# "Somehting Very Fishy"



## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

Pretty scary information for those of us who feed fish based dog food!

Dogs Naturally Magazine Something Very Fishy


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## shellbeme (Mar 1, 2011)

It's just not going to get any better. sigh


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## Rocks (Jul 9, 2012)

I sure could go on a rant about this but I won't here. Its just so upsetting that so much food for both pets and humans has either little nutrition or chemicals added.


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## TLR (Nov 13, 2011)

I can't stand it anymore. Yes, that article made me angry..just as the author said it would.


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

It is hopeless. Sigh. I don't mind buying rhinestones and ribbons from China, I wouldn't even mind soy sauce that was imported from China. But not fish. Not for my dogs, not for myself. Isn't it funny how China used to be our enemy, but now we are close friends...I guess you need to appear to be a friend to poison you enemy.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

Marj, thank you for the link. I am very sad about hearing this as things just keep getting worse and worse...with both people and dog food.

I feed a fish based dry kibble and one out of the 4 varieties of canned food I feed is also fish based.  I'm not sure which dog food companies do not use China at all for any part of their processing. Anyone know of one?


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## sassy's mommy (Aug 29, 2005)

Not good!


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## mysugarbears (Aug 13, 2007)

Very scarey...


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## aprilb (Jul 9, 2010)

Fromm's is accredited with the BBB and has an A+ rating..to date, they have never had a recall..they use their own USDA inspected plant and according to the link below do not source anything from China..I feed their fish-based food and I think it's safe(at least for now)

4 Pet Food Companies To Know Series: FROMM FAMILY | Naked Dingo Blog


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## SammieMom (Nov 13, 2010)

Thanks Marj. All I can say is CRAP! Literally, you know I just changed to NB fish bec low protein and he needs that. I'm sure NB sends their fish on a round trip to china as big as they are. I'm going back to chicken and beef. NB has more non grain 21% protein formulas. 
xoxo


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

aprilb said:


> Fromm's is accredited with the BBB and has an A+ rating..to date, they have never had a recall..they use their own USDA inspected plant and according to the link below do not source anything from China..I feed their fish-based food and I think it's safe(at least for now)
> 
> 4 Pet Food Companies To Know Series: FROMM FAMILY | Naked Dingo Blog


From reading that article, I assume Fromm doesn't know that their fish is processed in China because they are buying it from an American supplier.

"I made phone calls to several pet food manufacturers, none of them would confirm their fish ingredients were processed in China. All seemed surprised by the question (is the fish in your pet foods processed in China?); consistently I was only told ‘we have trusted U.S./Canadian suppliers for our fish ingredients. They (the suppliers) are not required to tell the petsumer if the fish was processed in China, not required to tell the petsumer if STTP chemicals were added in China or if the fish is farm raised or wild caught."

I just emailed Fromm with these questions:

1. In what country was the fish ingredients (fish meal and whole fish) used in your pet food processed? 

2. Was the raw fish soaked in an STTP (sodium tripolyphosphate) solution during processing?

3. Is whole fish, fillets, or scrap cuts used in your food?


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## SammieMom (Nov 13, 2010)

April, I used Fromm for long time. Loved the company. Sammie quit wanting it and I needed to switch him to lower protein anyway non grain and Fromm is 30% and NB is 21%. I wanted fish for his allergies and fish oils.


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## silverhaven (Sep 6, 2009)

Wow! I was surprised by this. To google "Canadian fish processed in China" comes up with a lot of stuff. I guess buying canned and frozen and dehydrated foods is now a no no for me as far as fish is concerned. Thanks for the heads up Marg!!


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## Grace'sMom (Feb 22, 2012)

Ugh.

The way I read that it isn't just fish used in dog food to worry about??

The fish in the super market, too?

I get the frozen fillets for Gus and Grace... the cod and the tilapia.... but guess they are a no no now?

Might be a good thing Grace didn't like them and so I haven't used much.....


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

Another heads up:

Natural Balance (menu Foods) was just recalled in April when melamine from a rice protein premix imported from China was found in their food.

Natural Balance pet food recalled - USATODAY.com

Sounds like these pre mixes from China are the problem:

"The melamine that was poisoning dogs and cats was not added directly to the pet foods – it was found in the premix. The Chinese manufacturers added it to their premix to boost the protein content as cheaply as possible. Only when dogs and cats started dying – and the FDA was forced to begin testing the foods – did anyone become aware of the fact."

Dogs Naturally Magazine Think You Can Avoid Pet Foods Made In China? Think Again!


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## maggieh (Dec 16, 2007)

Ladysmom said:


> Another heads up:
> 
> Natural Balance (menu Foods) was just recalled in April when melamine from a rice protein premix imported from China was found in their food.
> 
> ...


Marj - you might want to clarify that the NB recall was April 2007. Link to USA today is for their April 2007 article.

Thanks.


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

maggieh said:


> Marj - you might want to clarify that the NB recall was April 2007. Link to USA today is for their April 2007 article.
> 
> Thanks.


Thanks! You are correct. The Dog's Naturally article is from 2012, though.


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

*Heard Back From Fromm's*

I just received this email from Fromm's:

Dear Marjorie,

Thank you for your email and in choosing Fromm Family Foods.

Recently there is information circulating about the processing of fish and fish ingredients and the use of China. We want you to know that we do not use any fish processed in China. While our fish comes from many different waters, they are all processed in North American facilities.

All of the fish products we use have not been treated with any chemicals and are completely safe for use in our products as evident from our outstanding history of producing safe, high quality foods.

If you have any further questions please feel free to let us know, we are happy to help.


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## aprilb (Jul 9, 2010)

Ladysmom said:


> I just received this email from Fromm's:
> 
> Dear Marjorie,
> 
> ...


Thanks so much for checking, Marj..this is good to know..


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## aprilb (Jul 9, 2010)

SammieMom said:


> April, I used Fromm for long time. Loved the company. Sammie quit wanting it and I needed to switch him to lower protein anyway non grain and Fromm is 30% and NB is 21%. I wanted fish for his allergies and fish oils.


I feed NB to my Rose & Lily..the venison & sw potato is the ONLY food Lily can tolerate. I feed Eva the Fromm whitefish & potato and it is 23/11. It has fruits, veggies and high-quality grain..To my knowledge, NB is the only company that has grain-free with lower protein and fat. Lily and Rose are doing great on NB and I know their fish is ethoxyquin-free.


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## SammieMom (Nov 13, 2010)

aprilb said:


> I feed NB to my Rose & Lily..the venison & sw potato is the ONLY food Lily can tolerate. I feed Eva the Fromm whitefish & potato and it is 23/11. It has fruits, veggies and high-quality grain..To my knowledge, NB is the only company that has grain-free with lower protein and fat. Lily and Rose are doing great on NB and I know their fish is ethoxyquin-free.


Thanks April- I also fed the venison non grain - but it did not come in small bites and it was too large of a kibble. So I switched to fish. There are some new nb small bites in non grain I need to look into.


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

I just emailed Natural Balance with the same questions I asked Fromm this morning.

1. In what country was the fish ingredients (fish meal and whole fish) used in your pet food processed? 

2. Was the raw fish soaked in an STTP (sodium tripolyphosphate) solution during processing?

3. Is whole fish, fillets, or scrap cuts used in your food?


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## mysugarbears (Aug 13, 2007)

SammieMom said:


> Thanks Marj. All I can say is CRAP! Literally, you know I just changed to NB fish bec low protein and he needs that. I'm sure NB sends their fish on a round trip to china as big as they are. I'm going back to chicken and beef. NB has more non grain 21% protein formulas.
> xoxo



Kandis i had contacted Natural Balance on July 26 of this year and spoke with someone named Laura, she couldn't tell me where any of the ingredients were sourced from, so i have to assume China but she could tell me that the *Taurine*, *Folic Acid *and *Vitamin C * were sourced from China.


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

mysugarbears said:


> Kandis i had contacted Natural Balance on July 26 of this year and spoke with someone named Laura, she couldn't tell me where any of the ingredients were sourced from, so i have to assume China but she could tell me that the *Taurine*, *Folic Acid *and *Vitamin C * were sourced from China.


Oh, dear. Guess I'll cross Natural Balance off my list of prospects.


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## mysugarbears (Aug 13, 2007)

Marj, this is just so very scary, it's getting to the point that you don't what is safe to feed our fur babies, if you find anything that you think in your research that you feel is safe enough for Bailey, please let me know and i'll do the same. I just started feeding Fromm 4 Star again and have also fed the Acana singles, one protein and on carb source (Duck Bartlett Pear and Lamb and Apple) but i want more variety for the kids, the protein and fat weren't bad at all about the same as Fromm, not very high like Acana Pacifica. BTW, thank you for posted the article.


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## hoaloha (Jan 27, 2012)

Ladysmom said:


> I just received this email from Fromm's:
> 
> Dear Marjorie,
> 
> ...


Thanks for sharing this info, Marj! I feed Obi Fromm so this response is reassuring. (BTW, I cooked some oats, topped his kibble with it + carrots/peas and Obi really liked it! thanks for the oats suggestion in the other thread  )


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

mysugarbears said:


> Marj, this is just so very scary, it's getting to the point that you don't what is safe to feed our fur babies, if you find anything that you think in your research that you feel is safe enough for Bailey, please let me know and i'll do the same. I just started feeding Fromm 4 Star again and have also fed the Acana singles, one protein and on carb source (Duck Bartlett Pear and Lamb and Apple) but i want more variety for the kids, the protein and fat weren't bad at all about the same as Fromm, not very high like Acana Pacifica. BTW, thank you for posted the article.


Fromm Four Star is what Bailey's breeder recommended so I guess I'll stick with that.

It really is scary, isn't it?

I homecooked for Lady, but since I used cod, pollack or salmon, I guess the fish was processed in China.


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## silverhaven (Sep 6, 2009)

Ladysmom said:


> Fromm Four Star is what Bailey's breeder recommended so I guess I'll stick with that.
> 
> It really is scary, isn't it?
> 
> I homecooked for Lady, but since I used cod, pollack or salmon, I guess the fish was processed in China.


I like to have some kibble on hand for the occasional meal and snacks, so as I have none right now, I may try the Fromm.  thanks for your research Marj. From what I am seeing online, I get the feeling that it is mainly the processing, as in dehydrating and freezing that is sent out. I think that fresh is ok. I used to eat those Jane's frozen cod etc. won't anymore for more that one reason...


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