Diamond Pet Foods

Diamond Pet Foods, Inc. is the name under which Schell and Kampeter, Inc. does business as a U.S.-based commercial pet food manufacturer with plants located in Meta, Missouri, Lathrop, California and Gaston, South Carolina. It is a privately held, family-owned enterprise, still managed by the Schell and Kampeter family.
History
Diamond Pet Foods is headquartered in Meta, MO. Diamond was founded in 1970 when two brothers-in-law, Gary Schell and Richard Kampeter, bought Milling Meta Co., which produced livestock feed and dog food. According to Diamond, distribution was limited to within 100 miles of Meta and only 5% of the food produced was dog food.
Gary and Richard focused on providing the best nutrition for every pet, whether it was an expensive show animal or a child's free puppy or kitten. A company history states, "They wanted to produce a premium pet food, made from high-quality ingredients and using the best equipment, yet still at a reasonable price. The answer was in staying conservative on marketing and advertising spending, which can drastically increase the costs of pet food." Diamond expanded its manufacturing to include plants in San Joaquin County in California in 1999 and Gaston, South Carolina in 2002.
Ingredients
Diamond promotes its original line of pet food as super-premium, though certain ingredients present in a variety of its foods are considered to be lower-quality by some pet owners, including meat meal, chicken by-product meal, poultry by-product meal, brewers rice, and fish meal. Other pet owners and veterinarians argue that these ingredients provide digestible protein, particularly in the case of low-ash meal products such as the meals used by Diamond. Diamond Pet Foods focuses on providing a holistic pet food with Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acid nutrition, joint and cartilage health through glucosamine and chondroitin, and healthy, digestible protein.
Products
Diamond introduced Diamond Naturals in 2006. These products contain no by-products, corn, or wheat. They also manufacture Bright Bites brand dental treats, Taste of the Wild brand pet food, and Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul brand dog and cat food.
They also manufacture under contract, for other companies, at least some of the pet foods sold under these brands or business names.
*Canidae Pet Food - (canidae is no longer produced at Diamond)
*Costco's Kirkland Signature
*Solid Gold Health Products for Pets
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*Kirkland Signature Nature's Domain (Available only at Costco)
*Taste of the Wild Pet Foods
*Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul
*4Health (Available only at Tractor Supply Company)
*NutraGold Super Premium Holistic Formulas
*Premium Edge Pet Food
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Diamond Pet Food recalls

December 2005
On December 20, 2005, Diamond Pet Food discovered aflatoxin in a product manufactured at its facility in Gaston, South Carolina. Diamond voluntarily recalled 19 products in 23 states formulated with corn and manufactured in the Gaston facility. These products included Diamond Low Fat Dog Food, Hi-Energy Dog Food, Maintenance Dog Food, Performance Dog Food, Premium Adult Dog Food, Puppy Food, and Maintenance Cat Food. Testing of more than 2,700 finished product samples conducted by laboratories confirmed that only two date codes of two adult dog formulas with the "Best By" dates of April 3, April 4, April 5 and April 11 were potentially toxic.

May 2012
On May 7, 2012, Diamond Pet Foods recalled brands of dog and cat food produced in its Gaston, South Carolina plant. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Initial Announcement "ultiple brands of dry pet food produced by Diamond Pet Foods at a single manufacturing facility in South Carolina have been linked to some of the human Salmonella infections.... A total of 14 individuals infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Infantis have been reported from 9 states." The following brands were part of the recall: Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul, Country Value, Diamond, Diamond Naturals, Premium Edge, Professional, 4Health, Taste of the Wild, Apex, Kirkland Signature/Kirkland Signature Nature’s Domain, and Canidae.

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