Wellness can codes

Hi everyone,
The current concern about our kitties turning up their noses at Wellness (particularly the 5.5 oz. cans) prompted me to go back and search the board for a thread I remembered from last year. Here it is. Nothing too conclusive, but maybe some of you can fill in some of the clues with regard to what is made where. Most of the discussion about codes appears about half way through the thread.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=40189&hilit=wellness+codes

Ella & Rusty

Hi Ella,

I just posted this info in Gracie`s condo but I thought there might be something up with the Wellness chicken recipe dated Mar 15. I don`t have any of the cans left so I dont know the code. When I opened the cans I noticed a brownish red liquid as opposed to the jelly. I only let Ella eat it once and nothing came out of it but it irked me so I returned the batch.

Hi Ella, I know you and I have noticed some consistency differences in Wellness Turkey with previous discussions. I only use the 3 oz. cans, as little Maggie doesn't like it reheated. With the smaller can, I can get away with not too much wasted. I order from Wag.com, and it states on the can "Product of Canada." I checked on both the small cans in our Petco and also PetsMart, and their Wellness states "Product of USA." The consistency of the "Product of Canada" Wellness is more chunky with broth on the bottom of the can, as well as mixed within the food. It comes out of the can in one round moist chunk, whereas the Wellness that is a "Product of USA" seems to have the broth mixed in it, but the consistency is more soft, pudding like texture; I'm not very good with describing it! Maggie seems to be licking her teeth trying to clean them, so to speak, and does not like this particular texture which is a "Product of USA.".

The code on the bottom of the can underneath the "Best by 20 Nov 14" is 7WTKC1 1223 -- I'm not sure -- is this the code you're referring to in the above? These are the cans from wag.com and are "Product of Canada," and the lighter in texture and Maggie's choice. So far I have not been able to locally purchase any Wellness that is manufactured in Canada. I think the difference I notice is in where the food is manufactured for me and not so much the code. I will be near a Petco today and will buy one small can and one large can of Wellness and check it out. These will be "Product of USA." Sorry so long.

On the 5.5 cans of both Turkey and Chicken flavors, I have the same dates as Ann. Made in USA.
I did notice last night, that this batch is wetter/softer consistency, and Checkers has a more difficult time eating it. It smooshes to the dish.
I stand there with him, moving the food to the edge of the plate, to make it easier. He likes to flip little chunks into his mouth.

I did notice last night, that this batch is wetter/softer consistency, and Checkers has a more difficult time eating it. It smooshes to the dish.
I stand there with him, moving the food to the edge of the plate, to make it easier. He likes to flip little chunks into his mouth.

Click to expand...

Thanks Barb, that's the description of the food that is "Product of USA" even in the small cans and love your description of "smooshes to the dish"! Mags has trouble eating it.

Hi again,
Ann, the C1 at the end of the code means that the food in that can comes from the Canadian plant. The rest of the code for turkey just shows that it is turkey: 7W[ellness]T[ur]K[ey]. The codes for chicken have a lot of Cs in them. Here's the code from a 3 oz. can of chicken I have: 7WCCC1: 7 W[ellness] C[hi]C[ken] C[anada]1. All of these small cans also say "Product of Canada" on the label.

Here's the code from a 5.5 oz. can of turkey dated "best by 19 Jan 15" that is "made in the USA": 7WTKS4. The S4 tells which plant it comes from, but at present I don't know what the "S" stands for. The cans in this lot are the mushy texture. I have "retired" them from my current repertory.

Ella

Thanks Ella for explaining the codes. On the Wellness made in Canada, have you noticed the texture is more chunky?
Yes, I had to give away the mushy ones to our Rec Room here which has a giveaway table area. Some of the residents here have cats that may eat it, and we have a feral colony out back, too

I wouldn't call it "chunky", but I would call it "firm". I mash it up in any event and then add water. When I added water to the "mushier" cans, it just souped up too much. The "Product of Canada" turkey is lighter in color (as Ann has also observed). It may be that Canadian turkeys are fed a different diet!! Whatever, it's much better than the "Made in the USA" cans.

Ella

Ella, yes, definitely the Canada one is "firm" -- "chunky" wasn't quite the right description. The USA mushy one would just get smashed flat onto the dish by the time I got home when I would leave some for her.

I'm so glad to see that others are finally realizing what I saw months ago with Wellness. I have almost 2 full cases of the large cans (12oz) Wellness Salmon & Trout that Racci will not eat. I'm looking for someone to give them to since now I know they are not bad, but just a batch made in a different plant that a less discriminating cat may eat.

I noticed this several months ago when Racci would not eat it all of a sudden thoughit was her favorite. When I smelled it and looked it over, it was definitely different looking in color and texture and smelled terrible instead of the nice salmon smell I was used to. I recvd a full credit for it when I called Wellness so it will be free to a charity except for shipping.

Please let me know if you know of someone who would be interested. I just haven't got around to sending out emails yet. Thanks.

Melanie & Racci

Hi Melanie, did you buy the cases locally. If so, you can get your money back without a receipt, or was it online? If you have a Feral Coalition Group there with volunteers, another idea.

Well, I bought one small can of Wellness Turkey and one large can Wellness Turkey. The small can's code is strange - MW9 (A) Best by 27 January 15. Made in USA on bottom of can. I don't know what the (A) stands for? The texture is a little darker and the consistency is very soft and mushy! I gave a little to Mags to test it (even though this is her +11, so I'm messing up her shot, but oh well, she's on such a low dose anyway). Well, wouldn't you know the little squirt was eating it and making a fool out of me, when other times she turned up her nose at the ones made in USA. It was just a teeny portion though, and it did get flattened on the dish. The letters were so light, and I don't understand that code.

Most of mine, 5.5 oz and 3 oz are MW 9, 10, or 11.

But I have about 6 cans of beef and chicken, 5.5 oz, which might have come from Petco instead of the usual place we buy, and they are labelled 7WBCS4.

So, according to Ella's research...that is 7 Wellness Beef and Chicken but unknown where the "S" plant is. I haven't opened any of those cans yet but I did get two BC cans (didn't check the bottom numbers) that seemed to have alot of air in them. When I opened them, they appeared to be that more pudding kind of WN. I took them both back as I was concerned about the way the tops and bottoms popped in and out when pressed.

So that makes things a little more confusing because most of mine, including the 5.5 oz ones that Gracie wouldn't eat, come from the CA plant. Some of the 5.5 oz cans she wouldn't eat have the exact same code (MW11) as the 3 oz cans she WOULD eat. All of the cans we have with the MW on them are a nice consistency...not pudding and not chunky with a good amount of broth.

This is an interesting thread. I started Googling around. I don't feed Wellness, because my cats never liked it, but the labelling thing is very interesting. Ella, have you looked at the Itchmo forum? There are many threads about Wellness there, but most are quite old (several years). There are discussions about various batches and different best buy dates linked to vomiting, as well as about labelling, ingredients, texture, "goop" (jelly on top of the food), production codes, inclusions (bone, seeds), etc.

These threads mentioned:

7W cans are made by Menu Foods. MW cans are made by American Nutrition. There is another manufacturer (Simmons) with a different labelling scheme (will include the letters COC).

MW9 is turkey. MW 10 is chicken. I don't know what MW11 is. (The numbers after the letters MW refer to flavours).

S1 is a 12.5 oz can made in the US, S4 is a 5.5 oz can made in the US, and C1 is a 3 oz can made in Canada.

The flavour codes are TK (turkey), CC (chicken), and several others (CH, TS, BS, BC).

7WBCS4 is a Menu Foods Beef and Chicken 5.5 oz can. 7WTKC1 is a Menu Foods Turkey 3 oz made in Canada.

It is also important to note your Best Buy dates when comparing results, as cans with the same production code will vary by production date.

I read that the MW (AMI) plant is in California, so it will tend to be seen more in the west, and the 7W (Menu Foods) plant is in New Jersey. C1 is in Canada.

On the MW 9 (A), I am just speculating, but the (A) may refer to a specific production line within the MW plant.

It is pretty interesting reading. I would like to know more about Fancy Feast, which is what Pinkerton eats.

http://itchmoforums.com/cat-food-experiences-by-brand/wellness-canned-t1156.0.html

Eta: some of the data I took this from is quite old and may not reflect changes such as the acquisition of Menu Foods by Simmons. Simmons has plants in Arkansas, Kansas, New Jersey, and Ontario.

Hi Linda, thanks for doing all that Googling and research. Well, update on the MW9 Wellness Turkey (made in USA) that I bought at Petco today, and a surprise when Maggie starting a small snack of it. She wouldn't touch it again after that, and when I opened up a can of the Wellness Turkey (made in Canada) with the firmer texture and lighter color, CPC! So something with the mushy ones made in USA just doesn't agree with them.
I'll open the larger can I bought at Petco tomorrow, but I bet it's same as the 3 oz.

Thanks, Linda, for all of this great info. It's late now and I'm too tired to look at it further tonight, but it does answer many questions. I am definitely sticking with the 3 oz. cans "Product of Canada". I also have a case of 5.5 oz. cans that I would return if it were not for the fact that our tiny store here ordered it specifically for me. I know they will lose money if they have to send it back. In any event, Rusty will eat it, but not with enthusiasm. I'm just going to let it sit for the time being.

Thanks for all the great responses, everyone. One way or another we will get it figured out!

Ella

Ann, Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I already got my money back for the two cases from Wellness and returned numerous cans of different flavors and sizes to Petco locally after opening several with the same problem. I just need to give these away now. There is a rescue group that uses Petco to display cats for adoption every so often but I don't know their name. I'll have to track them down. Good idea.

That's interesting info Linda. I wonder if Merritts does the same thing. I started buying their 3.3 oz cans also because the 5 oz cans were also inconsistent and having the same problem as Wellness is! Now I just buy the Merritt BG 3oz by the case online. It's a shame because the small cans are more expensive but at leas they're good and they also never get bad or old tasting once opened since they're so small.

Melanie & Racci

Great info!! Thanks, Ella, for starting the condo and thanks a ton, Linda, for all your contributions!