Pet food company improperly tested

KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Diamond Pet Foods improperly tested, or failed to test, corn shipments for a deadly fungus during the weeks before it shipped food that killed dozens of dogs last month, a government investigation has determined.
The company allowed some corn shipments into its Gaston, S.C., manufacturing plant without testing them for aflatoxin. In other cases, tests for the poison were not properly conducted at the plant, according to a report expected to be released this week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The federal agency began an investigation into the South Carolina plant after the company recalled about 1 million pounds of dried dog food Dec. 20, said Phil Campbell, the Atlanta-based FDA official in charge of the inquiry.
The FDA report represents the agency's findings but does not penalize the company.
Since the recall, the company has strengthened its testing of corn arriving at the plant and started testing its final product before it is shipped.