Issues with Harrisons pellets again. Having to throw out another $40 bag

[JornsBergenson]

I've had issues with the last 3 bags of Harrison pellets. They have seem to have more moisture content making the pellets crumbly and not crunchy. They have had a slightly musty odor. The first bag came from a distributor selling through Amazon and the last 2 came directly from Harrisons. I emailed Harrisons and they said that they have changed the formulation and that the texture may be different. They assured me that the pellets should be fine and to contact them again if I had any further concerns.

After about a week the pellets, Coarse Lifetime Pepper, appear to have gone visibly moldy. Scary for me since we have been feeding them to our birds until we saw the fuzzy blue pellets.

I'll be contacting them about what we found. I just wanted to give a heads-up to folks here.

 

[Icey]

Thank you for the heads up. I'm sure other members will appreciate it.

@Mizzely @BrianB

 

[JornsBergenson]

So, my purpose in posting this wasn't to discourage people from buying Harrisons. I really just wanted to alert folks about my experience and encourage everyone to check their pellets supplies thoroughly, no matter who the supplier is.
I've always had a policy to sample everything I give my birds (yeah, I crunch on their pellets and treats -- it grosses out my daughter). I got lax about it over the last couple of weeks :-(
I've heard that people store pellets and treats like Nutriberries in the freezer. That sounds like a good idea.

 

[Lady Jane]

Looks like mold.

 

[JornsBergenson]

Lucky for us, both our birds like Roudybush just as much. They'll be getting Roudybuch and with Tops mixed in. They tend to crunch up the Tops but very little gets eaten.

 

[Love My Zons]

Wow! Who is the source selling these?

 

[JornsBergenson]

Wow! Who is the source selling these?

I bought this last bag directly from Harrisons.

 

[Shezbug]

When Roudybush started manufacturing here in Aus they had some issues with the Californian blend going moldy before the bag was even open due to the moisture levels not being right before they bagged it up and sealed it. They very quickly stopped making that particular blend then not long after stopped manufacturing here all together

I hope you get your money back and Harrisons do something fast to stop this happening.

 

[Mizzely]

Well I'm currently waiting for a couple of bags myself and hoping I don't have the same issue! It's too expensive and hard to get these days to have to worry about this kind of stuff!

I do know Harrison's says there are several unauthorized sellers on Amazon because of issues like this but buying directly and still having problems is worrying!

 

[April]

Well I'm currently waiting for a couple of bags myself and hoping I don't have the same issue! It's too expensive and hard to get these days to have to worry about this kind of stuff!

I do know Harrison's says there are several unauthorized sellers on Amazon because of issues like this but buying directly and still having problems is worrying!

I just bought several new bags myself I still have about a 1/4 of a bag left so I haven't needed to open it yet but I'll definitely being looking through all the pellets without a doubt.

 

[Love My Zons]

Well I'm currently waiting for a couple of bags myself and hoping I don't have the same issue! It's too expensive and hard to get these days to have to worry about this kind of stuff!

I do know Harrison's says there are several unauthorized sellers on Amazon because of issues like this but buying directly and still having problems is worrying!

I have not had any problem getting this in stock, nor any issue with any quality issues.

 

[Mizzely]

I have not had any problem getting this in stock, nor any issue with any quality issues.

Many places have items listed as out of stock, or limiting quantities, or stopped carrying it all together so I suppose I assumed!

 

[Love My Zons]

Many places have items listed as out of stock, or limiting quantities, or stopped carrying it all together so I suppose I assumed!

View attachment 413285

And these are on order as I type, and are in stock with my vendors. They will be in stock by the end of the week. I also don't keep many on hand due to shelf dates, so the most I'll have on hand for these two particular is usually 2 of each. The lifetime, always 4 to 6 on hand and reordered as soon as they are sold.

Thanks for the visual screenshot, appreciate that.

 

[JornsBergenson]

Harrisons hasn't responded yet to my email. Im sure theyll work with us.

My son, who feeds the conure, told me that his bird will eat Roudybush but not like he does harrisons. For that reaso we're planning on sticking with harrisons but we need to figure out why they go moldy on us. Storing the bag in the fridge would probably fix this.

 

[Love My Zons]

Harrisons hasn't responded yet to my email. Im sure theyll work with us.

My son, who feeds the conure, told me that his bird will eat Roudybush but not like he does harrisons. For that reaso we're planning on sticking with harrisons but we need to figure out why they go moldy on us. Storing the bag in the fridge would probably fix this.

The only refrigeration suggested by them is after opening the bag.

I have fed their foods for well over 20 years, have been selling it for 5 years and have never had any issues personally or from any Customers. I don't refrigerate the open bags either.

What are the use by dates on your bags?

 

[BCollins]

Hi everyone. I just found this thread when researching mold in Harrisons bird food. I just opened a new bag for my African grey and immediately saw mold. I contacted Amazon and they did confirm it was sold directly from Harrisons so it wasn't counterfeit. Anyway my question is, it's Late Wednesday night and a new bag won't get here until Sunday. Does anyon3 have any suggestions on what to feed my grey until then? I live in a semi rural area so I don't have a lot of options are just fruit ad veggies acceptable until Sunday? Also I am kind of wondering now after reading this and the timing being so close together if they are having a quality control issue currently? I've been using harrisons for all my birds for 3 years now and have been pleased until now...

 

[Shezbug]

I personally would just feed sprouts, veggies and cook up some grains, beans, lentils etc till your new stuff arrives.

If this mold issue is because of a formulation change as the OP states it could be, it may be worth transitioning your birds onto another pellet while they sort this out.

I had the exact same thing happen with roudybush pellets and then they stopped being available here at all so I decided to introduce my bird to a few brands and make sure they were all readily accepted- we no longer get put in a bad situation when there are shortages/supply issues.

 

[Mizzely]

Yep I would get a multi grain mix to cook up and give veggies and fruits. He'll be fine until then

I opened up a 1 lb bag of Harrison Pepper Coarse last week and have had no issues so far. I did empty it into a clear container to check.

 

[JornsBergenson]

Update... Harrison hasn't contacted me after a couple of emails. They were responsive to my first inquiry, but now that we received a second moldy bag, they haven't responded to my emails. I really have no choice here other than to switch to another pellet. This is just weird.
It is interesting that @BCollins found a similar issue. It gives me reassurance that it wasn't my fault that the pellets were bad.

 

[Shezbug]

Update... Harrison hasn't contacted me after a couple of emails. They were responsive to my first inquiry, but now that we received a second moldy bag, they haven't responded to my emails. I really have no choice here other than to switch to another pellet. This is just weird.
It is interesting that @BCollins found a similar issue. It gives me reassurance that it wasn't my fault that the pellets were bad.

I’d switch or at least get your birds ok eating more than one brand.

Harrison’s not replying isn’t good enough- this is food for goodness sake!
I hope they do the right thing and sort this out asap