It’s only been 3 years since the massive pet food recalls of 2007 but anytime is a good time for a refresher. I’ve already blogged quite a bit on things I learned due to the recalls, including:
- My thoughts at the one year anniversary of the pet food recalls
- Why the AAFCO stamp of approval is worthless
- The similarities between the pet food and peanut butter recalls
- A list of things I think are worth avoiding in pet food
- The only product I can recommend
Basically, I was left with a strong feeling of distrust after learning about the widespread pet food industry practices which resulted in the deaths and tragic illnesses of thousands of pets in this country. That feeling remains as strong as ever because the pet food companies didn’t say, “This is unacceptable! We’re going to do a complete overhaul and come back with new, transparent practices that will restore consumer confidence.” Far from it. What they said was more along the lines of, “Circle the wagons boys! Consumers are daring to ask questions. Screw that!”
As far as I know, not one significant thing in the practices of the pet food industry as a whole has changed for the better since all those pets suffered and died. Therefore, the potential for a recurrence is plausible to my mind. And indeed, we have regularly seen pet food products recalled, though on a smaller scale, in the years since. Granted, recalls are going to happen, but the reasons that they happen and how they are handled by the pet food companies are very similar to 2007. There have been a few isolated cases where I thought recalls were handled well – for example Orijen – but the large corporations still deny problems, rely on secrecy and employ the “proprietary information“, duck and cover business model.
Overall, I would say my opinion of pet food corporations has changed little since 2007. How about you – do you feel things in the pet food industry are better, worse or about the same?