Toxic Substance Forces Diamond Pet Food Recall
By Greg Edwards, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.
Dec. 23–Dog and cat owners who have bought Diamond Pet Food or other Diamond brands — Country Value and Professional — should check the date on the food immediately.
Diamond has discovered aflatoxin in a product made at the company’s Gaston, S.C., plant, which serves eastern states, including Virginia. Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring toxic chemical and a byproduct of a fungus that grows on corn and other crops.
If a pet eats enough food tainted with aflatoxin, it can get sick or die, warns the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Symptoms of aflatoxin poisoning are sluggishness and lethargy, combined with a reluctance to eat, internal bleeding, yellowish tint to the eyes or gums and severe or bloody diarrhea.
Diamond says that pet owners who suspect aflatoxin poisoning should take their pets to a veterinarian immediately.
The company has recalled all Diamond products made with corn at the Gaston plant labeled Best By 01-March-07 through Best By 11-June-07. Products with other dates are not affected by the problem.
The Gaston facility date codes are unique from other Diamond facility codes in that either the 11th or 12th character in the date code will be a capital “G” (in reference to Gaston), the company said.
On its World Wide Web site, www.diamondpetfood.com, Diamond lists 130 Virginia retail outlets among its dealers, including several in the Richmond area. Many Tractor Supply Co. stores are on the list, as are many rural farm stores and urban pet stores.
Also on the company’s Web site is a complete list of the affected Diamond, Country Value and Professional pet food products. Richmond-area dealers said they had been notified by Diamond about the problem with the food on Wednesday and had pulled it from their shelves.
Latane Baker, of P.J. Petts-Carytown Pet Supply, said the store received a fax notice, which the store posted. “They were right on top of it,” he said, referring to Diamond’s response.
At Hertzler Farm & Feed Inc. in Powhatan, store employees contacted customers who had bought Diamond brands recently and advised them to check the dates, said Pat Hertzler. The store keeps records of sales so it can respond to potential problems, she said.
Hertzler said she has not received any complaints about sick pets.
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