thank you for sharing, it is good to see that they may actually have to pay where it hurts for making such a dangerous food. I read my dog's food labels as diligently as I read the labels for us and it's disgusting to see what some of these manufacturers will put in the foods or do to save a buck.

I'm a dog lover too but I'm also a lover of fairness. I don't think any companies knowingly produce pet food (or human food) with dangerous ingredients. But it's happened too many times, items from unscrupulous suppliers can cause problems.

In the article you link:

1) Nothing is mentioned about what substance is in the food that causes these unfortunately illnesses and deaths. Has something been found? Can it be proven? Has it been proven? Is the source or cause known? What blame can be proven to justify suing Ralston Purina?

2) Most of the article is about comments from the lawyer (ambulance chaser working on a contingent fee) who filed the suit. Is there no one authoritative to speak to ?
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lukiirish, unless you have a food science background, I'm not sure what's accomplished by your diligence in reading labels. Do you recognize ingredients, know why each has been included, and understand which are possibly dangerous and which aren't? I'm going to guess the answers are "No".

Unlike humans, pets don't eat varied diets. All the nutrients they require for good health have to be included in the one food they eat, and so that's why the lists are long. Yes, some products emphasize low cost and thus use low quality ingredients. Some are light on animal protein and too heavy on grain. Some source ingredients that are cheap, not necessarily because they're wholesome. You can satisfy your desire to be careful by buying quality brands and paying attention to the first two or three ingredients. Beyond that, you may be fooling yourself into thinking you're doing more than you actually are.

Snidely, I read dog food labels only to maybe the first 5 or 6 ingredients (to choose a new brand). If there are XXX by-products, then my "children" don't eat it. And yes, I have a BS in Food Science (not that it means a hill of beans).

Especially if there is a corn product. Having the aforementioned antiquated Food Science degree, I do know how easily corn products can get contaminated with mycotoxins. I kinda of suspect that might be the problem. Depending on the storage of the particular batch or even the bag of food you get from the store, one out of 100 or 1000 or a 10,000 etc. MIGHT be lethal.

I went through the Diamond pet food recalls a couple of years ago. I did (temporarily) try to switch brands. Nothing (even extremely expensive primo-organic food) agreed with them. So I went back to Taste of the Wild (massive recalls) for both the dogs and the cats.

Based on ingredients alone, I would never (just me personally-no pet food company bashing intended) feed Beneful. BUT the only thing that matters is what works for your pet. I know a lot of pets that are happy and healthy eating it. Some brands (for whatever reason) don't work for my guys. I discovered going through the find-another-good-food roller-coaster ride that my Lab did not react well to food with any form of flax in it. Go figure (it's supposed to be good for them and humans). Eliminated brands containing flax (now I have to read the labels all the way to the end) - back to healthy. Sometimes it's just one ingredient that will trigger it.

Perhaps I'm more in tune with their weight, body shape, coat, healthy eyes/ears, demeanor, behavior, observing and documenting what happens when I change foods, and digestive habits (yes, I examine poop and pee - TMI, I know) than most owners.

As of one, all 3 of my cats stopped eating Friskies dry food, made by Purina.

I bought numerous brands of premium cat food, grain free, etc, and they wouldn't eat any of it. They liked it one time, then never again. I was taking them back and exchanging it for yet another kind. One clerk told me that I can't do that, and I explained that since all 3 cats won't eat it, I should be able to exchange it.

I'm now transitioning them to a raw diet......another feat in itself, but overall, a raw diet is the very best for our pets.

I've never bought Beneful, but at some point I read the list of ingredients and was put off by all the artificial colors and sugar. A close friend feeds Beneful, and she's probably tired of hearing me say negative things about it. So I'll send the article to her husband instead. :-)

Pet food presents a serious real and daily danger to most dogs and cats because.........too many of them are given too much of it. I live in a pretty health conscious area, but it seems like half of the dogs and cats I see are significantly overweight. They're mammals just like we are and many of the same adverse health consequences of obesity affect them too. Plus, since they walk on four legs, too much abdominal weight can cause back and hind leg problems.

If you have a pet in your home, at your next vet visit, ask the vet (not a tech) if your animal could stand to lose weight. If the answer is yes, you know what to do. And also, remember to not give them human food. Most of what they get is calorie-dense nibbles they don't need and some kinds of human food are dangerous/poisonous if ingested by cats or dogs.

Loki mostly ate Beneful for 16 years but the last small bag I bought for him I noticed there was a change in the look of the kibble and he wouldn't eat it. I had to buy another brand which he ate for the last month of his life. Except for the tumour in his ear, the vet always said Loki was a healthy dog despite eating Beneful

We compared labels years ago and chose Beneful for our dogs because it had fewer grains and more meat proteins. One lived a good, long life (18 and a husky) and passed with a brain tumor, the next had cancer (lymphatic leukemia) and passed by euthanasia at 12, an American Eskimo and our newest dog (some sort of dalmatian pit bull mix) had a skin cancer at age 3.

We looked again at the labels and were really shocked at the change of ingredients in a decade.

I have no idea if our now deceased dogs ailments had a thing to do with diet, but we've changed to an affordable but better nutrition food since the youngest had skin cancer last summer.

Don't forget that a lot of vets get their "nutrition education" from consultants working for pet food companies like Hills (Science Diet, Prescription Diet, etc. are sold in most hospitals and clinics).

Compare these two grain free formulas - 1st 6 ingredients, protein and fat content, calories, and price (I used a 30 lb. bag from amazon as a benchmark price).

#1 - Chicken, Potatoes, Yellow Peas, Pea Protein Concentrate, Potato Starch, Chicken Meal
25% Protein, 15.5% Fat
394 kCal per cup
$2.38/lb.

#2 - Bison, Lamb Meal, Chicken Meal, Sweet Potatoes, Peas, Potatoes
32% Protein, 18% Fat
370 kCal per cup
$1.49/lb.

Which one sounds "better"? Sorry, but I am passionate about the...I can't say false advertising, I call it the mis-marketing of pet food.

Well sheesh, hell must have frozen over because I couldn't agree more with Snidely!

We went through all the grain free gimmick with my dog and she could not eat any of it. Poor thing was so sick because I was trying to do the "right thing" by feeding her the "best foods"(5 star). Did the whole dogfoodadvisor.com brainwashing insanity for the first year that I had her. I was making myself crazy trying to find out what was the best food for her issues(skin rash and diarrhea) and the more I read at DFA the sicker my dog got. Finally out of desperation I just started feeding her what the foster parents fed which was DOG CHOW and low and behold she got well and has been well ever since with absolutely no skin or digestive issues. For my dog, she absolutely cannot eat the grain free starches that they use in this "high end" foods. I was spending as much as $25 for a small 5 lb bag! That's just stupid! Never again!

Our 3 cats were raised on Purina Friskies. They changed the formula and added more dyes because of the bright colours of the kibble, and that's when our cats wouldn't touch it.

Our vet toured the Royal Canin facility in our area and he was so impressed......people quality food, spotless facility. When they hired they have the potential hirees in the room and ask how many have pets. Those that didn't raise their hand were asked to leave.

A friend of mine fosters cats. One kitten had all kinds of issues, health and skin. She tried everything, then as a final straw she fed him a raw diet. He thrived and when he was adopted, they had to keep him on the raw diet.

Most important thing on any pet food label are not the ingredients but the actual nutritional analysis.

These lawsuits are a dime a dozen. Animals get cancers, seizures and all types of illnesses for any number of reasons just like people do. I see a lot of people posting on these lawsuit sites that have dogs that are 12 - 15 u years old. Well sheesh those are senior dogs. Younger pets get sick too. Could be genetics, could be environmental,could be viral. People in their grief want something to blame. Pet food is a convenient scapegoat. I wonder how many of these owners gave their dogs people food. I wonder if they know that there are some foods that could be toxic to their pets that are perfectly safe for humans. What toys did their animals play with? Where were they walked?

I've lost dogs to cancers. My last dog had a seizure a few months back. I didn't blame his food. he was old. It was his time to be helped across the bridge. I miss him but I sure can't blame his food.

Beneful has a large market share due to its availability and price. So it gets more of the blame than a food less widely used. Just like China gets blamed for everything because a lot of things come from there. So people ignore all the US recalls on our organic produce and such and focus on Chinese products due to the sheer volume.

To answer the above on which one sounds better on the two food comps I would have to say the second based on the nutritional analysis. however those number to change due to the lack of info on moisture content. Without knowing the moisture content you can't really tell which is better. If the #2 food has a higher moisture content then the higher protein/fat numbers could end up being lower than the #1 food. See it isn't that simple.

I will share something my old vet who was fanatical about real science once told me. He told me that as a rule the "puffier" kibbles served up more nutrition per cup of food than the smaller varieties. This was some years back. He was a walking encyclopedia of all the latest studies. This is because no matter what the label states a lot of the nutritional value comes from enrichment from "spray on" vitamins/probiotics/supplements just like breakfast cereal for humans.

Bravo, watchmelol!. You've touched all the bases, well said!

Medically, dogs are very imperfect creatures. Cats too. The numbers of congenital (from birth) conditions, diseases, imperfections, problems, tendencies (like toward cancers), etc., are staggering. All deserve our love and protection, and I don't doubt that those who are silly (but misguided) in obsessing over their food do so in pursuit of trying to do what's right for their friends with paws.

I read labels to determine the first 5 ingredients as well. And, as watchmelol has said, dry weight comp is the best measure. Mostly I avoid the carb fillers - cornmeal, grains, beets etc., and the latest veggie fads. Cats don't wander around in the wild looking for corn or blueberries - they are obligate carnivores and require animal meat. Many food companies use plant proteins instead of meat because it's cheaper and they can still meet the required protein minimums. If you've ever had a diabetic cat you learn to watch out for complex carbs and sugar in their food. As for the supply chain, it's hard to know where the ingredients are actually originating from. I remember the horrible recall in 2007 when the FDA found melamine in wheat gluten coming out of China. Thousands of animals died.

For those who wonder what the ingredients in questions are, this is addressed on the law office website: http://www.forthepeople.com/class-action-lawyers/purina-beneful-dog-food-deaths

When my husband and I moved to our farm in 1975, we promised ourselves we could have all the dogs and cats and horses we wanted. We had many. After about 25 years I noticed that while the cats generally outlived the dogs, it wasn't by as much as one would think. Given the difference in life expectancy between the two, the dogs were doing significantly better than the cats.

All our cats were indoors--either in the house or in my husband's office suite in the barn--and there were no accidental deaths. The only difference I could think of between the cats and the dogs was the way their food was presented to them. The dogs ate out of stainless steel dishes, while the cats' were plastic.

I have no idea if this made a significant difference, but after that I changed the cats' dishes to stainless or glass. I have no subsequent data on this to report . . . the oldest of my current cats is 9, the rest much younger. The last two (large) dogs lived to be 16 and 14.

I think your observation was correct Alisande. The problem is that many plastic pet bowls are not food grade like plastics made for human food use. Some pets have allergies to latex and plastics also. I store my dry pet food in Tupperware for that reason. I don't trust plastic bins and containers that are not specifically marked as safe for storing food. Storing food in plastic waste containers etc. is risky in my opinion. Hmmm. One more thing to consider about the lawsuit. How did the people store their large bags of Beneful?

Alisande, that is interesting. Our kitties eat and drink out of ceramic and glass bowls, I switched them years ago because one of them was allergic to plastic which manifested as terrible chin acne and irritation. The vet suggested switching to ceramic or glass and after doing that, no more problems.

We lost 2 last year, one well over age 20, and the other almost 18. Two of the remaining kitties are well into their teens, 2 are under 10. Hopefully, they will live as long as the others. Our dog has a glass water bowl and ceramic food dish as well. He is a huge lab and doing very well for 12, except for his thyroid issues for which he takes thyroxine, and arthritis controlled with supplements. So there might definitely be something to your theory.

That's a very good point about plastic containers. I use plastic pails buckets that come from Dairy Queen and the coffee shops that the ice cream and muffin batter comes in. I also have some tall rectangular buckets that held margarine. I store cat food and flour and rice in them. The flour and rice stay in the original packaging

This was published in February. Usually suits are filed after a certain amount of time. From what I remember there have been many suits files, against producers, but I don't recall any of them being awarded. Our dogs just seem to get bored after eating one food for a long time. I am more concerned, in getting a product from off shore, that we have no control over. I will check into this more and call our vet to see what she knows about this.