One of North America's largest pet-food suppliers said Friday it will recall some of the premium dog and cat food it sells through stores such as Wal-Mart and Safeway at a cost of up to $40-million after several animal deaths in the United States.
Menu Foods Income Fund, based in Streetsville, west of Toronto, said the recall of its products sold in cans and pouches is precautionary.
Chief executive officer Paul Henderson told Canadian Press that exhaustive tests by both internal and external specialists had failed to identify the problem.
“We've undertaken a battery of technical tests . . . and all of those tests have failed to identify any issues at all with our product.”
One dog and a “small number” of cats in the U.S. are reported to have died from kidney failure after eating the food, Mr. Henderson said.
There had been no complaints from Canadian pet owners.
Menu Foods, one of the leading North American private-label and contract manufacturer of wet pet-food, produced more than one billion containers last year.
It supplies its products to 17 of the top 20 retailers in North America for sale under store labels such as Master Choice, Compliments and Select, and manufactures for several national brands.
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 affects products made between Dec. 3, 2006, and March 6 at two of its U.S. facilities in Emporia, Kan., and Pennsauken, N.J.
Menu's other plants are located in North Sioux City, S.D., and Streetsville.
Source: Globe and Mail ************************************************** Later Edit
Recalled Cat Product Information Recall Information 1-866-895-2708
1. Americas Choice, Preferred Pets 2. Authority 3. Best Choice 4. Companion 5. Compliments 6. Demoulas Market Basket 7. Fine Feline Cat, Shep Dog 8. Food Lion 9. Foodtown 10. Giant Companion 11. Good n Meaty 12. Hannaford 13. Hill Country Fare 14. Hy-Vee 15. Key Food 16. Laura Lynn 17. Li'l Red 18. Loving Meals 19. Main Choice 20. Nutriplan 21. Nutro Max Gourmet Classics 22. Nutro Natural Choice 23. Paws 24. Presidents Choice 25. Price Chopper 26. Priority 27. Save-A-Lot 28. Schnucks 29. Sophistacat 30. Special Kitty 31. Springfield Pride 32. Sprout 33. Total Pet, My True Friend 34. Wegmans 35. Western Family 36. White Rose 37. Winn Dixie ********************************************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ********************************************************************************** 03-17-07, 06:39 PM GarColga My beloved cat Louis, who has been my dear friend for 9 years, died last Saturday, the vet diagnosed kidney failure.
Louis would only eat 'Special Kitty' food from Wal-Mart and I found some of the recalled food in the pantry today.
What a shame. I miss him. 03-17-07, 07:03 PM Tree Oh my gosh, GarColga! What a shame. I'm sorry to hear about Louis...
03-17-07, 08:07 PM babthrower According to the news tonight, IAM'S has been added to the list. That's what I feed Mister. But it's an old bag, over half used, and it's dry catfood, so I guess it's o.k.
Think I'll make catfood at home from now on.
Gar, you gave him a good life while you had him, after he had a bad start with his original owner. You can take comfort in that.
03-19-07, 01:21 PM VelvetVoice Garcolga: My heartfelt condolences to you for your sorrowful news. I hope that you will be comforted with the memory of companionship you had with him.
As for me, thanks for the heads-up. I haven't watched the news, nor listened, so I depend on you guys for the latest stuff. Rascal eats only Friskies, the loaf style. I wonder how long it will take before that gets put on the list.
Reminds me of two stories. In Stephen King's The Stand, all the cats died but the dogs didn't. In the movie Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Ricardo Montalban (!) tells the story of how the society of apes got started, which was when all the dogs and cats died, so people needed some kind of pets for companionship.
03-19-07, 01:40 PM kittypal I have tried calling the 800 number but it has been busy ALL weekend...I did throw out a few pouches of Maxi-Cat....and had heard that some of Purina has been added to the list...I am wondering if I should just toss all canned foods just to be sure? Confused
03-19-07, 07:38 PM Georgia85 I am so sorry Garcolga - that is heart-wrenching news.
I just heard about this recall yesterday and Shadow has recently been put on wet senior food. Thank goodness the 4 cans I had left were not on the list.
Kitty-better safe than sorry is my motto. The list of canned foods affected seems to be pretty specific but I guess anything is possible. Perhaps during this recall we should all stick with dry food?
03-20-07, 06:06 PM kittypal I agree Georgia (BTW...nice to see you) Smile I am only giving the kitty cats dry food until all this is sorted out.
I was in a Kroger today and they had out all the foods....even the brands that were recalled...the manager said that they pulled the ones that were from the lot that was contaminated but I would not buy the recalled brands for a while.
03-20-07, 07:05 PM babthrower I was looking at some catfood recipes here :
Sounds very complex but surely sounds like complete nutrition.
I thought I might make a simpler version, skipping, for example, kelp.
I also would prefer a dry catfood to a wet one like this. Does anyone know of any kittie-biscuit recipes? Then I would break the biscuits into kibble using a rolling pin.
Any thoughts?
03-21-07, 07:13 AM Elexina
quote: Originally posted by kittypal: ...and had heard that some of Purina has been added to the list...
I still don't see Purina on this list, and that's what I always fed my cat (and what my grandmother feeds her now). My other cat did die of kidney failure-related issues, I wonder what her previous owners fed her..? This is just wet food, though, right? Not dry? So far?
03-21-07, 08:48 AM aminator2002 From what I understand it is cat foods and dog foods that have gravy. The plant with the tainted food only produced the gravy component of the food. Apparently, this component is mass produced by a couple sources and then sold to other manufacturers.
(Personally I think that gravy wet food is gross and refuse to feed it to my cat. I feed her Friskies wet food which is not a gravy based food and looks utterly disgusting but she seems to like it just fine and it doesn't make a mess like the gravy stuff.)
From the little I know of it, I think Purina added their name to the list in a grand cover your butt measure. Any cat or dog that dies in the next few months will be a possible lawsuit and even though Purina didn't purchase their food from the tainted plant they'd want to do a recall to confirm their food safety is up to par... just an opinion.
03-21-07, 11:22 AM kittypal I agree Amy..I am also tossing the cans just to be safe...I'd ratherthrow away 20 some odd dollars of food than lose my babies.
I don't see Purina on the list either...I think Purina makes Mighty Dog which is on the list of dog foods.
03-21-07, 05:33 PM Silja Does anyone know if this affects these brands outside the USA? Many of the brands are available ehre in Europe too, but I have heard nothing of a recall here....
03-21-07, 06:46 PM misty45 why are you guys throwing out the pet food. why not take it back to the store and get a refund.
03-21-07, 07:03 PM DorianGreyed Silja, I am trying to get through to their Recall Information number, and will report back if and when I have any further information.
03-22-07, 06:41 PM Silja Thanks DG! I rang my vet's today- they stock Science Plan for special diets- and they hadn't heard anything. I suppose they likely have European based manufacturing plants, but I'd just feel happier knowing for sure Smile
03-23-07, 04:00 PM babthrower At least one source of poison in pet food has been found.
03-23-07, 09:37 PM Tree Yes, I heard today that the food was contaminated with rat poison. I'm now waiting to hear HOW ON EARTH that could happen!
03-24-07, 10:19 AM soaringhorse They're adding more to the list, keep checking Menu Foods website.
Garcolgo, I know what it's like to lose a beloved pet at that age, and I just can't imagine if it was caused by the neglect of this company that carelessly has taken pets lives. I don't know how to tell you that the pain goes away, because it doesn't. Like others have said, your pet had a good life with you, and that's what is important. My deepest condolences go out to you.
I have a cat that has been diagnosed with kidney disease, and I'm nursing him with IV fluids, to keep his kidneys from shutting down, have been doing this for over a year. It is just so hard to let them go. I know it's going to happen, but he is so happy, actually smiles while he is sleeping. I just don't want him to suffer, and the time will come when I've got to make that horrible decision. Pray for my Sparky Cat. He is a beauty.
03-24-07, 10:45 AM Georgia85 I thought the list was changing. Before the brand of catfood I had for Shadow wasn't on it and now, not only is it listed but also the particular type of cat food which is for mature 7+. I don't think I have the actual formula that is on the list, the ID codes are different and besides I just bought it 2 days ago at PetSmart. It still is a little to close to comfort tho.
03-28-07, 05:04 AM clarebear What brand of cat food is safe now? What kind are you buying?
I bought an off brand and my kitty doesn't like it.
03-28-07, 06:30 PM Sherasi I can't name specific brands, but the dry foods seem to have had no problems with recall. Why not get a premium brand dry food?
03-31-07, 05:30 PM Georgia85 Clare- I bought Science Diet dry food for mature cats (Shadow has to eat special food for OLD cats) and both he and Spooky are gobbling it up so it must not be too bad. Purina One is also a good food.
03-31-07, 10:13 PM Georgia85 Dang....11:00 news has just said a brand of DRY cat food has been added to the list...haven't said what it was but I just googled the latest news and found this...
Hill’s Pet Nutrition became the first company to recall any dry pet food, saying its Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry cat food was made using wheat gluten purchased from a US supplier of the vegetable protein source. That same unnamed company also supplied the imported Chinese wheat gluten to Menu Foods, which earlier this month recalled 60 million containers of the wet dog and cat food it makes for sale under nearly 100 brands. Daily Times
04-01-07, 05:45 AM soaringhorse Purina just added their name to the list but I think it's just for Alpo canned dog food, I have been giving mine Friskies Dry, and so far no dry cat food is on the list. Keep fingers crossed. Here's Purina's site:
04-01-07, 10:27 AM kittypal This is ridiculous...I am afraid to feed my cats.
04-01-07, 03:27 PM clarebear I went to Kroger and bought my cat New England Brandon Farms Organics. It has no artificial flavors, preservatives or colors. It has no white rice, brewer's grains or grain by-products. It has no wheat gluten. It has no meat by products or by-product meal. I can actually read and understand most of the ingredients. I won't list them all but the label says: organic chicken, chicken meal, organic ground barley, organic brown rice, fish meal etc... My cat was getting sick for a while. I actually thought she bulimic. I could have sworn I saw her putting her little paw in her mouth to throw up. Wink My kitty hasn't gotten sick all week. It is a little pricey. It is almost double what I paid before. 3.5 pounds cost $8.99(well worth it!) Read the statement: See here
04-02-07, 01:32 PM aminator2002 I fed my cat tuna for a couple days but I went to Pet Smart all her brands were still there and haven't been listed in any recalls. I have two cases of Friskies wet food so I'm really not keen on throwing it out especially since it has no wheat gluten in it. It isn't that gross 'in gravy' style food... that stuff makes me want to puke too.
Meow mix is her dry food and it does have wheat gluten in it, but it's manafactured by Purina directly and not part of the recall. The only recalled Purina brand was Mighty Dog and that's because they don't manufacture the gravy themselves.
Again... the gravy might make it look more like human food, but it's gross... gross... ick.
04-02-07, 03:34 PM kittypal My kitty cats food is also still on the shelves...they also eat the wet food without the gravey and the Purina dry....I have tried the new Good Life and no one is sick.
I have also tried the home made cat food recipes and tried gining them human food but they look at me like I have totally lost it and refuse to eat it...The only human food they will consume is ice cream, pretzels, and pumpkin pie. Roll Eyes
04-05-07, 06:23 PM GarColga Dang!! Double dang!!
I went to the local Humane Society 2 weeks ago and adopted a beautiful 2 year old female cat.
She seemed to like "Happy Tails" brand cat-food that is sold at the Albertson's near my home, so that is what she has been eating.
Well wouldn't you know it - the company that owns Albertson's has recalled "Happy Tails". The article I read online was dated April 2nd. I gathered up all the unused cans just now and returned them to Albertson's which by the way still had full shelves of "Happy Tails".
My cat seems OK but jeez -
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