Pet food recall expanded AGAIN: 20 more brands & earlier production date

[Bluebear]

WASHINGTON, April 5 (Reuters) - Menu Foods (MEW_u.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) has expanded its recall of dog and cat foods to include products with an earlier production date and 20 more varieties, the company said on Thursday.

The Canada-based company said the recall now included all products manufactured with wheat gluten bought from ChemNutra Inc. going back to Nov. 8, 2006.

In March, Menu Foods recalled 60 million cans and pouches of "cuts-and-gravy" style wet pet food sold under various brands after the deaths of 14 cats and dogs. The earliest production date announced at the time was Dec. 3, 2006. The wheat gluten was last used March 6, Menu Foods said.

Sunshine Mills Inc. of Alabama also is recalling dog biscuits made with contaminated wheat gluten, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said. Company officials had no immediate comment.

The FDA has identified melamine, a chemical used in plastics, as a contaminant in wheat gluten supplied to Menu Foods. Officials said Thursday they remained unsure if melamine was the cause of any cases of pet sickness or death.

http://www.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUSN0521500020070405

[rumpel]

1. Does this imply a previous shipment...?

The timeline of these events opens further questions, even if true:

1) Shipment from China = Nov.3, 06, through January 23, 07
2) Chem Nutro ships this material to 3 pet food manufacturers and one distributor between Nov 9, 06 through March 8, 07
3) Menu Foods informs problem to ChemNutra on March 8
4) Menu Foods recalls pet food on March 18
5) FDA starts investigation after recall by Menu Foods
6) FDA announces melamine contamination March 30
7) ChemNutra recalls all shipment on April 3, 07


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=573105&mesg_id=573105

[napi21]

2. I think Menu Foods needs to publish all pet foods they mfg.

under ANY BRAND NAME or Private Label, wether it's on their damn recall list or not! I don't think they KNOWwhich ones have a problem and which do not! At this point, ALL of the products thatwere inside a Menu Foods facility should be pulled from the store shelves and destroyed! IF they can stay in business after this, they need to PROVE their products are safe!

[Bluebear]

3. THAT is absoutely correct napi21!!!

No more guessing if you might be poisoning your pet, publish the damn list so people can avoid their crap altogether!

[Bluebear]

4. .

[napi21]

5. There's no way that I know of to find out all the labels they use!

I used to work for a manufacturer (not pet food) and they all keep that list very secret! I think at this point, they've given up the right to privacy!

[cosmicdot]

6. are these the latest additions?

at this link??

http://www.menufoods.com/recall/PRESS%20RELEASE%2004052007%20CAN.htm

Are Sunshine Mills' dog biscuits sold under the name 'Sunshine Mills'? do they license out the same biscuits or biscuit recipe to any other companies?

"Sunshine Mills Inc. of Alabama also is recalling dog biscuits made with contaminated wheat gluten, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said. Company officials had no immediate comment."

No comment is unacceptable.

info from above link:

April 5, 2007


All Menu Foods Pet Food With ChemNutra Wheat Gluten Voluntarily Recalled


TORONTO, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - April 5, 2007) - Menu Foods Income Fund (TSX:MEW.UN) -

NOT FOR RELEASE OVER US NEWSWIRE SERVICES

Attention Business/Financial Editors

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 in the United States and Canada have been added to the recall list and the additional varieties are listed below. A further seven varieties for Europe have been added to the recall list. All Menu Foods products not made with the recalled wheat gluten are safe to consume.

(see link above for listings)




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[Bluebear]

7. 'Company officials had no immediate comment'

This is cruel and criminal.

[WePurrsevere]

8. Links... to more info (FDA) and lists of all Menu Foods recalled

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html

Here is more info on Menu Foods site:
http://www.menufoods.com/recall/

Cat Products list (updated Apr 5th):
http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_cat.html

Dog Products List
http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_dog.html

[Bluebear]

9. Thank you purrrrr

[WePurrsevere]

10. Thank you, Bluebear, for starting the thread. This is very important info

for pet owners to know.

This news has hit us very hard. Since we have to feed not only our own furkids but a few rescues we were buying Price Chopper's brand and occasionally Old Roy since where we are has rather limited places to shop for pet food, no less lower priced stuff.

As I'm sure many others here have experienced, I've had more then a few conversations with upset pet owners in the pet food aisle lately. With so many brands recalled, even higher end stuff, many folks simply don't know what to do or who to trust anymore. All I can do is tell them that there are recipes for cooking pet food available on the web but not all of us can do that due to time or financial restraints. :(