News & Newsletters: Page 754

Pet Food Safety

AVMA discourages pet owners from feeding raw petfood diets

The American Veterinary Medical Association passed a new resolution discouraging the feeding of raw petfood diets to dogs and cats due to human health concerns. The association is discouraging pet owners from feeding raw meat diets because pathogens like Salmonella, E. coli and other bacteria can be easily transmitted to humans by handling the raw food or through contact with the animal's feces.

Spring Naturals dog food brand wins Editors' Choice award

Spring Naturals brand of dog dinners and treats won the Editors’ Choice award from Pet Product News International for its Canned Dinners for Dogs. More than 400 products were submitted for judging in the 2012 competition.

Spring Naturals won the Editor's Choice award for its Canned Dinners for Dogs.

Market Trends and Reports

Archer Growth invests in Australian pet products, services provider

Australia’s Archer Growth has made the first investment from its new AUD300 million (US$307 million) fund as part of a new partnership deal with pet products and services provider Best Friends Pet Supercentre. Best Friends Pet Supercentre's network currently includes 11 stores that offer grooming services, puppy preschools and pet hospitals in Australia, and Archer Growth says it hopes to quadruple that number.

Merrick Pet Care launches 11 new dog food recipes

Merrick Pet Care Inc. is introducing a new line of 11 dog food recipes designed to provide balanced nutrition, under its Classic and Grain Free dog food brands. The dog food recipes, which will coincide with new petfood packaging, will be available at Petco, independent pet specialty stores and select online retailers.

Irish dog food company offers 20 percent discount on new website

Irish dog food company Pet Master is offering a limited-time discount of 20 percent on orders for the launch of its new website. Customers in Ireland and the UK can order cat and dog food through the company's new website and have it delivered to their home, thanks to a new partnership with petfood distributer Doig Marketing.

Class-action lawsuit filed over 2010 Kroger petfood recall

Macuga, Liddle & Dubin filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court against the Kroger Company on behalf of all customers who purchased recalled petfood contaminated with aflatoxin. Beginning December 18, 2010, Kroger recalled a total of 10 petfood brands, more than 68,300 bags, which were possibly contaiminated with aflatoxin.

New 'Cat Chat with Arloa' episode looks at cat food, cat health link

981 Media and actress Arloa Reston released the latest episode in the series, “Cat Chat with Arloa,” which investigates the link between different types of cat food and cat health. "Cat Chat with Arloa" interviews pet nutritionist and wellness expert, Marc Ching, to investigate the link between cat food and cat health, with discussions focused on dry cat food and the effects it can have on a cat's health.

Research and Markets offers new report on petfood in Ukraine

Research and Markets has added the "Pet Food and Goods Users in Ukraine" report by COMCON Ukraine to its offerings. The report, a comprehensive study of pet products used by Ukrainians, represents the different groups of pets owners; indicates the types of petfood and goods used for pets; describes the purchase behavior of consumers (awareness and usage of petfood brands, places of petfood and goods purchases and attitude toward petfood prices); and outlines factors influencing the decision about choosing a brand.

Halo offers new vegan dog food option

Halo, a petfood company co-owned by Ellen DeGeneres, recently released a new vegan formula dog food, Vegan Garden Medley for Dogs. This plant-based dog food contains no preservatives or meats found in other petfoods.

GREENIES Brand to host Pet Oral Health Event August 4-5

The GREENIES Brand, makers of pet dental chews and treats, will host its third annual GREENIES Pet Oral Health Event at Petco stores on Saturday, August 4, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Sunday, August 5, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Through this oral health how-to event, pet parents will learn how to help keep their pets' mouths healthy from GREENIES representatives and will receive coupons for GREENIES Brand dental chews and treats.

FDA seeks comment on antimicrobial drug use data collection

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is seeking public comment on how the agency can collect more detailed information on antimicrobial drug use in food-producing animals and how best distribute the information, as part of an effort to better correlate antimicrobial drug use to antimicrobial resistance. The Government Accountability Office said information currently collected by FDA does not provide sufficient data to analyze trends in antimicrobial resistance, so the agency is requesting that manufacturers provide an estimate on how much of each drug is being used on each species.

FDA reports indicate sweet potato treats may make dogs ill

Veterinary Information Network reported that new reports to the US Food and Drug Administration indicate that some brands of sweet potato dog treats may be causing pet illnesses. Recent anecdotal reports made by veterinarians to FDA have reported cases of dogs developing symptoms of kidney failure (Fanconi's syndrome) from three brands of sweet potato treats imported from China.

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