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What innovations are happening in petfood that could help you continue to drive your business forward? Find out by signing up for Virtual Petfood Forum: Innovation on October 21. You can learn from experts, network with industry peers and leading suppliers from around the world—all for free and without leaving your office or home.
Think of Virtual Petfood Forum as an online event where petfood nutrition, safety and regulatory, production and packaging professionals along with veterinarians, technical consultants, sales professionals, C-level executives, business owners and buyers can engage in real-time interaction via chats, group chats, e-mails, Twitter or the exchange of electronic business cards.
Plus, this event will feature five industry experts sharing their knowledge and insights. See the full line-up of speakers and topics here.
Registering for Virtual Petfood Forum: Innovation gets you access to the live presentations—including live Q&A with each speaker—plus the sponsor center and networking lounge. You can enter and leave the event throughout the day as your schedule allows—or, if you can’t participate at all on October 21, you can access an archive of the event for 90 days afterward.
RedMoon Custom Pet Food hired Rex, a talking Boston Terrier, to an exclusive multi-year services contract as the petfood company's first official "spokesdog."
The story of Rex became an Internet phenomenon earlier this year when a one and a half-minute video monologue on YouTube showed off the dog's talent for fast-paced human speech.
“This food is so good, after eating it for a month I began to experience a change. Instead of simply howling my pleasure, I found I was able to express real satisfaction—I could even spell it out: R-E-D-M-O-O-N. So I sat my human down and got him to shoot a video on his handheld so I could tell the whole world what every dog and cat owner needs to know—”this stuff is supercharged’," said Rex in the YouTube video.
RedMoon scientists note that they cannot guarantee that other canines and felines consuming the company's products will develop the power of speech.
Unit holders of Menu Foods Income Fund approved a US$239 million takeover offer from Arkansas USA-based Simmons Pet Food Inc.
According to Menu Foods, 99.94% of its units and special trust units voted to approve the deal, which is expected to close in early November pending regulatory approvals. Following a massive petfood recall three years ago involving Menu Foods, the company put itself up for sale after a strategic review earlier this year. The acquisition of Simmons Pet Food marks the end of Menu's struggle to overcome the tainted petfood recall.
Veterinary Information Network (VIN) launched a recall center for veterinary medications and petfood.
VIN Recall Center is a tool that tracks food and product recalls that impact petfood and veterinary medicine. In the event of a major recall, notice will appear in a variety of locations with links to official information. VIN Recall Center provides access to government and association websites that list recalls and information on where to sign up for electronic notifications. A standing link to the recall center is posted on VIN News Service's public home page, as well as its internal folder in the online community.
Reptile owners have been urged by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to take precautions when feeding their pets frozen mice, rats and chicks after seven cases of human Salmonella illness were reported.
The string of Salmonella, which has been linked to frozen rodents, is easily spread if the proper precautions aren't taken. Pet owners should always wash their hands thoroughly after handling, feeding or cleaning up after pet reptiles. Symptoms of a Salmonella infection include diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, chills and headache.
The PHAC is investigating a possible connection to a similar illness in the United States and whether the product implicated in the U.S. was also distributed in Canada.
Free Range Eco Naturals Dog Treats Inc. changed its name as one of several initiatives the petfood company has undertaken to become more environmentally friendly.
As a part of these initiatives, Free Range relocated from Brazil to pastures in Argentina, where use of additives like steroids and hormones is forbidden, according to the company. Free Range also moved its corporate headquarters and warehouse facilities to Shelby Township, Michigan, USA.
The new offices are designed to have more "green" features, such as low-VOC wall paint, automatic light sensors, recycled carpeting, paperless inventory management system and a waste and recycling program. In addition, every package is biodegradable, compostable and recyclable, and have wild grass labels printed with soy ink, the company claims.
National Animal Supplement Council (NASC) issued a warning to consumers about purchasing animal health supplements with misleading quality assurance claims.
This warning was issued in response to growing popularity in the animal supplement market and confusion over health supplement labels. Because no government regulation is currently in place for the use of quality seals on animal supplement labels, NASC recommends consumers verify information about a product's quality seal before making a purchase.
Quality seals should be awarded by unbiased, third-party organizations, not companies, retailers or manufacturers. The seals should require companies to adhere to proper labeling guidelines and require product registration in NASC National Adverse Event Reporting System. Quality seals should also require the company have a quality control manual with written standard operating procedures for production process controls. The seals should not be available for purchase, but must require suppliers to pay for an independent audit and random testing on ingredient potency, identification and quality.
