Major "wet" pet food recall of dog & cat foods ~ NOW Includes Treets & Biscuits

[Cinder & Smoke]

Update: June25, 2008 - Class Action Lawsuit
Information available at >>>
http://www.petfoodsettlement.com/

EDITED April 5, 2005 ...
Recalls NOW Include some Major Brands of both Wet AND DRY Foods; Cat & Dog TREETS, and Biscuits.
Latest Recalls (Biscuits) noted in Post #124 (4/05/2007)

Copyrighted story - CREDIT to MSNBC.com & the Associated Press >>>

60 million containers of pet food recalled

Store brands sold at Wal-Mart and Safeway tied to kidney failure, deaths ...

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. ...

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. 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 — www.menufoods.com/recall — early Saturday (March17, 2007).

Consumers with questions can call (866) 463-6738.



/s/ Phred

[cyber-sibes]

Oh my gosh, that is a HUGE recall! I feel so sorry for people whose pets were harmed or killed by this stuff.

[Craftlady]

That company website is not loading (must be overwhelmed with hits). The recall didnt' say which specific brand? Is it menu foods? Never heard of them.
Anyone know?

[Freedom]

I couldn't get the web site to load, either. Rats!

I 'may" have some from Petsmart, I don't buy pet foods at WalMart; and don't have those other stores around here.

[Cinder & Smoke]

That company website is not loading (must be overwhelmed with hits).

The recall didnt' say which specific brand?

Preliminary releases say:

"... dog and cat food sold under Wal-Mart, Safeway, Kroger and other store brands recalled 60 million containers of wet pet food Friday ...

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

The labels will have the Store's "Brand" or house label ... whatever the store or
chain sells as "Its Brand" of pet foods.

Hopefully the Menue Foods web site will be operational in the morning when they
release the details of the recall.

Meantime - feed the FurKids some "Krunchies" for their supper and breakfast.

/s/ Phred

[BCollie_Kelly]

Oh no! How horrible!

[Cinder & Smoke]

Here's the Menue Foods original Canadian press release ...
worded to minimize the damage and put as positive a "spin" on the problem
as they could.


Menu Foods Income Fund Announces Precautionary Dog and Cat Food Recall
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - March 16, 2007) -

NOT FOR RELEASE OVER US NEWSWIRE SERVICES

Attention Business/Financial Editors

Menu Foods Income Fund (the "Fund") (TSX:MEW.UN) today announced the precautionary recall of a portion of the dog and cat food it manufactured between December 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007. The recall is limited to "cuts and gravy" style pet food in cans and pouches manufactured at two of the Fund's United States facilities. These products are both manufactured and sold under private-label and are contract-manufactured for some national brands.

Over the past several days, the Fund has received feedback in the United States (none in Canada) raising concerns about pet food manufactured since early December, and its impact on the renal health of the pets consuming the products. Shortly after receipt of the first complaint, the Fund initiated a substantial battery of technical tests, conducted by both internal and external specialists, but has failed to identify any issues with the products in question. The Fund has, however, discovered that timing of the production associated with these complaints, coincides with the introduction of an ingredient from a new supplier. The Fund stopped using this ingredient shortly after this discovery and production since then has been undertaken using ingredients from another source.

At the same time, the Fund's largest customer, for which it manufactures on a contract basis, received a small number of consumer complaints and has initiated its own recall. Furthermore, for the time being, the customer has put future orders for cuts and gravy products on hold. This customer's cuts and gravy purchases in 2006 represented approximately 11% of the Fund's annual revenue.

"We take these complaints very seriously and, while we are still looking for a specific cause, we are acting to err on the side of caution" said Paul K. Henderson, President and CEO, Menu Foods. "We will do whatever is necessary to ensure that our products maintain the very highest quality standards."

While the number of complaints has been relatively small, Menu is taking this proactive step out of an abundance of caution, because the health and well-being of pets is paramount to the Fund.

In addition to changing suppliers, for production after March 6, the Fund has increased testing of all raw materials and finished goods. It is also working closely with regulatory authorities and its customers to learn more and will take whatever additional actions are appropriate. The Fund estimates that based on currently available information, this recall could cost between $30 million and $40 million, which will be financed from a combination of internally generated cash flow and bank credit facilities. Furthermore, the Fund is aggressively producing product, utilizing a different supplier for the ingredient in question, to replenish customers as quickly as possible.

In order to determine whether cat and dog food in their possession is subject to recall, consumers should refer to the list of brand names ("listed products") at www.menufoods.com/recall. This will be available by 6 a.m. Saturday March 17, 2007. Products not identified on the website can continue to be used.

Menu is the leading North American private-label/contract manufacturer of wet pet food products sold by supermarket retailers, mass merchandisers, pet specialty retailers and other retail and wholesale outlets. In 2006, the Fund produced more than one billion containers.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Menu Foods Income Fund
Media and Investor Relations
Sarah Tuite (416) 848-1703 or

Menu Foods Income Fund
Consumers call 1-866-463-6738
__________________________________________________ ___
Taken from:
http://www.menufoods.com/recall/Pres...l_03162007.pdf

by Phred

[ShihtzuBeauty]

I found this on MSNBC, this link just worked for me. Soo very sad.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17650075/

[Craftlady]

I have PetSmart's Authority brand of a chicken cuts in sauce (1 can left). My gang has eaten the other cans with no problems.
It says on the can "product of canada" but that's all it reveals.
The rest of the authority brand is a mushy solid mix that I have bought.
I got this stuff before December.

One thing that burns me is this company "Menu Foods" puts out limited information and then their website goes belly up. Makes one go "hum".

Tomorrow we will be a PetSmart and I will check the Authority brand isle for futher information. We were there Thursday and didnt see any "alert notices" We bought Authority kibble.

I found the following on yahoo.com

************************************************** *******

WASHINGTON - 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, including Procter & Gamble Co.

P&G announced Friday the recall of specific 3 oz., 5.5 oz., 6 oz. and 13.2 oz. canned and 3 oz. and 5.3 oz. foil pouch cat and dog wet food products made by Menu Foods but sold under the Iams and Eukanuba brands. The recalled products bear the code dates of 6339 through 7073 followed by the plant code 4197, P&G said.

Menu Foods' 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.

[Catty1]

When I went to the site and it timed out, this was part of the message.

"The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few
moments."

With the news out on MSN and others, this site will likely be swamped for a week. Wouldn't surprise me.

[Zippy]

I feel so bad for the people who's furbabies got sick or died.

[Catty1]

Apparently only pets in the US were affected...poor babies!

There is a bit more product name information here, I think.
************************************************** *******
Dog, cat deaths in U.S. prompt $40M recall from Canada's Menu Foods

1 hour, 31 minutes ago

By Colin Perkel

TORONTO (CP) - One of North America's largest pet-food suppliers said Friday it would 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 (TSX:MEW.UN), based in Streetsville, west of Toronto, called the recall of its products sold in cans and pouches precautionary.

CEO Paul Henderson told The Canadian Press that exhaustive tests by both internal and external specialists had failed to identify the problem.

"We're not entirely sure what has happened," Henderson said in an interview.

"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, Henderson said.

There had been no complaints from Canadian pet owners.

The company said it had also beefed up the testing of all raw materials and finished goods.

Menu Foods, one of the leading North American private-label and contract manufacturer of wet pet-food products, 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.

Starting in December, concerns began filtering back to the company through toll-free customer lines about its "cuts and gravy" style pet food.

Callers complained their animals had fallen ill although no direct link to the food was established.

Henderson said it was "very frustrating" not being able to identify the exact nature of the problem.

"The company has always built its reputation around, and is very concerned with, animal health and well being - that's the whole reason for the company's being," he said.

"That's why we opted to take this precautionary recall simply because it appears that there is a link between the food and the illnesses."

The company did not immediately identify which of the "large number" of products were affected by the recall but said it would post a list on its website Saturday at www.menufoods.com/recall.

Concerned consumers were also incorrectly referred to the Nestle-Purina pet-care hotline which was swamped with calls on Friday.

The Menu Foods customer service hotline can be reached at 866-463-6738 as of 6 a.m. EST Saturday for more information on what brands were affected.

One large customer in the United States - which accounts for 11 per cent of Menu's revenues - initiated its own recall after receiving complaints and put future orders for the products on hold.

In what Henderson said was a "coincidental event," production associated with the complaints coincided with the introduction of an ingredient from a new supplier, which has since been discontinued.

He refused to name the ingredient or the supplier.

The recall affects products made between Dec. 3, 2006 and March 6 at two of its American facilities in Emporia, Kan., and Pennsauken, N.J.

Menu's other plants are located North Sioux City, S.D., and Streetsville.

The cost of the recall, which spooked investors, would be financed from internal cash and bank credit, Henderson said.

Following a trading halt for the announcement, Menu Foods Income Fund units plunged more than 25 per cent on the Toronto Stock Exchange to close at $5.50, a drop of $1.90 on a trading volume of more than 271,000 units.

[elizabethann]

This is such horrible news. My heart goes out to the pets that died. I wish they would tell people what products were recalled.

[beeniesmom]

I don't have any of the dog foods listed in my house.
It's for canned wet food.
I have Nutro dry but not wet.

[Freedom]

Today's newspaper says some were sold under both the Iams and the Eukanuba brand names.

Ugh!