Another pet food recall folks...Heads up!

Cassie · Mar 17, 2007

From: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070316/...et_food_recall

Menu foods said they'll be posting a more comprehensive list of products effected on their website (listed below) sometime tomorrow.

Pet deaths prompt recall of pet food

By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 25 minutes ago

A major manufacturer of dog and cat food sold under Wal-Mart, Safeway, Kroger and other store brands recalled 60 million containers of wet pet food Friday after reports of kidney failure and deaths.

An unknown number of cats and dogs suffered kidney failure and about 10 died after eating the affected pet food, Menu Foods said in announcing the North American recall. Product testing has not revealed a link explaining the reported cases of illness and death, the company said.

"At this juncture, we're not 100 percent sure what's happened," said Paul Henderson, the company's president and chief executive officer. However, the recalled products were made using wheat gluten purchased from a new supplier, since dropped for another source, spokeswoman Sarah Tuite said. Wheat gluten is a source of protein.

The recall covers the company's "cuts and gravy" style food, which consists of chunks of meat in gravy, sold in cans and small foil pouches between Dec. 3 and March 6 throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

The pet food was sold by stores operated by the Kroger Company, Safeway Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and PetSmart Inc., among others, Henderson said.

Menu Foods did not immediately provide a full list of brand names and lot numbers covered by the recall, saying they would be posted on its Web site — http://www.menufoods.com/recall — early Saturday. Consumers with questions can call (866) 463-6738.

The company said it manufacturers for 17 of the top 20 North American retailers. It is also a contract manufacturer for the top branded pet food companies. Its three U.S. and one Canadian factory produce more than 1 billion containers of wet pet food a year. The recall covers pet food made at company plants in Emporia, Kan., and Pennsauken, N.J., Henderson said.

Henderson said the company received an undisclosed number of owner complaints of vomiting and kidney failure in dogs and cats after they had been fed its products. It has tested its products but not found a cause for the sickness.

"To date, the tests have not indicated any problems with the product," Henderson said.

The company alerted the Food and Drug Administration, which already has inspectors in one of the two plants, Henderson said. The FDA was working to nail down brand names covered by the recall, agency spokesman Mike Herndon said.

Menu Foods is majority owned by the Menu Foods Income Fund, based in Ontario, Canada.

Henderson said the recall would cost the company the Canadian equivalent of $26 million to $34 million.
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Cassie · Mar 17, 2007

UPDATE from: http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/pg03_07.html

P&G Pet Care Announces Voluntary Participation in Menu Foods' Nationwide U.S. and Canadian Recall of Specific Canned and Small Foil Pouch 'Wet' Cat and Dog Foods

Contact:
Kurt Weingand, D.V.M., Ph.D.
937-264-7676

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Dayton, OH -- March 16, 2007 -- In response to the recent Menu Foods, Inc. nationwide recall of wet pet foods, P&G Pet Care has announced a voluntary recall in the United States and Canada on specific 3 oz., 5.5 oz., 6 oz. and 13.2 oz. canned and 3 oz. and 5.3 oz. foil pouch "wet" cat and dog food products manufactured by Menu Foods Inc. Emporia, Kansas plant with the code dates of 6339 through 7073 followed by the plant code 4197. This voluntary recall is part of a larger product recall by Menu Foods Inc., a contract manufacturer that makes a small portion of canned and foil pouch 'wet' cat foods for Iams and Eukanuba as well as other non-P&G brands. There have been a small number of reported cases of cats from the US (none in Canada) becoming sick and developing signs of kidney failure. The signs of kidney failure include loss of appetite, vomiting, and lethargy. P&G Pet Care has received no case reports involving dogs.

This voluntary product recall involves discontinuation of all retail sales and product retrieval from consumers. Consumers should stop using the affected products immediately, and consult with a veterinarian if any symptoms are present in their pet. All Iams and Eukanuba products carry a 100 percent guarantee, and consumers can receive a refund for recalled products. For more information, consumers can contact the company at 1-800-882-1591 or visit www.Iams.com and www.Eukanuba.com for details.

To read can product codes, refer to the bottom of the can. The first four numbers of the second line of numbers are the date code, and the following four numbers indicate the plant code. For example, if the second line begins with four numbers from 6339 to 7073 followed by the plant code 4197, then the can should be recalled. For foil pouches, the code numbers are located at the lower left hand corner on the back of the pouch. The date and plant codes appear in the third group of numbers, beginning an 11-digit sequence. See www.Iams.com and www.Eukanuba.com for illustrated details.

P&G Pet Care is taking this proactive step out of an abundance of caution, because the health and well-being of pets is paramount in the mission of Iams and Eukanuba. Tests of some affected product have not revealed the cause of sickness, and testing will continue until a better understanding of the facts has been achieved. All other canned and small foil wet pouch products produced at other plants are not affected by this issue. Iams and Eukanuba "dry" products are not manufactured at Menu Foods and not affected by this issue. Iams and Eukanuba biscuits, treats and sauces are not affected by this issue.

P&G Pet Care has informed the Food and Drug Administration and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on this issue. The company regrets any inconvenience to its consumers and retail customers.
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sunset05 · Mar 18, 2007

Thanks for the heads up. I did hear something on the news about it. Fortunately I don't use any of those brands.

vene · Mar 18, 2007

Thank you Cassie! That's alot of brands involved. :shock:

Cassie · Mar 18, 2007

yeah, the list just gets longer and longer. But so far, it's wet food. Scary stuff.

Cassie · Mar 18, 2007

P&G Pet Care has informed the Food and Drug Administration and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on this issue. The company regrets any inconvenience to its consumers and retail customers.
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Inconvenience? Your fur-buddy dies and it's just an inconvenience?

Am I the only one appalled by that statement?

tuttifrutti · Mar 18, 2007

I read that and thought the same thing!

faeriedust1127 · Mar 18, 2007

and people wonder why I don't rely on one type of pet food for my cat and I rotate so often. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but you never know. Even the so-called "good" brands aren't a guarantee.

Cassie · Mar 18, 2007

My sister once opened a can of wet Iams and it was crawling with maggots. I would have been absolutely horrified!

sunset05 · Mar 19, 2007

That is disgusting, Cassie. That sure would have turned my stomach.

rcrgal31 · Mar 19, 2007

i use Purina and Nine lives...thank god neither of those are on the list....but i mean what is going on...first the samonella now this??

Cassie · Mar 20, 2007

RECALL UPDATE!

It appears that they have added more foods and more batches to the recall list, so be sure to check the site again. www.menufoods.com/recall. And a page for direct contact/questions.

It's still limited to wet canned and packet foods though.

faeriedust1127 · Mar 21, 2007

Kinda makes you wonder when you see "top" brands like Eukanuba and Nutro listed with the cheapie WalMart brand foods. They're all affected cuz they all apparently use the same ingredient sources. So I guess that means you really do pay top dollar for the brand name and not a quality source of ingredients. Hmm... :-#

Cassie · Mar 24, 2007

Another important update:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=29...page=1&US=true

March 23, 2007 — ABC News has learned that investigators have determined that a rodent-killing chemical is the toxin in the tainted pet food that has killed several animals.

A source close to the investigation tells ABC News that the rodenticide, which the source says is illegal to use in the United States, was on wheat that was imported from China and used by Menu Foods in nearly 100 brands of dog and cat food.

Watch "World News" for full details on the extent of the poisoning.

A news conference is scheduled for this afternoon by experts in Albany, N.Y., where scientists at the state's food laboratory made the discovery a week after a massive recall of 60 million cans and pouches was issued.

The chemical is called aminopterin.

What investigators can't say so far is whether this is the only contaminant, if it is in all of the recalled food, or if it's in enough quantity in to sicken more animals.

There is some good news according to the source. Knowing the chemical should aid veterinarians who are treating animals that have been sickened by the pet food.

Aminopterin is used in the United States in, of all things, a cancer drug, according to the source.

For a week, investigators have been looking for a cause behind the 15 confirmed pet food deaths tied to contaminated pet food. Many animal doctors, including those at New York's Animal Medical Center, suspect there will be a much larger rash of cases after they learned about an additional 200 reported cases of kidney failure in animals.

Doctors at the hospital, which is considered the Mayo Clinic of veterinary medicine, say they noticed the kidney failure while studying sick animals from last Friday to Monday, and traced the cases back to the 60 million cans and pouches of recalled food from Menu Food.

"I was shocked and surprised — acute kidney failure is not a common problem," veterinarian Cathy Langston told ABC News. "I've already heard about 200 cases, and so I bet that there are probably going to be thousands."

So far, the government and the pet food maker, which sells food under 91 brand names, have confirmed 15 deaths. But the investigation to locate the toxic contaminant that caused the kidney failure in animals had not pointed to a cause until today.
Quote:
"This is very much like finding a needle in a haystack," Don Smith of the Cornell Veterinary School said earlier this week. "We're going to keep working at this until we find the cause."

Investigators had already begun looking at the possibility that a pesticide or chemical may have been on the wheat used to produce the Menu Foods dog and cat food.

The Food and Drug Administration, which was notified of the tainted food one day before the recall, said it's frustrated and realizes the growing crisis is an emotional one.

"This is tragic," said Stephen Sundolf of the FDA's Veterinary Medicine group. "It is certainly uncommon. We expect pet food to be safe."

And it's a crisis, if the New York hospital is right, that may not end for weeks.

"I'm worried that there are more deaths to come from chronic renal failure over the next several months," Langston said. "It's not over."
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Very scary stuff

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