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Contact:
Paal Gisholt 774 773-1100
Consumers:
800 461-8898
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- PLYMOUTH, MA (April 25, 2007) - Wilbur-Ellis, a San Francisco-based supplier of pet food ingredients, has asked all pet food producers that used their rice protein concentrate to recall dog food produced using that ingredient due to a risk that it may have been contaminated with melamine. Melamine is an industrial chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers that can lead to illness or fatalities in animals if consumed.
SmartPak Canine used rice protein concentrate supplied by Wilbur-Ellis for a single, recently produced batch of its LiveSmart - Weight Management Formula dog food. SmartPak is voluntarily recalling that batch of the product. Virtually all of the potentially contaminated batch was recovered by SmartPak before going to customers; only 45 pet owners received shipments of the affected product and all of them have been contacted. SmartPak has not received any reports of pets taking ill as a result of feeding LiveSmart Weight Management food.
SmartPak learned of this issue last Friday April 20th, when its contract manufacturer, Chenango Valley Pet Food, Inc., informed them that a recently produced batch of LiveSmart Weight Management Formula was manufactured using rice protein concentrate sourced from Wilbur-Ellis. Immediately that day SmartPak: 1) stopped offering the LiveSmart Weight Management Formula product for sale on its website, 2) cancelled all pending orders from its customers for LiveSmart Weight Management Formula, 3) diverted monthly shipments on UPS trucks that had not yet been delivered, and 4) contacted all 45 affected customers via telephone and email, informed them of the situation, and told them to stop feeding the product.
SmartPak Canine also sent a complimentary replacement shipment of SmartPak portion paks containing another national brand of weight management food to ensure a consistent supply of food for their pet and to minimize the likelihood of a consumer continuing to feed the possibly contaminated food.
This was the first and only batch of LiveSmart food containing rice protein concentrate sourced from Wilbur-Ellis. No other LiveSmart foods contain rice protein concentrate as an ingredient. The following LiveSmart formulas do not contain either of the ingredients affected in the recall (rice protein concentrate or wheat gluten) and remain available for sale in portion-pak SmartPaks:
Paal Gisholt, SmartPak's President and CEO, commented, "We started SmartPak Canine because we love dogs and wanted to do everything possible to promote their health and well being. We've made it a key focus of our business to promote the feeding of higher quality dog foods, in controlled portions, as the cornerstone of canine health. As pet owners ourselves, our hearts go out to the many thousands of dog and cat lovers who have been affected by this terrible situation."
Consumers with questions about the pet food they use should visit the FDA Web site at www.fda.gov. For more information regarding Wilbur-Ellis' recall, their press release may be viewed at: http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/wilburellis04_07.html
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