WELLINGTON, Jan 31, 2006 (AFP) - A New Zealand pet food manufacturer planning to send relief supplies to drought-hit Kenya has denied they are dog food.

Christine Drummond, who makes Mighty Mix dog food biscuits, has attracted attention with plans to send a similar product in powdered form to feed children in Kenya.

But Drummond, from Canterbury in New Zealand's South Island, told Television New Zealand Monday night that the food supplement was different from her dog food biscuits and both she and her children used it.

She said she planned to send 6,000 packs of the product, called Raw Dry Nourish, to Kenya.

The formula included freeze-dried meats, beef, mutton, pork and chicken, deer velvet, mussels, kelp, garlic, egg, whole grain cereals and cold-pressed flax seed flour.

Oxfam New Zealand executive director Barry Coates said he had not heard of the scheme but it was unlikely to be a success. Food supplies should be sourced from within Kenya rather than sending them around the world, he said.

"Sending food shipments from New Zealand to Kenya does not seem to be the best use of time and effort and the fact it's coming from a dog food manufacturer could make people suspicious."

Up to four million people are now estimated to be in dire need of food assistance as they suffer from a searing drought that has ravaged east Africa.

bro/pch

Copyright (c) 2006 Agence France-Presse
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 01/31/2006 04:52:39