Aflatoxin Recall – What You Need to Know

Aflatoxin Recall is what’s happening at the time of this writing.

What is Aflatoxin and why is it so dangerous?

Aflatoxin is a toxin – a mold that can be very dangerous and can kill.

Aflatoxin Symptoms include:
* Symptoms of illness, such as sluggishness and lethargy.
* Reluctance to eat.
* Vomiting.
* Yellowish tint to the eyes or gums.
* Diarrhea

If your dog or cat has these symptoms, get them to the vet right away. If you wait, it could be too late!

The recent recalls are for  “Unacceptable levels of Aflatoxin“  Are there acceptable levels? In the pet food industry – believe it or not – there are acceptable levels. But recently there have been several product recalls where the foods have gone above the “acceptable” level.

 Recent Recalls include: 

• December 12, 2011 O’Neal’s Feeders Supply Inc. recalled its Arrow Brand dog food because corn had higher-than-acceptable levels of aflatoxin.
• December 9, 2011 Advanced Animal Nutrition of Thayer Dog Food Recall due to aflatoxin. Recalled 50-pound bags each of Dog Power Adult Maintenance Formula 21-12, Dog Power Hunters Formula 27-14 and Dog Power Hi-Pro Performance Formula 26-18.
• December 06, 2011 Cargill Dog Food Recall “River Run” and “Marksman” due to aflatoxin
• December 06, 2011 Iams (P&G) ProActive Health Smart Puppy Dry Dog Food Recall due to aflatoxin

What do these companies have in common?

Most likely these products are coming from similar sources.

How does Aflatoxin end up in a pet food?

Most of the time, it’s associated with corn and wheat.

This is one of the reasons why years ago, Dr. Jane Bicks – the formulator of Life’s Abundance, chose to not go with corn and wheat.

Another reason is that corn and wheat are known allergens.

If the corn or wheat is cooked just right, it becomes more digestible.  Some companies cook it to make it more digestible, some don’t. But regardless, there is always the inherent risk of Aflatoxins because corn and wheat have such a propensity.

When you see a pet food containing corn or wheat – drop the bag and walk away. What is the point of feeding your pet a known allergen with a propensity for aflatoxin? Why buy from a company that continues to propagate that?

So why do pet food companies use those ingredients?

Because they are inexpensive and widely available.  Corn can be purchased in large batches, when it’s cheapest, and it can be stored up for the year.

Would you consider that fresh ingredients?

So, this is the risk and why recalls are now happening.

Pet Food Recalls generally follow a pattern.

During 2011 there were recalls of pet treats and foods with salmonella. Salmonella actually manifested to such a degree that the FDA advised pet owners of it – even warning about touching the pet food bags.

Do you really want to feed your pet something like that? Why settle for any company that’s had a recall?

Since the major recall of 2007, there have been over one-hundred pet food recalls.  In addition, there are the silent recalls – which are the worse kind of recall – because you never hear about them.

Silent recalls occur when people go back to the store with a complaint that is then sent to the pet food company, When that company realizes there are several complaints, it recalls from the store. It never makes the news – only the store knows of it.

Do you want to roll the dice with every bag of food that you buy?

Life’s Abundance was started with a mission: To help pets live a longer, healthier and happier life.

Life’s Abundance voluntarily goes with the APHIS European Standard certification – the highest standard available. To meet this certification – Life’s Abundance has to use human quality ingredients.

Life Abundance products are NOT sprayed with pesticide. Life’s Abundance products are NOT sitting on trucks or loading docks exposed to overheating or freezing, causing mold, fungus, candida or mildew.

One of the root causes for problems with pet foods is the mishandling of the products.

This is one of the reasons why Life’s Abundance is above the fold – because Life’s Abundance does not have to deal with chains of distribution and multiple parties handling your product.

This is why Life’s Abundance does the things the way they do. In addition Life’s Abundance uses the structure of network marketing on purpose – to help introduce the product by word of mouth – and – to control the product distribution.

Life’s Abundance gets the product from the manufacturer to the consumer directly.

• Life’s Abundance makes a batch of food every couple days with only fresh ingredients.
• Those ingredients are inspected to be of human quality and then put into Life’s Abundance products.
• Life’s Abundance food then goes into a truck with a sealed container that cannot be tampered with.
• It  then arrives at one of the three Life’s Abundance owned facilities staffed by Life’s Abundance employees.
• Life’s Abundance employees are the only ones – beyond UPS – that ever touch the product.
• If a truck arrives at a Life’s Abundance facility with a broken seal – the food is rejected.
• There is no allowance for tampering with Life’s Abundance product.

Wouldn’t your rather have the confidence of knowing that you can buy from Life’s Abundance – a company that:

• uses only the freshest human-quality ingredients,
• voluntarily submits to the APHIS European Standard certification,
• controls and protects its batches
• has never had a recall?

Doesn’t your pet deserve Life’s Abundance?