will be less than 75 lbs. when grown can eat EVO.  They are emailing me the feeding instructions.  Since Possum will only be 30-35 lbs., I feel good about feeding her the EVO.  She's been trying to steal if for weeks anyway!!
 
Thanks again!
 
Laura

ORIGINAL: cyclefiend2000

either way i would think that natural balance would want to monitor closely where its raw material comes from since they consider themselves to a super premium food.

edit: i guess my question ranges further than just natural balance. how many of you were outraged when you heard that the chinese were beating dogs to death in the streets? i know i was. i would hate to think i contributed to their (the chinese) economy by buying dog food made from chinese raw materials. regardless of branding.

I never thought about that too, how I was supporting their country and their practices. But after all this I really feel an anger toward China.

And I do not mean that to be racist or anything like that, but their practices of first beating dogs to death, and now purposly knowing they are going to kill pets just to make an extra buck.
 
Dylan: I think I may start buying Eagle now.

Dylan: I think I may start buying Eagle now.

Honesty I think its a good choice...at least I sure hope so!
 
By the way,,,my name is really Dyan,,,,as in Diane! []