Nutro Food and the FDA versus Concerned Pet Food Consumers

Tempest in the Teapot? No! It’s the Tempest in the Kibble Bag!

A whirling-dervish of media reporting is the outcome of a recent report that the FDA has placed Nutro Products, Inc. under investigation. According to Consumer Affairs the leading cause for this investigation is the large volume of complaints against Nutro pet food products. So far there are over 500 documented complaints, and growing. Consumer Affairs has a point. With this many complaints it’s not a wonder that consumers are demanding answers from the Nutro Company.

After the loss of my own dog to a possible Nutro-food related seizure, I have followed the complaints against Nutro Products, Inc. with interest. In March of 2007 (the same year as the Menu Foods recall) Nutro was acquired by Mars Inc. At some point in late 2007 or early 2008, the Nutro Products, Inc. kibble began changing both in color and smell. Of course, pet food varies from batch to batch and most consumers felt (myself included) that if the formula had changed it would be because of “improvements.” However, shortly after receiving the new food my senior dog began vomiting and had diarrhea. In November of 2008 I switched from Nutro Natural Choice Senior to Nutro Ultra both the dry and canned food versions.

She responded favorably to the new food, vomiting and diarrhea appeared under control, she even regained some of her previously lost energy. But I had overlooked something important about this miraculous change: I had actually stopped feeding her commercial pet food altogether and started making my own dog food. The first reason was to treat her diarrhea. The second reason was the result of her lab work: Her blood panel revealed highly elevated liver enzymes, an indicator of liver failure.

In the meantime, the new bag of Ultra and the canned food remained in the pantry. Once she began feeling “good” again, I resumed feeding her Nutro. She appeared to respond fine to the food — for a while. Then she resumed having loose stools and began eating excessive amounts of grass, vomiting frequently from the grass consumption. On April 17, 2008 she had a seizure, it was a continuous group of multiple-cluster seizures. Even if the vet could get the seizures under control, the likely hood of a full recovery would be minimal. Her internal temperature was so high that major organ damage (including kidney failure and brain damage) would be likely. I made the difficult and gut-wrenching decision to euthanize her. I was devastated. To his credit, my vet suggested that we do a necropsy. At that time, I couldn’t handle the thought of it. So I declined. I now regret that I did not follow through with his suggestion.

Previously, I had not shared my own story with anyone on the SecurePet blog, partly because I wasn’t certain that Nutro was to blame. And, I certainly did not want to taint my reporting with something that could not be substantiated. Then several people contacted me with their own stories. I followed up on these and asked for more details. None of the owners initially made the food/illness connection. They sought veterinarian care because their pets were seriously ill. One lady, whose three dogs died within weeks of each other, contacted me with her story, you can read it here. Many pet parents reported that their dog’s lab work revealed liver damage. Often the food/illness connection occurred (like myself) after the dog’s death, when the pet parent was seeking answers to the mysterious illness and ultimate death of their beloved family member.

Therefore, when one of my readers alerted me to the FDA probe I eagerly went to the ConsumerAffairs.com web site to read more about it. The April 20, 2009 report by Lisa Wade McCormick was a welcome relief. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had confirmed their investigation into Nutro Products, Inc.. In her online article, Ms. McCormick states that, “the FDA’s Division of Freedom of Information confirmed the agency has an ongoing investigation into NUTRO — and said the investigation could be criminal or civil in nature.”

But the FDA immediately started back-peddling, despite the fact that Consumer Affairs had actual documented proof addressed to Lisa McCormick in response to her query under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In fact, the agency did something it had never done before: On April 28, 2009, the FDA posted a denial of any investigation into Nutro Products, Inc., on the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine portion of the agency’s web site. However, let’s be clear about this, the CVM is not the department that handles complaints, nor does it do the investigative work. So, yes, indeed, the FDA CVM is stating a fact: This department is not investigating Nutro Products, Inc.

In what can only be described as a fit of “lazy-reporting” the major media broadcasters immediately jumped on this news story by parroting the FDA’s statement and Nutro’s denial. The winners are the FDA and Nutro, whose efforts to deliver a wonderful media-spin on the whole FDA investigation report made them both come out smelling like the proverbial rose. The losers are the consumers — who are now left more confused than ever. And, both the FDA and Nutro made it appear as if ConsumerAffairs.com was caught with its pants down. Thankfully, the folks at ConsumerAffairs.com responded quickly. On April 29, 2009 another article appeared detailing more vividly than ever the complaints against Nutro and more documentation from the FDA.

The Nutro corporation has always taken the stance that the rumors about their product’s safety are the result of low-minded, non-investigative, blog-writing, rumor-mongering, hysterical people. Well, let me remind Nutro that these are people who purchased their products, fed them to their pets, and watched helplessly as their pets became ill and died! I for one am glad that ConsumerAffairs.com is not taking matters lying down. The FDA is not an agency that is pro-active, it only moves when it absolutely has to, remember the Menu Foods debacle? So, why should consumers place any weight on what this agency states? If it weren’t for courageous, honest, and investigative reporting pet parents all over the world would be totally unaware of the potential dangers of feeding their furry family members Nutro!