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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday it was investigating 76 reports of dog deaths linked to pet food manufactured by a Diamond Pet Foods plant in South Carolina. On Dec. 30, the FDA estimated 23 dead.

The company has recalled 19 varieties of dog and cat food because tests showed high levels of aflatoxin, a naturally occurring toxic chemical that comes from a fungus found on corn and other grains that causes severe liver damage in animals.

There have been no reported cat deaths or illnesses, even though some of the recalled bags are cat food.

For more information go to:

http://www.diamondpetrecall.net/index.html

hm, guess they did not test the food good enough, idiots, either way we never bought that brand from my dog so that is not the reason he died.

lol, no worries here. my dogs eat tablefood

Never heard of this dog food. I guess that means my dogs are safe.

Hamster wrote:Never heard of this dog food. I guess that means my dogs are safe.

sadly I heard of it before this, never thought that it would have fungus on it


.....eh

maybe that was diamond cheese I saw mmmmmmmmm... cheeeeeese

My dogs eat Alpo.

Yeah, I'd heard about this already. My mother's friend lost a few animals to that feed.

Fortunately none of ours gets fed that brand.

my cats don't eat that brand, and when i do have a dog, i am honestly thinking about raw feeding it. i've heard a lot of bad stuff about pet food from a variety of brands. there was a big stink about one of the larger companies having toxic chemicals in their pet food, too, a few years ago if i remember correctly.

You know the funny thing about this? I've always heard that pet food manufacturers use a HIGHER standard than the people who make human food do.

Set wrote:You know the funny thing about this? I've always heard that pet food manufacturers use a HIGHER standard than the people who make human food do.

I've heard that too, and I think it's true in most cases.

I've also heard that a diet consisting mainly of dog food (supplemented with some other stuff since dog food doesn't have everything we need) is pretty good for humans too.

I think somebody would make a fortune if they made 'human food'. It would have to be very filling, and come in a wide range of flavors, but I really think it would be a great product. Hell, if it were inexpensive, I'd eat it. If it was mostly nutritious with minimum amounts of stuff that make you gain weight, it would take the diet world by storm.

Kibbles N' Bits for people! Hey, that IS a cool idea. xD

I heard about the Diamond food thing. Definately bad. My dog doesn't eat that brand...but it's still such an awful thing to happen.

I'm pretty sure we don't use that brand either. I think we use either Purina or Comet.

Yeah, I heard about that too. Luckily we don't use that brand.

We use to give blue that brand for a little while.

I grabbed this from the Diamond Pet Foods website. If this is a concern to you, please read the following carefully:

Contaminated Diamond Pet Food Products and "Best By" Dates Narrowed

Meta, MO. — Jan. 11, 2006 — Based on analytical sampling of finished product lots retained by Diamond Pet Foods, the company has been able to narrow products and "Best By" dates affected by aflatoxin.

Testing of more than 2,700 finished product samples conducted by independent laboratories confirms that only Diamond Maintenance Dog and Diamond Premium Adult Dog with "Best By" dates of April 3, April 4, April 5, and April 11, 2007, are potentially toxic. These products also will have a capital "G" (in reference to the company's Gaston, S.C., facility) in the 11th or 12th position of the date code (18 lb. to 55 lb. bags). The capital "G" will be in the 9th position on smaller 4 lb. to 8 lb. bags.

Test results for all other products have not been toxic.

As a proactive precautionary measure, Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul and Premium Edge brands have been tested and are negative for aflatoxin. It is important for consumers to note that Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul and Premium Edge brands are not included in the product recall.

"This testing will help our customers better identify products affected," said Mark Brinkmann, chief operations officer, Diamond Pet Foods.

Brinkmann also stressed that products included in the original voluntary recall should be returned to retailers. For complete information on the product recall, please refer to the company's Web site, www.diamondpet.com.

On December 21, Diamond Pet Foods initiated a voluntary recall of all products containing corn produced at its Gaston, S.C., facility and distributed to 23 states in the eastern U.S. The only states affected by the recall are Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Vermont and Virginia.

I'm not familiar with that brand either, but thanks very much for the warning.

My cat eats Iams. No problem there.

On a semi-related note...there's enough of a wolf-dog ownership market around here to support a special wolf-dog food at the local markets. Damn, it's better than I eat! Buffalo, salmon and pheasant-based! Market of Choice (local niche grocery chain) has it in 40-pound sacks for $18. I suppose it'd be good for any large dog...heck, with an ingredient list like that, I was tempted to try it...

My pet usually 0wnez the carpet...

Hmmm..... my dad works with the FDA I can should ask him about that....