[shannonRN]

I don't know if people are just getting really paranoid, or what...I read this on another forum, but when I trace it back to animalhelp.com I find no such posting or news item. I don't know if the non-corn containing foods could be picking up aflatoxin from being processed on the same equipment, or what--I hate to buy into hysteria, but just to be safe, I've stopped feeding our animals Chicken Soup until I hear definitively that everything is okay.

Diamond Pet Food Recall
1/4/06 11:53am ET - Update From AnimalHelp:

Despite claims that the brands below are the only brands affected, we have
received feedback from pet owners who have recently fed both Cosco
"Kirkland" brand pet foods and Chicken Soup Brand Dog Food, whose pets have
exhibited the same symptoms as noted with Diamond Brands and the aflatoxin
contamination.

**Please be aware that while these animals had all the same symptoms of
aflatoxin illness the test results have not been completed yet and it will
be a short time before we know for sure whether their deaths were caused by
the food. There are other illnesses and diseases that cause liver failure
and may be to blame. But because the foods these animals were eating are all
made by Diamond, and the symptoms are the same, we want to warn you to be on
the lookout for similar illness in your animals until we know for sure.

Sadly, a 2 year old Skye Terrier died Monday January 2nd, 2006. He was
eating Chicken Soup brand food and displayed the symptoms of aflatoxin
illness before he died. The other dogs in this household are also sick.
Liver profiles, toxicology screenings and pathology results are pending.

Also, a cat death has occurred on Tuesday January 3rd, 2006 in upstate SC.
This cat was eating Cosco brand cat food and displayed the symptoms of
aflatoxin illness. Pathology results are pending on this cat. We know of one
other cat who almost died from the same symptoms of aflatoxin illness and
also was being fed Cosco brand cat food.

Cosco's Kirkland Brand pet foods are made by Schell & Kampeter, who also
make the Diamond Products. Chicken Soup is considered one of their super
premium food, and they also make Nutra Nuggets. Cosco Kirkland is made at
one or more of the Diamond plants.

If you feed your pet Cosco brands - or ANY other pet food brands (it is
possible that other store brands are made at Diamond plants) - and see
illness and symptoms as mentioned here, we urge you to get your pet to your
veterinarian immediately for a liver profile.

We expect the Chicken Soup brands and the Cosco brands will be added to the
official recall very soon if the test results from these two recent deaths
provide proof that cause of death resulted from ingestion of aflatoxin in
the food. We will keep you up to date if any changes are announced.

Because of testing conducted by officials in North Carolina, Diamond Pet
Foods has added Diamond Professional for Adult Dogs to the list of recalled
products manufactured in our Gaston, S.C. facility and distributed in the
eastern U.S.