American Nutrition Inc. & Blue Buffalo Co.- Pet Food Recall

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- April 26, 2007 -- The Denver office of the FDA informed American Nutrition, Inc. today that certain samples of rice protein shipped to its production facility have been contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers that may be harmful to animals if consumed. The rice protein in question was obtained from San Francisco-based Wilbur-Ellis Company.
The FDA is investigating the use of rice protein, an ingredient found in a number of canned pet food products and baked pet food treats to fortify protein levels, after a portion of Wilbur-Ellis' rice protein supply was found to be contaminated with melamine. American Nutrition immediately discontinued the use of rice protein after learning of the melamine contamination.
The FDA has urged American Nutrition to issue a voluntary recall of pet foods manufactured using Wilbur-Ellis rice protein. None of these products is sold under an American Nutrition brand, but are sold through other independent companies. No American Nutrition brands or other products they manufacture for other businesses are affected by this recall.
The products subject to this recall are as follows:
CANNED CAT FOOD
Blue Buffalo Spa Select Hairball Control Oven Roasted Chicken 3oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Blue Buffalo Spa Select Kitten Recipe Oven Roasted Chicken 3oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul Kitten Formula 5.5oz 15 AUG 08 15 APR 09Harmony Farms Country Chicken Entrée 3oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Natural Balance Ocean Fish Formula 3oz and 6 oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10
CANNED DOG FOOD
Blue Buffalo Beef Dinner 12.5oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Blue Buffalo Chicken Dinner 12.5oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Blue Buffalo Hearty Venison Dinner 12.5oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Blue Buffalo Lamb Dinner 12.5oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Blue Buffalo Salmon Dinner 12.5oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Blue Buffalo Turkey Meatloaf Dinner 12.5oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Canine Caviar Gourmet Beaver 13.2oz AUG 21 08 APR 15 09Canine Caviar Gourmet Turkey 13.2oz AUG 21 08 APR 15 09Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul Puppy Formula 13oz 21 AUG 08 15 APR 09Diamond Lamb & Rice 13oz 21 AUG 09 15 APR 10Harmony Farms Beef 12.5oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Harmony Farms Chicken 12.5oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Harmony Farms Lamb 12.5oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Harmony Farms Salmon 12.5oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Kirkland Signature Premium Dog 2-Flavor Variety Pack 14oz (24-pack) AUG 21 08 APR 15 09Mulligan Stew Chicken 13.2oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Mulligan Stew Turkey 13.2oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Natural Balance Beef Formula 13oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Natural Balance Chicken Formula 13oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Natural Balance Lamb Formula 13oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10Natural Balance Venison & Brown Rice 13oz AUG 21 09 APR 15 10

BAKED DOG TREATS
Natural Balance Venison & Brown Rice Formula Baked Dog Treats 14oz AUG 21 07 APR 15 08Blue Buffalo Health Bars Baked With Apples & Yogurt Dog Treats 20oz AUG 21 07 APR 15 08Pet owners who purchased these pet foods should immediately discontinue using the products and return unused portions to the place of purchase for a full refund.
These products represent a small percentage of those manufactured by American Nutrition. To reiterate, no American Nutrition brands or other products manufactured for other businesses are affected by this recall.
We at American Nutrition care immensely about the quality of the products we manufacture and the health of the pets that consume them. We want to express our deep concern over this situation. Feeding pets has been our business and passion for more than 35 years. We take that responsibility seriously and are very proud of what we do and how we do it. We will continue to work closely with the FDA in their ongoing investigation.
For more information, we encourage you to visit the FDA website: www.fda.gov. Consumers with additional questions can contact us by calling 1.800.257.4530 or by e:mailing us at feedback@amnutrition.com or by visiting www.americannutritioninc.com.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Wilton, Connecticut, April 26, 2007- We at the Blue Buffalo Company have just learned that American Nutrition Inc. (ANI), the manufacturer of all our cans and biscuits, has been adding rice protein concentrate to our can formulas without our knowledge and without our approval. This is product tampering, and it apparently has been going on for some time. The can formulas that we developed, and trusted them to produce, never contained any rice protein concentrate. It appears that only an FDA investigation of ANI's rice protein concentrate supplies forced them to reveal this product tampering to us.
While this activity by ANI is in itself unlawful, the situation is further clouded by the fact that ANI has been receiving rice protein concentrate from Wilber-Ellis, some of which the FDA has determined to be contaminated with melamine.
So while no BLUE or Spa Select canned product has tested positive for the presence of melamine, and there has been no reported illness due to any of our canned products, we simply cannot be sure of what ANI has been including in our formulas. For this reason, we have decided to remove all of our canned and biscuit products from retail distribution. While this may seem to many to be a major over-reaction, as other ANI customers will probably only recall the products that tested positive for melamine, we see this as a matter of integrity.
We founded Blue Buffalo on the principle of providing dogs and cats with the highest quality and most nutritious food, and we will not sell any product that doesn't meet this standard. And under these circumstances, we cannot say that any products manufactured by ANI measure up.
The obvious question is "how could Blue Buffalo not know that ANI was putting rice protein concentrate into our canned food?" The answer is we trusted them. In business and in life, we all trust our partners to deal with us honestly. When we buy produce from our local grocery store, we are trusting growers, shippers and a series of handlers to have delivered a product that is safe and nutritious for our family. If any one of these parties betrays our trust, contaminated products can make their way to our dinner table.
And while we test for known toxins and contaminants, we don't test for protein sources, like rice protein concentrate, especially when we did not formulate our products to contain them.
In the end, this all comes down to an issue of integrity, and ANI has not been honest with us and with the pet parents who buy our products. We will not put any product made by ANI on the shelf, and are temporarily withdrawing an important part of our business in order to be true to our pet parents.
We have already started the process of identifying a can and biscuit manufacturer with whom we can build a partnership based on trust. Once we have accomplished this, BLUE and Spa Select cans and BLUE Health Bars will be reintroduced with the high quality and superior nutrition that our brand stands for and that dogs and cats deserve.
We have informed our retail partners and the FDA about this action and will be cooperating with them to complete this recall quickly. The specific product involved includes all "BLUE" brand can dog foods, all "Spa Select" brand can cat foods and all "BLUE Health Bar" treats.
Consumers who have unused or partially used packages of any of these products should return them to their place of purchase for a complete refund.
All "BLUE" dry natural food for dogs and "Spa Select" dry natural foods for cats are not affected by this recall and are safe for consumption. Should consumers have a specific question, they can call the Company at 1-800-919-2833, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT, to receive more information.