Cat And Dog Food Recalled

[Kairi]

y'all heard they are testing dry foods now too? I think IAMS took theirs off the shelf... I can't remember where I read it though, so I might be mistaken.

 

[dthoffsett]

y'all heard they are testing dry foods now too? I think IAMS took theirs off the shelf... I can't remember where I read it though, so I might be mistaken.

Nope, Iams dry food is ok. Here's a link to their site http/us.iams.com/iams/global/Product_Recall.htm

 

[l.michelle]

This whole situation is worrying, because more and more foods of different companies are being recalled, and I am worried that the brand we feed Lola (pedigree) will be taken off the shelves as well. It is made by Effem Foods which, oddly enough, their plant is located in the town I live in, but their site says the food there is perfectly safe, but do they get the same grains from china? Or the same place that is contaminated?

Another recall:

Article

More Pet Food Recalls
Sunday April 1, 2007

Yet another pet food recall has further shattered confidence in already reeling industry.

The latest involves Del Monte Pet Products.

Many of their Jerky Treats Beef Flavor Dog Snacks, Gravy Train Beef Sticks Dog Snacks and Pounce Meaty Morsels Cat Treats have been pulled from shelves.

The company says it is recalling the food after discovering that wheat gluten supplied to it from a Chinese plant contained melamine.

The ever-growing recall of tainted pet food that may have killed hundreds of cats and dogs has left pet owners feeling "betrayed".

"I think this recall has and will continue to cause pet owners to question the food they feed their pets," said research analyst Elizabeth Higgins.

"Many owners have already lost trust in the brands they've been using for years and I expect it will take some time for manufacturers to win that back."

Ontario-based Menu Foods first recalled 60 million cans and pouches of its "cuts and gravy" style food after fear of contamination suspected of causing kidney failure and subsequent death in dogs and cats.

Hill's Prescription Diet m/d Feline Dry food, Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food from Nestle Purina PetCare soon followed suit after similar fears of contamination.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

bump.

this whole thing has just been bizzarre.

 

[l.michelle]

What I don't understand, is that all they seem to be doing is recalling the food and not saying what is going on, and what we need to do for our animals, or watch out for as being in the foods. Also, as so mant brands are beign effected, does that mean that the brands that apparently (or not as of yet) not being effected doesn't get the wheat or whatever is causing this problem that supposedly comes from China? Do they get it from somewhere else, or is it the same place and they aren't saying? Because if it comes from relatively the same place, then whose to say more animals aren't going to get sick and that more food that is now safe won't be recalled.

I don't know if that made any sense. I am just so worried everytime i feed Lola.

 

[dthoffsett]

I was watching CNN last night, and apparently there's going to be a class-action lawsuit started. The lawyers are trying to get Menu Foods for fraud, alleging they knew back in December there was a problem with the wheat gluten, but used it anyways. Scary, huh. Thank god it didn't affect my cats, I would be devastated.

 

[l.michelle]

I don't blame the people suiing. I mean, if it is found that they knew about this since december, as you say, then damn right they should be sued, they put millions of dogs and cats at risk for letting it pass by. I feel so bad for the people that have lost their pet to this.

 

[K.J.]

RIP to the lost pets.

Wouldn't it be the wheat growers fault? I mean, in Menu Foods knew about it, they should be sued. Maybe I don't understand the situation.

 

[l.michelle]

A new development: Now they have found that the contaminated wheat gluten has made its way to manufacturers in Canada, one plant in particular is not far from where I work. Here is the article on cnn.com:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The pet food recall expanded further Tuesday to include products made at a Canadian factory recently found to have used an ingredient tainted by an industrial chemical.

Menu Foods previously had recalled only cat and dog food made at its plants in New Jersey and Kansas, saying they were its only facilities to have taken delivery of imported wheat gluten later found contaminated with melamine.

However, Menu Foods discovered Monday that some of the tainted wheat gluten had made it to Canada. It was prompted to account for the ingredient by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which told the company that tests had detected the chemical in pet foods made at its Streetsville, Ontario, plant.

Menu spokesman Sam Bornstein said the amount accounted for just 1 percent of the adulterated Chinese wheat gluten purchased by Menu Foods. It was used in pet foods made in December and January.

Among the products covered by the expanded recall is Royal Canin Canada's Medi-Cal Feline Dissolution Formula canned diet, made by Menu Foods and sold only through veterinarians. A single production lot contained the contaminated wheat gluten, the company said.

"After being repeatedly reassured by Menu Foods, as reinforced by FDA public statements, that none of the contaminated wheat gluten had made its way to Canada, we were completely shocked to learn yesterday that this was not the case," Xavier Unkovic, Royal Canin Canada's chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Menu Foods was the first of at least six companies to recall pet food and treats made with the tainted Chinese wheat gluten. It alone has recalled 100 brands of pet foods, sold throughout North America under its private and major labels. It posted Tuesday an updated list of recalled products on its Web site, http/menufoods.com/recall/.

The FDA has blocked wheat gluten imports from a Chinese company while it investigates how melamine could have contaminated the vegetable protein. (Details on recall)

This week, a large veterinary hospital chain says it recorded a 30 percent increase in kidney failure among cats during the three months that pet food contaminated with melamine was sold.

Those results were reported Monday by Banfield, The Pet Hospital, based upon an analysis of records collected by its more than 615 veterinary clinics.

The analysis suggests that out of every 10,000 cats and dogs seen in Banfield clinics, three developed kidney failure during the time pet food contaminated with melamine, a chemical used to make plastic kitchenware, countertops, fertilizers and flame retardants, was on the market. The chemical appears to have been more toxic to cats than to dogs.

As far as I know, my dog's food comes from Effem foods, which is located in the town I live in, I think I am going to phone them and check it out.

 

[Danno]

RIP to the lost pets.

Wouldn't it be the wheat growers fault? I mean, in Menu Foods knew about it, they should be sued. Maybe I don't understand the situation.

I wouldn't blame the farmers really. I think this is more or less a very very large accident.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

RIP to the lost pets.

Wouldn't it be the wheat growers fault? I mean, in Menu Foods knew about it, they should be sued. Maybe I don't understand the situation.

I wouldn't blame the farmers really. I think this is more or less a very very large accident.

actually, i would blame the farmers or at least the distributer. the melamine would have been added in order to increase the bulk and weight of the gluten so that they could make more money. the use of "fillers" is always been a problem in any unregulated consumables market; the classic idiom describing inadequate things as "watered down" is derived from this history. (read the The Jungle by Upton Sinclair if you never want to eat sausage again.)

however, Menu Foods is most likely to be held liable in a lawsuit. (1) they're a US/Canadian company and therefore accessible. (2) they intentionally bought this product from a poorly regulated source market in order to save a few pennies on the pound. finally, (3) internal testing of the food led to kidney failure and death in a portion of the test subjects well in advance of the food being mass produced and put up for sale. basically, some executive was an idiot and thought "oh, only 2% of our test animals died as a result of eating our food; that's not a bad rate. lets get this product on the shelf!"

i guarantee that anybody who signed off on the release of this food after knowing the danger will not only be identified by the media within two years, but won't be able to work in this industry again for a very, very long time.