[Crossfire Bulldogs]

Donna Jackel
Staff writer


(December 21, 2005) — A brand of dog food that apparently is tainted with a deadly toxin is being sold in the Rochester area.

Professional Pet Food yesterday released a statement indicating that the deadly toxin aflatoxin had been found in a product manufactured at their Gaston, S.C., facility.

Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring toxic chemical produced by growth of the fungus aspergillus flavus on corn or other crops.

New York state receives dog food from the Gaston facility, as do 21 other states. Symptoms of poisoning include lethargy combined with a reluctance to eat; a yellowish tint to the eyes and/or gums; and severe or bloody diarrhea.

In a statement, Professional Pet Food said they had recommended that their distributors hold the sale of all Diamond Pet Food products formulated with corn and produced at the company's Gaston facility. Professional's facilities in Meta, Missouri and Lathrop, Ca. were not affected, according to the company.

Russ Herman, store manager at Pet Saver Superstore in Greece, said his four telephone lines have been lit up all morning. He said he pulled about 100 bags of Diamond dog food off his shelves.

Herman said his Diamond distributor had called Friday and informed him that a particular lot number of one food might have a problem. Late yesterday, Herman learned that the problem was more serious and that dogs were probably dying from mold that had grown in the food.

Herman said he also had had a customer come into his store yesterday, whose dog had most likely died of aflatoxin.

"It's just an awful thing," he said. "We always recommend food that doesn't contain corn, because it is used as filler."

Instead, he said, he recommends pet food made with rice or whole grains.

Consumers should look out for Diamond or Professional pet food bearing a capital "G" in the 11th or 12th character in the date code, which would indicate it was made at the Gaston facility. Diamond's records show that the company's corn shipments were clear of aflatoxin after December 10, so bags with "Best By 11-June-07" codes or later are not tainted, according to Professional officials.

"We are rapidly analyzing retained samples of all products produced in Gaston," the statement continued, "so we can isolate specific lot numbers impacted and provide this information to our distributors, retailers and customers as quickly as possible."

Professional Pet Foods recommends the following products, manufactured at its Gaston facility, be removed from sale: Professional Chicken & Rice Senior Dog Food, Professional Reduced Fat Chicken & Rice Dog Food, Professional Adult Dog Food, Professional Large-Breed Puppy Food, Professional Puppy Food, Professional Reduced Fat Cat Food and Professional Adult Cat Food.

Animal Emergency Service in Rochester has had a couple of cases where the symptoms were consistent with aflatoxin poisoning, said Dr. Kent Burgesser.

He had not heard of any cats becoming ill from the poison.