As Alberta’s cattle industry staggers under the growing economic burden of mad cow disease, smaller businesses that cater to the global pet food market are desperately trying to convince consumers that their premium meat-based products are safe.
After a U.S.-based pet food distributor called for a recall last week of dry kibble product made by Morinville-based exporter Champion Pet Foods, the company has been forced to lay off nearly half of its staff and reformulate some of its products – and at the same time, watch from the sidelines as the lucrative U.S. market explores alternative markets and other countries such as Taiwan and Korea follow suit.
“Unfortunately, it is our name that is in the media,” sighs Peter Muhlenfeld, sales and marketing manager at privately owned Champion, which prior to last week exported an estimated 15,000 metric tonnes of kibble each year. “People think we’ve processed a dead animal and our foods aren’t allowed to be exported.”
Canadian inspection officials say the sick cow was rendered and used in animal food, including chicken feed and dog food. Nevada-based Pet Pantry International has called for consumers to return Champion dog food that may contain particles of the Alberta cow carcass that tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Although health experts have said there is no known risk to dogs or evidence that they could transmit the disease to humans, Muhlenfeld says he understands why pet owners might be concerned.
“We understand how people relate to their pets, and for the products that are potentially affected, we have agreed to accept them back,” he says, estimating his company is losing $100,000 a day since the U.S. border was closed May 20 to Alberta meat-based products.
Muhlenfeld says most Champion products fall under the “super-premium” category, meaning they contain only material fit for human consumption, and no meat or bone meal. Since Europe is a big export market for Champion, Muhlenfeld says the Morinville factory process has to be certified to be free of any rendered meat material in Europe-bound products.
Both the U.S. and Canada forbid the use of ruminant meat and bone meal in feed for cattle and other ruminants, but still allow the material to be used in feed for poultry and pigs.
Champion did process meat meal for its U.S. client – a practice that has now stopped. “The products we ship to America could not have been shipped to Europe. They simply wouldn’t meet the European standards,” he says.
“The vast majority of our production is super-premium, so this little bit that we do has bitten us hard.”
At High River-based Farm Meats Canada Ltd., which produces the Rollover brand of dog treats and beef chews, co-owner Wayne Skogman says Alberta-made dog food has been getting the same bad rap as beef.
“They’re saying rendered animals go into dog food, and we’re a big producer of dog food in Alberta – our sales are over $500 million a year. But we have no rendered products, and never had any,” he says.
While Rollover beef products – made from muscle and organ meats from the nearby Cargill processing plant – are still selling in Canadian stores, all shipments have been halted at the U.S. border.
“We’re going to start losing businesses in about another week,” Skogman predicts, “and it’s hard to regain customers down there. Being a Canadian product down there used to be a plus – but this isn’t a good thing.”
Farm Meats hasn’t yet laid off any of its 30 workers, and Skogman is keeping his fingers crossed that the mad cow scare will be over soon.
Others don’t appear as confident. Cargill announced late last week that it will be laying off 350 employees, about 20 per cent of its workforce. Beef- processing plants across the country are cutting shifts, and industry experts estimate the business is losing more than $11 million in export sales each day the border remains closed, and up to $27 million a day in related businesses.
Canada sold about $1.8 billion worth of beef and beef products to the United States last year, and exported more than 500,000 Alberta cattle to the U.S.
Canadian scientists continued their forensic detective work last week to discover the source of the mad cow disease. As of Friday, no further cases had been discovered.
But a Canadian consumers advocacy group says many people feel the government is being “less than forthcoming” in providing information about mad cow in order to protect the industry.
“While we are being told that the animal which had the disease did not enter the food stream, we are also learning that the infection may have been caused by the animal’s feed,” says Mel Fruitman, president of the Consumers’ Association of Canada. “This raises questions about how widespread the problem may be and if it may be lying dormant waiting to explode in the near future. It also makes us wonder if we’ve already consumed infected products, including other meats and fowl from animals which were fed beef byproducts.”
Champion Pet Foods’ Muhlenfeld believes the issue is a national concern.
“This is a Canadian issue, and now it’s a matter of the international community needing to be reassured by collective Canada – not just the federal and provincial governments but the industry members, consumers, all of us,” he says. “Everybody needs to contribute – that’s our position right now, and it will continue to be until the international community, including Canada, perceives meat ingredients are safe.”
But he admits to feeling just a bit exposed.
“That’s been the biggest disappointment – we feel like there’s no team,” he says.
“First and foremost, we’re Canadian. When we’re doing well, and we’re exporting, everybody is happy to associate themselves with Champion Pet Foods . . . until this. Where is everybody now? We feel like when we’re winning, we’re part of the team. And when the going gets tough, suddenly everybody is gone. But we’re still going to continue to do what we do.”
