Dick Van Patten and Katey Martin of Natural Balance with Vizsla puppy demonstrate the company’s new online program that allows consumers to view food safety testing results.

The new “Buy With Confidence” program prompts customers to click on the type of cat or dog food purchased, then type in the “best by” date on the package. Test results for that particular lot of pet food will appear, including results for the ingredients responsible for the massive pet food recall—melamine and cyanuric acid.

“Anyone can go online and see the test results,” said Frank Koch, executive vice president for Natural Balance Pet Foods Inc. “Nothing will leave our warehouse until it goes through testing ... and if it’s detected it will never leave our facility.”

In addition to melamine and cyanuric acid, consumers will see test results for aflatoxin and deoxynivalenol (DON or vomitoxin), as well as which laboratory conducted the tests. Natural Balance conducts the testing for aflatoxin and DON at its laboratories in California; melamine and cyanuric acid testing currently takes place at Midwest Laboratories in Omaha, Neb.

“Within the next 30 to 60 days all testing will fully take place at Natural Balance laboratories,” Koch said, “but tests that have already been run at Midwest Laboratories will not be re-run because the food has already been tested.”

Because the program is new, all products may not be viewable online yet, Koch said. Consumers who do not see test results for their particular pet food formula may call the company to obtain the data.

Natural Balance spent just over a half-million dollars to launch the new program, according to Koch.

“It had to be spent,” said Natural Balance President Joey Herrick. “I never want to go through what we went through again.”

To view the new program, log on to the company’s website.