sooner
Posted : 4/14/2006 9:32:39 AM
ORIGINAL: Asthefurflies
with all the issues that have been brought up such as bags with no expiration date, bags containing more than one type of kibble, a bag that had staples in the food, generic bags with labels stuck on them, bags labeled cat food which had dog food in them,
From what I was told , with the exception of staples in the bag, none of that food was available for RESALE at retail. It was listed on the site as being mislabled or missing dates, codes,etc and that's why it was reduced down to practically nothing. Much the same as if you were shopping at a factory store where they were getting rid of 2nds and irregulars that couldn't be put out for regular retail sale or exported. That's exactly what they were doing here. There was no secret about it. It was right there on the website right on the order page.
The staples thing was actually Merrick food. Lori (willowsmom) I think found them. I haven't heard of that with TO.
As I remember, on the site it said that the cat food was in dog food bags, and as far as I know no one received those. racuda received a shipment of cat food bags that listed bison as the first ingredient. myorganicpets, who was/is a distributor, received generic silver bags with ingredient stickers stuck on. Obviously those weren't re-saleable, which isn't good for a distributor. She posted some time ago that TO said they would refund her money since "the packing plant did this without their knowledge" if she provided a receipt from donating the food to the Humane Society. I'm curious to know if TO followed through on that offer since the last time the topic came up she still had the food and mentioned giving it to the HS and maybe seeing if they would give her a little money for it. Previous posts lead me to believe she's gone from this board though, which is kind of disappointing since having the distributor's perspective on TO was kind of nice.
As for my situation, I ordered the 12-3.3 lb bags of Wilderness Elk, which were listed as not for resale/no UPC code. I thought/think that the UPC code is the barcode printed on a package meant for resale. The bags that I received had a barcode, but they did not have a production code or expiration date, and they were not the foil barrier bags. They were white plastic bags with grey print. They were not suitable for long term storage, and I was uncomfortable with not knowing the dates of the product.
TO never mentioned or their site having mixed kibble type in bags. To me that is a machine, packing, and quality control problem.
cc431 you make interesting points, but I'm not sure I exactly agree. TO is still shipping bags that list amaranth as an ingredient, but a retailer told me that they removed amaranth from their formulas nine months ago. That would have been before the Diamond mess, so if they had new bags printed, why weren't they correct?
Also, if your theory is correct, would that not mean that TO is manufactured at the Diamond plant that had a problem? Why would they trash their product if it was in an unaffected plant?
Personally I am still comfortable using Solid Gold and Natural Balance because they answered the inquiry in an informative, straightforward manner and they were quick to reassure which plant they use and they they do their own testing.
And there's still the APHIS question.
Basically it all boils down to the fact that this industry, particularly the relatively small holistic companies, needs to be regulated tighter, and truth in labeling laws need to be enforced.