Pet-food poison from SA firm

2007-04-19 16:23

Johannesburg - Tests have confirmed that Vets Choice and Royal Canin dog and cat dry pet-food products contained corn gluten contaminated with melamine, says the manufacturer.

The contaminated corn gluten was delivered to Royal Canin by a South African third-party supplier and appears to have originated from China.

Those products subject to the present recall were manufactured by Royal Canin South Africa in its Johannesburg plant between March 08 2007 and April 11 2007 and were sold exclusively in South Africa and Namibia.

The company said all other Vets Choice and Royal Canin products (including those made in South Africa before March 8 2007 and products made outside South Africa) were not affected and could be fed to pets.

Managing director Gregory Watine said: "We will continue to co-operate totally with the relevant public authorities, vets , customers and pet owners to help them by all means possible.

Condolences

"They can rest assured that Royal Canin remains committed to putting the interests of pets and their health and nutrition first."

He said the company wanted to express their support and offer condolences to pet owners whose pets may have fallen ill or died as a result of eating the contaminated food.

Sales of all Vets Choice products were suspended on April 11 2007 and all affected products were being recalled from the market.

Measures had been taken in co-ordination with the South African Veterinary Association (Sava) and the Pet Food Institute (PFI) to ensure this contamination did not happen again.

Royal Canin South Africa Call Centre can be contacted on 011 446 1025.

- SAPA