I know, it so so frustrating. Lily was doing so well on RC. Before we picked her up from the Vet earlier, I went to the pet store and bought a bag of Wellness. They do not use any of the suppliers of the affected rice. I am going to feed Lily boiled chicken and rice for a few days at any rate, then switch her over to the Wellness.
This is what their site says:
April 19, 2007
Dear Pet Parents,
Like many of you, we were upset to learn that the presence of an illegal contaminant has again been found in the pet-food supply, this time involving rice protein concentrate.
We have
no reason to believe that any Wellness or Old Mother Hubbard products are affected in any way. In fact:
- We do not source rice protein concentrate from Binzhou Futian Biological Technology, the manufacturer of the contaminated rice protein concentrate.
- We do not purchase rice protein concentrate from Wilbur-Ellis.
- We have visited the plants where we source our rice protein concentrate, and they have consistently met our stringent standards. We have been purchasing from them for several years and have not recently added any new suppliers.
We wanted to make you aware of the facts concerning our ingredients and quality assurance program.
Why We Use Rice Protein Concentrate
Rice protein concentrate is an expensive, premium and natural ingredient that is used in, for example, cereal, baked goods, and in some premium, natural pet foods. It is a source of protein with strong non-allergenic properties. At Wellness, we use rice protein concentrate in a handful of products that are formulated for allergies, including:
- Simple Food Solutions
- Two flavors of the WellBars (Fish and Sweet Potato and Yogurt, Apple and Bananas)
- Old Mother Hubbard Puppy Treats
These are our only products that contain rice protein concentrate.
Our Quality Assurance Program
All of Wellness and Old Mother Hubbard products are produced according to our proprietary recipes, with our specified ingredients, and our quality standards.
- We require a complete cleaning and sanitation between each product run to help ensure the purity of our products.
- Our facilities are regularly audited by Cook & Thurber, a HUMAN FOOD auditing firm.
- We require that our suppliers provide ingredients that are free of contaminants.
- Our employees monitor the quality control processes at all manufacturing plants.
New Enhancements to Our Quality Assurance Program
Wellness has consistently provided healthy, natural products to pet parents. Whenever our industry is confronted with a new issue, we incorporate new procedures into our quality assurance program. We are doing so here and will continue to take all appropriate steps to help ensure the continued integrity of all our products. For example, we are supplementing our vendor qualification processes to require them to show proof of testing for new known contaminants, and we are expanding our own testing procedures to address a wider selection of ingredients and contaminants.
Working Together
The presence of illegal contaminants like melamine in pet food is a new issue, and one that is being investigated by the regulatory authorities. While we have no reason to believe our products are affected by this matter, the uncertainty those issues have created across the industry is of great concern to us. We urge government and regulatory officials to continue acting with due speed to identify the source of the contamination and hold that entity accountable.
The safety of our food supply is important to all of us. Working together with other industry stakeholders, we firmly believe that confidence in the supplies of food for our pets and our families can be restored.
As always, if you have any questions, we are happy to help. You can reach us at 1-800-225-0904.
Jim Scott
Chief Executive Officer
Deborah Ellinger
President