Worries Continue With Imported Ingredients For Pet Owners

Worries of imported products from China continue. The day before Valentines Day a small shard of metal was found in a child's valentine candy - thank goodness it was discovered before a child was hurt. This candy, like so many other recalled products recently - was made in China.

I don't know how long it's going to take China to get their act together or if they ever will - but concerns of imported Chinese products and ingredients are real and on-going.As a pet owner - you must be very diligent to avoid any pet food, treat, toy, anything that your pet could consume - that is made in or has an ingredient from China or other risky countriesor be ready to accept the consequences.

It's not my intention to scare the socks off you - but it is my intention to motivate you enough to find out where everything you give your pet is from.Tainted or toxic or dangerous imports from China have been headline news for over a year now - starting with the pet food recall that is one year old this month.I am on the FDA's recall announcement email list - and I receive emails just about every single day regarding recalled products (all products, not just pet food).Butbetter than 60% of all of these recalls have to do with imported products or imported ingredients.The biggest concern for all pet owners was the tainted wheat and corn glutens and since that catastrophe there has been headline recalls from Chinese imported tires, toothpaste, dog treats, children's toys, and now candy.

The point heredo not get complacent about what you feed your pet!Don't get comfortable thinking that the gluten issue is resolved and somebody is testing it and all is well.Recalls are continuing from dangerous Chinese imported products or ingredients - and you do not want to be feeding your pet the food or treat that is next on the recall list because it contains ingredients from China or Taiwan or some other country that has far less quality control (maybe better worded would be quality concern!) than the U.S. or Canada or a handful of other countries that do the due diligence to provide safe products.

I'm by no means 100% happy with the FDA or the CVM and their efforts to protect our pets (and our kids, and us!) - but we are head and shoulders above China.I think the FDA has a long way to go - and I am very hopeful they will continue to make changes to protect us and our pets. The one thing that is certain - for right now - the risk from Chinese imported products and ingredients is much higher than that of U.S. ingredients.

Pleasefind out where every ingredient in every product your pet consumes is from.It takes a simple phone call to the manufacturer - it might take ten minutes of your day for each manufacturer.But that ten minutes could turn out to be a life saver.Be pro-active for your pet's health.

Call the pet food or pet treat manufacturer and ask them specifically if they use any imported ingredients in their products. You might get an answer similar to'we use all U.S. suppliers'. This is not the information you are looking for. A U.S. supplier of imported ingredients - tainted imported ingredients - was the cause of the pet food recall last year. Explicitly ask if any ingredient in the pet food comes from any country other than the U.S. and then ask what those countries are. In my work for Petsumer Report which provides this information to subscribers, it is often times a real challenge to get the necessary information. With some manufacturers you have to take on the role of investigative reporter to discover the information you need and deserve to know. Above all, be persistent.

It's not that all Chinese imported ingredients or products are dangerous to your pet. It is that they have a history, a proven on-going history of exporting recalled, potentially dangerous products and there is no sign of improvement. Buyer beware. For your pet's sake, find out if you are feeding a food or treat that contains imported ingredients.