Menu Foods Pet Food Recall
Summary
Febrary 20, 2007
The Food and Drug Administration said Menu Foods first learned some pets had died from eating foods manufactured by their company.
February 27, 2007
Menu Foods conducted tests in which several animals died.
March 16, 2007
P & G Pet Care announced a voluntary recall for specific Iams and Eukanuba 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 products manufactured by Menu Foods Inc. Emporia, Kansas plant with the code dates of 6339 through 7073 followed by the plant code 4197. For more information, consumers can contact the company at 1-800-882-1591 or visit www.Iams.com and www.Eukanuba.com for details.
Hill's® Pet Nutrition, Inc. announced a voluntary recall for the following
products: Science Diet® Kitten Savory Cuts® Ocean Fish 3 oz. and 5.5
oz., Science Diet® Feline Adult Savory Cuts® Beef 5.5 oz., Science Diet®
Feline Adult Savory Cuts® Chicken 5.5 oz., Science Diet® Feline Adult
Savory Cuts® Ocean Fish 5.5 oz. and Science Diet® Feline Senior Savory
Cuts® Chicken 5.5 oz.
For more information, consumers can contact the company at 1-800-445-5777 or
visit www.HillsPet.com
for details.
Nestlé Purina PetCare Company voluntarily withdraws its 5.3 oz. Mighty
Dog® brand pouch products that were produced by Menu Foods, Inc. from December
3, 2006 through March 14, 2007.
The Mighty Dog® pouch products and pouches in multi-pack cartons have code
dates of 6337 through 7073, followed by the plant code 1798
Importantly, no Mighty Dog® canned products, or any other Purina products
are affected by Menu's recall.
Consumers may contact the company by calling 1-800-551-7392.
March 17, 2007
Menu Foods, Inc. based in Streetsville, Ontario, Canada recalled many of its
"cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food produced in Emporia, Kansas
between December 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007.
The products are packaged in cans and pouches under numerous brand names and
marketed nationwide by many pet food retailers including Ahold USA Inc., Kroger
Company, Safeway, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., PetSmart, Inc., and Pet Valu, Inc.
The recall affects 60 million containers of wet food made by Menu Foods
Menu Foods, Inc. identified the potentially contaminated products on the Internet
at www.menufoods.com/recall.
The product listing was expanded and updated as of March 23, 2007. Contact the
company at 1-866-895-2708.
March 19, 2007
Officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday said they are "still very early" into their investigation of as many as nine domestic cats and one dog died within a few days of consuming moist pet food made by a Canadian company. "So far, we have not identified any causes of kidney failure," Dr. Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the Center for Veterinary Medicine at the FDA, stressed in a press conference. "These could include mold and heavy metals. It appears that some of the food may have been contaminated from an outside source." Menu Foods has confirmed the deaths of 15 cats and one dog
March 24, 2007
Rat Poison has been found in 2 of 3 samples of pet food by Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. The toxin, Aminopterin is in the pet food samples at a level of at least 40 parts per million. Aminopterin, a derivative of folic acid, can cause cancer and birth defects in humans and can cause kidney damage in dogs and cats. Aminopterin is not approved for use in the United States. Menu Foods expanded the recall — which initially covered only cans and pouches of food packaged from Dec. 3 through March 6 — after the FDA alerted it that some products remained on store shelves.
March 26, 2007
Petrapport, Inc. is voluntarily recalling pig ear dog treats it imported from a Chilean company because of the potential for salmonella contamination
March 30, 2007
Nestle Purina PetCare Company today announced it is recalling all sizes and
varieties of its ALPO® Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food with specific date
codes.
The recalled 13.2-ounce and 22-ounce ALPO Prime Cuts cans and 6-, 8-, 12- and
24-can ALPO Prime Cuts Variety Packs have four-digit code dates of 7037 through
7053, followed by the plant code 1159. Those codes follow a "Best Before
Feb. 2009" date.
Also, due to a product name change in early 2007, this voluntary recall also
covers one item with the same date code labeled as ALPO® Prime Entrees in
Gravy with Chicken, Rotini Pasta & Vegetables.
No other Purina brand dry pet foods are affected by the recall. In addition,
no other Purina dog food products, no Purina cat food products, Purina treat
products or Purina Veterinary Diet products are included in this recall.
Consumers may contact the company at www.purina.com
or call 1-800-218-5898
March 30, 2007
The FDA says it found the chemical Melamine, used to make kitchenware and other plastics in the pet food that has been the subject of a national recall. Last week, the FDA said the rodent poison aminopterin was found by New York state officials in the recalled food. However, further testing by the FDA and others have failed to confirm the presence of this poison. Experts at the University of Guelph in Canada detected aminopterin in some samples of the recalled pet food, but only in very small percentages. Cornell University officials also confirmed they found melamine in the urine and kidney of a sick cat. New York officials say they've detected that chemical, too.
Del Monte revealed that its company will voluntarily be recalling select product
codes from the its pet treat products sold under the Jerky Treats, Gravy Train
Beef Sticks and Pounce Meaty Morsels brands. Del Monte also supplies select
products sold under private label brands.
Consumers may contact the DelMonte at www.delmonte.com
Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc. recalled Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry food.
This product is sold in 4 lb. # 52742 42770 (all lot numbers) and 10 lb. bag
sizes # 52742 42790 (all lot numbers).
For more information, consumers can contact the company at 1-800-445-5777 or
visit www.HillsPet.com
for details.
April 2, 2007
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that wheat gluten imported from China has been fingered as the source of the contamination.
An additional pet food company announced a nationwide recall of dog, cat and
ferret pet food treats that might be contaminated with salmonella. This announcement
is completely unrelated to the vast recall of melamine-tainted dog and cat food
that led to kidney failure in many pets around the country.
Eight in One Inc., a division of United Pet Group Inc., is recalling all packages
of Dingo Chick'N Jerky, Dingo Kitty Chicken Jerky and Dingo Ferret Chicken Jerky.
The treats are currently sold around the nation at Target, PetSmart and other
stores.
Eight in One is asking consumers to throw away unused portions the treats. To
obtain a refund, consumers can simply call 888-232-9889.
April 3, 2007
The Chinese wheat gluten imported by ChemNutra Inc. went to companies that
make pet foods only, according to Stephen Miller, chief executive officer of
the Las Vegas company. FDA's enforcement director David Elder said Monday that
the investigation is "open and ongoing. It's impossible to say that there
won't be further recalls. We're going to follow the trail."
April 4, 2007
The American company that imported the contaminated ingredient linked to the
death and illnesses of pets nationwide has recalled all the wheat gluten it
received from the Chinese company that supplied the tainted product.
ChemNutra said it took the action after the Food and Drug Administration discovered
the chemical melamine in samples of the wheat gluten it imported from Xuzhou
Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd. of China.
ChemNutra said it shipped 792 metric tons of the contaminated wheat gluten from its Kansas City warehouse to three pet food manufacturers -- and one distributor. Those shipments started on November 9, 2006 and ended March 8, 2007.
Pet food recalls now have those reposnible in dispute. Dog and Cat foods as well as other types of small animal food have all come under scrutiny. China denies any kind of involvement.
April 5, 2007
Menu Foods said in a statement today that a total of 20 varieties of dog and
cat food have been added to the recall list, including Science Diet Feline Savory
Cuts Can and Great Choice wet dog food. No new brands were added to the recall.
The Canada-based company said the recall now included all products manufactured
with wheat gluten bought from ChemNutra Inc. going back to
Nov. 8, 2006.
Sunshine Mills Inc.
of Alabama also is recalling dog biscuits made with contaminated wheat gluten.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigators said Thursday they are still trying to figure out whether the relatively nontoxic chemical melamine — found in recalled pet food — was the sole culprit that sickened and, in some cases, killed dogs and cats across the country. Melamine may be linked to another substance that has not yet been identified that could have contributed to pet deaths. “Our job now is going to be to determine whether it’s the melamine or some other contaminant that carried through” with the chemical, of which substantial amounts were found in wheat gluten, imported from China and used in the recalled food, said Steven Sundlof, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine
April 7, 2007
The FDA continues to investigate melamine, and suggested for the first time yesterday that the poisoning may not, as it first said, be accidental. Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, said it was investigating whether melamine, a toxin used in plastics and pesticides, may have been added to the food to boost protein and increase profits.
April 10, 2007
Twenty-six additional products are being added to the list of pet food products
that have been recalled because of concerns about potentially contaminated wheat
gluten, Menu Foods of Ontario, Canada announced today. They include: Americas
Choice, Preferred Pet, Your Pet, Pet Pride, Laura Lynn, Nutriplan, Price Chopper,
Publix, Stop & Shop Companion, Winn Dixie, and Nutro Products.
Also, FDA Stephen Sundlof said on Friday that "somebody may have added
melamine to the wheat gluten in order to increase what appears to be the protein
level. Wheat gluten is a high-protein substance and by trying to artificially
inflate the protein level, it could command a higher price".
Separately, Menu Foods' finance chief sold 14,000 units of company stock three weeks before the recall, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Mark Wiens sold the stock from Feb. 26 to Feb. 27 at C$102,900 ($89,681). Today, the stock was worth C$60,200.
April 13, 2007
A Senate panel took the Food and Drug Administration to task yesterday for
its "inexcusable" response to pet food contamination and a month's
worth of expanding recalls that have left Americans fearful about what to feed
their cats and dogs.
"This is inexcusable," Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said after
a two-hour hearing in which an FDA official said he couldn't be sure that all
the adulterated pet food has been recalled and is off store shelves. "The
FDA's response to this situation has been wholly inadequate."
CBS News has learned that the tainted wheat gluten used in pet food was human
grade — meaning nothing but luck kept it from being used in the food people
eat, too.
Wheat gluten is added to foods like bread, pasta and rice. While the public
was focused on the danger to their pets, sources tell CBS News that the FDA
had tracked at least one suspect batch of wheat gluten into the human food supply,
quietly quarantined some products and notified the Centers For Disease Control
and Prevention to watch for new patients admitted to hospitals with renal or
kidney failure.
April 15, 2007
Two dogs in Puerto Rico died of kidney failure after eating dog biscuits that were among the 100-plus brands of pet foods and treats contaminated with an industrial chemical, according to a veterinarians' group. The same Ol'Roy dog biscuits recalled from North American shelves last week, killed the two Puerto Rican dogs.
April 16, 2007
Natural Balance, of Pacoima, Calif. announces recall of Venison and Brown Rice dog treats and Venison and Green Pea dry cat food. Diamond Pet Foods made the dog and cat foods recalled this week by Natural Balance after melamine was found in an ingredient, rice protein concentrate.
April 19, 2007
Blue Buffalo, of Wilton, Conn. announces recall of 5,044 bags of Spa Select Kitten dry food. The FDA announces it is investigating a theory that imported ingredients used in recalled pet food may have been intentionally spiked with melamine to boost protein content.
The FDA believes that the pet food product contamination might be intentional.
"We are aware that melamine can increase protein content," Sundlof
said. "It's still a theory, but it seems to be a plausible one. The motivation
would be economic in that you can take a product that is low in protein and
would not qualify for the designation as protein supplement and make it appear
that it has a high protein content so it can be sold at a higher price."
April 20, 2007
A new addition to the pet food recall list is "Natural Life" in the vegetarian variety cans of 13.02 oz, with the date of Nov/22/09 on the bottom of the can. Check for the UPC number of 12344-07114. Natural Balance Pet Foods recalled the two kinds of pet food after receiving reports of animals vomiting and experiencing kidney problems.
Researchers also have identified three other contaminants in the urine and kidneys of animals sickened or killed after eating the recalled foods, including cyanuric acid, a chemical commonly used in pool chlorination. Researchers in at least three labs found cyanuric acid, amilorine and amiloride -- all by-products of melamine -- in the crystals of animals' urine, tissues and kidneys.
April 21, 2007
Federal officials confirmed Thursday they are investigating whether pork products intended for humans are contaminated with the same industrial chemical that prompted a massive pet food recall and sickened cats and dogs nationwide. The contaminated feed was bought April 3 and 13 as salvage pet food from Diamond Pet Foods Inc., which received contaminated rice protein concentrate used in some recalled Natural Balance pet food.
The South African pet food industry has closed the door on the importation of gluten products from China after tests of Royal Canin SA’s products found that the ingredient was contaminated with melamine.
Royal Canin, which said earlier this week that its pet food in the U.S. was safe, announced this morning that it's pulling some dry food off the market.
The FDA said it knows of five companies that received the contaminated Chinese rice protein concentrate. Three firms have identified themselves by announcing recalls; the other two are not publicly known because the FDA will not name them until the companies come forth voluntarily.
Chinese authorities have told the FDA that the wheat gluten was an industrial product not meant for pet food.