News & Newsletters: Page 762

AFIA to host Liquid Feed Symposium in September

The American Feed Industry Association’s Liquid Feed Committee will host the 42nd annual Liquid Feed Symposium, September 12-14, at the Grand Hyatt Denver in Colorado, USA. The program educates and promotes the agricultural liquid supplement industry, with speaker presentations, research funding, achievement recognition and the Liquid Feed Symposium Trade Show.

Mars Petcare, The Nutro Company build petfood innovation center

Mars Petcare and its subsidiary The Nutro Company recently began building a US$87-million North American Regional Innovation Center for petfood in Thompson's Station, Tennessee, USA. The four-building campus will serve as the companies' home base for creating future petfood innovations for the North American market and is expected to be complete in 2014.

Helping pet owners understand gastrointestinal problems

Gastrointestinal problems are one of the top 10 reasons pet owners take their dogs to a veterinarian, according to a recent report. With so many petfood options in the retail setting, it's often difficult for owners to discern which petfood to purchase, especially when advice may be coming from those without a veterinary background, said Davinne Glenn, DVM, co-owner of Veterinary Center of Liberty in Missouri, USA. It's important for owners to know about the role of petfood in Gastrointestinal health and for veterinarians to educate owners.

Spectrum Pet Care president faces investment fraud allegations

Frank Renick, president of Spectrum Pet Care, a Missouri, USA, petfood company, has been indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on allegations of investment fraud. Renick, of Montgomery City, Missouri, was arrested June 4 on three charges of mail fraud. According to prosecutors, Renick sold $7 million worth of investments in the company to more than 250 investors in Missouri and other locations.

Man suing Diamond Pet Foods over dry dog food recall

A father in New Jersey is reportedly suing Diamond Pet Foods and the place of purchase, Costco, claiming that his 8-week-old son was sickened by recently recalled Salmonella-tainted dry dog food he purchased. Lawyers for Nevin Eisenberg of Marlboro, New Jersey, USA, filed a lawsuit in a New Jersey federal court that alleges his infant son was hospitalized by a strain of Salmonella infantis that was found in petfood made at Diamond’s Gaston, South Carolina, USA, manufacturing plant.

Market Trends and Reports

Eva Longoria to be celebrity face of Dine cat food brand

Eva Longoria has reportedly agreed to become the international celebrity face of the Dine cat food brand. Although Longoria, star of the TV show "Desperate Housewives," does not own a pet cat, she says she is a cat lover and owned them as a child.

Research and Markets offers 'Pet Food Manufacturing' report

Research and Markets added a new "Pet Food Manufacturing" report to its offerings, which found that the US petfood manufacturing industry's nearly 200 companies bring in a combined annual revenue of about US$47 billion. Major companies noted in the report include divisions of Nestle (Nestle Purina PetCare Company); Procter & Gamble (Iams); Colgate-Palmolive (Science Diet and Prescription Diet); Mars (Pedigree and Whiskas); and Del Monte (9Lives, Gravy Train, Milk-Bone, and Meow Mix).

Diamond dry dog food recall linked to second plant in Missouri, USA

The initial recall of dry dog food produced at Diamond Pet Foods' Gaston, South Carolina, USA, facility has since been expanded at least eight times affecting at least nine brand names, but the latest expansion now includes petfood produced at a second Diamond facility in Meta, Missouri, USA. No information regarding a possible connection between the Salmonella contamination at the two plants has been released, according to a report.

CDC explains food pathogen database, PulseNet

At the recent annual meeting of the Association of Public Health Laboratories in Seattle, Washington, USA, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explained how its foodborne pathogen database, PulseNet, aids in outbreak detection as well as future challenges CDC anticipates. PulseNet, launched in 1996, identifies the DNA information for foodborne pathogens, including those in petfood, using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

Market Trends and Reports

Diamond Pet Foods recall expanded to include cat food formulas

Diamond Pet Foods has once again expanded its petfood recall, this time to include a brand of cat food produced at the company's Gaston, South Carolina, USA, petfood manufacturing facility, due to the possibility of Salmonella contamination. The new recall involves two dry cat food formulas: Kirkland Signature Super Premium Maintenance Cat Chicken & Rice Formula and Kirkland Signature Super Premium Healthy Weight Cat Formula.

New pet illness complaints linked to Chinese chicken jerky treats

A new record of complaints from pet owners and veterinarians submitted to federal health officials shows nearly 1,000 dogs have reportedly been sickened after eating chicken jerky treats made in China, according to a recent msnbc.com article. Since November 2011, the US Food and Drug Administration has received almost 900 reports of pet illnesses and deaths.

Pet Fair Asia registration now open

Registration for Pet Fair Asia, which will be held in China in October, is now open, allowing industry professionals to register to attend the pet trade show event, which will also be co-located for the first time with Petfood Forum China. With 2.68 million pet dogs and 1.07 million pet cats, China's pet market is expected to increase 7.7 percent each year to US$476 million in 2015, according to Euromonitor International.

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