Menu Foods, Inc. Pet Food Recall

And Its Continued Impact

On March 16, Menu Foods, Inc. announced a precautionary recall of cat and dog foods produced at two of its facilities between December 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007 under several of the company’s brand names. Menu Foods has recalled all wet pet food varieties, and many other pet food companies have voluntarily withdrawn their products from the market. Menu Foods is the leading private-label/contract manufacturer of wet pet food products in North America, and the company produced over one billion containers in 2006.

Initially limited to the company’s “cuts and gravy” style pet food in cans and pouches, the recall has expanded as complaints about the food’s effect on pets’ renal health have grown. The FDA opened an investigation that is still being undertaken, and initially identified a chemical called melamine in samples of the recalled pet food, as well as in the pet food ingredient wheat gluten. Additionally, deceased cats that participated in a taste test study were also found to have melamine in their urine and kidneys, as found by Cornell University scientists in a study conducted for Menu Foods.

The FDA found no conclusive evidence that melamine was the causative agent of the renal failure resulting from tainted pet foods, but there is a correlation between the presence of melamine in those cats and their consumption of contaminated food. The contaminated wheat gluten, which is used as a thickener for the pet food’s gravy, was traced to one supplier, Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology, of China. Menu Foods said wheat gluten from supplier ChemNutra Inc., who imports the ingredient from Xuzhou Anying, and ChemNutra then announced a recall of all of their products containing the wheat gluten from Xuzhou Anying.

In the following weeks, while studies continued to be conducted, Menu Foods and other companies continued to voluntarily add products containing wheat gluten to the recalled food list as they traced the supply of contaminated wheat gluten and adulterated food. Menu Foods further recalled all cuts and gravy and select other pet foods produced in the two plants during the period when they were using the contaminated wheat gluten due to possible cross-contamination. However, in press conferences and public statements they stress that all products containing the contaminated wheat gluten and melamine have been removed from the market and effectively recalled and that all Menu Foods products currently available are safe for pet consumption.

However, despite discovering the connection between deceased pets with melamine in their systems and in their food’s wheat gluten, there is still no concrete evidence pointing to one toxin or poison that has been causing the renal failure. There are ways for veterinarians to identify food-borne illness in cats and dogs, including the existence of creatinine or BUN in an animal’s blood, known exposure to recalled foods, urinalysis, or chemical confirmation of the presence of melamine in tissues or urine. However, studies are still being conducted in an attempt to determine the causative agent of the renal failure.

If you have a cat or dog who appears to show lethargy, decreased appetite, increased thirst, decreased frequency of urination, or vomiting you should consult your veterinarian. Concerned pet owners should also cross-reference their pet foods against the list of recalled products on Menu Foods Inc.’s website to be sure that they are not in possession of adulterated food products that could harm their pets.