YUCK! mold on canned cat food

[lonelykitten]

so a couple weeks ago samara refused to eat a can of natural life cat food, well we had some cans we purchased from the same store 4 or 5 days ago. I opened one today and it was covered with a green and greyish fuzzy mold. So even though I know sometimes this happens I have called the company, taken my picture proof and have decided to take a break from that brand for awhile. It also leads me to think maybe the other can she snubbed was going bad too, which's why she snubbed it. lucky for Samara i have 2 $5 coupons for our petstore so she is well covered on food this week.

 

[rosiemac]

Something similar happend to the food i had a few months ago, but it wasn't off, someone said it looked like it had been overheated when it was being manufactured?. Either way the cats wouldn't touch it. The jelly was cloudy and the chunks were mushy, so i took a picture of a bowl of both the good and the bad food and e-mailed them, and because i order in bulk i had said 6 other poacks were the same, so they told me to bin it and sent me another 24 boxes of the food

 

[lonelykitten]

well this was definetely mold. We won't hear from the company until monday at the earliest but I opened the other can of chicken and turkey I had of that brand (purchased the same day) and that also had mold on it. so we threw out the other cans and bought her some innova, evo, eagle pack and royal canin. we probably won't purchase that brand for awhile.

 

[strange_wings]

Have you taken those other cans out to the trash (curb), yet? You should really wait until you hear back from them and give them the lot numbers off the moldy cans. This allows them to trace it back to the, plant, day, and shift it was made so they can track down all of the food produced around that time - and you could potentiality save some pets lives.

My guess is that one of two things is going wrong: The food isn't getting heated up enough or something is wrong with the canner. Both would mean equipment repair.

 

[catbehaviors]

That's disgusting! It's good that your kitties didn't eat it... I hope that you have better experiences with cat food soon!

 

[bastetservant]

Originally Posted by catbehaviors

That's disgusting! It's good that your kitties didn't eat it... I hope that you have better experiences with cat food soon!

Yeah! Disgusting!!!!


If it were people food, it would be big news, hell to pay, and law suits.


Robin

 

[lonelykitten]

we did write down all the info on the cans but I had my husband go grab the cans out of the trash until we hear from the company.

 

[lonelykitten]

here is what I found on the cat food when I opened it, this is the second can the first had more mold.

 

[sharky]

Originally Posted by lonelykitten

we did write down all the info on the cans but I had my husband go grab the cans out of the trash until we hear from the company.

Good idea

... Oh that is definitely not normal for canned food

 

[sharky]

What is the exp date?

 

[lonelykitten]

Originally Posted by sharky

What is the exp date?

the bottoms of both cans say best by october 2011.

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by bastetservant

If it were people food, it would be big news, hell to pay, and law suits.

Not really. Unless someone is made ill from it the same thing happens with human foods. It's reported and they recall the bad lots. In fact it happens that way all of the time and is often barely a blip on the news.

Luckily there was no harm done here. The cats smelled something was wrong and the other cans visibly have something wrong with them. This sort of thing happens and really isn't worth getting seriously worked up for unless someone is harmed. Unfortunately equipment malfunctions from time to time. Think about all of the appliances in your life, and your vehicles, you wish they wouldn't occasionally break down but you know how it goes.

Tell them you want refunded and that you want to see that those lots from the affected plant recalled so no one else gets a hold of them.

You may want to share some of the lot numbers on here, in this thread, so that people using this food can check against yours to see if they have cans from the same plant or not.

 

[bastetservant]

There are recalls all the time of people food, yes. But where I am, bad food is big news, and there are lots of law suits afterwards. This kind of thing is not acceptable for human food and it should not be for pet food!


Robin

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by bastetservant

There are recalls all the time of people food, yes. But where I am, bad food is big news, and there are lots of law suits afterwards. This kind of thing is not acceptable for human food and it should not be for pet food!

Maybe people in your area like to sue more?

While yes, it's bad, the phrase (and I'm censoring it) " _____ happens" holds true. I wish it wasn't true, but it is.

My DH and I recently had mild food poisoning from a place in town. We were better the next day so we didn't do anything about it - we're not out for "easy money" and truly running to a lawyer would have been a waste of time.

ETA: To clarify: I don't think the OP has grounds to sue here. No damages to were done.

 

[bastetservant]

I don't know if people sue here more or not. But I think the QA of food manufacturers needs to be much better and if they produce tainted food, they should be sued - right out of business. Those companies have the health of the public at stake and they better take that seriously. Same with restaurants.

And I agree that the OP doesn't have a case.

Robin

 

[lonelykitten]

I will post lot #'s in a bit when I have the info in front of me.

No we don't, nor never intended to sue, she never ate it or got sick requiring extensive vet bills so no harm done. Really at this point we're out $4. We're just gonna take a bresk from that brand because really brands like wellness, innova and everything else isn't much more expensive and better too.

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by bastetservant

But I think the QA of food manufacturers needs to be much better and if they produce tainted food, they should be sued - right out of business.

There would be no businesses left, then. For every recall they announce there are dozens of mini recalls of food before it's out on the shelves.
I don't know if anyone tests post can? They would test prior to canning and at that time mold wouldn't have grown, yet.

And it could very well be that the plant knows about the issue and recalled the lots already. It wouldn't be the first time recalled products were stocked out.

In any case I hope the company and store takes can of it- thats another thing, don't forget to call and tell the store manager.

 

[bastetservant]

Can't agree with you strange wings. Canning is very serious and must be done correctly. Botulism kills.

Deaths from food poisoning from processed food is rather rare. But that is because poor practices that resulted in illness and death have been prosecuted.

All I'm saying is that the food industry - human or pet - needs to be held accountable because they are being trusted with our lives. Should they not be accountable? Is it OK that they produce and sell contaminated food? Mold can be deadly. It's not OK that this product was sold and could have hurt animals. And I think that if this were human food, there would be a huge outcry, it would be in the newspapers and on the evening news, and there would probably be legal consequences. If that wouldn't happen where you live, well then you live in a different world than I do.

I don't understand making excuses for this negligent pet food manufacturer and saying "..... happens." When the "stuff" can result in illness and death, there is no reason or excuse for it.

I just hope no one's pet was sickened, or worse, from this bad food. I will never buy cat food from this manufacturer.

And any restaurant that poisons should be reported to the local heath department - so the health of others can be protected.

Robin

 

[strange_wings]

You're interpring posts as saying something that they're not and going off on a rant here. I've made no excuses, but the fact is that a lot goes wrong that you never hear about even with human foods. You report it and make them do something about, that's the responsible thing to do.

And yes, people are different in the rural area I live in. Many older folks would just scarpe a fuzzy mold off something and eat it anyways saying "It won't kill ya".

(maybe its because you have many that grew up poor?)

Brand doesn't = manufactorer when talking about smaller independent brands, btw. And one plants problem won't affect food made elsewhere. It could even be that some of the more expensive brands are made in the same plant. So one should know how to read the codes they use.

 

[bastetservant]

I don't consider anything I've said a "rant." I just have an opinion. And my opinion is that "stuff happens" is hardly an acceptable excuse for tainted food.

I happen to think that manufacturers, small or large, should be held accountable. And the penalties for not following the food processing mandates - for any food - human or animal - should be severe. And I don't think they are so severe for animal food, because animals are treated as property most of the time, and they don't have rights to things like decent food. And I think that is wrong. But I realize I'm tilting at windmills in this world as my values are not that widely shared. I would think that people who frequent this site would be outraged that such garbage is being sold as cat food. I started this (somehow) with simply stating how outrageous this is.

Mold on food can and does kill on occasion. It is not worth the risk to eat moldy food. People take risks with their food all the time, and they sometimes suffer bad consequences. It is foolish.

I'm using the word "manufacturer" as meaning the company that produces the food. I think you knew that. I do realize that one plant may produce many brands. That's common knowledge. The manufacturer should be held responsible, as well as individual plants. The penalties should be severe.

That's what I think. I think what I think is right. And that's all I have to say on the subject. You won't convince me otherwise.

Robin