# Costco's Kirkland Dog Food



## Masterjedi688 (Apr 27, 2009)

Just saw this on FB. Costco's Kirkland's Dog Food is being recalled also.

. http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/​dog-food-recall/​kirkland-dog-food-recall/.

God how many more dog foods are going to be recalled.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Ugh, I know. I don't know what I'll do if Diamond foods are recalled or have availability issues here. Even Professional, Natural Balance, Solid Gold, and Premium Edge are made at a Diamond plant! And that's about all the foods that are locally available and are reasonably affordable. Maybe Blue Buffalo, if I have to. . .


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## Masterjedi688 (Apr 27, 2009)

I feed my dog Natural Balance Alpha Chicken, Turkey and Duck meal. Thank god that was not affected, but other Natural Balance formulas were. Makes you wonder WTF is going on in these manufacturing companies that produce dog foods.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Well, I don't harbor any illusions that pet food plants are clean and sanitary places, LOL. A place that deals with random dead animal parts is going to be icky. And I don't think that salmonella will make a healthy dog or cat sick (at least with the bacterial load found in pet food--if they eat rotting old dead things out of the ditch, maybe). Otherwise I wouldn't feed my pets raw chicken. It my opinion that if they tested all pet food (including fresh meats) for salmonella and recalled it if it tested positive, there wouldn't be anything left to feed our pets. And I'm always careful when handling kibble. My main worry is availability. If the shelves are empty, what can I buy?


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## Masterjedi688 (Apr 27, 2009)

There is a brand of dog food that has never had a recall. Its called Pinnacle. When I contacted them last year, they had told me that they have never had a dog food recall. Last year I was thinking on changing Benji's food over to there formula.
The Dog food industry is not looking good. I remember back in the early 1980's living in New Orleans and never ever hearing of dog food recalls. Now all of a sudden fast forward it 25+ years and its almost a constant thing. It SUCKS.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

If the food is never tested, there's never a recall. . .

I guarantee you that kibble in the 80s was just as bacteria-ridden. Maybe more.


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## Masterjedi688 (Apr 27, 2009)

I guarantee you that kibble in the 80s was just as bacteria-ridden. Maybe more.

Makes me wonder why there weren't any recalls back then. If there were recalls.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Because they didn't test for it, LOL. And even if they did, the tests now are more sensitive.

And, no, I don't think they thought pet food was important enough to recall.


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## Masterjedi688 (Apr 27, 2009)

The testing equipment back then if it existed, was probably stone-age type of equipment LOL. At least the testing equipment is better these days but still these dog food recalls are scary. The food was already sent out, when they tests had came back? How come the foods aren't held until all the tests come back?


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## roxiefoxie08 (Dec 15, 2011)

plus there was no internet to spread about the recalls


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

roxiefoxie08 said:


> plus there was no internet to spread about the recalls


Before the internet, if something was recalled they contacted the stores that sell their product, the store put up notices, and people would return the defective merchandise. If it was something really dangerous they maybe put a small article in the newspaper. But, yeah, most people probably didn't know when there was a recall.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

What about testing " Before " it is packaged and sent out to the stores?

Or does this contamination take place after it sits for a while on the shelves?


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Salmonella contamination happens because ingredients are contaminated, not during storage. Mites, moths, mice and such can contaminate properly stored kibble bags - just go right through the bag. Molds and such can contaminate improperly stored bags that get damp as the very small number of spores properly made kibble in the bag grow. I suppose bags left in overheated places could have the fats degrade in spite of the limited amount of oxygen too.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

Kathyy said:


> Salmonella contamination happens because ingredients are contaminated, not during storage. Mites, moths, mice and such can contaminate properly stored kibble bags - just go right through the bag. Molds and such can contaminate improperly stored bags that get damp as the very small number of spores properly made kibble in the bag grow. I suppose bags left in overheated places could have the fats degrade in spite of the limited amount of oxygen too.


Good info! Overheated places such as leaving dog food in a " car " in the heat is a scary situation many probably do not even consider? I have left a bag of dog food in a car in the summer to finish shopping at another store ... not any more!


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## lc.mersmann (Jun 4, 2012)

Hi,
I'm brand new to this forum and have had our 13 week old labradoodle puppy for just a little over a week. We are planning on changing him from his Purina Pro Plan to the Kirkland Puppy brand. I've been reading about the recall and it seems to just be the adult food and not in our state (Colorado). If any of you out there feed your puppies the Kirkland brand, do you plan to stop? If so, what do you think you'll change to. Or do you plan to stay with it?
Thank you!
Laura


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## Mama Of 3 (Feb 29, 2012)

Welcome to the forum Laura. 

I live in North Dakota and the recall didn't affect me personally. But I did return two bags of food (TOTW and 4Helath) because I bought them the same day as the MS plant recall. (wasn't aware of the recall until I got home) But it wasn't affected, I was just playing it safe. I'm also learning about dog nutrition and the more questions asked and the more research done is the key answer. 


But in all honestly, if you can find something that is just as good of quality if not better for the same price, or if you can afford a better food I would go with something that isn't made by diamond. 

Several companies are dropping diamond like a hot potato, but some are sticking with them. It's not so much as "oops they had a recall, not a big deal" as it is their entire track record of recalls. I'm learning they don't have the best record. Simply put they haven't learned from their mistakes either, so a person has to wonder when the next recall will be and how bad will it get? 

I don't know what the price range is for the kirkland because i don't have that option here, but Earthborn might be another otpion for you to consider. I was considering that to switch from TOTW from but realized we needed to do something about our dogs weight first. I have another thread about that story. They do have a puppy formula in their regular line, but in their grain free line is appropriate for all stages of life. The earthborn grain free is comparable to the TOTW which is why I was considering it.
http://www.earthbornholisticpetfood.com/us/dog_formulas/
Instead were going with Blue Bluffalo Wilderness Chicken and Wellness Core Reduced Fat both are grain free options. Granted your feeding a puppy so you wouldn't want a reduced fat option, but there are some really good options that don't need to break the bank. If you don't live close to a pet store to go buy the food up front I did start a thread not long ago asking for online suggestions. So there are plenty of options there and many have free shipping over a certain price amount. I live in the boonies so anything that I can't get at TSC needs to be ordered online or wait until I get to a larger town which isn't often and I can stop in at petco. 

If your comfortable with using a diamond product after they clean things up another brand to consider that is inexpensive is the 4Health brand that TSC carries. It's also a 4 star food on the Dog Food Adviosor website. You can compare labels. If you haven't used that site yet i highly recommend it. You can learn a lot about the foods there. They are rated by their ingredient list and facts rather than opinion. http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/ 

Good luck and i hope others jump in with some feedback that helps you out.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

I dropped the 4Health and the TOTW after the recalls once I finished up my product as it was not in the recall. I did some searching on ingredients for many dog foods ... Blue Buffalo and Wellness Super5MIx are within my price range .... so far I have been feeding these with good results. It has only been a short time span though ... I m still undecided about the 4Health .... my dogs have done very well on this for about a year now. I really like their product.

I also use www.dogfoodsadvisor.com


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