Am I understanding this right - the steam part of the process made each kibble piece have a lot more food in it than before??

Pick up a piece of kibble.  Yes it has air in it, but honestly, how much more packed can the food be in one piece of kibble?  Not much.  Surely not enough to make a number of dogs that sick.  I agree Robert, this does come across as double-speak. 

I feel very offended that you are talking to us like we are idiots, Arabiannikki.  Sorry,but I don't appreciate being spoken to in such a condecending manner.  We have every right to be on guard about this, and to discuss this from all angles, and to post all our fears & support each other in this.  This is what these forums are for.  If you don't like our discussion, please just ignore it & quit trying to tell us we are over-reacting fools.  

Instinct Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein (min) 42.0%
Crude Fat (min) 22.0%
Crude Fiber (max) 3.2%
Moisture (max) 10.0%
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I did a little digging on the “steam” issue and found this http://www.petfoodindustry.com/ViewArticle.aspx?id=13522
Bulk density trouble-shooting
"In many cases the single largest petfood processing issue is the product's bulk density," says Brian Plattner, processing engineering manager at Wenger Manufacturing. If it is desirable to lower the bulk density of extrusion cooked petfoods, the following processing variables may be altered as described. Since the recipe has the single largest impact on density, keep in mind that these changes are subject to the formulation, as not all formulations will react in the same manner.

Moisture content: Generally, lowering the water content injected into the product without decreasing the steam level added to the product will assist expansion. However, when extruding formulations containing high protein (above 23%) or high fat (above 5%), it is necessary to increase total moisture by adding both steam and water. Once the moisture level in the extruder barrel drops below 20%, further decreases in moisture will result in increases in product density.

Steam injection in the extruder barrel: Injecting steam directly into the product along the extruder barrel will tend to lower the bulk density.

Oil addition: Addition of oil will increase product densities. In general, for each 1% of fat above 12%, the bulk density of the final product will increase by up to 16 grams per liter. Once the total fat content in the extruder barrel exceeds 22%, product durability is difficult to maintain and could result in excessive fines. Typically as the fat level increases, the moisture must be increased as well for adequate processing.
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Sounds like not enough steam and water were added in processing considering the high protein and fat content in a grain free kibble. This could explain why the food I had didn't hold together and crumbled in the bag. I believe there is a high risk of bloat with this improperly processed food.  

Yes. I talked with Mr. Young about this in early December. As a side note. I always soak kibble in warm water when I feed it to my puppies. I mix kibble with canned food when I feed adults. I consider myself lucky that I noticed the change and switched food before this escalated into a situation more serious than gas and loose stools.
 

I dont think anyone blew anything out of proportion, most of us have learned to ask lots of questions when things like this happen, regardless if the company wants to give answers.  If the company had been straightforward , they could have avoided alot of questions and doubt.  If people were so trusting of their statement on their website or if they felt all their questions had been answered, why was the company  getting bombarded with phone calls?  And one of the people from here that called them still got an answer indicating they werent sure what caused the problem, they THINK its the steam from the extruder.  Im glad that people have questions and concerns when they see something like this going on.  I commend everyone that called them and held them responsible to answer important questions.  Once again, all anyone is asking for is transparency and honesty.  I also wonder if Ariabiannikki works for NV but if he/she does, they might need some more customer service training.   Maybe once NV knows for sure what caused the problem with their food, they will enlighten folks as I dont think that has been resolved yet as they said they arent sure.


And lastly, I still think they had a responsibility to make this problem with their food more public than they did.  I hope that there still arent dogs out there eating it and having diarrhea and vomiting problems.  If they didnt want to go public on TV to announce it, did they at least put up bulletins at pet food stores where it is sold?  There was more they could have done but Im guessing they chose not to in order to keep this as quiet as possible.  I think this serves as a notice to pet food companies that they cant do business how they used to, people want answers and they better have them and they better be upfront.  

Trudy asked this question, about pancreas issues, on another thread -  there were 3 cases at her vet's office this week alone. 

If there is too much fat, in addition to upsetting dogs' stomachs, some dogs may end up with pancreatitis.  Not a good thing to get.  The vet said my little dog may be prone to more attacks since he had one at Christmas, and if so, I may need to keep him on a low fat diet for life. 

Perhaps if you had unknowingly purchased a bag of Chenango Valley instead of Pied Piper Instinct, you would feel differently. I too did a lot of research and was feeding Instinct because the kibble was made at Pied Piper. Being a vet tech you should understand that puppies with diarrhea can dehydrate quickly. Upon switching food stools immediately firmed. I wasn't told that Chenango made the food when I called. I was told that I shouldn't be having a problem because nothing had been changed. Perhaps this deception is acceptable to you. I don't appreciate being lied to. I once thought NV was a top quality food too but I see now that they were willing to compromise quality for quantity when their product was in high demand. If NV wanted to be up front they would drop Chenango Valley and come clean with the reason instead of posting vague information on their website. Read the FDA recall I posted. Chenango sourced ingredients from Wilbur-Ellis. I do not want to feed a food made by CV.

Trucorgi- I agree with you about the CV.You are lucky you stopped the food quickly before there were major problems.
 We all need to remember to work together even when we disagree. We are not the enemy,unfortunately the pf co's mostly are.I'm just getting really tired of having to check multiple internet sites every time I need to shop. I would just like to be able to go to the store & not read every label & come home with safe food.Might as well wish for the moon ! Even my kids are being more careful.Maybe NV wil build its own facility & we will all be able to feel safer about it. One can hope anyway.