Contaminated dog food could cause pet behavioural problems

THE AGRICULTURE Ministry has withdrawn from the market all stocks of Natural Balance Growth – Lamb and Rice dog food.

The dog food was withdrawn after its Belgian producer Versela Laga PK discovered traces of a contaminant which can cause behavioural problems and epilepsy in dogs.

An Agriculture ministry officer said in a statement yesterday: “The Department of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agricultural Natural Resources and Environment would like to inform dog owners… that contaminated complete dog food of Belgium origin with source of Non Protein Nitrogen (NPN) that might cause behavioral problems with danger of epilepsy.”

NPN is often used in the production of animal feed, but at high levels can cause depression in growth and ammonia toxicity.

The manufacturer discovered the contamination and immediately alerted the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) which sends several hundred food and animal feed safety alerts throughout the European Union annually.

The agricultural officer said that the local distributor in Cyprus, Love Birds Pet Suppliers Ltd, had cooperated fully with the ministry, and all stocks found in their warehouse had been detained.

Asked about the RASFF, the officer said it was not common for this to occur in Cyprus: “We have a dedicated member of staff responsible for RASFF Alerts. We received them every day, but fortunately Cyprus is a small market which does not receive all products, so (recalls) do not happen often.”

Some stocks of the Natural Balance and Growth dog food may still have reached consumers and so the ministry said any dog owners who have this dog food should not feed it to their dogs.

The contaminated batches are:

 

1 kg bags OW 246, OW 320, OW 321

3 kg bags OW 221, OW 320, OW 321, OX 039, OX 040

15 kg bags OW 222, OW 249, OW 249, OW 291, OW 312, OW 336, OX O25, O55

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