Dog Food Help - Fromm

[happy_blackbird]

This has been such a great thread to follow! We're still trying to figure out a good diet for our 5.5 month old girl, so it's been incredibly informative. I had never heard of the Petcurean company before and got pretty exciting reading their info, so sent them an email asking about their ingredient sourcing, who actually manufactures their food, who does their safety testing, and if their vitamin and mineral mix is a "pre-mix" (and if so, do they know if it's sourced from China). I have sent this same email to every company we have considered for Ellie: Fromm, Orijen (Champion Foods), Natures Variety, Wysong, Wellness (WellPet/Berwin Corp), Honest Kitchen, Grandma Lucy's, even Purina. All have gotten back to me with varying degrees of carefully worded, legal speak (I would say Champion, Honest Kitchen, and Grandma Lucy's were the most forthcoming and clearly worded, while Purina was the worst in terms of phrases that gave no info whatsoever).

Petcurean is the first company I haven't heard back from at all. I sent them the email again, thinking perhaps it had been lost in the shuffle. Still no response. Just thought I would put that out there for everyone. I don't think this speaks to the quality of their food, just their customer service.

[happy_blackbird]

Hi, everyone! Well, I posted about Petcurean too soon, as I just received the following reply to my email. I hope this info is helpful (though they did not name their manufacturing plant in Ontario):
******
Thank you for your email. I am happy to announce to you that we are 100% CHINA FREE. None of our ingredients come from or are sent to China.

What is the country of origin of all ingredients including supplements?
GO! and NOW FRESH Products: All of the meat proteins, grains, cereals, fruits and vegetables in our GO! and NOW FRESH products are sourced from North America (as close to the production facility as possible) with the exception of our lamb which is sourced from Australia and New Zealand (from EU certified plants). We choose to partner with a trusted network of local farmers and ranchers who can provide us with the freshest and highest-quality product possible; this not only fulfills our requirement for freshness and nutritional integrity, but using local sources means less emissions polluting our air from long-distance trucking. Summit Products: All of the meat proteins, grains, cereals, fruits and vegetables in our Summit products are sourced from North America (as close to the production facility as possible) with the exception of our lamb which is sourced from Australia and New Zealand (from an EU certified plant). All lamb is government and veterinarian inspected prior to entering Canada. More information is in our FAQ with the addition of vitamins and minerals come from Canada, the USA, Europe, Japan and Malaysia

Where are your products made?
Petcurean dry pet foods are produced in Ontario, Canada. Our canned products are primarily produced in Ontario, Canada and secondarily at a plant in New Jersey, USA. We are 100% China free for processing and ingredient sourcing. None of our meat proteins, grains, cereals, fruits and vegetables in any of our recipes are processed in China, and none of our ingredients are sourced in China.

Do you own your food manufacturing plant? At said plant, do you manufacture pet food for any other companies that are under different labels?
Petcurean does not own its own manufacturing facilities, but we demand the highest standards and level of quality control from our manufacturing partners, who are based in Ontario, Canada and New Jersey, USA. The standards we hold our manufacturing partners up against are backed by a comprehensive and thorough system of tests, checks and balances. We also do not manufacture pet food for other companies that are under different labels.

If not, what pet food factory makes the Go! Sensitivity and Shine Salmon specifically?
Our manufacturing partner in Ontario, Canada makes our Go! Sensitivity and Shine Salmon

Have they ever issued a recall of products manufactured there?
No they have not.

If you use an outside company to manufacture Petcurean Go! Sensitivity and Shine Salmon, is there a Petcurean employee on site during the manufacturing process?
Petcurean commissions independent auditing of our manufacturing facilities by NSF - Cook & Thurber, and the American Institute of Baking, both organizations used for human food audits. Petcurean also regularly physically inspects our co-packing facilities and we also audit their quality control and safety policies and procedures on a regular basis.

How often are you supplied ingredients tested for quality and integrity? And How often are your finished products tested for quality, integrity, and contamination?
We test our ingredients prior to receiving them at the plant; quality assurance tests include, but are not limited to, vomitoxin, aflatoxin, zearalenone, nutritional integrity and moisture levels. Testing continues on every batch at each part of the manufacturing process using standards set by Health Canada. These tests include but are not limited to, enterobacteriaceae such as salmonella and e-coli. We use Near Infra Red [NIR] technology during production to accurately measure the fat, protein and moisture content of the food. Food is only shipped, when favorable results are returned. We thoroughly clean and sanitize the manufacturing equipment between production runs to ensure the integrity of our recipes. We take important steps to avoid cross-contamination by requiring that employees in different areas of the production facility follow strict quality assurance protocols. We keep final tested food samples of all lots produced in our head office. All lot numbers can be tracked immediately using our complete and thorough tracking protocol. We update and monitor our quality control procedures regularly. As pet owners and animal lovers ourselves, we are committed to the health and safety of your pets and will continue to work diligently to ensure the quality and safety of all our products. Rest assured, we work very closely with our EU, FDA, BRC and CFIA-certified manufacturing partners to maintain the highest standards and level of quality control.

[gsalcedo]

Hello everybody, I'm new to this forum, I have a chocolate lab named Luna, that I have trained for game retrieve, I've being told that mixing dry and wet food would be beneficial for Luna plus she will love the taste, I currently feed her with dry science-diet adult lamb and rice dry food, any recommendation? What would be the benefits of mixing dry and wet food?

[JenC]

Benefits of adding canned? The dog eats their meal quick. It probably tastes good to them. But healthwise, it's neither here nor there.