Optima Pet Food Saga: Media’s double-edged sword

It’s been a crazy week – both with trying to catch up on work I let slip while caring for Addie over the holidays and also with trying to bring some perspective to this whole, ongoing, experience.

When all this began I created a Google Alert for “Optima dog food”, so I’d know any time the phrase appeared on Google’s news channel. For weeks there wasn’t a peep, but then suddenly (just after the Shanghai Daily piece) it lit up and I began receiving several notices a day.

Perhaps most prominently, the Associated Press picked up the story, and Elaine Kurtenbach (AP writer) chatted with me for some time about the situation and on what she had discovered about the supply chain (and its convolution):

(AP) … A sales person at Optima Co., the local representative for the product, said the dog food had been sent for analysis, but he would give no details.

“I’m not authorized to speak about this,” said the man, who gave only his surname, Zhang.

Ryan McLaughlin, a Canadian living in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou, publicized the problem after his own 1-year-old golden retriever, Addie, fell sick after eating Optima dog food.

“When it’s an imported dog food, you don’t expect this sort of thing to happen,” Ryan, who comes from Welland, Canada, said in a phone interview. “Here we were paying the extra cash to try to ensure she was healthy and instead it made her sick,” he said. Addie died on Jan. 5.

Gu, of the local distributor, said only that his supplier was based in Taiwan.

Zhang said the product his company sold came from “somewhere in Australia.”

The AP article was picked up by a few other news sources, including the Canadian Press (CP), reprinted on CBC.

Here’s a partial aggregation of where the story was reported (those that include mention of Addie are noted):

It’s been an experience watching the coverage unfold. Seeing where certain news sources pull their information from. It’s a bit surprising to see how little actual journalism goes into it. Aside from one or two of the articles above, the rest are essentially re-writes based on information found online and/or from other news sources. 

That’s fine if the handful of reporters actually reporting have everything in order – but in most situations, they don’t. They can’t. In a case like this, especially in China, the ONLY people that are going to be co-operative are the victims, and they’re (we’re) generally relying on the media to uncover the truth.

And so you get CNN reporting that Optima dog food comes from Australia (it’s very definitely made in the USA), you get a lot of the reports (bordering on editorials) insinuating that it was fake dog food manufactured in China (it’s more likely that it’s real dog food, but illegally imported from Taiwan), and you get virtually every single one of them pointing out a connection to melamine-tainted Chinese-made dog food that killed dogs in the US in 2007 – then making the obvious jump to the melamine milk scandal of last fall.

Does it surprise anyone that when I close my eyes and think “modern media” I have visions of the Keystone Cops or a Benny Hill sketch playing out in my head?

Don’t get me wrong – news exposure is important and the media are purported to be the watchdogs of evil corporations and gov’ts who are looking to endlessly pull fast ones on the public.

But here’s the rub. The increased media exposure, and in turn pressure on local gov’t, has thrown the local distributor into chaos. Assuming it is the media calling for a one-liner or sound-bite, they are now dodging all calls, including those from those of us that have been affected by this situation and whom, until this week, had been receiving at least a decent amount of co-operation.

Maggie and I had a meeting planned with the distributor on Monday to discuss compensation, but when the Chinese media picked up the story they had to cancel, prioritizing their fires. This only worsened as the week went on and the story grew, until now we’ve been given the rather open-ended “we need to wait and see what happens”.

The distributor informs us that before they can reach a compensation deal with us (and allow us to put this whole tragedy behind us and move on), they need to wait and see if the government takes over the case. If so, it would virtually assure we’ll (a) never see a dime of compensation, (b) this will drag on for months and months, and (c) anyone responsible for this situation that can cut and run, will.

On the plus side, whether we see compensation or not, the increased exposure pretty much guarantees that the company responsible will be destroyed – as I doubt anyone would trust them again – which is a reward of sorts. But then, it just creates a void for another distributor to rise and take its place – one without the black-eye and still-tender reminder to not do something like this again.

Bah.

10 Responses

  1. I think blogs are really becoming much more reliable sources of news than the media. Over the last year, almost all of the major stories about China (including the May earthquake) I’ve read about first on China blogs, and then later on major news portals like Yahoo news. I’d rather have the first person perspective people who are there and dealing with the situation themselves can bring, anyway. I do continue to read the news, too, hoping for a more complete perspective, but recently I haven’t found it there. So I really appreciate blogs like yours!

  2. “But then, it just creates a void for another distributor to rise and take its place – one without the black-eye and still-tender reminder to not do something like this again.”

    Yes, and Mars, Optima, or whoever manufactures it will happily pick up the extra sales volume (their unofficial share of the Chinese market). Scumbags.

    Lazy Journalism indeed.

  3. woah.. wait a minute Nick. Why is Mars or Optima the scumbag here? I don’t know the true import path but all reports make it seem as though Mars/Optima (whomever) isn’t importing directly to China. Instead the product is being imported to Taiwan and then someone else is importing it to China most likely without permission from Mars/Optima.

    My guess is that Mars/Optima doesn’t import directly to China because they can’t verify the quality of their product at the place(s) its being sold; a very common industry practice. If a business can’t trust that the reseller/distributor of its goods then it shouldn’t sell to them and it appears in this case that they indeed did not.

    What I would say is that Mars/Optima should provide a list of respected/trusted distributers and official distribution countries. This way if you find a bag of Optima dog food in China but Optima has not official export to China, consumer will know to be wary.

  4. @Jacob: I agree absolutely with your list idea – however, how many of us (realistically) would check a list before making most purchases? Certainly I will, but I’ve been scolded by experience. Your average person isn’t likely to though.

    My guess is that Mars/Optima doesn’t import directly to China because they can’t verify the quality of their product at the place(s) its being sold; a very common industry practice. If a business can’t trust that the reseller/distributor of its goods then it shouldn’t sell to them and it appears in this case that they indeed did not.

    But surely they can notice the increased sales for a small country like Taiwan. I mean, we’re not talking a couple of bags – the Taiwan supplier is/was supplying much of mainland China with the stuff. They may be able to keep their hands clean by hiding behind what you’re saying, but they are still very much responsible, as there is no doubt they turn a blind eye to the added profits – illegally imported or not, a sale is a sale is a sale.

  5. as there is no doubt they turn a blind eye to the added profits – illegally imported or not, a sale is a sale is a sale.

    I really agree with this. My feeling is that Mars/Optima should be bending over backwards to find out what happened. Do you still have any packaging materials from the dog food? I’m wondering if you examined it for any sign that it was fake. I’d guess that some expert somewhere would be able to tell.
    What’s really annoying to me is that in the Western news channels, they seem a little over-eager to blame China and to absolve the U.S. company from fault.

    the increased exposure pretty much guarantees that the company responsible will be destroyed

    Hmmm … no guarantee there, I’m afraid. Everyone’s scrambling to find a scapegoat.

  6. ok true enough, I can definitely see/understand the argument of noticing increased sales. I guess I was under the impression that this was just a few hundred bags instead of hundreds of thousands. I can definitely see the argument of noticing a spike in sales that are disproportionate in relation to the importing country’s population and/or previous orders.

    With that said, however, we all know how difficult it can be to do business with China (as well as other countries). If you go into any expat store in China you’ll see all kinds of brands/products many, if not most, of which were never intended for sale in China by the producer. Some of these products specifically contain a clause stating that no guarantees or warranties are granted if purchased outside a licensed/verified country. Fujitsu products carry this warning for electronic goods and I have seen it on some food products although none in my fridge bare this warning.

    I guess the question I would pose (seeing your argument) would be what’s the threshold at which a company becomes negligent and thus liable. Assuming they are unaware of the sale in China would it be 10% additional sales volume to Taiwan, 100%? anyhow its just a question because I just can’t see a blanket blame cast upon the company particularly when product is being illegally imported to another country. Its hard to world police your own products.

    Anyhow its just an aside. I am extremely surprised that Mars/Optima has not tried to contact you and get any identifying information from the bag. At the very least they could try to track down its real path rather than speculate about it. Ignoring the issue doesn’t seem to be helping their case.

    I am sincerely sorry for your loss and hope that there is restitution at some point.

  7. Ryan needs to save the actual bag, the tainted product and take a clear digital photograph of the date code/expiration code. Then ask Mars if Doane International Pet Products has a contract-manufacture agreement with an Australian dry pet food manufacturer. And if yes, ask if the tainted food was made by the Australian manufacturer at Doane International’s request.

  8. Ryan’s actually just going to accept the lackluster settlement from the local distributor and put this all behind him.

    If I was in the US and fighting a US corporation, I *might* have more ambition to do so. As it stands, there is a razor’s edge of a chance that anything remotely positive could come of pursuing it – and the only thing it promises for certain is months and months of time-consuming frustration.

    None of which will bring my dog back, and all of which will act as a salt-in-wound reminder that she’s gone and how she died.

  9. Hey Ryan:

    I realize that you would probably like to leave this whole episode behind you, but I have some questions if you don’t mind. I am an American living between LA and Beijing, and I too buy Optima for my dog (though it looks like I’m in for a change).

    I’ve read several of your posts and various media reports about the aflatoxin incident and am left confused. I see reports saying the distributor was Natural Pet, a Taiwanese company, but that Australia and Chinese AQSIQ both deny having approved Optima’s import to the mainland. As you say, Optima is an American company, and you say “it’s very definitely made in the USA,” but Mars denies having produced the food. How do you know it’s made in the U.S.? Is it possible it’s an Australian subsidiary that produces Asia-bound food (this of course would not absolve Mars, but it does mean that the producer may not be the same as the one for the U.S. market)?

    I would also like to know about the representatives you dealt with. If Optima itself does not distribute in China, who were these agents? Does Optima have representation here even though it does not distribute? Were the representatives from the Taiwan company, “Natural Pet.”

    Finally, the most troubling. You say the reps told you the Olympic-related restrictions meant that pet food was left in the Guangzhou port. I see how that could produce the fungus, but Addie got sick in December! What kind of distributor is distributing food that’s over 4-5 months old BEFORE it even hits the shelves?! Who is the distributor in China?

    I’m really sorry about Addie. I would hope that steps can be taken to avoid future disasters such as this, but who knows.

    Thanks

  10. Hi Justin,

    My best guess (and that’s really all it can be – as I’ve no inside info on this) is that Optima produces the dog food in the US, it’s distributed globally by their parent company (owned by Mars). It is legally imported and distributed in Taiwan by Natural Pet.

    As Natural Pet already has a supply chain to China for selling a number of other pet foods (registered, I assume), it just piggy-backs the Optima sales on that.

    The local distributor is just that, some dude with a business for bringing in products from Shanghai and distributing them in Suzhou. One such product is Optima dog food. He gets his stuff from a major consumer products distributor in Shanghai (mentioned freq. in the news reports). They are the buyers that purchase the stuff from Natural Pet.

    As for the 4-5 months between the Olympics and Addie’s sickness – granted it was likely well longer than their usual supply chain takes to move the product, it was still long before the expiry date (September 2009 – I believe).

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