# Maggots being found in Purina foods



## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

I feed Purina One Beyond, but I didn't know if anyone else here was feeding Purina brand foods. Maggots are being found in Purina dry pet foods and making pets sick.

http://consumerist.com/2008/09/20/purina-isnt-bothered-by-dog-food-infested-with-fly-larvae-maggots/

Their large number of complaints are eye-opening too...

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/ralston.html

EDIT: apparently they are moth larvae, not maggots. my bad.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

I'm fairly annoyed by consumeraffairs in general. Hysterical, really (not in the funny way ). Moth larvae get in everything. I've had flour and cereal with moths in them. They shouldn't make dogs (or anyone) sick either. 100% of dogs who get sick are eating some kind of food .


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## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

Do you think the renal failure that is repeatedly mentioned on there could still be due to the food?


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

I imagine it's related to diet in general. Cats who eat only dry food have a very high chance of renal failure, and there are probably a fair number of dogs who don't drink enough water, too. And of course feeding a dog Beneful is like feeding a kid nothing but Cap'n Crunch for every meal---I'm sure that'll catch up to them eventually. I don't think the food is necessarily contaminated, it's just the nature of the product, which consumers choose to buy. If you look up any brand on there, you'll see identical complaints (maybe not as many, because Purina is the most popular brand). 

I think consumer alert websites are useful as a way to keep track of the kinds of things that lead to recalls. But reading some of those reviews can make your head hurt from the stupidity.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Sassy was eating a good quality kibble, Pinnacle/Wellness/Canidae and she got kidney failure. I suspect she never drank enough water and possibly the high mineral content of kibbles and low protein could have contributed but mostly she was very old and something has to give with age. Blaming it on the food we feed them is superstitious behavior rather than cause and effect for the most part. Dogs get into stuff we don't know about and a single infected tick could cause disease resulting in kidney damage. Max is eating wet raw food with water added and I watch how much calcium and such he gets but he could easily still develop kidney issues.

I have had horrible infestations of grain moths. You can figure out how it came in the house easily enough, once it was in toilet paper. Any food stored where they are present is going to be infested. They can get through quite thick plastic even. If you see a moth in a store, turn around and buy food elsewhere!


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

I had moth larvae in two bags of Purina that I bought from Wal-Mart. I called Purina, they apologized and sent me two coupons. 
However, I've been using various Purina foods for almost 30 years without this type of problem (this is not an endorsement). In my case, I believe that the bags were dropped and had small ruptures, rather than a problem in production. An opened bag could also start to get rancid, which could get a dog sick.

I may question the quality of the ingredients, but I don't currently have any issues with the packaging. If you like Purina, I wouldn't worry about the moth, until you see them.... and they're fairly obvious when you scoop out the food.

On a different note, you might read the ingredient list for a variation of synthetic menadione (vitamin K3).


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## NicoleIsStoked (Aug 31, 2012)

I work at a large pet supply chain and can tell you that meal moth larvae gets into everything. as a huge bugaphobe i really do tend to side with the public in these situations, but i can tell you that unfortunately its unpreventable. the manufacturers nor the chains are to blame. these suckers get into everything- dog food, cat food, rawhides, bird seed. they're commonly found in the crevices of packaging. they tend to love things in paper bags, though they are not picky. though they are gross, they are completely harmless.


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## Daenerys (Jul 30, 2011)

Back when Legend was still eating Iams, we got a bag with moth larvae in it. It creeped me out, but we just took it back to the store and exchanged it for a new one. No biggie.


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## GrinningDog (Mar 26, 2010)

This happened fairly often when I worked at a pet store. Mostly, it was papery bags of dog food (that rip or open more easily) as opposed to the brands packaged in sealed plastic bags. We used to welcome people to return the bag for an exchange or, if they wished, throw the bag in a freezer for a few days. Little extra protein won't hurt the dogs.


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

I once opened a container of bread crumbs and the whole thing was just webs and writhing larvae. I don't mind bugs, but that . . . I've used Panko ever since. (It's packaged in a plastic, zip lock bag inside of the box. Much less risk of moth infestation.)


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## MissWulfy (Feb 5, 2013)

Not really all that surprised with Purina being a subpar low-rated food.... Guess when you sell low quality food you have to send out low quality products.


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