Diamond Pet Food Settles Tainted Food Lawsuit

Pet food manufacturer Diamond will be paying out $3.1 million to dog owners in a settlement announced yesterday. Diamond produced dog food in 2005 that contained a mold called aflatoxin in their South Carolina plant.

The money will reimburse pet owners for the loss of dozens of dogs nationwide, including vet bills and the cost of unreturned contaminated food.

Diamond has acknowledged that workers in their South Carolina plant did not follow internal testing procedures to ensure that the food was safe, but only admitted fault after the FDA released a report showing that the company had no record of test results for corn shipments in 2005 when grain tainted with the fungus was used in the plant.

The tainted pet food was sold in 23 states and Diamond ended up recalling 20 varieties of dog and cat food when a New York vet linked a dog’s death to the food.

Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring fungus that can sometimes be found on corn and other such crops and can cause severe liver damage.

[msn]