Popular dog, cat food recalled after kidney failure, deaths

[gldstwmn]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/17/pet....ap/index.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- 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.

'Cuts and gravy' food sold in cans, pouches recalled
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 December 3 and March 6 throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The pet food was sold by stores operated by the Kroger Co., Safeway Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and PetSmart Inc., among others, Henderson said.

Menu Foods said it makes pet foods 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.

Proctor & Gamble 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, Kansas, and Pennsauken, New Jersey, 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.

FDA also working to target brands
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.

Below are lists of specific brands recalled by Menu Foods, in addition to Proctor & Gamble's recall of certain Iams and Eukanuba products. Menu Brands lists the brands on its Web site, www.menufoods.com, and advises consumers to call 1-866-895-2708 for more information.

Recalled cat foods
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; and Winn Dixie.

Recalled dog foods
America's 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; President's 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 and Your Pet.

[DrummerDeanna]

Gawd...I used to feed Clancy Ol'Roy (don't hit me) - soooo glad I changed her food!

[gldstwmn]

I feed my babies Organix dry food and Pro Plan wet food. They're helathy kids.

[estranged4life]

We fed our cats the following (Fortunately they were finicky so we changed the variety) :

Preferred Pets
Sophistacat
Special Kitty

[DrummerDeanna]

Well my dog just gets Purina now - Sensetive Systems. Ol' Roy was just what they were giving her when I adopted her - so I thought it best not to change because she is so sensetive - but I finally did some ingredients research and decided to switch - and she's much happier and healthier now

[amber]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

I feed my babies Organix dry food and Pro Plan wet food. They're helathy kids.

Have you seen the research on raw food? Which of course cats would eat normally "in the wild". Anyhoo, I have, and I switched to raw food. They make a "dry" and "wet" version. It's not more expensive, either. $15 bag lasts my cats a week and a few days, which is comparable to what their other food costed.
Mine is "Nature's Variety". I read something about a nutrient that is in bones that cats would normally chomp up is important for balancing some other nutrient that is in the meat. I don't have it right here with me. Of course regular cat foods don't have bones.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by amber

Have you seen the research on raw food? Which of course cats would eat normally "in the wild". Anyhoo, I have, and I switched to raw food. They make a "dry" and "wet" version. It's not more expensive, either. $15 bag lasts my cats a week and a few days, which is comparable to what their other food costed.
Mine is "Nature's Variety". I read something about a nutrient that is in bones that cats would normally chomp up is important for balancing some other nutrient that is in the meat. I don't have it right here with me. Of course regular cat foods don't have bones.

Where do you get it?

[amber]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

Where do you get it?

At Pet Food Express right by my house. I think you can order it online, but I recall something about expense because the wet kind of raw food is frozen, of course, and the shipping...
What you do when you have it is (the wet kind) you keep it in the freezer and thaw the portion you want for the next day. Keep it in the fridge until you serve it. I thaw a days worth, put some in a container in the fridge over night. One of my cats likes it cold, the other likes it to sit in her dish for a few hours. blergh. I haven't tried the "dry" kind yet, but plan to, soon. I have to say, they both seem to be playing a lot more now. Could be my imagination, but...
Here's a link to the website.

http://www.naturesvariety.com/

[SteveMacD]

You know, I thought Granny was looking a bit jaundice lately...