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

[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!

[momoffuzzyfaces]

My cats always eat the "Special Kitty" brand. They don't eat the cuts and gravy though. Just to be safe, it's all going out!!!!
They best hope their crummy food didn't harm my kids!!!!

Luckily they mostly eat crunchy Meow mix!!!

[Cinder & Smoke]

We're getting some New Threads on this subject that do not have all the details.
/s/ Phred

[Logan]

Connie, Butter likes the fishiest pouches of Whiskas. They are not on the list, either. You might try that.

[ramanth]

Wow. I heard there was a pet food recall but had no idea it was this massive.

So are all those brands pretty much identical food but sold under different names and at different prices? How sad.

No one here has had wet food in a long time, but I've forwarded the list to everyone I can think of that has pets.

[lizbud]

I read yesterday that the thing causing the problem was a new ingrediant
they had just used from a new supplier. It was indentified as a 'wheat glutin"
mixture. I wonder if they tested this before adding it to the mix?



Recall of pet food alarms owners
Vets report a surge in calls after many big-name brands are pulled from shelves.

By Kimi Yoshino
Times Staff Writer
Published March 19, 2007


Worries about food safety hit America's pet owners last weekend as they came to grips with a dog and cat food recall affecting 88 brands of mostly canned "cuts and gravy" selections.

In all, about 60 million cans and foil pouches of items made by Streetsville, Canada-based Menu Foods Income Fund were being recalled.

As the food became linked to at least 10 recent animal deaths, pet owners began making nervous calls to their veterinarians and flooding the Canadian company's phone lines. Many of the best-known U.S. brands of pet food are on the recall list.

Patrick McElroy was annoyed and a little nervous Sunday while playing with his dog Eli at the Silver Lake dog park. "I did recently just buy three to four cans of Mighty Dog," he said. "I guess I'm just going to throw it out and not think about it. It's not even worth the chance."

McElroy expressed anger at the recall, particularly at a time when there have been increasing reports of contaminated foods.

"It's indicative of the trend of the entire country — not just dog food but human food too. If my dog ever died, I'd be outraged."

The large number of brands affected — all made by the same company at a Kansas facility from Dec. 3 to March 6 — also caught people's attention.

The list included big names such as Iams, Eukanuba and other private-label brands sold at major retailers. Nestle Purina PetCare Co. and Hills Pet Nutrition Inc. also voluntarily recalled some of their products made by Menu Foods.

"Oh my god, Eukanuba, too?" said Victoria Levy, 31, of the brand she occasionally buys for her teacup Yorkshire terrier. "That's so disturbing. When they put food on the shelves, you trust that it's safe."

On Sunday, an investigative team from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration collected more samples from the Menu Foods plant in Emporia, Kan., for testing and analysis. No cause had been identified.

Menu Foods spokeswoman Sarah Tuite said the complaints from consumers coincided with use of a new ingredient from a new supplier, but she declined to give more details until tests confirmed the problem. The company has stopped using the ingredient.

Most retailers have pulled the recalled products from their shelves. Now the FDA is encouraging consumers to check the company's website at http://www.menufoods.comfor specific recall information, including Universal Product Codes. They should purge their cupboards if necessary, said David Elder, the FDA's enforcement director. Distribution of the food appears to be nationwide and not necessarily isolated to a specific region.

The company's stock Friday dived nearly 26% on the Toronto Stock Exchange when news of the recall surfaced. The company said the recall could cost it $40 million.

The FDA is tracking reports of sick pets, Elder said. Local FDA offices can be reached through the agency's website at http://www.fda.gov .

Local pet clinics reported a surge in calls, and some veterinarians said they had treated potential cases. The recalled food may be causing kidney failure, whose symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea and lethargy.

Joel Pasco, a Costa Mesa veterinarian, said he treated a Yorkshire terrier Saturday that had suffered intermittent vomiting for a week. It had been fed one of the recalled pet foods. Lab tests were due back today.

"Those are common symptoms in dogs, whether it be spoiled food in a garbage can or food that was poisoned when it came out of the can, which is extremely rare," Pasco said.

Los Angeles pet owner Charles Marder fears his Belgian shepherd Ranger may have become sick after eating nine cans of recalled Iams food last week.

"He would just throw himself on the floor and start whimpering," said Marder, who took Ranger to the vet Thursday. "He would just be laying down and then just defecate."

After he heard about the recall, Marder made another appointment.

Greg Collins, 40, said he immediately checked the list. "I was like, 'Whew,' " he said. "Your dogs are your kids. Knowing the way owners are, they'll do like I did and they'll scramble to see which brands were responsible."

[momoffuzzyfaces]

When I went to Walmart this morning, it didn't look like a thing had been pulled. All the pouches and Special Kitty still in stock. All cat food fully still stocked. When I checked out, I asked the checkout person if 9 Lives was on the recall list. She asked "What recall list?" So I told her!!!

[finn's mom]

So are all those brands pretty much identical food but sold under different names and at different prices? How sad.

I didn't read all the information or all the posts, so this might be a repeat. It might also be false, but what the folks are saying at the pet store I get Freckles' and Dudley's food from is this...the food is manufactured by the individual companies (using their ingredients and recipes, etc) and then sent to be packaged at a different facility. What she said was that all those companies use about four or five facilities for the packaging of their foods, and that the problem was at the packaging facilities, not the food manufacturer's facilities. That sounds more feasible to me than the idea that all the food is the same (which was my initial thought as well).

I can't remember the last time I fed canned food, though, thank goodness, which is why I haven't really been following the recall or this thread.

[elizabethann]

I just posted this in GENERAL - I just got a breaking news report. The pet food that was recalled had rat poison in it!