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The Dawg
03-18-2007, 12:26 PM
I know 99% of us on here have animals, or know someone that does. Please take a read of this so you dont have to go through a loss like these people. There have been no accounts in Canada yet, but this product is manufactured and distributed here, so its just a matter of time.


Pet food recall has animal owners frantic

Eukanuba, Iams, Nutro and store brands tied to kidney failure, deaths


UNION, N.J. - Silviene Grzybowski became worried when her local pet store pulled the food she normally feeds her cat and posted an announcement saying it, and many other popular pet foods, had been recalled. Her cat, Smokey, hadn’t been eating for days.
“The vet told us to buy her her favorite food, but I’m going to call the vet right now,” Grzybowski said.
Menu Foods, the Ontario, Canada-based company that produced the pet food, said Saturday it was recalling dog food sold throughout North America under 48 brands and cat food sold under 40 brands including Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba. The food was distributed 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.
Two other companies — Nestle Purina PetCare Co. and Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc. — said Saturday that as a precaution they were voluntarily recalling some products made by Menu Foods.
Many stores that sold the affected brands frantically pulled packages off shelves.

Pet owners spot symptoms
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 (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.

Wheat supplier investigated
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.

boxhitch
03-18-2007, 01:47 PM
I find it interesting how many brand names are tied back into the same manufacturer. Raises the question as to how many different recipes are actually used vs just a change of looks to make a diffferent product.
Is it all hype ?

boxhitch
03-18-2007, 01:51 PM
http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_dog.html
Wow, I just went to this sight. There are 50 brands under the dog food heading alone.
We always use Kirkland, but will have to find out if it is safe, or just a Costco repackage of some other brand. ??

ohno
03-18-2007, 02:23 PM
I have always fed my dog Iam Lamb and Rice, for the past 7yrs. Last week she started peeing blood. The vet said it was a urinary tract infection. Now I wonder if this is in any way related.

O.

Brambles
03-18-2007, 04:22 PM
Looks like I should get some of that miracle food for my wifes cats:twisted:

CanAm500
03-18-2007, 09:12 PM
Thats scary...

CanAm500
03-19-2007, 11:55 AM
Do we know exactly what brands are affected here?

I cannot get on to the Menu foods website to find out what brands are being recalled.

boxhitch
03-19-2007, 02:59 PM
Whew. Kirkland and Nutrinuggets are in the clear.

Kevin21
03-19-2007, 05:56 PM
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070319/pet_food_recall_070319/20070319?hub=TopStories

here is a link off the CTV website it has an 800 number to call if needed

The Dawg
03-21-2007, 08:22 AM
Just watching on the news...it looks like a couple has lost an animal in Canada to this...make sure that your food is not on this list!

The Dawg
03-23-2007, 12:13 PM
Looks like that the tainted food is due to rat poison...somehow I dont think this can be 'human error'...dont see much use for poison in a food processing facility....hope they catch the guilty ones, but doubtful....I just hope that no one on here loses their best friends to this.



By Mark Johnson, Associated Press Writer | March 23, 2007

Rat poison was found in the pet food suspected of causing kidney failure that killed at least 16 cats and dogs, but scientists still don't know how it got there, state officials said Friday.



The toxin was identified as aminopterin, which is used to kill rats in some countries, state Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker said.
Aminopterin is not registered for killing rodents in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, though it is used as a cancer drug. State officials wouldn't speculate on how the toxin got into Menu Foods' now-recalled pet food but said no criminal investigations had been launched.
Scientists at the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell and at the New York State Food Laboratory tested three cat food samples provided by Menu Foods and found Aminopterin in two of them. Hooker said they would test individual components of the pet food, as well. The early test results were released to give veterinarians a better idea of how to treat sick animals.
"Any amount of this product is too much in food," Hooker said.
Aminopterin, also used as a cancer drug, is highly toxic in high doses. It inhibits the growth of malignant cells and suppresses the immune system.
In dogs and cats, it can cause kidney failure, according to Donald Smith, dean of Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine.
The Food and Drug Administration has said the investigation into the pet deaths was focusing on wheat gluten in the pet food. Wheat gluten itself would not cause kidney failure, but the common ingredient could have been contaminated, the FDA said.
Bob Rosenberg, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Pest Management Association, said he had never heard of the substance before Friday.
"It would make no sense to spray a crop itself with rodenticide," Rosenberg said, though he said grain shippers typically put bait stations around the perimeter of their storage facilities.
The pet deaths led to a recall of 60 million cans and pouches of pet food produced by Menu Foods and sold throughout North America under 95 brand names. There have been several reports of kidney failure in pets that ate the recalled brands, and the company has confirmed the deaths of 15 cats and one dog.
Menu Foods last week recalled "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food. The recall sparked concern among pet owners across North America. It includes food sold under store brands carried by Wal-Mart, Kroger, Safeway and other large retailers, as well as private labels such as Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba.
The company, already facing lawsuits, planned a media teleconference for later Friday, a spokesman said. It is majority owned by Menu Foods Income Fund of Streetsville.
A complete list of the recalled products along with product codes, descriptions and production dates was posted online by Menu Foods and is available at http://tinyurl.com/2pn6mm (http://tinyurl.com/2pn6mm). The company also designated two phone numbers that pet owners could call for information: (866) 463-6738 and (866) 895-2708.
A spokesman for New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he was not aware of any criminal investigation involving the tainted food. FBI spokesman Paul Holstein in Albany said Friday he was not aware of any FBI involvement in the case.
"I don't know where we'll go from here," he said.