Originally published February 26 2006
Diamond Pet Foods plant improves testing procedure after toxic pet food recall
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The recent recall of pet food contaminated with aflatoxin occurred after Diamond Pet Foods received large amounts of contaminated corn -- a popular pet food ingredient -- at its plant, and while Diamond later improved its aflatoxin testing procedure, millions of pounds of potentially poisonous food had already been shipped out.
Mark Brinkmann believed he had staved off a contamination threat at Diamond Pet Foods' Lexington County plant, until he got a call the evening of Dec. 16.
She said dogs from a kennel and two households near Rochester, N.Y., were dead or dying from a fungus byproduct called aflatoxin.
The veterinarian's warning led to a Dec. 20 recall of dog and cat food made at the company's plant in Gaston and shipped to nearly two dozen states.
Diamond Pet Foods had known since September the Gaston plant was receiving abnormally frequent shipments of corn contaminated with aflatoxin.
New testing measures --- aimed at better gauging the magnitude of contamination --- were put in place about three months later, on Nov. 30, said Brinkmann, Diamond Pet Foods chief operating officer.
But the call from New York told Brinkmann the poison pet food already had slipped out of the plant.
By early January, states had reported 76 dog deaths that might be linked to tainted food from the plant, including 22 in South Carolina.
Diamond Pet Foods' problem began in September, when the Gaston plant saw a spike in arrivals of corn with aflatoxin levels exceeding federal limits.
Corn is the largest ingredient in dried food for cats and dogs.
It is also one of the most common carriers of aflatoxin, a poison produced by a fungus that can grow on grains.
Instead, it first destroys the liver irreversibly.
At the time, the company was using a test that generates a simple "yes" or "no" to the question of whether aflatoxin is present at levels at or higher than 20 parts per billion, the maximum level allowed by the FDA.
Veterinarians began tying dog deaths to aflatoxin and Diamond Pet Foods by mid-December.
A company not testing its grain would be taking a risk.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml