LRS Smells Funky

[Bruleyii]

I just opened a new LRS flat and noticed that when it thaws it has a decently strong odor. I thought my nose was just being extra sensitive but my GF noticed it too. I've used other LRS before and love the stuff but the other flats I've used never had this fishy smell to it.

 

This is a pack that I won at meeting and somewhat thawed out. I was just curious if has gone bad and if I should just throw it out. My fish don't seem to care about the smell but I didn't know if it would be bad for them or the tank.

[GOSKN5]

I am about an hour away from my local LFS.. and usually make other stops.. when I purchase LRS I usually put an ice pack with it.. but it still typically thaws some.. and even all the way a few times... I freeze it back and have never had an issue... I also noticed the smell pretty often.. strong seafood smell... hadn't hurt anything so far

 

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[Bruleyii]

Good to know. I didn't think much of it at first, but my girl friend mentioned something and it got me thinking more.

[sethsolomon]

What's it smell like?

 

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[Bruleyii]

What's it smell like?

 

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I think you can figure that one out. :D

[sethsolomon]

I think you can figure that one out. :D

Ice cream, rainbows, and unicorns?

 

 

But yah mine stinks too. It's normal

 

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[Bruleyii]

My other flats have not stunk. Neither have my cubes.

[Origami]

If you won it at the meeting, then it definitely passed through my freezer. So it was frozen from receipt to delivery to the meeting. Any thawing would have been limited to that day. I've never opened a pack of LRS where it's smelled too strongly (that is, unnaturally strongly), though. Was there any discernible evidence of decay - possibly gas bubbles in the package - before you opened it?

[ReefFrenzy]

David,

 

Thanks for posting your question here so that I can reply and help clarify any questions in case other members have a similar experience. At LRS we receive shipments twice a week of various fresh ingredients such as shrimp, scallop, clams, oysters, fish, blackworms, etc. We supplement our foods with other frozen items such as PE Mysis, krill, and squid. The majority of the fresh ingredients have no smell since they are kept below 40 degrees during transit from my suppliers to our doorstep. On occasion I have noticed that the wild-caught ocean perch may smell a tad stronger than some shipments. It doesn't smell offensive or spoiled, just a little stronger than the batch received the week prior. My supplier keeps detailed inventory logs ensuring that the perch is transported on the same timeline from harvest to my door each week. We've been doing this for five years now so we have it down to a very short timeline, especially due to the quantity of seafood we need each week. There just seems to be a variance in the "fishy" smell of the perch possibly due to the packing water or other reasons unknown. We have never had it to be an issue and as the post I made earlier regarding captive breeding, some of the world's rarest and most expensive fish are fed LRS on a daily basis for months and years.

 

Please bear in mind that while the pack of food you receive may smell fishy to YOUR nose (and your girlfriend) by no means should this be considered a negative. (Ruling out that the food was properly cared for and has not spoiled, which would be a whole other issue.) Many people speculate that the reason LRS has been so successful with getting finicky fish to eat is BECAUSE the food has a 100% natural smell, which may at times smell like strong seafood.

 

In case you didn't notice this in the past it may be because LRS deleted garlic extract from ALL our foods in early 2016 at the request of marine researchers and the folks using our foods with extremely valuable fish. There have been no scientific studies showing garlic offers any benefit in a marine diet and studies are starting to surface showing marine fish cannot metabolize this terrestrial substance and long-term use can be harmful. Garlic DOES do a really good job of masking seafood odors especially when added to large amounts in aquarium foods. Since our foods are based on science and research if we couldn't find any research supporting garlic's ability to boost immunity we deleted it all together. We added garlic initially when we were a new company because we too believed the myths surrounding garlic's effectiveness but you live and learn.

 

When we deleted garlic from our blends we did so with little public announcement and over the last year our sales continued to climb. Reports of success with finicky feeders poured into our inbox, even without garlic in the foods. It seems odd to add garlic to fish food to make it smell like a pizza verses the natural seafood ingredients in the recipe. 

 

I hope this answered some of your questions and comforts you about the safety of the product. If you want to send me the lot number from the rear of the package I can check the manufacture date and see when it was produced. Due to new regulations in the pet food world we are now placing digital lot numbers on each package and we have online data logging of our storage temps so we can always verify the integrity of products stored at our facility.

 

Thanks for using LRS and we appreciate your business and the Club's support.

 

Larry

 

This Lot Number will be found on the rear above the ingredient label:

 

 

Temperature Data Log

 

[Bruleyii]

If you won it at the meeting, then it definitely passed through my freezer. So it was frozen from receipt to delivery to the meeting. Any thawing would have been limited to that day. I've never opened a pack of LRS where it's smelled too strongly (that is, unnaturally strongly), though. Was there any discernible evidence of decay - possibly gas bubbles in the package - before you opened it?

 

There was no signs of bubbles or anything. I think it might be what Larry responded with here. I think my last batch was a bit older and most likely had garlic in it. 

David,

 

Thanks for posting your question here so that I can reply and help clarify any questions in case other members have a similar experience. At LRS we receive shipments twice a week of various fresh ingredients such as shrimp, scallop, clams, oysters, fish, blackworms, etc. We supplement our foods with other frozen items such as PE Mysis, krill, and squid. The majority of the fresh ingredients have no smell since they are kept below 40 degrees during transit from my suppliers to our doorstep. On occasion I have noticed that the wild-caught ocean perch may smell a tad stronger than some shipments. It doesn't smell offensive or spoiled, just a little stronger than the batch received the week prior. My supplier keeps detailed inventory logs ensuring that the perch is transported on the same timeline from harvest to my door each week. We've been doing this for five years now so we have it down to a very short timeline, especially due to the quantity of seafood we need each week. There just seems to be a variance in the "fishy" smell of the perch possibly due to the packing water or other reasons unknown. We have never had it to be an issue and as the post I made earlier regarding captive breeding, some of the world's rarest and most expensive fish are fed LRS on a daily basis for months and years.

 

Please bear in mind that while the pack of food you receive may smell fishy to YOUR nose (and your girlfriend) by no means should this be considered a negative. (Ruling out that the food was properly cared for and has not spoiled, which would be a whole other issue.) Many people speculate that the reason LRS has been so successful with getting finicky fish to eat is BECAUSE the food has a 100% natural smell, which may at times smell like strong seafood.

 

In case you didn't notice this in the past it may be because LRS deleted garlic extract from ALL our foods in early 2016 at the request of marine researchers and the folks using our foods with extremely valuable fish. There have been no scientific studies showing garlic offers any benefit in a marine diet and studies are starting to surface showing marine fish cannot metabolize this terrestrial substance and long-term use can be harmful. Garlic DOES do a really good job of masking seafood odors especially when added to large amounts in aquarium foods. Since our foods are based on science and research if we couldn't find any research supporting garlic's ability to boost immunity we deleted it all together. We added garlic initially when we were a new company because we too believed the myths surrounding garlic's effectiveness but you live and learn.

 

When we deleted garlic from our blends we did so with little public announcement and over the last year our sales continued to climb. Reports of success with finicky feeders poured into our inbox, even without garlic in the foods. It seems odd to add garlic to fish food to make it smell like a pizza verses the natural seafood ingredients in the recipe. 

 

I hope this answered some of your questions and comforts you about the safety of the product. If you want to send me the lot number from the rear of the package I can check the manufacture date and see when it was produced. Due to new regulations in the pet food world we are now placing digital lot numbers on each package and we have online data logging of our storage temps so we can always verify the integrity of products stored at our facility.

 

Thanks for using LRS and we appreciate your business and the Club's support.

 

Larry

 

This Lot Number will be found on the rear above the ingredient label:

 

 

Temperature Data Log

 

Hey Larry,

 

As always, thanks for a detailed response and post. I apologize if my post came off negative towards your company, I in no way meant for that to happen. I love LRS foods and so do my fish. This isn't my first flat. If there is any issue with this food I take full responsibility beings the food thawed under my care. I was more so curious if I should keep using it or throw it out and give you guys a little more of my money, a little earlier than expected. 

[ReefFrenzy]

There was no signs of bubbles or anything. I think it might be what Larry responded with here. I think my last batch was a bit older and most likely had garlic in it. 

Hey Larry,

 

As always, thanks for a detailed response and post. I apologize if my post came off negative towards your company, I in no way meant for that to happen. I love LRS foods and so do my fish. This isn't my first flat. If there is any issue with this food I take full responsibility beings the food thawed under my care. I was more so curious if I should keep using it or throw it out and give you guys a little more of my money, a little earlier than expected. 

 

 

David I took no offense and I actually wanted to write a detailed reply about why garlic was removed because I don't think it was ever addressed in my WAMAS forum.

 

I would keep feeding it without issue as long as you see no problems and it doesn't appear the food was permitted to spoil at some point along the way. Thanks again fro your business!