Friday, March 23, 2007

IMPORTANT--Rat Poison Found In Pet Food, FDA Recall Information



I can't imagine there are many pet owners who haven't heard about this yet, but it's still worth reposting this information from the FDA regarding the rat poison contamination of many brands of canned or "wet" pet food. As anyone who knows me will attest, I adore my pets and am so thankful right now that they don't eat wet food! But for the sake of all the pets that do eat it, I'm reposting this.

Love your furbabies--read the information and CHECK THAT FOOD!



(Copied from the FDA website, all rights reserved by copyright holder)
Recall of Pet Foods Manufactured by Menu Foods, Inc.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been informed that Menu Foods, Inc., a private-label pet food manufacturer based in Streetsville, Ontario, Canada, is recalling all its "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food produced at its facility in Emporia, Kansas between December 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007. The products are sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The recall was prompted by consumer complaints received by the manufacturer and by tasting trials conducted by the manufacturer. There has been a small number of reported instances of cats and dogs in the United States that developed kidney failure after eating the affected product. To date, Menu Foods, Inc. has reported 14 animal deaths to the FDA. Nine cats died during routine taste trials conducted by the company. Consumers reported deaths of four cats and one dog. The firm has undertaken extensive testing of the pet food products in question, but to date has been unable to find the source of the problem.

The products are packaged in cans and pouches under numerous brand names and are marketed nationwide by many pet food retailers including Ahold USA Inc., Kroger Company, Safeway, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., PetSmart, Inc., and Pet Valu, Inc.

Menu Foods, Inc. has identified the potentially contaminated products on the Internet at www.menufoods.com/recall. Consumers who have any of these products should immediately stop feeding them to their pets. Dogs or cats who have consumed the suspect feed and show signs of kidney failure (such as loss of appetite, lethargy and vomiting) should consult with their veterinarian. Menu Foods, Inc. is notifying retailers by telephone and mail and is arranging for the return of all recalled products.

FDA is conducting an investigation and working with Menu Foods, Inc. to ensure the effectiveness of the recall. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-866-895-2708. Consumers who wish to report adverse actions or other problems can go to http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/complain.html to contact the FDA complaint coordinator in their state.

However, this information from the FDA website is just a little bit old--today's news stories bear that out. This is from Yahoo News, directly copied, all rights reserved by copyright holder:

"ALBANY, N.Y. - Rat poison was found in the pet food suspected of causing kidney failure that killed at least 16 cats and dogs, but scientists still don't know how it got there, state officials said Friday.

The toxin was identified as aminopterin, which is used to kill rats in some countries, state Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker said."

And just so no one has to look too hard to know what brands are included:

Recalled Cat Product Information
Recall Information 1-866-895-2708

1. Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
2. Authority
3. Best Choice
4. Companion
5. Compliments
6. Demoulas Market Basket
7. Eukanuba
8. Fine Feline Cat
9. Food Lion
10. Foodtown
11. Giant Companion
12. Hannaford
13. Hill Country Fare
14. Hy-Vee
15. Iams
16. Laura Lynn
17. Li'l Red
18. Loving Meals
19. Meijer's Main Choice
20. Nutriplan
21. Nutro Max Gourmet Classics
22. Nutro Natural Choice
23. Paws
24. Pet Pride
25. Presidents Choice
26. Price Chopper
27. Priority US
28. Save-A-Lot Special Blend
29. Schnucks
30. Science Diet Feline Savory Cuts Cans
31. Sophistacat
32. Special Kitty Canada
33. Special Kitty US
34. Springfield Prize
35. Sprout
36. Stop & Shop Companion
37. Tops Companion
38. Wegmans
39. Weis Total Pet
40. Western Family US
41. White Rose
42. Winn Dixie

Recalled Dog Product Information
Recall Information 1-866-895-2708

1. Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
2. Authority
3. Award
4. Best Choice
5. Big Bet
6. Big Red
7. Bloom
8. Cadillac
9. Companion
10. Demoulas Market Basket
11. Eukanuba
12. Food Lion
13. Giant Companion
14. Great Choice
15. Hannaford
16. Hill Country Fare
17. Hy-Vee
18. Iams
19. Laura Lynn
20. Loving Meals
21. Meijers Main Choice
22. Mighty Dog Pouch
23. Mixables
24. Nutriplan
25. Nutro Max
26. Nutro Natural Choice
27. Nutro Ultra
28. Nutro
29. Ol'Roy Canada
30. Ol'Roy US
31. Paws
32. Pet Essentials
33. Pet Pride - Good n Meaty
34. Presidents Choice
35. Price Chopper
36. Priority Canada
37. Priority US
38. Publix
39. Roche Brothers
40. Save-A-Lot Choice Morsels
41. Schnucks
42. Shep Dog
43. Springsfield Prize
44. Sprout
45. Stater Brothers
46. Stop & Shop Companion
47. Tops Companion
48. Wegmans Bruiser
49. Weis Total Pet
50. Western Family US
51. White Rose
52. Winn Dixie
53. Your Pet

Please feel free to forward this along! Just make sure you don't alter the FDA article or change any part of it--we don't have permission to do that.

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