Be Aware Of Your Pedigree

You know the commercials by companies such as Pedigree? You see them on Animal Planet during dog shows and they try to tug at your heartstrings by showing the love between humans and dogs and then try to persuade you that all they care about is the health and well being of your dog.

Here is what Pedigree says about its pet food (www.pedigree.com):
"When we look in a dog's eyes we see loyalty. We see trust. We see honesty and friendship. We see love. And when you see dogs the way we see dogs, you have to make food that's really good for them."

So here is the latest in a continuing sad tale of pet food manufacturers:

Associated Press, September 15, 2008

"At least two grocery stores have pulled two types of Pedigree dog food from their shelves following a recall by Mars Petcare U.S. Inc., due to possible contamination with a strain of salmonella.
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. and Giant Food pulled Pedigree small crunchy bites and Pedigree large breed complete nutrition dry pet food products from sale.
Mars Petcare issued the recall on Friday.
The recalled products were produced at Mars' Everson, Penn., plant between Feb. 18 and July 29, when Mars stopped production because it was alerted of a possible link between dry pet food produced at its plant and two isolated cases of people infected with salmonella schwarzengrund.
Animals infected with salmonella may be lethargic and have diarrhea, fever and vomiting. Some have decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Some animals could be carriers with no symptoms with the potential to infect other animals or humans.
Humans with salmonella poisoning have some or all of those symptoms including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever.
Consumers who bought the products can return them to the grocery stores for a full refund."

Great advice -- get "a full refund". After the poisoning? How about, sue the hell out of them for not caring enough to ensure the safety of their products? We wouldn't eat the stuff if they gave it to us for free.

Perhaps the more significant picture lies right here in California, and affects both humans and anything else consuming beef products. Did you know that the Department of Agriculture (which stamps your meat "Approved") does not even test meat in California for the presence of PCBs and Dioxins? Yet California beef, most notably the more fatty meat like hamburger, is laden with these ultra toxic chemicals. Worse, when good minded people try to rid the beef of these toxins through voter-enacted initiatives such as Proposition 65, the federal government cries "no you don't. You can't put a label that tells consumers that the meat contains toxins because even though we don't test for them, when we say it's good for you, you have to take our word for it."

Well, we're barking angry about it and you should be too -- all you Moms out there should have the same concern for Jimmy that you have for Skippy. You should ask the federal government why they don't test for toxins they know exist in beef but still stamp "Approved". Because you know darn well that they will only act when they have to - when profits are at risk; just as Pedigree will act only after the bad press gets out. Shameful.
There's a caveat with that emptor dish!

Satchie