Costco chicken jerky

[SoloRiver]

In another thread, ShoresDog wrote:

 

I know this is probably not the cause, but just in case you are feeding Fennec those dried chicken breast strips that you can get in a big bag at Costco, stop. When I stopped giving them to Daisy, bad diarrhea episodes stopped too. Evidently they have caused problems for other people's dogs too.

 

I wanted to know if anyone else has had problems with these. I've been giving them to my dogs with no problems for about a year -- but I did just notice the "Made in China" on the label and so I am now somewhat afraid of them. Thoughts?

[Sue R]

I simply chose to not feed anything that I am aware of is "Made in China".

[WildFlower]

I simply chose to not feed anything that I am aware of is "Made in China".

 

 

Ditto.

[JohnLloydJones]

I simply chose to not feed anything that I am aware of is "Made in China".

 

I have been avoiding the "Made in China" products for quite some time; and not just for dog treats.

[KrisK]

I stopped awhile ago...once I saw the Made in China label. With all the farmers in our countries (Canada, US, etc) why we would need to import chicken for any reason is beyond me. Perhaps it's time people were realistic about what the price of food, etc should be..if we were actually paying a fair market price (sorry, that's a whole other discussion that we could do on the 'other' Coffee break forum)

[ShoresDog]

When I was in Oregon this summer, another dog owner asked me if that could be Daisy's problem. I Googled it and found some stories like this one:

 

chicken jerky story

 

I just Googled it again and found this December 8 story about how they are being recalled in Australia:

 

a more recent story

 

The symptoms described in that second article are very much what was happening with Daisy:

 

• Decreased food consumption, although some may continue to consume the treats to the exclusion of other foods

• Decreased activity or lethargy

• Vomiting

• Diarrhea, sometimes with blood

• Increased water consumption and/or increased urination

 

Probably the stuff is a good medium for carrying bacteria? Anyhow, Juno has a stomach of iron and they never bothered her.

[SoloRiver]

That's scary. It sounds like it's a problem with chicken jerky in general, not only imported products. Even worse than I thought.

 

They've always been so prohibitively expensive that I never fed them to my dogs before -- usually they come in teeny packages that cost over $5 each. The ones at Costco are so cheap that I... well... I guess it's possible you get what you pay for.

 

I normally have pretty good faith in Costco's quality control, but I don't think I'll buy any more of these if only because they are made in China and the FDA is issuing warnings about chicken jerky. I pretty much only use them for stuffing into Kongs (because they require work to dislodge) so it's not like we'll really miss them.

 

Thanks for the input.

[JohnLloydJones]

That's scary. It sounds like it's a problem with chicken jerky in general, not only imported products. Even worse than I thought.

 

Jerky (for human consumption) has quite a high salt content that acts as a preservative. The dried chicken strips for dogs don't have that level of salt and may very well be a good carrier of bacteria. The contamination could happen anywhere, including in your home after opening the package.

[ShoresDog]

Jerky (for human consumption) has quite a high salt content that acts as a preservative. The dried chicken strips for dogs don't have that level of salt and may very well be a good carrier of bacteria. The contamination could happen anywhere, including in your home after opening the package.

That makes sense to me. I will be careful about ALL jerky products.

[ahoops]

Yes there was a recall of some dried chicken strips here in the last week they were mainly sold by Kmart and were made in China. It was on the news one day that some dog food was making dogs sick but they wouldnt name which one for a couple of days -said to ask your vet ????? pretty bad heh?

[Mollie&Me]

A few years ago I bought a bag of the Waggin' Train Chicken Jerky Tenders from Costco, because a friend feeds them to her dogs and they love 'em.

 

I opened up the bag, and inside was one of those little bead pouch thingies that come in the box when you buy a new pair of shoes. The ones that say, right on the little pouch, to throw away and absolutely do not consume. Yes, I thought, here is a product I really want to feed my dogs...and then I noticed that they were made in China. Their Website states that they use facilities and meats from China because:

"We discovered the average person in China prefers dark meat (i.e. legs, wings, etc.) and as a result we can buy the white meat breasts and tenderloins from chickens grown for human consumption at a fraction of the price available elsewhere. We operate these factories under the most stringent safety and sanitary guidelines and they are regularly inspected by our own QA team as well as third party independent inspection teams and auditors to insure we don’t miss a single detail. The cost savings to our US consumers is approximately 70 – 75%.

 

I threw the bag out. They also state on their website that their product is perfectly safe, but I just wasn't willing to take the chance.

[JohnLloydJones]

I opened up the bag, and inside was one of those little bead pouch thingies that come in the box when you buy a new pair of shoes. The ones that say, right on the little pouch, to throw away and absolutely do not consume.

 

The pouch would have contained a desiccant (typically silica gel). It's not, in itself, a reason not to use the contents. It does underline the manufacturers opinion that the strips need to be kept dry; something that cannot necessarily be done after opening the package. I have no knowledge or opinion on this particular manufacturer's quality control. I do know that numerous products from China have had serious issues. A few dollars saved in the price of some treats is nothing compared to the distress (and possible vet bills) of a sick dog.

[Guest maya's mom]

I agree with all of the above comments. I do not feed anything to Maya, that is not made in the US. There are a number of good products. Yes, they are a little more expensive, but I think it is worth it. Plus, the products I use, have other health benefits. I specifically like anything made by the "Zukes" people. Right now, she is getting their "Happy Hips" product, for the Glucosamine and Chondr. I also love anything by the "Plato" people. I am giving their salmon strips as a treat this winter, for the Salmon Oil and Omega 3's.

[Alaska]

See this new thread for a chicken jerky warning just issued by FDA.

[SoloRiver]

Yep, I saw that. Thanks.

 

The take home message is that there is actually no evidence that there is anything wrong with the treats (as in the testing that has been done has come up with nada). Also, my dogs have never gotten sick because of them. That said, I am now afraid enough of them to throw the ones we have left into the trash and not buy any more.

 

Since Solo is on drugs including behavioral meds and NSAIDs (although I am weaning him off the Rimadyl and would like to keep him off it altogether if I can) I would like to avoid any other possible challenges to his kidneys or liver. I'll find something else to wedge into Kongs.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

Another thumbs up here for Zukes. You can also dehydrate your own - it's ridiculously easy once you've learned how to manage your oven temp and so forth. Or you can pick up a dehydrator on Craigslist.