I received this information from my local bridle trails organization and I want to pass it along:
Major Feed Recall
Land O Lakes/Purina has issued a feed retrieval for a number of brands.
Land O Lakes/Purina has issued feed recalls, or "retrievals," for a variety of their brands manufactured between the dates of November 3, 2007, and March 10, 2008. These feeds were identified to contain greater than 20 ppb of aflatoxins, originating from a single ingredient from a single supplier. Only specific manufacturing plants and dates are involved. The recalled products also vary.
As of May 6, 2008, the contaminated feeds had been distributed in the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.
The manufacturing plants involved, and dates, are:• Statesville, North Carolina: Feeds manufactured between November 3, 2007, and February 8, 2008.• Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Feeds manufactured between January 1, 2008, and February 8, 2008.• Guilderland, New York: Feeds manufactured between January 8, 2008, and March 10, 2008.
If you have purchased a Purina feed and live in one of the involved states, check the bottom edge of your feed bag for a date code. The date codes on Purina feeds are in this format: 7NOV03STA
The first number is the year. "7" = 2007, "8" = 2008. The next code is the month. "NOV" = November. Next two digits are the day. "03" = 3rd (of November in this case). Last three letters are the plant code. STA = Statesville. HAR = Harrisburg. GLD = Guilderland.
If you have feed from one of these three plants manufactured within the recall dates, call your feed dealer to see if your specific brand is involved in the recall. If you purchased feed during the time frames listed for the recall but no longer have your bags, call your dealer anyway to see if the feed you use was involved in the recall.
If your horses are having health problems of unknown cause, call your veterinarian and let him/her know you may have fed aflatoxin-contaminated feed. Feed, urine or liver biopsy tissues can be tested for aflatoxin and aflatoxin metabolites. Your state’s Department of Agriculture should also be notified if your veterinarian suspects feed related health issues.
Note: As of May 6, this was an ongoing issue. Further recalls could be issued. Details are still very sketchy. Other feeds could also be involved but no details are available. Signs range from acute liver failure to stunted growth in young horses, poor hair coat, abnormal liver enzymes on blood chemistry, jaundice (yellow eyes and gums), feed refusal, unexplained loss of condition, poor immune system function. Fetal abnormalities have been reported in other species.
This information comes from Eleanor Kellon, VMD
Horse Journal Veterinary Editor
PS- I feed my horses Triple Crown Equine Feed. They do not have any recall issues and on their website is a very good, clear explanation of what the problems are right now in their industry. I recommend going there and checking out what they have to say: Triple Crown
6 comments:
Thanks so much for the info. I'm sure a lot of people weren't ever going to hear of the recall. I didn't know until I read your post! Thank you!!
Oh, good grief! Thanks for the warning. Thankfully, I get my feed from CPI, but at one time I did consider Purina.
Thank you for all you do, your attention to detail, your love of Silk and Siete is an inspiration to all forms of creativity.
Thank you for the heads up! We have one horse at our barn on a Purina feed- the barn owner's girlfriend's horse, of course!
I've let the manager know.
We called the feed store and were told that the feed we bought recently isn't contaminated but the feed in March could have been. Nice.
I've been reading about this issue locally since March. It sounds like a nightmare for anyone who uses Purina feeds b/c the recall information was NOT widely distributed early on when it should have been. Several people I know called Purina directly and were treated very rudely and given zero helpful information on the feed they had sitting in their feed rooms right that minute. Many people I know who used Purina have switched b/c of the customer service they received as they tried to sort this out. And they were devoted Purina customers!
I have weaned all my easy keepers off feed over the winter except for Salina. They are getting free choice hay and a custom blend of vits/minerals/supplements and doing great so far. Salina needs a bit more so she's getting Blue Seal Carb Guard in addition to the above.
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