Effem Foods Taiwan (美商艾汾), the Asian distributor of Pedigree dog food, yesterday said allegations about recalled Pedigree dog food, which the company withdrew about six months ago, are untrue.
In a statement yesterday Effem said news reports by the cable network TVBS yesterday about recalled Pedigree products containing toxins that are detrimental to both pets and owners are "false, misleading and irresponsible."
"Our first priority is the health and safety of pets and pet owners," Allan West, general manager of Effem Taiwan, said in the statement.
The company said they have contacted experts and been assured there was no threat to the people who handled the product.
The amounts of toxin reported in the recalled product were "100 to 1,000 times lower than the amounts that might cause illness in mice or rats so the difference would likely be even greater in humans," the company said, citing Lloyd Bullerman, a food microbiologist from the University of Nebraska.
The reports said the company was also accused by a South Korean group of the presence of toxins in its recalled products, and a Taipei-based non-profit organization said it would join the group to file a class-action suit against the dog food provider.
The Taipei-based Care for Animals and Protect the Earth Organization (關愛動物保護協會), in July accused Pedigree of failing to control the quality of its products manufactured in Thailand.
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