Pet Food Companies

[rainbow]

I found this list on another website:

I do work for a pet food company and thus have great insight on the industry and how and why things are done. I feed my dogs a variety of kibble and canned and encourage others to do the same.I have included a list of some major "natural/holistic" pet food brands with who manufactures their products. Hope this helps with some information for all of you.


Blue Buffalo: Canned foods made by American > > Nutrition in Utah. Dry foods made at CJ Foods in Kansas.

Breeder's Choice: Canned diets made at Menu Foods, but have not been recalled.

Canidae: Canned food packed by Evangers. Kibble made at Pied Piper in Texas.

Canine Caviar: Canned food made by American Nutrition in Utah. Kibble made by Pied Piper in Texas. Canned diets are 100% meat, contain no grains.

Castor & Pollux: Canned diets made by Menu Foods but have not been recalled.

Eagle Pack: Canned diets made at Menu Foods but have not been recalled and do not contain Wheat Gluten. Dry diets made at their own plant in Mishawaka, IN.

Evangers: They have their own cannery.

Go! Natural (Petcurean): Canned diets made at Menu Foods in Canada but have not been recalled.

Merrick: Has their own plant for all products.

Natura (Healthwise, California Naturals, Innova): Canned diets made at the South Dakota Menu Foods Plant but have not been recalled. Dry diets are made at their own plant.

Natural Balance: Canned diets made at American Nutrition in Utah. Dry diets are made in Diamond Plant in Sacramento, CA.

Nature's Variety: Canned diets made at Menu Foods but have not been recalled. The canned diets contain not grains. Kibble is made at Pied Piper in Texas. Raw diets are made in an in house plant in Lincoln, Ne.

Pet Promise: Purina Brand ... canned and kibble made in their plants.

Solid Gold: It is unknown where canned diets were made. Kibble is made in the Diamond Plant in Sacramento, CA.

Timberwolf Organics: Just released one canned diet and working on additions, it is unsure where this is made, but due to the size of Menu Foods I highly doubt it is being done there. Kibble was at one point being co-packed somewhere in PA but I've heard rumors that it is now being made out of the Diamond Plant. I cannot confirm this and the company will not give out information.

Wellness/Old Mother Hubbard: Canned diets made at Menu Foods but have not been recalled.

Wysong: Canned diets made at Menu Foods but have not been recalled. Most of their line of cans are grain free.

[One Beagle Girl]

Rainbow, thanks for posting such a great list!

Ewwwwwww...Diamond

[Prin]

The recall at diamond was for foods with corn...

I got this from Canidae today, about two hours after I emailed and I was quite pleased with it...

Originally Posted by Canidae Customer Support

To reiterate, CANIDAE Pet Foods is in no way is affected by the current can re-call, and we aren't, or have never been, produced at any of the recalled facilities. We do not produce Cuts and Gravy, Pouches, and none of our products contain wheat, or wheat gluten.

With the current cuts and gravy recall by a large co-packer, and all the misleading information, we thought we would help explain the production of canned foods. There are only a hand full of co-packers that are located in the US and they produce most canned foods. A few companies choose to have their cans made outside the US, and may or may not disclose that information to you. The pet food industry co-packers are no different from the human products we ourselves eat or drink on a daily basis. Each formula is different and unique to the specific pet food company in which the formulas are owned. Ingredients, quality grade of meats, grade of carbohydrates, vitamin and mineral formulations, to name a few, are all at the discretion of the pet food company in which the products are produced for, and are apparent by the governmental regulated labels. Our heartfelt concerns go out to all involved and or affected by the re-call.


All Canidae products are produced in the USA. We do not purchase ingredients from any suppliers outside of the US. All Canidae ingredients are grown &/or raised in the USA. In addition, we only purchase the absolute best USDA grade "A" hormone and antibiotic free meats. Our rice is also grade "A" Pesticide free. Our fish is FDA inspected and passed residual free of ethoxiquin.

Our cannery is a small facility located in IL. and able to produce the highest quality products. This small family operated facility only produces products that are of the highest quality human grade ingredients. Our formulations were created by an outside nutritionist that has been developing canned foods for over 35 years. You can feel assured by our quality and product performance that our cannery holds the highest standards in production, and is regulated by AAFCO by (NRC), USDA, FDA, IDA, EU Approved and is Organically Certified.

Our dry foods are produced in TX. Our plant has been involved in animal nutrition for over 75 years. The original pet food extrusion mill was built in 1978. CANIDAE's involvement with the plant sparked the introduction of our own extruder in 1999. Our dry goods facility also regulated by AAFCO by (NRC), USDA, FDA, TDA and EU Approved. We are currently under production with a brand new plant at the same facility to keep up with the growth and demand of our product line.

In order to ensure the highest quality meat based biscuit ever created, we ventured into the biscuit production business in 2003. Our 100 foot oven runs our fresh biscuits daily in a building opposite our extrusion plant in TX. Our biscuit plant is also regulated by AAFCO by (NRC), USDA, FDA, TDA and EU Approved.

I sent the same email to all of my 'favorite' food companies, and of all of them Canidae was first to respond and IMO, responded quite adequately.

btw, their underlining.

[Prin]

Oh, wait! I lied! Champion (Acana, Orijen) was the first to respond by a minute (missed it in my junk).

This is what I sent to all (what I consider to be) the best kibblers:

To all my favorite kibble companies:

I help many, many people on a daily basis find foods for their pets. I also have animals of my own... In light of recent events, I just wanted to ask of you all to PLEASE put our pets first. We choose you because we don't trust the massive commercial dog food companies. We choose you because we believe you are more likely to be in it for our animals than the almighty buck. Please earn the trust we give you and tell us as soon as you THINK there might be an issue. Don't wait for tests to come in. Don't wait for our beloved animals to die. Just be honest and quick about it. I know it's a lot to ask of a kibble company, but my doggies are my world and if you take them away from me, I'll be devastated and broken....

Just don't take them away from me.

And don't take my friends' dogs either.

Please put them first.

Thank you for reading,

Prin

And this is Champion's answer:

Hello Prin – Champion Petfoods agrees with and supports your position. Just like you, dogs are central to our lives. Our relationships with our own companion dogs and cats provide us the perspective needed to fully understand our responsibility as a pet food maker.

Kind Regards,

Peter

www.championpetfoods.com

Sorry for the hijack rainbow... I posted the Canidae one here because it talked about their facilities and things, but then I realized I got this one, and this one didn't make sense without my email.. Should I delete it and post it elsewhere?

[wmarcello]

I found another list while looking online as well. Can anyone verify that it's accurate?

http://petsitusa.com/blog/?p=210

[Prin]

From the ones we know it looks accurate... Thanks for posting it.

[wmarcello]

Although we might switch at some point, Nutrience is also safe according to their site.

"As you've probably already heard, Menu Foods has recalled millions of 'cuts and gravy' style pet food in cans and pouches due to several pet deaths in the last few days. The problem has been seemingly traced to one specific supplier and one specific ingredient - wheat gluten.

- Nutrience dog and cat canned foods are NOT produced by Menu Foods.
- Our manufacturer has assured us they DON'T use the supplier in question.
- Our foods contain NO wheat gluten and are formulated with human-grade meat only.
- The Nutrience team is confident our foods are safe. "

[rainbow]

Originally Posted by wmarcello

I found another list while looking online as well. Can anyone verify that it's accurate?

http://petsitusa.com/blog/?p=210

Can't verify the accuracy but it sure includes a lot of crappy foods.

[wmarcello]

Originally Posted by rainbow

Can't verify the accuracy but it sure includes a lot of crappy foods.

Oh definitely, but at the top they also have this disclaimer:

"The following companies have made statements that their food is not affected by the Menu Foods recall. Keep in mind that we are not “recommending” any of these foods. Rather, we’re compiling a list of foods that are reported safe by the manufacturers."

[Prin]

Nutrience is pretty cruddy overall though.

[rainbow]

Originally Posted by Prin

And this is Petcurean's answer:


Quote:
Hello Prin – Champion Petfoods agrees with and supports your position. Just like you, dogs are central to our lives. Our relationships with our own companion dogs and cats provide us the perspective needed to fully understand our responsibility as a pet food maker.

Kind Regards,

Peter

www.championpetfoods.com

Ummm....Petcurean is Go Natural and replies are usually answered by Michele. Did you get an answer from them as well?

[sissani]

"Natura (Healthwise, California Naturals, Innova): Canned diets made at the South Dakota Menu Foods Plant but have not been recalled. Dry diets are made at their own plant."

Eeep. They said they dont make the "cuts and gravy" style, but that still scares me. I just bought a few cans of Innova Evo and now I'm nervous to open them...