Natural Balance Pet Foods
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| Natural Balance Pet Foods | |
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| Type | Private |
| Founded |  Pacoima, California (1989) |
| Headquarters | Pacoima, California, United States |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Dick Van Patten |
| Industry | Pet food |
| Products | Dog food, cat food, zoological food |
| Owner | Natural Balance Pet Foods |
| Website | Natural Balance Inc. |
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Pet Foods is an American commercial pet food manufacturer located in Pacoima, California and established in 1989 by actor Dick Van Patten. The company markets itself as "Food For a Lifetime" and promotes itself as having "the finest food you can buy for your pet." The current President is Joey Herrick and Vice President is Frank Koch.
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[edit] History
Natural Balance began in 1989 when Van Patten was a guest on John Davidson's show. [1] Van Patten had lunch with the show's band drummer who rescued dogs and cats. Van Patten told him him when he was a kid he had snakes, alligators, and every kind of animal you could imagine. The drummer and Van Patten had an idea of making a health food for dogs. At the time, Van Patten played tennis with a woman veterinarian and she said the food had to have no filler, no wheat, no corn, no soy and no by-products.
"My partner and I started Natural Balance Pet Foods in 1989 with the intention of developing the finest, healthiest pet food on the market. We wanted a pet food based on sound scientific principles and truth, not marketing hype. We did it! Not only for dogs & cats, but for large carnivores, such as lions, tigers, polar bears, and wolves in zoos and animal reserves worldwide!"
– Dick Van Patten
The company lost money at first, as they expanded their markets, things picked up when Petco opened 625 stores. [2]
[edit] Products
According to Van Patten, all meat in Natural Balance is human-grade USDA approved, all ingredients are grown in the United States and all grains used in the food are certified free from genetically modified organisms.[3] Natural Balance products also exclude meat by-products, artificial colors, flavors and preservatives such as Ethoxyquin, BHA, and BHT.
[edit] Pet food formulas
Natural Balance has a large variety of both dog and cat formulas in dry or canned form. Product range includes reduced calorie, low allergy and vegetarian(for dogs) formulations. Other products includes fresh or frozen dog food rolls. A chicken based organic product named "Organic Formulas" is certified organic by independent body Oregon Tilth.
[edit] Zoological formulas
Natural Balance is a member of Association of Zoos & Aquariums and has created zoological products which are specifically for carnivores in zoos and wild animal parks and not sold to the general public. These foods were developed by Director of Zoological Product Research & Development Dr. Martin R. Dinnes, a founding member of the American College of Zoological Medicine.
Natural Balance's Zoological formulas are used by, among others, Big Cat Rescue,[4] Tippi Hedren's Shambala Preserve, Toledo Zoo, San Diego Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park and SeaWorld [5]
[edit] Programs
Natural Balance is the official dog food of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Arson Investigation and Explosives Detection Canines. [6]
[edit] Recalls
On April 16, 2007 the FDA was informed by Natural Balance that they had received complaints from consumers with regard Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food, and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Foods. Animals were reported to have vomited and experienced kidney failures.[7] On April 17 Natural Balance issued a voluntary recall for all its Venison dog products and its dry Venison cat food after lab results showed that the products contain melamine. The source of melamine was believed to be from rice protein concentrate. Natural Balance claims that rice protein concentrate was a recent addition to the Venison formula.[8][9] Many customers were furious that a product(venison and peas) marketed as a grain free allergy formula with a single source protein and single source carbohydrate[10] could have a significant formula change not reflect in the product labeling or website.[11]
On April 27, Natural Balance issued its second recall for three canned dog food and one canned cat food. Like the first recall, the contaminants were melamine in rice protein concentrates. As with the venison based formulas, rice protein concentrate was not on the list of ingredients of the four products. This time, Natural Balance claimed that their canned food manufacturer American Nutrition, Inc(ANI) added the rice protein concentrate without their knowledge and consent[12] , calling it a "manufacturing deviation".[13] Other affected customers of ANI also made similar accusations with Blue Buffalo and Harmony Farms characterising ANI's actions as "product tampering".[14] In response, ANI issued a press release denying any deliberate or intentionally wrongful conduct.[15]
[edit] Food safety
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[edit] Laboratories
- Natural Balance operates its own fully equipped laboratory utilizing liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, gas chromatography using a nitrogen phosphorus detector, and spectrophotometric testing.
- Natural Balance has also employed Midwest Laboratories of Omaha, Nebraska. Midwest tests agricultural analysis of soil, plant tissue, feeds, pesticide analysis, water analysis and microbiological analysis for food, pet food, fertilizer, nematodes, biosolids, petroleum, and hazardous waste[16].
Both laboratories use ELISA testing for Aflatoxin, DON Vomitoxin, Melamine, Cyanuric acid, Zearalone (Mycotoxin), Ochratoxin, and Fumonisin.
[edit] Personnel
After the 2007 pet food recalls, Natural Balance hired extra personnel to oversee pet food safety.
- Dr. Ali Haghighi, Ph.D. Dr. Haghighi creates protocols for melamine and cyanuric acid testing, as well as oversee all lab testing procedures. Haghighi received his doctorate in biochemistry from Cleveland State University.
- Roummel Ruvolo has a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacology with his chief research based on bio-inspired oxygen and light-driven homogenous catalysts.
[edit] Testing protocol
Dr. Haghighi's standard testing protocol uses consistent research and development with quality control in testing. The accuracy and reproducibility of the tests have earned official approvals and third party validations, including:
- AOAC International
- International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
- Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration
- Food Safety and Inspection Service
[edit] Consumer reassurance
Natural Balance is the first known pet food company to offer email notification regarding any pet industry news that could affect their pets. They are also the first known pet food manufacturer to offer data base test results on Aflatoxin, DON Vomitoxin, Melamine and Cyanuric acid to consumers through their website using the best buy code on each food container.
[edit] References
- ^ Dick Van Patten at IMDB
- ^ On Dick Van Patten
- ^ 50-50+ Article on Dick Van Patten
- ^ Big Cat Rescue testamonial
- ^ NB Zoological formulas
- ^ ATF contracts with Natural Balance
- ^ Information on Natural Balance - FDA update
- ^ FDA recall of venison formula
- ^ Natural Balance FAQ
- ^ Archive.org: Natural Balance Cat Formulas
- ^ Consumer Affairs pet food recalls
- ^ Natural Balance FAQ on rice protein concentrate
- ^ FDA Firm Press Release
- ^ Ble Buffalo Company
- ^ American Nutrition, Inc. Responds to Criticism
- ^ Midwest Labs
