** For a list of pet foods NOT recently recalled go to The Pet Food List **
Michael Bush, of PR Week, spoke to three key players involved in the pet-food recall:
- Duane Ekedahl (president of the Pet Food Institute [PFI])
- Gene Grabowski (SVP at Levick Strategic Communications, which represents the PFI)
- Alice Nathanson (chair of the public affairs committee for the PFI and external affairs/PR director for Iams and Eukanuba manufacturer Masterfoods US)
Be sure to read the entire interview, but here are a couple excerpts I found interesting (emphasis is mine)…
Michael Bush: Have you faced a recall/crisis situation like this before?
Duane Ekedahl (president of the Pet Food Institute [PFI]): We called this the perfect storm because of the particular way this product recall unfolded. It was a co-manufacturer that makes products for a lot of companies, so instead of just one company and one product, it was one company and hundreds of products.
A misidentification of the substance causing the problem compounded consumer confusion.
The final component that made this unusual was that it wasn’t just a one-shot deal. As the product was tracked through the system, it affected other companies, and it continued for weeks. The magnitude of this was a real shock to us.
[...]
Bush: What’s your opinion of the media’s handling of the situation?
Ekedahl: There were specific articles that were troublesome and bloggers who were off the charts. But in total, I came away with a respect for the probing nature and overall honesty of the questions.
The media were very helpful in our getting the message out in terms of the nature and dimension of the problem and the fact that it’s being addressed. The questioning was impressively penetrating on technical subjects, but there were also erroneous reports that were misleading to consumers.
Bloggers who were off the charts! Mr. Ekedahl, if you mean bloggers who want to get to the bottom of things…bloggers who know “16 or 17″ dead pets is not an accurate number…bloggers who want change…then sure, we are off the charts! Thanks for the compliment.
Oh…and as for the respect for our “probing nature and overall honesty of the questions”…I just wish I felt you folks were being as honest with your info as we are with our questions.
The thing that really stood out as I read this is that it’s all past tense…as if it’s all over and done with…the problem has been discovered…and they’re moving on. Is it really that easy? Are we completely finished with the pet food crisis that started 2 months ago today?
Why not drop Mr. Ekedahl a line and let him know how you feel? Here’s the email address: info@petfoodinstitute.org and while you’re at it, write a letter to your congressmen too.
(thanks, Mike!)
Technorati Tags: pet food recall, pets, cats, dogs, health, 2007
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Yeah, bloggers were off the charts because they wanted answers. They want to know what took so long to recall the products. They want to know why there are so many sick pets, but yet the number always remained at 13-16. Of course we’re blogging…we want to know what is safe to feed our pets. If it wasn’t for blogging, the everyday pet owners would have less of a voice and may have not been able to put pressure on this industry to get better.
My cat Whiskers died after eating Special Kitty Pouch Cat Food, of course I blogged.
By delaying the recall to March 16th, they killed my cat. He died March 9, 2007. IF they had done the decent thing and recalled the food Feb. 20th when they first knew their was a problem, he would still be alive. But they covered it up (OK delayed till testing was completed -that’s the official line isn’t it), and their CFO dumped his stock. But the main stream media is treating this like a non story as far as they are concerned the problem is hysterical pet owners and bad PR for the companies.
Thank God for Bloggers!
Alasandra, I’m so sorry to hear about Whiskers. I know how much it hurts to lose a pet, but under these circumstances it has got to be even worse.
Please keep up the blogging and stay off the charts!!
You know these pet food companies LOVE bloggers when they are raving about their products, but the minute we start asking questions they start getting all huffy. We need to keep asking intelligent questions, the right questions. Blogging is about 2 way communication. Companies can not have their cake and eat it too.