Diamond (green bag)

I've been searching through some of the dog food threads and noticed that a lot of you that use Diamond food in the green bag. My question is which green bag, lol? There's the Adult Premium and Large Breed. Right now, I'm feeding my 4 mo. old the puppy formula. I hear there's not really any benefits to feeding puppy food, so I'm going to switch him over to adult and my other dogs can eat it too. I scored the Premium by using the info in this <a href="http://www.game-dog.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12604">thread</a>, and by my calculations it scored an 80 (which isn't too bad). I'm either going to go with the Premium or the Lamb and Rice. Have any of you had any experience with the L&R?

 

yeah my dogs seem to enjoy the L&R...but u can also go with some of the others on the thread..it all matters what ur going 4..

 

be careful diamond had a dog foor recall and it killed quiet a few dogs theres alot of threads on it i would look at some other foods even thow im sure they fixed the proplem but still i would look in to it more before u decicide on that food

 

OK... Well... I knew about the original recall, but I figured everything would be cool by now, and now I see the post about yet another recall. I know products get recalled all the time, and most companies have had to recall something before, but twice? And so close together too... Too bad though-it was a pretty decent food at such a low price. I will definitely be looking for another type of food to feed LF. The last thing he needs right now is to get sick; I just brought him home from the hospital yesterday (Parvo). I will search through these threads again and hopefully find something else until I can start BARF.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

any time i am also thing about about barf but there so much to read a finger out i need to find some one i know that feed it

 

diamond killed 3 of my dogs, please don't support them

 

go with the lamb meal and rice the dogs seem to love it and it is corn and wheat free so there should be no problems

 

I used to feed Diamond's Chicken Soup, which was not affected by the recall. I switched to Canidae, its reasonably priced and scored higher than Diamond. Besides its just not worth chancing it.

 

REPLY FROM DIAMOND COMPANY AND THE LADY BLAIMING DIAMOND COMPANY FOR HER DOGS SICKNESS FROM EATING PREMIUM EDGE ALSO APOLOGIZES..... THE DOG FOOD MAY HAVE NOT BEEN TO BLAME FOR THIS..... "Vomitoxin does not represent a threat to public health among the general population.
"READ THIS FROM ANOTHER BOARD"........




zvkmm New Diamond Product Issue (0 replies) 14 March 2006 - 18:03
Reply Hodie, see below:

"Vomitoxin —Deoxynivalenol (DON), also referred to as vomitoxin, is a naturally occurring mycotoxin produced by several species of Fusarium fungi. Wet and cool weather from flowering time to maturity promotes infection, resulting in scab or head blight in barley, wheat, oats, and rye. Wheat infected with scab has a tendency to have lighter weight kernels, some of which are removed during normal harvesting and cleaning operations. Vomitoxin does not represent a threat to public health among the general population. However, it can—in rare cases—produce acute temporary nausea and vomiting in humans and animals. Food and Drug Administration does not have an advisory level for vomitoxin in raw wheat intended for milling purposes, and relies on processors to reduce the level in finished products for human consumption to a level that does not exceed 1 part-per-million (ppm). Advisory levels also exist for animal feeds. "


Janette New Diamond Product Issue (0 replies) 14 March 2006 - 18:03
Reply
Sorry to here about your dogs. But I have to agree with hodie.... The problem with The Diamond line food was Aflatoxin, a mold that grows on corn. Vomitoxin is a mold that grows on wheat as zvkmm has written. What line of Premium Edge were you using Deeswolf?




DeesWolf New Diamond Product Issue (0 replies) 14 March 2006 - 18:03
Reply My friend, who I posted for at the beginning has asked me to post this response:

"Foolish to buy a Diamond product? Absolutely!! Live and learn. I also thought (won't make that mistake again) that Diamond was being fairly responsible in how it handled the previous recall. That was before I learned how many products they DO make and how many ARE causing illness - whether the lab values are "significant" or not. In my defense, there was NO reference to Diamond on the bag of Premium Edge and I had fed this years ago without problem. I believe the particular grain in question here would be barley, but I could be wrong. Certainly wouldn't be the first time.
As of now, NYS Ag and Markets is checking the product in conjunction with Cornell. I am in the process of researching all I can as well. Yes, the 0.5ppm is what the sample given tested with. According to Diamond, "the FDA allows up to 1ppm....for human consumption. 0.5....is acceptable". Well, when there is nothing else the dogs have been given, when I am with them all the time and when the 4th is treated identically barring being given THAT food and showed NO illness --- something is amiss.
Christine"


mnm New Diamond Product Issue (0 replies) 14 March 2006 - 19:03

Reply I'm no expect but, worked with feeds for a number of years. State inspectors can randomly and probed feed bags for samples that were then sent to the state labs for testing. Anything out of range of labeling was given a stop sale order. All product had to be removed from shelf or warehouse and returned to manufacturer. Now granted during the time samples were being tested and we received results sometimes the feed was already sold or fed up. We never had a problem with aflitoxin that I can remember, but it was something that we watched for. In certain conditions the toxins develop and it becomes visible under a black light. One year, several years ago, we checked each sample we pulled from trucks during harvest.

Any grain, under the right conditions can become infected with a variety of problems. Unfortunately, it seems that the company in question believes that 1 ppm for humans also includes other animals as well, instead of figuring that a dog may be less that 1/2 of what a human might wiegh depending on different sizes by breeds. I do not know of any humans that normally consume dog food, although I'm sure there are some out there somewhere......

This is another reason it is extremely important to know about the feed you are feeding.

I hope that the dogs involved in this situation are now OK and do not have any long term problems from their poisoning by toxins.

Please do keep us posted on the outcome.

Marsha Seck




Diamond New Diamond Product Issue (0 replies) 14 March 2006 - 22:03

Reply I work for Diamond Pet Foods. The list of products that we manufacture is partially incorrect. I wanted to put a corrected listing on your site for those of you that are interested. I also wanted to explain in more detail about the vomitoxin that was found in the Premium Edge Adult Dog Chicken & Rice sample from a scientific perspective.

We manufacture: Diamond, Professional, Premium Edge, Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul, Nutra Nuggets, Country Value, and the international label NutraGold. We do manufacture the Kirkland Signature brand for Costco.

We did have a positive result of 0.5 ppm in the samples of the Premium Edge Chicken & Rice Adult Dog that were submitted to the University of Missouri's Toxicology Lab. The FDA limit is 2 ppm in finished product. The symptoms are feed refusal, vomiting, and diarrhea above this level.

Wheat and barley are the two types of grain that are susceptible to vomitoxin, barley is an ingredient in the Premium Edge. We test all of our incoming barley and wheat mids and our rejection limit is 2.1 ppm, which is well below the 5 ppm allowed by the FDA in raw ingredients.

We offered the testing on the urine upon the recommendation of a veterinary toxicologist. He felt that there was something else that caused the problem for these dogs and that finding it in the urine was a lot easier than finding it in the food. It was not something that we did as a cover-up move and we never withdrew this offer of assistance. Maybe I did not communicate this clearly and if this is the case then I apologize.

I will not be regularly visiting this group, I just wanted to post some information from our perspective. If you have additional questions or comments, please visit one of our websites and submit a form from the Contact page.


hodie New Diamond Product Issue (0 replies) 15 March 2006 - 01:03
Reply Thank you Diamond for your information. I believe that for what it is worth, when blaming an illness on food, it is most prudent to do the most definitive study or samples possible. Diamond is correct that more often than not, metabolites or the contaminant itself can be found in urine easier than in vomit.

The literature is quite clear as are the regulations about what are acceptable levels of contamination of all varieties in both human and animal feed as concerns the most common mycotoxins. Do not kid yourself, we all eat a variety of contaminants in our foods, just as do our animals. Levels are set based on study and are generally way, way below what might cause any symptom or problem in humans and animals.

It is also possible that the test run at the university was in error in some way and that actual results were more or less than the reported value. Anyone who knows anything about scientific instrumentation will tell you there is often room for error. None the less, no one, let alone the manufacturer, can rectify any problem unless everyone cooperates. If you think the answer is to simply prepare your own food, I think you are naive.

Another issue is that if this was what made the dogs in question so ill, why are no other dogs, as yet, reported ill. Clearly, it will be important to check the lot number and allow the manufacturer and the appropriate agencies to follow up on this.

Again, I do not feed Diamond and never will. But I think they have, in fact, been most responsive in the aflatoxin contamination issue. Quality control has been reinforced. They surely want to stay in business. It is good that people who have suffered a problem as the original poster come forward, but until all the facts are clear, I suggest we all be fair in our comments.

I certainly would have been most upset if these were my dogs. Fortunately, the original poster was on the ball and it appears the dogs will be ok. I believe, in the end, Diamond will do the right thing if indeed it is proved the food was the issue.




Diamond New Diamond Product Issue (0 replies) 20 March 2006 - 23:03

Reply I am posting two messages I have received from Christine. I copied and pasted each entire message below (as requested). We are waiting on additional results from the testing on the food. Hopefully we will find that all was clear in the food and another cause for the illness in her dogs will be identified.

Dr. Brookshire,
I owe you and Diamond an apology and will - as I get information together today - also post on lists previously contacted. Upon discussing the situation with toxicologists at Cornell it has been determined that while something still could be contaminated in the feed - and not necessarily putting Diamond at fault - there need to be more tests done on both feed and dogs. In my defense I am tired of "the big guy" always getting out of responsibility, it happens more times than not, and we are not talking about the best track record here.
I appreciate the time and effort you put into helping me with this. NYS Ag and Markets is testing the kibble for other issues - I will let you know of any pertinent results.
Christine Buff

 

To update on the Premium Edge/Diamond kibble:
After speaking with Cornell in regards to first tests (0.5ppm vomitoxin) conducted at University of Missouri, the toxicologists are in agreement that there would be a need of approximately 8ppm vomotoxin in order to make the dogs this ill. Obviously that was not the case. NYS Ag and Markets continues to be suspicious as to other possible toxins in the feed itself or some kind of tampering after production/shipping and are in the process of conducting more analyses. From our end we will continue to test and monitor the dogs for same.
It is interesting, per FDA and USDA, that these toxins are allowed at all in feeds - human food included - and despite the allowances and recommended values, even small amounts can make individual animals extremely ill.


THE LADY CHRISTINE'S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT CAN BE READ HERE:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/407481/thread/1143515359/last-1143525475/WARNING%21+New+Diamond+Dog+Food+Alert+%2AUPDATE%2A+3-27-06



JUST WANTED TO LET EVERYONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW THERE HAS BEEN A RECALL ON "ROYAL CANIN DOG FOOD" FOR CONTAINING TOO MUCH VITAMIN D3. ALL OF US WHO FEED KIBBLE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND ANY ONE OF THEM CAN BE RECALLED AT ANY TIME. THE SAFEST WAY TO FEED YOUR DOGS IS TO COOK FOR THEM YOURSELVES AND EVEN THEN, WE KNOW HUMAN FOOD ALSO GETS RECALLED AND MANY HUMANS HAVE SUFFERERED FROM FOOD POISONING & PEOPLE HAVE DIED FROM IT. IT'S THE LUCK OF THE DRAW. SORRY TO THOSE WHO LOST DOGS FROM FEEDING DIAMOND!

 

for whatever reason my dog breaks out in skin rashes whenever we feed her Diamond adult(the 50 pound green bag). The following days after changeing over to Eukanuba adult dog food the rashes went away. A couple of months later we tried Diamond again the same thing happened. We are done with Diamond! Between the recalls and her breaking out in rashes whenever she eats it, we just don't think it is worth the risk.