Go to consumeraffairs.com & search for "Nutro pet food complaints"! I also used Nutro Max for years with no problem, but Nutro was bought by the huge conglomerate Mars International about 3 years ago. There have been SERIOUS problems with the Nutro food production multiple times since Mars took it over!

Until I recently brought home new bags that my fur-babies wouldn't go NEAR, I had no idea Nutro was bought by Mars or about the many serious food production problems Nutro had since the Mars buyout! In February, I bought a new bag of Nutro Max (10/2010 best by date) & my cats wouldn't go near it! I immediately called Nutro, since my pets loved their Nutro & the bag was marked "Improved Taste". I was told they ONLY added additional chicken meal, but maybe my bag had gone rancid during delivery. I was told to get another bag with a different "best by" date, so it would be a different production run. I had to go to a neighboring town to find a different "best by" date, but I did as Nutro suggested. Second bag- different date(9/2010): SAME problem! Pets went close & wouldn't touch it! I called Nutro AGAIN- same story, they just added additional chicken meal, no idea why my cats wouldn't eat it... At NO point did EITHER of these reps ask for my "best by" date or the lot number! Shows how concerned they are- NOT!!! I did tell the rep it needed to be escalated- something was wrong with their food. My last call to Nutro, I again spoke to Diana- her story was now different from what she said before. Now she said they didn't change the Nutro Max formula AT ALL recently, but they ran out of the correct packaging & knowingly used OLD packages so they didn't hold up sales! LOVELY! What else would this damn company do so they didn't lose money?

After researching, I learned about Nutro's buyout by Mars & all the problems since. Last summer's recall was because Nutro used a vitamin pre-mix bought from another company, that Nutro didn't even bother testing. Some batches had TOXIC levels of Zinc; some batches had inadequate levels of potassium! But Nutro had customer complaints for MONTHS before they finally did a recall! There is documentation by so many that they contacted Nutro, yet Mars/Nutro said they never received any customer complaints & learned of the pre-mix "error" (KILLED many pets; sickened others, but hard to prove) during a paperwork audit.

2 of my 3 cats become ill, 1 seriously so & had to be hospitalized on an IV. The symptoms of both were what we were warned about with the TOXIC Zinc issue- loss of appetite, bloody diarrhea, vomiting. But the "best by" date on my recent bags were outside the end of last summer's recall date range, 8/22/2010. Mine had October, then September 2010 dates. Was Nutro lying again about the date range? Or since they have screwed up so many times thanks to poor Quality Control, were there additional "mistakes"? I almost lost 1 of my beloved pets, but many other have had their pets die recently- they ALL ate Nutro pet foods, dogs & cats! We spent well over $2000, but I still have my pets- now eating MUCH healthier food!

Nutro should document our calls, take our "best by" dates & lot numbers, offer to test since there are SO many complaints! But they do NOTHING! MARS/NUTRO has PLENTY of money & should learn the meaning of morals/ethics & responsibility- they ARE responsible for what they produce. Mars also owns Royal Canin, Whiskas & other pet food/treat brands, so BEWARE!

Mars/Nutro- YOU are POISONING our pets! Apathy on your part is DISGUSTING!