Diamond Brand Dog Feed recalled

[gspman]

Diamond has recalled tainted dog feed in 22 states. The feed can cause death so if you feed Diamond check out the link below.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/22/dog.deaths/index.html

[setterguy]

Thanks for the update, lets keep this up top for a while.

[kentuck_ike]

I feed Diamond Performance to my dogs, so I was concerned and did some research on this. The food in Minnesota comes out of Missouri. So unless a bag was brought in from out of state it should be ok.

I am still keeping an eye on my dogs, but I am not overly concerned.

Ike

[savy]

Thanks for the info i feed my lab Diamond its good to no about this stuff. thank you. savy

[Old Guide]

gpsman, thanks for the heads up on the dog food. Pat

[BLACKJACK]

Whats the word on this, have they solved the problem and more importantly, are all the bad bags recalled?

[lawdog]

Quote:

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I feed Diamond Performance to my dogs, so I was concerned and did some research on this. The food in Minnesota comes out of Missouri. So unless a bag was brought in from out of state it should be ok.

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Ike, I know of a guy in Minnesota who feeds his dog this and it just about killed him. He too thought he was OK since the recalled food wasn't supposed to be in Minnesota. I don't know where he got his (he's from Iowa originally and might have gotten it down there), but he just about lost a really exceptional lab to this food, so be careful.

[rundrave]

I feed my GSP Diamond puppy food, he is 4months old, and he has been fine, although I am considering a switch, I just dont know what to switch to.

I contacted Diamond myself because 2 weeks after I got my dog, I heard about this recall. Luckily I hadnt been through a full bag of food yet so I was able to look at the bar codes.

The suspect items are marked with "best by" date codes of between March 1 and June 10, 2007. They contain an 11th or 12th digit, "G," signifying the Gaston facility.

I think all of the Sioux Falls wholesellars get their stuff from the Missouri plant, I am still a little worried but not overly concerned at this point, based on my dogs performance.

Here is the response I got from Diamond, I should have posted this earlier:

You can see our mass email below on how we are trying to handle this issue.

We have already started to make some changes. In the past we had one person who take the samples of corn from the truck and test them before the corn was unloaded. It appears that we had one employee that thought the test was not important. We also stress this to our receiving people this time of year and we knew the new corn crop in South Carolina might have some Aflatoxin.

We have put in a new procedure where this process is double checked. We are going to start using less corn. We are only going source corn from areas that appear not to have Aflatoxin even if we have to rail in the corn from thousands of miles away. We already have state of the art equipment in place for the testing. Each machine cost around $50,000.

We appreciate your email to Diamond Pet Foods we hope between this email and our HSOforum which is currently being update we can answer all of your questions. Due to extremely high email volume we are sending out a mass email to help answer as many question as possible.

If you possess any recalled pet food distributed in the eastern U.S. served by our Gaston, S.C. plant, please immediately stop feeding it to your pet. Product that has a 'G' If your pet has eaten any recalled products and is exhibiting jaundice in combination with lack of appetite, depression, bloody stools or severe bleeding, please take it to your veterinarian immediately. Please follow your veterinarian's instructions and we will cover their charges. Our primary concern is pet safety. Furthermore, to better help you, please complete the Customer Help Form on our Web site (this form will be ready on Thursday afternoon) and return it to us by mail or email.

If you are unsure if you product was affected please go to the HSOforum for a complete listing of recalled products and how to identify those products, our return procedures and other up-to-date information, please go to http://www.diamondpet.com.

Please note products from our Missouri and California are safe for use.

Also, some products from the Gaston plant are not included in the recall and are safe for use.

We also are setting up a toll-free Technological Information Center and will have it operational as quickly as possible. It will be staffed by veterinarians and technicians, will handle any claims, and remain operational until this issue has been resolved.

We regret this unfortunate incident and appreciate your understanding.

Sincerely,

Diamond Pet Foods

[fasternu]

I talked with my vet a while ago, and he stated that he liked the Purina and Eukanuba foods better than Diamond. I have no proof or anything, just stating what he told me.

[PikeBayCommanche]

I would not feed Diamond Food to my dog if I were you guys. I fed it to my lab for a while but he would not gain much wieght and seemed to have loose stools alot. The food just seems not of high quality.

I have switched to Nutro and am very satisfied with the results. He is happy, likes the food and has solid craps everyday. The diamond is definatly cheaper but I just don't trust that stuff.

Matt

[Trophycatch]

PBC,

I switched my white male boxer to Diamond about 4 bags ago. He was notorious for having his ribs showing which kind of goes along with the boxer breed. Granted he is 7 years old and been on many different foods throughout his life. The Diamond, after the first bag, put two(2) pounds on him. I was very pleased. I thought maybe he did not like the Diamond at first, because he wouldn't eat much, but still gained weight. I would imagine every dog could react different to many different foods. A really good friend of mine will only feed his Golden and Lab, Black Gold, Brand.

[kentuck_ike]

I have used the Diamond in my britts with the same results, dogs that have normally had their ribs sticking out have put on weight for me as well. Since the quality control issue at Diamond I have been trying the Black Gold foods and I am going to make the switch. I am also going to become a distributor for it as well. So if anyone wants any info on Black Gold dog food just let know, it can be kind of hard to find.

Ike

[Redlantern]

Kentuck Ike, Tell me more about this Black Gold food.I'm currently using Diamond for my sled dogs and while it seems o.k., I'd rather feed something with a higher fat and protein content. I've fed National and Redpaw in the past and liked it but the problem is locating it. The people I bought it from quit selling it. Thanks.

[kentuck_ike]

Redlatern,

Black Gold has a few different formulas, which Diamond formula do you use. Black Gold has the Ultimate Performance formula, it is 31% protein & 21% fat.

If you want to e-mail me my address is kentucky_ike at yahoo.

Thanks, Ike

[CaptainMusky]

Quote:

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I would not feed Diamond Food to my dog if I were you guys. I fed it to my lab for a while but he would not gain much wieght and seemed to have loose stools alot. The food just seems not of high quality.

I have switched to Nutro and am very satisfied with the results. He is happy, likes the food and has solid craps everyday. The diamond is definatly cheaper but I just don't trust that stuff.

Matt

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I bought my pup and he was started out on Diamond puppy formula. He definitely didn't have issues gaining weight with it, as he was 50 pounds at 4 months. I stopped feeding him Diamond when I switched off puppy food a couple months ago. I too, am feeding him Nutro that I purchase at Mill's Fleet Farm. He doesn't appear to be gaining a lot of weight, but at the stage he is in now, that is typical. I have been VERY pleased with Nutro. The price is pretty steep, but I believe this to be a top quality food and there are absolutely NO fillers in this food, like corn meal or chicken bi-products. These are the key ingredients that lead to increased stools as they are not digestible. Read the labels guys and even those that are buying foods that are very pricey like Science Diet, etc, these ingredients are in the top 3 of those foods. I used to feed my dogs garbage, basically the cheapest stuff money could buy, but I have become wise over the years.

I was pleased with Diamond when I used it however, but it too had the fillers.

[kentuck_ike]

I used to believe this theory as well. I was talking with my vet about it, and he put it this way.

When a pack of dogs kills its game in the wild, they generally eat the guts including the intestine first. The intestines are usally full of different seeds corn, soybeans, weed seeds, etc. (filler). This leads to an idea that dogs require a certain amount of filler in their diets. His opinion of giving a dog a food with out filler would be like us living on vitamins, you can live but it wouldn't be much fun.

A better indicator of the right food for a dog maybe the quality of the ingredients & the protien to fat ratio.

I don't know which theory to embrace, but I would certainly avoid a food with filler as its first ingredent.

Ike

[LABS4ME]

PikeBay:

Nonsense on Diamond being a cheaper food... I've been feeding my dogs Diamond for over 10 years now and have had nothing but great results. I've put many other friend's dogs on Diamond including one male that could not or would not put on weight with IAMS or Eukanuba. Went to Diamond and he put on 5-10 pounds and looked great! My last 7 litters of pups have been on Diamond and they look(ed) great! I've tried many different brands out there and settled on Diamond for how it performed and the price to achieve that performance. AT one point I was feeding 5 labs and yes, price was a factor. I too fed other brands such as National with great luck but getting it was a bear. I had no better luck with more expensive brands like Eukanuba or Pro Plan. So as it sits I still use Diamond with great results...

Good Luck!

Ken

[PikeBayCommanche]

If it works for you I guess just go use it. If your dog likes it and you do it is up to you. I just thought it was full of fillers and gave him inconsistant digestion. My father is a PHD in Animal Science so I will trust him and my dog before anything else but Its just not worth worrying about my dog dying from feeding it the diamond.

Matt

[BLACKJACK]

I'll have to admit, I've been feeding Diamond for the last year, but since this came up, I've went back to ProPlan for a couple of bags. I figured let them get the bad Diamond stuff out of the retail system, saving $10 a bag is not worth killing my labs for.

Where do you look for that 'G' on the Diamond bag?

[rundrave]

I have noticed that the code is in different locations based on the size of food you get, 40lbs bags etc, its usually down by the upc code, sometimes its in a white box, and is in black lettering. Other times its just stamped by itself. Its usually near the bottom of the bag on the sides.

My only reasoning for possibly changing is for peace of mind I guess, but my dog has solid stools, tons of energy, and is finally growing into his legs, and his weight is exactly where it should be. I cant be %100 positive if that will be the same with other brands of food.

[lawdog]

Is Diamond supposed to be reallly good food? I don't know much about it. I'm feeding some Purina Mills food now that I'm not all that impressed with even though its supposed to be good. Isn't there some stuff made in Northern Minnesota that's supposed to be real good? I can't remember the name of it though... Been thinking of switching, but don't know.

[LABS4ME]

Hey Lawdog,

Like I've said in my previous posts, I've had great luck with it. It is a good food and reasonably priced. Guys look at their dog food like they look at their truck, it's the ford - chevy thing. Pick one that works for your dog. Not every dog handles the same food in the same way. All you can do is try it. Gradually blend any new food in with your existing food over a 1-2 week period and then give the new food a couple months time to see how it's working for your dog. I think the Diamond Professional (black bag) is by far their best food and I feed it during the hunting season and winter for the extra protein and fat, but feed their green bag the remaider of the year.

Like any recall, I'm sure this is going to be a big black eye for them and will take years to win customers back. I've watched all my bags of food for the codes and none have had it. I trust that the issue was all in their out east plant and didn't make it to the midwest. I even raised my last litter (Dec-Jan) on Diamond. They have updated their testing of the grain they are using and I'd have to believe the bad grain is behind us now.

I recommend it to my friends and send the pups home with a bag of Diamond, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend that you try it and see how your dog does.

Good Luck!

Ken

[Dotch]

Given the amount of drought-stressed corn that was around parts of the midwest and southern US last year, it's amazing there weren't more problems with aflatoxin than there were. It is generally a dry weather phenomenon produced by the ear rot fungus aspergillis flavus.

I feed the Diamond Performance (formerly Professional) also but to border collies and they've done wonderfully on it. 30% protein, 20% fat, main protein source is chicken. Not to say that other foods won't work but this is a decent product that's available locally at the same place I get other livestock supplies for a reasonable price. Given the amount of other junk those two eat (they love eating sheep feed & sheep turds), am not too concerned about the dog food at this point. The tolerance for aflatoxin in ruminant animal feed is much higher than it is for simple stomached animals like dogs and pigs. Am keeping an eye on the product codes though to be on the safe side but haven't noticed any that are suspect.

[lawdog]

Thanks for the info Ken. Have you ever fed "Exclusive" from Purina? That's what I'm feeding now but I just can't say I'm 100% sold on it. Dog seems to need to eat way more than suggested or he loses lots of weight. When I over feed like this he does fine, but good grief he is eating me out of house and home!!! Its their 26% Protein, 15% fat chicken & rice stuff... They do have a 30%/20% performance version too but I haven't tried that and my local guy doesn't stock it.

My other dog (soon to be 12) has been on Ultra 30 from Mills Fleet Farm since he came off Pro-Plan puppy food. Can't believe how good he's done on that $17 a bag food. Guy I got him from recommended that to me and he was right. Just too hard to get it though since there are no Fleet Farms around here...

[LABS4ME]

Never fed that... Did feed Pro-plan when it first came out for a year and then they got high buck like a lot of other foods. Sounds like your fat content may be a little on the low side, especially for an active dog. I only feed my dogs about 3 - 3 1/2 cups of Diamond a day and they all are perfect weight. In fact my 12 year old female will easily put weight on if I just increase her food by a half cup. She's been on Diamond her entire life and the vet says she is in the same shape as most dogs 4 years younger.

Never fed the Fleet farm stuff or the Sam's club stuff. I know guys who use both and they swear by them. I guess until I have a reason to switch from Diamond I am gonna stick with it. Like I said, all you can do is try it and see how it performs for your dog. I'd start with either the black bag (Dotch pointed out the name was changed to performance from professional) or the green bag (premium?)... not sure if they changed the name of that yet. The black bag is I believe 30% protein 20% fat, I feed this 4-5 months a year and the green bag is I beleive 26% protein and 18% fat. This is what I feed my dogs for about 7-8 months a year. I may try their senior diet on my 2 old dogs (9 and 12) and see how they do on that. The pup is on Diamond puppy and looks fantastic! Hope this helps...

Good Luck!

Ken