okay here is the best I can do for you and that is stating what I know regarding Briskys.
Yes there are people who has used it for many years with no problems..
Also keep in mind, that there hasn't been any problems in the last few years like there was back then. with the exception of the lumpy jaw.
lumpy jaw is most common amoung gliders that eat the hard foods, yes brisky does have a higher incidence than others (could be because more people use it than other hard foods)
a few years back.. this is not rumor but fact...
there were a lot of people that lost many gliders that were feeding briskys, this was on every board, as well as on the glider list (an email group).
some people had their food tested, other did not, but it seemed to come in spurts, it was hard to determine the batches, since many of the distributers would break them down themselves and place them in smaller containers without the lot numbers on them. when they posted on the boards, blaming Briskys for it, Briskys threatened a lawsuit.
he came onto the glider list, and defended the Briskys food, stating that it was due to storage problems. mind you the package stated to store in a cool dry place, which many of these people did,
Beverly Oaks came back and stated she stores hers in the freezer, he came back and stated that she was storing hers properly. my concern then was why doesn't his packaging state that. he never replied.
for many years there had been problems with Briskys. "Kim" had recieved a bag from him that had bugs in it, others did as well, when gliders had problems, he response was it must have been a bad batch, or that it was a storage problem or that they were feeding other things with it. he would always replace it.
someone visited Briskys and seen the setup he had, she publically stated that his machines were very old and he had several that was side by side with differnt feeds in it, the various feeds were being crossed. and that she had seen bugs all over the place crawling in and out of the feed. (supposedly this was to be expected, since there was a variety of grains being used.)
this all was accepted and made sense, since like most flours etc.. there are eggs to the bugs in the foods, which is why refrigeration or freezing is recommended, also various bacterias are killed by freezing.
aflatoxin also was a concern, since he used corn as his base. he seemed to think that if one or 2 or 3 bags was infected that all of them was, which is not the case with aflatoxin. a handful of affected corn, may affect only a few batches.
another concern we had was the euclyptus that he was using, we asked what species and what part of the plants, since certain species and certain parts of the plant are actually
toxic. He stated that was a "trade secret" when he was questioned by someone close to him, he admitted he didn't know, he got it from his supplier and was unaware of the speciaes or which parts.
He also had a clearance sale on his food at the end of the year, he sent out cards to his "clients" and offered it at a cut rate, this was adamatly denied by Briskys, however Tiffany of the SugarPouch, lost 5 or more gliders from the batch she bought from him on this clearance, she still has the card he sent her advertising it. It was packaged differently that the other batches she had recieved previously. again I repeat.. she STILL has the card.
right after that Exotic Nutrition came in, when Sugarlove contacted Dick Briskys, to inform him that someone else was selling briskys under a different name he replied that he had given him permission, which she had posted publically. Then a week later, he stated he never gave anyone permission to repackage his food.
there was just far too much going on that wasn't up to par and far too many lies and cover ups at the time, no one knew what to believe. Hence the "rumors".
I am sure changes have been made at Brisky to clear up the problems that was happening at the time.
Will "I" ever trust Briskys? No.. is there still a problem with his food..
well that I can not say, as I still don't advocate it, however; many people as you stated have used it for years.
I do know that I still have lots of reservations regarding it. Just as the people of "yesterday" that was involved with this period, still has reservations.
as for feeding fruits and veggies and protein with the briskys, Dick Brisky himself will tell you not to add anything that is more than 5% treats.
My suggestion to anyone feeding Briskys is to feed it as directed, it was intended to be fed as a sole
diet. according to him, it has been tested to be nutritionally balanced. by adding the other things to it, through the balance way out of whack. I have spoken with many long time owners of Briskys, they too also feed other things with their briskys.
I do not advocate the use of Briskys with the BML, nor will I ever. But then again, I do not advocate the use of any 2
diet plans at the same time.
If you do speak with Dick Brisky , you will find he is very personable, but will not go into any discussions regarding the nutritional content , nor the ingredients of his product.
Hope this has helped answer your question.