Menu Foods Recalls Nearly 100 Pet Food Brands

In one of the biggest pet food recalls in U.S. history, Menu Foods Inc. (Streetsville, Ontario) on March 16 voluntarily recalled 60 million containers of “cuts and gravy”-style dog and cat foods produced at two of its U.S. facilities between Dec. 3, 2006, and March 6, 2007, because the foods were linked to the deaths of 14 pets. The company later asked retailers to remove all varieties of impacted foods from store shelves, regardless of date codes, to eliminate the chance of consumers buying recalled items.

Manufactured and sold under private labels as well as contract-manufactured for several national companies, the recalled products are packaged in cans and pouches under numerous brand names and are marketed nationwide in pet specialty stores, supermarkets and mass merchandisers across the country.

Leading U.S. pet food companies with products manufactured by Menu Foods issued recalls of their own, offering refunds to consumers who called their toll-free numbers or visited their Web sites. Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. (St. Louis) recalled Mighty Dog brand dog foods in 5.3-ounce pouches and Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy (manufactured in a Purina plant); Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc. (Topeka, Kan.) recalled five varieties of Science Diet Savory Cuts cat foods as well as Prescription Diet m/d Feline in dry form; P&G Pet Care (Dayton, Ohio) recalled specific sizes of Iams and Eukanuba cat and dog foods in cans and foil pouches; and Nutro Products Inc. (City of Industry, Calif.) recalled specific cat food and dog food in pouches, and some canned dog food.

For details on recalled brand names and lot numbers as well as instructions for returning the recalled foods, visit www.menufoods.com/recall, or call 866-895-2708.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed that 13 cats and one dog had died of kidney failure in connection with the recalled foods as of March 20, but many experts expected the final count to be much higher.

According to Sarah Tuite, a company spokeswoman, the timing of the foods’ production coincided with the introduction of wheat gluten, used to thicken gravy, from a new supplier.

Scientists at the New York State Food Laboratory on March 23 said they found aminopterin, a toxin used as a rodenticide in some countries, in samples supplied by Menu Foods.

Furthermore, the Food and Drug Administration on March 30 found melamine in recalled products.

Menu Foods has stopped using the suspect ingredient and has increased testing of all raw materials and finished goods.

MGP Ingredients Inc. (Atchison, Kan.), the biggest U.S. supplier of wheat gluten, said it was not involved in the recall.

Menu Foods said the recall could cost $30 million to $40 million. [May 2007 PET AGE]

THINK YOUR PET HAS BEEN AFFECTED?
If you suspect your pet has been affected by a recalled food, the American Veterinary Medical Association (Schaumburg, Ill.) suggests you take these steps to help you veterinary make the right diagnosis:

Retain food samples for analysis. Retain four cans or 1 kilogram of dry food, when possible. Freeze it, or store it at room temperature in airtight bags.

Document product name, type of product and manufacturing information. Retain all packaging, date codes or production lot numbers. Retain purchase receipts.

Document product consumption. Note the dates products were fed, the pet’s food consumption history, the time of onset of clinical signs, and a detailed dietary history (all products fed and feeding methods).

Although the exact cause is not currently known, animals that have become ill after consuming these products have shown signs of acute kidney failure.
Signs of kidney failure include loss of appetite, lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, changes in water consumption and also changes in urination, said Dr. Saundra Willis, communications chair with the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and a member of the AVMA Council on Communications. "Owners shouldn't panic, because there can be a wide variety of reasons a pet might exhibit these symptoms," Willis said. “But it's always prudent that, when a pet is exhibiting any signs of illness, the pet owner should contact their veterinarian immediately."