Sunday,
April 01, 2007
Update in Pet Food Recall
Hill's Voluntary Pet
Food Recall
Hill's Pet Nutrition is voluntarily
recalling some dry cat food made with contaminated wheat
gluten.
The company is recalling Prescription Diet M/D Feline dry
food from the market.
This is the only product Hill's currently sells in the
U.S. and Canada that contains wheat gluten from any
supplier.
No other Hill's Prescription Diet or Science Diet products
are affected by this voluntary recall.
Product information: Prescription Diet M/D Feline Dry food
with UPC: 52742 42770 (4LB Bag) and UPC: 52742 42790 (10LB
Bag).
ALPO® BRAND PRIME
CUTS IN GRAVY CANNED DOG FOOD
VOLUNTARY NATIONWIDE RECALL
No Dry Purina
Products Involved
March 31, 2007
On March 30, 2007, Nestlé Purina PetCare Company announced
it is voluntarily recalling all sizes and varieties of its
ALPO® Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food with specific date
codes. The Company is taking this voluntary action after
learning that wheat gluten containing melamine, a
substance not approved for use in food, was provided to
Purina by the same company that also supplied Menu Foods.
The contamination occurred in a limited production
quantity at only one of Purina's 17 pet food manufacturing
facilities.
Consumers should immediately stop feeding their dogs ALPO
Prime Cuts products with the date codes listed below and
consult with a veterinarian if they have any health
concerns with their pet.
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. This information should be checked on the
bottom of the can or the top or side of the multi-pack
cartons.
Importantly, no Purina brand dry pet foods are affected by
the recall – including ALPO Prime Cuts dry. 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, nor have been
impacted by the contaminated wheat gluten supply.
At Purina, nothing is more important to us than the health
and well-being of the pets whose nutrition has been
entrusted to us by their owners, and we deeply regret this
unfortunate situation. We will continue to take any and
all actions necessary to ensure the quality and safety of
our products.
Please see our March 30 press release for more information
and click here for an updated list of Frequently Asked
Questions. If you have more questions or concerns, please
contact our Office of Consumer Affairs at 1-800-218-5898
Saturday,
March 24, 2007
TOXIN IN PET FOOD RECALL IDENTIFIED
Pet food recall grows; rat poison blamed
Published: Saturday, March 24th, 2007
By MARK JOHNSON THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALBANY, N.Y. — Rat poison was found in pet food blamed for
the deaths of at least 17 cats and dogs, but scientists
said Friday they don't know how it got there and predicted
more animal deaths would be linked to it.
After the announcement, the company that produced the food
expanded its recall to include all 95 brands of the 'cuts
and gravy' style food, regardless of when they were
produced. The company said it would take responsibility
for veterinary expenses incurred as a result of the food.
The substance in the food was identified as aminopterin, a
cancer drug that once was used to induce abortions in the
United States and still is used to kill rats in some other
countries, state Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker
said.
The federal government prohibits using aminopterin for
killing rodents in the United States. State officials
would not speculate on how the poison got into the pet
food, but said no criminal probes had been launched.
Shannon Brown of Turlock, who lost her 8-year-old
Pomeranian, was outraged at the news.
'What … is rat poison doing near anything anyone consumes?
That makes me sick to my stomach,' she said.
Brown contacted the manufacturer of the dog food she used,
sent the firm her dog's blood work and described the
symptoms. The company veterinarians said they would
contact her vet, Rob Santos at Monte Vista Small Animal
Hospital.
'They were pretty confident the tainted food is what
killed her,' she said.
The pet deaths led to a recall of 60 million cans and
pouches of dog and cat food made by Menu Foods and sold
throughout North America under 95 brand names.
The company expanded the recall after the Food and Drug
Administration alerted it that some products remained on
store shelves. There is no risk to pet owners from
handling the food, officials said.
Santos said he thinks he is seeing the end of the local
cases. He has treated two other dogs and five cats for
kidney failure, the sometimes-fatal result of the
poisoning.
'We took another one in this morning,' he said Friday.
'Hopefully, that's the last of them.'
The care regimen, akin to dialysis in humans, requires a
series of intravenous treatments. The Turlock small animal
hospital is working with some pet owners who can't afford
the $1,000 treatment.
The owner of a Modesto pet food store said the idea of rat
poison getting into pet food left him mystified.
'Where's there quality control?' asked Don Caldron, owner
of Pet's Choice. The store did not carry any of the
recalled brands. 'This could open up a whole can of
worms.'
The FDA has said the investigation into the pet deaths was
focused on wheat gluten in the food. The gluten would not
cause kidney failure, but it could have been contaminated,
the FDA said.
Paul Henderson, chief executive of Menu Foods, based in
Streetsville, Ontario, Canada, confirmed Friday that the
wheat gluten came from China.
Although local pet owners still are concerned about the
recall, it hasn't affected animal shelters in Turlock and
for Stanislaus County.
Officials at both shelters said they didn't have any food
that was part of the recall, adding they mostly serve dogs
and cats dry food.
'Once we knew it was happening, we started checking our
own supply,' said Glena Jackson, senior animal control
officer with Turlock Animal Services.
Menu Foods, already facing lawsuits, said Friday it is
testing all the ingredients that go into the food.
When asked whether there would be compensation for medical
bills for sick pets, Henderson said 'to the extent that we
identify that the cause of any expenses incurred are
related to the food, Menu will take responsibility for
that.'
Saturday,
March 17, 2007
There
has been a major recall for Dog
and Cat food this evening.
Please read the following and pass it on to all you know
that this could effect.
Pet owners worry about
food recall
By MATTHEW VERRINDER Associated Press Writer
UNION, N.J. -- Pet owners were worried Saturday that
the pet food in their cupboards could be deadly after
millions of containers of dog and cat food sold at major
retailers across North America were recalled.
Menu Foods, the Ontario-based company that produced the
pet food, said Saturday it was recalling dog food sold
under 48 brands and cat food sold under 40 brands
including Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba. The food was
distributed throughout the United States, Canada and
Mexico by major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kroger and
Safeway.
An unknown number of cats and dogs had suffered kidney
failure and about 10 died after eating the affected pet
food, the company said.
Meanwhile, two other companies -- Nestle Purina PetCare
Co. and Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc. -- announced Saturday
night that as a precaution they were voluntary recalling
some products made by Menu Foods.
Many stores that sold the affected brands frantically
pulled packages off shelves.
At a Petsmart store in Union, Silviene Grzybowski
became worried when the four types of Iams products she
buys for her cat, Smokey, had vanished from shelves. The
cat was very sick and had not been eating for days, she
said.
"The vet told us to buy her her favorite food, but I'm
going to call the vet right now," Grzybowski said, looking
at an announcement Petsmart had taped to shelves
announcing the recall.
Ron Finegold of Boynton Beach, Fla., said he noticed
about a week or so ago that his family's 3-year-old cat --
who was regularly fed a variety of Iams cat food -- had
stopped eating and did not appear well. He quickly took
the animal to the veterinarian, who determined she was in
renal failure.
He said he heard about the recall on the radio Friday
night. He checked his trash, and found out he had given
the cat some of the affected food.
"That's when I realized (the illness) had to be
related," Finegold said. "She won't be eating that stuff
anymore."
A complete list of the recalled products along with
product codes, descriptions and production dates was
available from the Menu Foods Web site,
http://www.menufoods.com/recall.
The company also designated two phone numbers that pet
owners could call for information -- (866) 463-6738 and
(866) 895-2708 -- but callers kept the lines busy for much
of Saturday.
Menu Foods' chief executive and president Paul
Henderson told the Associated Press on Friday that the
company was still trying to figure out what happened.
He said that the company had received an undisclosed
number of owner complaints that dogs and cats were
vomiting and suffering kidney failure after eating its
products. He estimated that the recall would cost the
company, which is mostly owned by the Menu Foods Income
Fund, an estimated $26 million to $34 million.
Sarah Tuite, a company spokeswoman, has said the
recalled products were made using wheat gluten purchased
from a new supplier, which has since been dropped for
another source. Wheat gluten is a source of protein.
Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman Julie Zawisza
said it is still too early to determine what could have
affected the food. Zawisza added that even if wheat gluten
is the source "it doesn't necessarily mean the wheat
gluten per se. It could be another substance associated
with the wheat gluten."
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 from Dec. 3 to March 6.
In Omaha, Neb., Susan Balvanz said she sometimes feeds
her five cats packets of sliced meat and gravy sold by
Nutro Products, one of the brands affected.
"I've done so much research on pet food. It didn't
surprise me but it scared me all the same," said Balvanz.
She said her 9-year-old cat, Boots, was especially fond
of the food but seemed to have lost its appetite in the
last few days.
At the Missouri Valley Veterinary Clinic in Bismarck,
N.D., veterinarian Jacob Carlson has been referring
worried pet owners to the Menu Foods web site.
"We've had a lot of calls," Carlson said, although none
of his patients were sick.
The company said it makes pet food 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.
Associated Press writers Phyllis Mensing in Bismarck,
N.D., and Rebecca Santana in Trenton also contributed to
this report.
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