For people with pets...

[Thatchi 0]

TORONTO — One of North America's largest pet-food suppliers said Friday it will 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, based in Streetsville, west of Toronto, said the recall of its products sold in cans and pouches is precautionary.

Chief executive officer Paul Henderson told 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,” Mr. 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, Mr. Henderson said.

There had been no complaints from Canadian pet owners.

The company said it has 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, 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.

Mr. Henderson said it is “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 will post a list on its website Saturday.

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

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

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

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

Following a trading halt for the announcement Friday, 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 trading volume of more than 271,000 units.

With files from Associated Press

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...y/Business/home

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Some of the brands manufactured by them are:

Sophisticat

Authority

O-ward

Great Choice

Iams

Eukanuba

Neutro

Science cat

Mighty Dog

Mixables

Edited March 17, 2007 by Thatchi

[Widge 0]

some Ol Roy pouches came up "not allowed to sell" on my register tonight at work .

It's actually quite weird some of the things that do come up like this (our indication of a prodcuct recall as its faster than pulling stuff and avoids issues) in my time i have had toys, colouring book (?!) coffee machines , oil etc.

[Reba 2]

are they blaming it entirely on the wheat gluten protein?

Why not just use a meat source for protein anyway? Cats and dogs are carnivores after all Too much grains (which most brands of pet foods are full of) are not good for them.

[Nagishkaw 510]

Americas Choice, Preferred Pets

Authority

Award

Best Choice

Big Bet

Big Red

Bloom

Bruiser

Cadillac

Companion

Demoulas Market Basket

Fine Feline Cat, Shep Dog

Food Lion

Giant Companion

Great Choice

Hannaford

Hill Country Fare

Hy-Vee

Key Food

Laura Lynn

Loving Meals

Main Choice

Mixables

Nutriplan

Nutro Max

Nutro Natural Choice

Nutro

Ol'Roy

Paws

Pet Essentials

Pet Pride

Presidents Choice

Price Chopper

Priority

Publix

Roche Bros

Save-A-Lot

Schnucks

Springsfield Pride

Sprout

Stater Bros

Total Pet, My True Friend

Western Family

White Rose

Winn Dixie

Your PetRecall Information 1-866-895-2708

Americas Choice, Preferred Pets

Authority

Best Choice

Companion

Compliments

Demoulas Market Basket

Fine Feline Cat, Shep Dog

Food Lion

Foodtown

Giant Companion

Good n Meaty

Hannaford

Hill Country Fare

Hy-Vee

Key Food

Laura Lynn

Li'l Red

Loving Meals

Main Choice

Nutriplan

Nutro Max Gourmet Classics

Nutro Natural Choice

Paws

Presidents Choice

Price Chopper

Priority

Save-A-Lot

Schnucks

Sophistacat

Special Kitty

Springfield Pride

Sprout

Total Pet, My True Friend

Wegmans

Western Family

White Rose

Winn Dixie

[Fandango 1,439]

http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_cat.html

http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_dog.html

There's the complete list and you can click on each brand to download the excel file which shows the specifics of what exactly is being recalled. Product codes, dates, descriptions, etc.

I panicked myself because I saw Mimi's brand...but on closer inspection, the food I buy has not been affected.

Edited March 17, 2007 by LisaD

[derekkj 0]

Thanks for posting those links, Lisa!

Jenny's brands are on there as well, though seemingly not the exact food I used to buy for her. I do, however, find it highly coincidental that she was doing pretty well for a 21 year old cat, I fed her these brands, and then suddenly her kidney problems got so bad we had to put her down.

Guess I will never know for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if more foods than they are currently reporting are actually involved.

Let's just say I am feeling more than a little guilty right now.

[Fandango 1,439]

Thanks for posting those links, Lisa!

Jenny's brands are on there as well, though seemingly not the exact food I used to buy for her. I do, however, find it highly coincidental that she was doing pretty well for a 21 year old cat, I fed her these brands, and then suddenly her kidney problems got so bad we had to put her down.

Guess I will never know for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if more foods than they are currently reporting are actually involved.

Let's just say I am feeling more than a little guilty right now.

Oh KJ, seriously, don't feel guilty. She was 21 and that's a very long life for a cat.

[Mags 112]

A huge amount of cats die from kidney failure, it's VERY common. Your cat was 21, that is an AMAZING age for one to get to. I really don't think you should hold the food responsible in this case (or yourself for feeding it to her), it was just her time to go.

Edited March 17, 2007 by mags

[brnidokiegurl 0]

The news here said also it was only the wet not the dry.

[Married_my_love 0]

My longtime buddy, Bob the cat, was diagnosed with a tumor 3 weeks ago. She had major surgery 1-1/2 weeks ago. I have been feeding her Natural Balance (the ####### van patten pet food), it is amazing, venison & peas is her favorite and it has so much good stuff in it.

I stopped at another petstore after work and they don't sell Natural B so I grabbed Nutro.

Strange that Bob starting throwing up a few days ago. We associated it with her surgery then I saw this report today, they have the UPC's posted on the website, looked up the stuff I had her on this week, and tada, there it was!

I raced over to Petco tonight and most shelfs are empty with signs explaining the recall, and the Natural Balance was almost sold out...... It freaked me out cuz we've spent $1500 this week to save her life, and here I am giving her (possibly) tainted food. Ack!

[Reba 2]

Well I hope Bob will recover well now that she's got some good food in her

If its just the "wet" or canned foods that are affected, my dogs are ok. They never get canned food, that stuff is gross, and just helps to decay their teeth. Kibble is much better

[ladybutterfly 0]

I used to feed my dogs Great Choice, one of the brands that has been recalled. This was back in December last year mind. I dont have the cans no more so I cant check the exact expiry date but am I right to say if they havent been sick in the last 3 months then they should be okay right? I have fed them Pedigree Chum since December.

[William33 110]

Any news on this?

[ajames79 0]

I wanted to bump this information a bit.

Our employee just came back from the vet with his Cat who they had to put down do to this kidney failure associated with the food.

His little old lady neighbor feeds his cat as a treat wet food and it just so happens that it was one of the items recalled! The vet said he has seen 4 other cases just that day.

Please keep your eye on your food for your pets!

[AnaAndDaniel 0]

wow!

i hope everyone's pet is ok. we feed our dog only the dry stuff. so he should be from this.

Daniel

:energetic: