Thursday, May 21, 2009

Recall of Nutro cat foods due to other manufacturer'rs formulation error

Nutro Products Announces Voluntary Recall of Limited Range of Dry Cat Food Products

Contact:
Monica Barrett
Nutro Products, Inc.
(615) 628-5387
monica.barrett@effem.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Franklin, Tennessee (May 21, 2009) -- Today, Nutro Products announced a voluntary recall of select varieties of NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Dry Cat Foods and NUTRO® MAX® Cat Dry Foods with “Best If Used By Dates” between May 12, 2010 and August 22, 2010. The cat food is being voluntarily recalled in the United States and ten additional countries. This recall is due to incorrect levels of zinc and potassium in our finished product resulting from a production error by a US-based premix supplier.

Two mineral premixes were affected. One premix contained excessive levels of zinc and under-supplemented potassium. The second premix under-supplemented potassium. Both zinc and potassium are essential nutrients for cats and are added as nutritional supplements to NUTRO® dry cat food.

This issue was identified during an audit of our documentation from the supplier. An extensive review confirmed that only these two premixes were affected. This recall does not affect any NUTRO® dog food products, wet dog or cat food, or dog and cat treats.

Affected product was distributed to retail customers in all 50 states, as well as to customers in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Israel. We are working with all of our distributors and retail customers, in both the US and internationally, to ensure that the recalled products are not on store shelves. These products should not be sold or distributed further.

Consumers who have purchased affected product should immediately discontinue feeding the product to their cats, and switch to another product with a balanced nutritional profile. While we have received no consumer complaints related to this issue, cat owners should monitor their cat for symptoms, including a reduction in appetite or refusal of food, weight loss, vomiting or diarrhea. If your cat is experiencing health issues or is pregnant, please contact your veterinarian.

Consumers who have purchased product affected by this voluntary recall should return it to their retailer for a full refund or exchange for another NUTRO® dry cat food product. Cat owners who have questions about the recall should call 1-800-833-5330 between the hours 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM CST, or visit www.nutroproducts.com.

Recalled Pet Food

The varieties of NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Dry Cat Foods and NUTRO® MAX® Cat Dry Foods listed below with “Best If Used By Dates” between May 12, 2010 and August 22, 2010 are affected by this voluntary recall.

Nutro Products Recall List – Dry Cat Foods

U.S. Product Name


Bag Size


UPC

NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Kitten Food


4 lbs


0 79105 20607 5

NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Kitten Food


8 lbs.


0 79105 20608 2

NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Kitten Food (Bonus Bag)


9.2 lbs.


0 79105 20695 2

NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Kitten Food


20 lbs


0 79105 20609 9

NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Kitten Food (Sample Bag)


1.5 oz


none

NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Adult


4 lbs


0 79105 20610 5

NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Adult


8 lbs.


0 79105 20611 2

NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Adult (Bonus Bag)


9.2 lbs


0 79105 20694 5

NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Adult


20 lbs


0 79105 20612 9

NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Adult (Sample Bag)


1.5 oz


none

NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Adult Oceanfish Flavor


4 lbs


0 79105 20622 8

NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Adult Oceanfish Flavor


8 lbs


0 79105 20623 5

NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Adult Oceanfish Flavor (Bonus Bag)


9.2 lbs.


0 79105 20698 3

NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Adult Oceanfish Flavor


20 lbs


0 79105 20624 2









NUTRO® MAX® Cat Adult Roasted Chicken Flavor


3 lbs


0 79105 10228 5

NUTRO® MAX® Cat Adult Roasted Chicken Flavor


6 lbs


0 79105 10229 2

NUTRO® MAX® Cat Adult Roasted Chicken Flavor


16 lbs


0 79105 10230 8

NUTRO® MAX® Cat Adult Roasted Chicken Flavor (Sample Bag)


1.5 oz


none

NUTRO® MAX® Cat Indoor Adult Roasted Chicken Flavor


3 lbs


0 79105 10243 8

NUTRO® MAX® Cat Indoor Adult Roasted Chicken Flavor


6 lbs


0 79105 10244 5

NUTRO® MAX® Cat Indoor Adult Roasted Chicken Flavor


16 lbs


0 79105 10245 2

NUTRO® MAX® Cat Indoor Adult Roasted Chicken Flavor (Sample Bag)


1.5 oz


none

NUTRO® MAX® Cat Indoor Adult Salmon Flavor


3 lbs


0 79105 10246 9

NUTRO® MAX® Cat Indoor Adult Salmon Flavor


6 lbs


0 79105 10247 6

NUTRO® MAX® Cat Indoor Adult Salmon Flavor


16 lbs


0 79105 10248 3

NUTRO® MAX® Cat Indoor Weight Control


3 lbs


0 79105 10249 0

NUTRO® MAX® Cat Indoor Weight Control


6 lbs


0 79105 10250 6

NUTRO® MAX® Cat Indoor Weight Control


16 lbs


0 79105 10251 3

Sunday, May 17, 2009

For serious students - the details of the 'anti-cancer' diet

Special diets for canine cancer patients have been in use since the 90's, based on research that spans from the 1940's to present. Proof that they really make a difference is lacking, but I do tend to use them because many dogs show general improvements in health and over attitude - at least when homemade versions are used.

Tumors take up large amounts of glucose, and they can metabolize it only via anaerobic glycolysis. The end result of tumor glycolysis is release of lactate into circulation. The patient converts lactate back to glucose via the Cori cycle. Increased lactate negatively effects Cori cycle functioning, resulting in a net loss in energy. Tumors also preferentially metabolize certain amino acids at the expense of the host.

Ultimately the metabolic state of cancer patients resembles that of a Type II diabetic – these patients exhibit glucose intolerance, glucose recycling, increased hepatic glucose production, and insulin resistance. A recent study showed that administration of insulin to human patients with a variety of cancers significantly improved food intake and survival (Lundholm, 2007).

Lactate, resting insulin and glucose levels are elevated in dogs with cancer (Ogilvie, 1994a), and they do not improve after treatment (Ogilvie, 1992). Studies in dogs have shown that those with cancer have different lipid profiles than normal dogs. Dogs with cancer had higher levels of cholesterol, total triglyceride and very low density triglycerides, and treatment normalized only cholesterol levels (Ogilvie, 1994b).

In theory, a diet in low in carbohydrates would help to minimize lactate production and prevent complications of glucose intolerance. Special diets targeted towards ameliorating these metabolic changes have been tested in dogs, though apparently not in humans. A high carbohydrate, low fat diet resulted in elevated lactate and insulin levels in dogs with cancer. A high fat, low carbohydrate diet increases the probability that dogs with lymphoma would go into remission and have longer survival times (Ogilvie 2003), (Tisdale, 1987), although these limited data remain unconvincing to many veterinary nutritionists.

A commercial diet formulated to be low in digestible carbohydrates, high in fat (particularly n-3 PUFA) and moderate in protein is Hill’s N/D for dogs. This was the diet tested to improve outcomes in canine lymphoma. However, that study (Ogilvie 2000) did not test a high carb diet vs a low carb diet - both diets tested were low in digestible carbohydrates.Dietary management using these principles is still controversial, as oncologists note that the majority of dogs and cats die or are euthanized because of their tumors but are not cachectic, suggesting that this state of insulin resistance and hyperlactatemia has little clinical significance. I do recommend low carbohydrate diets, however, based on the fact that dogs and cats have no dietary requirement for carbohydrates and on my positive observations of cancer patients on these diets over the years.

Pet owners often find “grainless” commercial “holistic” diets, but should be made aware that if the food in question is a dry food, it must be processed using some kind of starch, and most of these foods contain potato or tapioca. These are starch sources and should perhaps be avoided if possible. The other difference between the commercial low carbohydrate diets and N/D is that the omega-3 levels are not nearly as high nor the proportion of n-3:n-6 fatty acids controlled.

I really prefer homemade food if we are going to change a cancer patient's diet. One of the problems with any of the commercial diets is their very high fat contents. Meat comes with fat, ya know. Homemade diets can be formulated for an individual's specific tastes, medical history and body condition score. Take a fat dog with a history of pancreatitis, for instance - the commercial diets are simply not an option. Not only can we manipulate the fat content, we can change the ingredients to address patient preferences, especially as they may change due to chemo-induced nausea.

My recipes always include veggies and some fruits as well. Plant-derived flavonoids have been studied in the prevention of cancer. These include resveratrol from red grapes (and wine), green tea polyphenols, and phytoestrogens from soy and other plants. Other less well known flavonoids commonly found in medicinal herbs include curcumin (from turmeric), apigenin, anthocyanidins (from berries), quercetin, and many others (approximately 4000 flavonoids have been described). In addition to well-recognized antioxidant effects that may help in prevention of cancer, certain flavonoids have been found to have activity in inducing differentiation and apoptosis, inhibiting protein kinases, facilitating cell-cell communication, inhibiting angiogenesis, cancer cell invasion mechanisms and metastasis mechanisms, as well as enhancing immune function (Boik 2002), (Lopez-Lazaro 2002).

I know, that was a lot of details.