Several of our eagle-eyed readers caught an error in dry dog food review in our February issue:
“In the February 2010 issue, the picture of the approved dog foods includes Nutro Ultra but it is not listed in the article. Why the discrepancy?”
“I see that Nutro Ultra is included in the photo on page 3; its caption says ‘these are just a few examples of premium quality foods.’ However, it’s not included on the ‘approved foods’ list. Can you clarify?”
“I noticed that the Nutro Ultra Holistic food is in your picture, but I couldn’t find it in the actual list of approved foods. Is it one of the approved foods?”
Nutro Ultra Holistic Select should have been on our list of “approved dry foods” and was omitted by accident. In the process of every review, we seem to lose track of someone! We apologize for the error.
I noticed that Artemis is one of the “approved” dry foods on your list, but it’s manufactured at Diamond facilities. Diamond has had more recalls than any other pet food company. I’m surprised this food is on your list. Perhaps there’s a good explanation? – Susan, via email
I’m not sure there is a manufacturer that has never made a recalled product, and I don’t think that one or two incidents should “blacklist” a manufacturer forever. In some instances, following an incident, the facility management rededicates themselves to quality in such a way that their quality control programs become as good as they can get.
And, to be fair, in some instances of recalled products, the co-packer has made a product using ingredients sourced by their client. If those ingredients cause a problem that leads to a recall, one really cannot blame the co-packer. Conversely, a manufacturer may produce high-quality products for some of its clients and lower-quality, lower-cost products under its own name. In other words, I don’t think that the manufacturing location alone should qualify or disqualify any product from our consideration.
That said, there are so many good foods on the market today, that if it seems that recalls involving a particular facility or company are frequent, there are plenty of alternatives available. – Editor
