MENU FOODS RECALL EXPANDED
All Menu Foods pet food with ChemNutra wheat gluten voluntarily recalled
**PLEASE FOLLOW LINK FOR LIST OF ADDED PRODUCTS**
TORONTO, April 5 /PRNewswire/ - In response to a news release - issued by ChemNutra Inc. during the evening of April 3, 2007 - Menu Foods today voluntarily expanded its pet food recall for selected “cuts and gravy” pet food products, manufactured back to November 8, 2006.
ChemNutra Inc., a former supplier of wheat gluten to Menu Foods,
announced a recall of all wheat gluten it imported from Xuzhou Anying
Biologic Technology Development Co. in Wangdien, China. As a result, Menu Foods today announced an expansion of its recall to include all products manufactured with wheat gluten purchased from ChemNutra Inc. which Menu Foods’ records show was first used on November 8, 2006 and last used on March 6, 2007.
As a result of actions previously taken by Menu Foods, the vast majority of the products affected by this expansion are already off
retailers’ shelves. No new brands have been added. A total of 20 varieties have been added to the recall list and the additional varieties are listed below (at above link). All Menu Foods products not made with the recalled wheat gluten are safe to consume.
A complete and updated list of recalled products is available at the
Menu Foods website at http://www.menufoods.com.
RECALL EXPANDED: Sunshine Mills Dog Biscuits
**PLEASE FOLLOW LINK FOR LIST OF PRODUCTS**
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Red Bay, Alabama, April 5, 2007
As a precautionary measure, Sunshine Mills, Inc. (“Sunshine”), a branded and private-label pet food manufacturer based in Red Bay, Alabama, is voluntarily recalling a portion of its branded dog biscuits made at its Red Bay, Alabama biscuit plant during part of March 2007. These brands include: Nurture Chicken & Rice, Nurture Lamb & Rice, Pet Life Large, Pet Life Extra Large, Pet Life Large Variety, Pet Life Large Peanut Butter, Lassie Lamb and Rice, and Pet Life People Pleasers Dog Treats. Private label biscuits for five of Sunshine’s customers were also affected. A complete list of affected biscuit brands, sizes, and codes is available…at our website, www.sunshinemills.com. Sunshine’s other biscuit brands and products that include small and medium sized biscuits were not affected. It is also important to note that dry dog and cat food and soft and chewy treats for dogs or cats manufactured by Sunshine are not affected and not included in this recall. More at link…
“Frankly, I Was Not Surprised…About the Wheat Gluten Poisoning…”
Kucinich Demands Answers From FDA About Pet Food Recall (BlackCat Note: Emphasis Added)
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asking pointed questions about the pet food recall that has now affected 60 million cans of food and at least four pet food manufacturers…
The letter demands information about how the FDA learned of the tainted food and what action was taken…
According to experts, tainted food from China is not an uncommon occurrence.
“Frankly, I was not surprised to read about the wheat gluten poisoning incident,” Roger Barlow, executive vice president of Catfish Farmers of America told the Toronto Daily News. “We know that Chinese fish farmers routinely use a variety of chemicals and antibiotics banned in the U.S. for use in or around human food, and that residues of these substances remain in the fish after harvest.” Entire article at link…
Link Line-Up: Pet Food Recall Links 4/2/07
List of Important Useful Links Regarding the Pet Food Recall (so you don’t have to search all of the posts):
Menu Foods Recalled Pet Food List
Hill’s/Science Diet Recall Information
Hill’s Recall of Feline Prescription Diet “m/d”
Iams and Eukanuba Recall Information
Del Monte Recalled Pet Products Information
Dingo Chick’n Jerky Treats Recall Information (unrelated, but important)
American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)
California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA)
If You Suspect Your Pet Has Been Affected–AVMA
PetConnection.com Database to Report an Ill or Deceased Pet
FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinators, for Reporting Death or Illness to the FDA
Los Angeles Veterinary Public Health (affected L.A.’ers report here, too)
List of Lawsuits Filed in Federal Court Against Menu Foods
Information on California Class Action Lawsuit
Menu Foods Class Action Yahoo Group
Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, for testing deceased pets and food samples for toxins
Petition to Require Pet Food Companies to be Held Accountable for Damages
Nationwide March on April 28, 2007
K.O.P.S.–”Keep Our Pets Safe”–is an organization that was founded after several members lost their pets due to consuming tainted food produced by Menu Foods Inc.”
KOPS is holding a nationwide march on Saturday, April 28, 2007 starting at 10 a.m. CST
We are marching in memory of our pets that have lost their lives, we are marching in memory of those pets that are fighting for their lives, we march as pet owners, dog lovers, cat lovers and average citizens that are tired of the lowered safety standards for goods coming in to this country.
A Nationwide Memorial and Honoring March will take place Saturday, April 28, 2007 at the following locations:
• Austin, Texas
• Atlanta, Georgia
• Boston, Mass
• Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Chicago, IL
• So Cal
• New Mexico
• Dallas, Texas
• New Jersey
• Raleigh, NC
• Jacksonville, FL
• Ohio
• Richmond, VA
• Mobile, AL
• Upstate NY
• Minneapolis/St Paul, MN
• Salt Lake City, UT
If you do not see your city or your state on the list but want to help organize a march or event in your area, please contact us at kopsorg@gmail.com
Melamine Found in Recalled Pet Foods
This info came out on Friday, 3/30/07; I had fallen a bit behind on updates due to my own ordeal with one of my cats.
Chemical Used in Plastics Found in Recalled Pet Food (BlackCat Note: Emphasis Added)
U.S. Food and Drug Administration testing found a chemical commonly used in plastics, but no rat poison, in the recalled pet food that has killed and sickened cats and dogs nationwide, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review learned Thursday.
Testing by the FDA and at least one lab independent of the agency found melamine, a chemical used in plastics and household textiles, in samples of the recalled pet food and in one of its ingredients — wheat gluten — said an FDA official and another source close to the investigation. Neither wanted to be identified prior to the FDA’s formal announcement this morning.
Whether melamine is the source of the animal illness is unclear, they said. The National Toxicology Program of the Department of Health and Human Services reports on its Web site, however, that melamine in rats caused loss of weight, marked reduction of food consumption and high mortality — the same symptoms pet owners have witnessed in cats and dogs that ate the recalled food.
Because of a lack of scientific data, it is unclear what level of melamine would be harmful to cats and dogs, the sources said. An unknown number of cats and dogs nationwide have died or become ill with kidney failure. More at link…
***ALSO***
Pet Food Chemical (Melamine) May Be Worse for Cats
WASHINGTON (AP) - A greater sensitivity of cats to a chemical found in plastics and pesticides could explain why they’ve died in larger numbers than have dogs after eating contaminated pet food, experts said Saturday.
The small number of confirmed reports of pet deaths bolstered by a far larger number of unconfirmed anecdotal reports suggests cats were more susceptible to poisoning by the chemical melamine that tainted the now recalled pet food, officials with the Food and Drug Administration and American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said Saturday.
“I am concerned we have a situation where we have a sensitive species and it is the cat,” said Steven Hansen, a veterinary toxicologist and director of the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control center in Urbana, Ill.
Testing by the FDA and Cornell University has found melamine in samples of recalled pet food as well as in crystal form in the urine and kidney tissue of dead cats. They’ve also found the chemical, in apparently raw form in concentrations as high as 6.6 percent, in wheat gluten used as ingredient of the recalled cat and dog foods, said Stephen Sundlof, the FDA’s chief veterinarian.
“There was a sizable amount of melamine. You could see crystals in the wheat gluten,” Sundlof told The Associated Press. More at link…
Tainted Wheat Gluten Sold as “Food Grade”
Tainted Wheat Gluten Sold as “Food Grade”
Key Points:
-Del Monte Foods has confirmed that the melamine-tainted wheat gluten used in several of its recalled pet food products was supplied as a “food grade” additive
-Wheat gluten is sold in both “food grade” and “feed grade” varieties. Either may be used in pet food, but only “food grade” gluten may be used in the manufacture of products meant for human consumption.
-Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine said the FDA is not aware of any contaminated gluten that went into human food but said he could not confirm this “with 100 percent certainty.”
-The FDA announced today that it has traced the contaminated wheat gluten to a single processor, Xuzhou Anying Biological Technology of Peixian, China, but has not released the name of the U.S. distributor who supplied the product to Del Monte, Menu Foods, Nestle Purina, and Hills Nutritional.
-Public statements have indicated that the contaminated gluten was distributed by a single U.S. company, but since the FDA refuses to name the supplier, it is not yet known if this company also supplies human food manufacturers.
Entire article at link…
Pet Food Recall: Petition for Accountability
Itchmo!Seattle Blog: Petition to Require Pet Food Companies to be Held Accountable for Damages
“The Number of Complaints Lodged With (Menu Foods) Has Soared to 300,000″
Thank you to Howl911
Senator Durbin’s (D-IL) Press Release
Copy of Senator Durbin’s press release (pdf) regarding the Menu Foods recall, dated April 1, 2007. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.) Senator Durbin held a press conference today, revealing much greater detail of his call for an investigation. Howl911 will soon have the video posted on its website.
