Pet-food recall: The CEO speaks
By Gina Spadafori
March 21, 2007
From the Associated Press:
WASHINGTON — The pet food linked to the deaths of 16 animals has shown no signs of contamination, the manufacturer says, and the company cannot explain why the cats and dog developed acute kidney failure and died.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Paul Henderson, the chief executive and president of Menu Foods, said Wednesday the company was looking at a single ingredient. He wouldn’t identify it, but the Food and Drug Administration has said the investigation was focusing on wheat gluten.
“Our hypothesis is that it is that ingredient that in fact represents the highest probability as to the cause,” Henderson said. “But we have been unable to prove that through scientific information.”
The animal deaths have led to the recall of 60 million cans and pouches of pet food sold throughout North America under 95 brand names.
“This is a puzzling and troubling experience for everybody within this organization,” Henderson said in an interview from company headquarters in Streetsville, Ontario. “It is extremely disheartening that we haven’t been able to find the causative agent.”
There have been tests on 10 cats that died performed by an outside company for Menu Foods. The results show only that the cats died of acute kidney failure.
The rest is here.
Also, please bookmark the other sites that have been following this closely: Howl911.com, Itchmo.com and vetcetera.
The database is still open. We’ll post updated numbers soon.
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16 animals? Where did they learn to count?
Comment by Donna — March 21, 2007 @ 4:35 pm
Like we’re going to believe anything that came out of the mouth of a man whose company waited 3 months after the first cases were reported to let the public know that their food was potentially toxic?
This is a good a time as any to remind people that even if you buy food at the store now, don’t count on the store to have pulled it from the shelves. Like the manufacturer, stores have a financial stake in this. There are reports on the Pet Connection web site that recalled foods are still found on the shelf in some Wal-Marts.
(http://consumerist.com/consumer/walmart/recalled-pet-food-still-on-walmart-shelves-245999.php)
A big retailer like that could easily have recalled cans mixed in with the “safe” ones and not get them all if they aren’t pulling the entire brand from the shelves. Keep your pets safe!
Comment by CatLady — March 21, 2007 @ 5:03 pm
What does Mr. Henderson feeds his pets? Let me guess…he doesn’t have any!!
Comment by Celeste — March 21, 2007 @ 5:03 pm
What really scares me is that they cannot find out the causative agent. This means that there is not a way to test for it. Which means it could reoccur.
I am sure there are a bunch of labs testing this food right now. Let’s hope for a break through soon.
Comment by Dave Finlay — March 21, 2007 @ 7:20 pm
My heart goes out to the pet owners who lost their pets…I have a cat I love with all my heart and cant imagine my life without him.
However, my heart goes out to Menu Foods exployees too…I know many of them personally (including Mr Henderson) and I know first hand they are troubled about not finding a cause…
Comment by Alyana — March 21, 2007 @ 7:49 pm
They have recalled food but only from certain lot #’s
If they had no clue as to what was causing, would it not make sense to simply pull everything off the shelves not just certain lot numbers!!!
So I would not be surprised if it was a government decision to put a hush on what caused inorder to determine the best way to reveal and it may they are doing a massive investigations trying to determined where the problem originate? was the wheat bad at Harvest? was it store incorrectly along the way? why were checks missed? if the problem goes back to harvesting, then where else did the rest of the wheat go? Did it enter the human food supply?, to what companies and what product and what lots, where did those lots go? the goverments need to know all the right answers and have corrective measures put in place in the even it did get into the human supply, Because when the cause is revealed the investigative news reports will be asking lots of questions and doing their own digging around, and the government does want their own agencies caught with their pants down and being the one blamed so they are going to want have repoort when they release the news that proves it did noit enter the human food supplioes or the prove that if it has they have it contained
My guess is it is a fungus/mold contamination called Ochratoxin A that was in the wheat,a form of mycotoxin
Comment by Maria — March 22, 2007 @ 9:02 pm
I think it is time that the places who manufacture pet food be accountable with regular inspections. I, personally fed my cats the Nutro in the pouches..I returned 12 from some of the recall list…so far, I think my cats are ok..but I am consulting with my vet.Two had recent blood tests, before the recall. This whole thing is so very sad…it just makes me feel sick to the stomach…I fed my cats a “better brand” or so I thought…
Comment by Myrtle — March 22, 2007 @ 10:49 pm
PER MR. HENDRESON - “This is a puzzling and troubling experience for everybody within this organization,” Henderson said in an interview from company headquarters in Streetsville, Ontario. “It is extremely disheartening that we haven’t been able to find the causative agent.”
Wow, what compassion he has…a puzzling & troubling experience for them. WHAT ABOUT US? Personally I’ve been feeding Natural Balance canned by Dick Van Patten. Even though it’s not on the list and I contacted them, I just cannot trust any company. Back to making their food. It’s all about the money with these companies. My heart goes out to everyone who is going through this heartbreaking experience.
Comment by Karen — March 22, 2007 @ 11:56 pm
I am keeping my fingers crossed that they find the cause and thus have a treatment shortly. My cat is in the midst of kidney failure after eating Special Kitty. He has been in the hospital since Tuesday morning. The vet is treating him with an IV and antibiotics. His BUN started out at 112 mg and is now 53 (35 is normal). His creatinine was 9.9 and is now 8.7 (2.5 is normal). Dialysis and kidney transplants are being discussed if his creatinine does not get lower soon. I love my cat… he is part of the family and like a child to me. Please pray for the recovery of my cat and for the labs to find the cause and a treatment soon!
Comment by Michele — March 23, 2007 @ 12:01 am
If anyone thinks the FDA is doing all it can about this, wake the heck up! This is the same government agency that oversaw the spinach-borne outbreak of e.coli. They said they’d gotten to the bottom of it- and then lettuce from one of the same companies caused another e.coli outbreak in Taco Bell restaurants. And this is food for HUMAN consumption!
The FDA is evidently inept, corrupt, complacent, or all three. Menu Foods’ foot-dragging reporting of renal failures should have been cause to shut the company down pending a full investigation. Instead, it’s business as usual, except that a few lot numbers have been pulled from shelves. The FDA has been unable to find WHAT caused this, so how can anyone say that this lot number is tainted, and that one is not?
This is the inevitable result of letting agribusiness grow too big and omnipresent. When our food supply- of that of our pets- passes through only a few mega-companies, the risk of problems seems to be greatly increased, and our options for coping with a tainted supply markedly decreased- try finding a dog or cat food brand that ISN’T made by Menu Foods.
My best, brightest hope in all of this is that people will become more aware of how cynically the food business is run, and demand change. Agribusiness lobbying and “self-policing” should not determine the safety of what we and our pets eat- strict, tough, fair, well-enforced LAWS should. Period.
This is nothing new. Upton Sinclair wrote about the greed of food companies 101 years ago, in “The Jungle”. Check it out of the library sometime, because it reads like today’s headlines- mistreated, underpaid immigrants being used by Big Business to produce food that manufacturers KNOW isn’t the safest it can be.
In response to Sinclair’s book, the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act were passed. Those laws were ground-breaking in their time, but recent incidents show that they’re not adequate today, not when broccoli comes from Venezuela, grapes from Chile, lettuce from California, oranges from Israel, and wheat gluten from Lord-knows-which agribusiness.
Time for change.
Comment by Sandy — March 23, 2007 @ 12:39 am
Best wishes to you and your cat, Michele.
My cat is also being treated for acute renal failure after having eaten the Special Kitty pouches. He has been receiving IV fluids since Monday and SQ fluids since Saturday, and his values have finally started to drop significantly.
Things didn’t look hopeful in the beginning, but he seems to be turning the corner. Here’s hoping you will be as fortunate as we have been. I’ll be keeping you and yours in my thoughts- hopefully we will have some concrete answers soon!
Comment by Gwen — March 23, 2007 @ 2:22 am
My prayers and best wishes for all of you who are affected by this tragedy. I would like to add that I have a two year old dog who has been throwing up and drinking a lot of water for the last three weeks. She’s been on Iams dry food since she was a puppy. I know everyone insists that only the wet food is suspect, but frankly I don’t believe anything from corporate America (think tobacco, and Enron), or our government (think WMDs in Iraq). I’m taking her to the vet today for testing, and I’m changing her food. If her tests reveal kidney problems, I will let you know.
Comment by Virginia — March 23, 2007 @ 6:19 am
FYI - A heads up about Special Kitty - a vet I personally know commented that they see more cats that are on Special Kitty. Great name…not a good food even without the recall.
Comment by Mary Catherine — March 23, 2007 @ 8:17 am
I will do business if and only if they stop importing foods from China or any other country. Buy from US farmers where stuff is regulated and they don’t use these kinds of poisons. Our farmers need the business. It is disgraceful to import grains to save a buck and put our animals in danger. SHAME ON THEM! I will boycott unless I am convinced they are not taking business to foreign countries.
Comment by Pearl — March 24, 2007 @ 12:30 am
Hold on everybody! We should not immediately believe the rat poison story, since they withheld information for weeks. Also the pathological pattern of Aminopterrin does not appear to match the descriptions we read on this site nor the kidney failures. It is too easy to adulterate specimens submitted for testing to cover up the truth.
Please hold onto your samples instead of turning them in. I am starting some studies myself in another direction. If anyone wants to join in and submit specimens of listed foods and samples of urine from live sick pets, please Comment to that effect. If there is enough interest, I’ll set up a response format; meanwhile inquiring for assistance from certain experts and labs for an honest investigation.
Comment by Ronald Wempen — March 24, 2007 @ 12:47 am
I am deeply saddened to know that something of this magnitude could take so many lives.We recently purchased a yorkie puppy that we paid $600 for.We brought him home the last week of Feb as a late birthday present for our daughter.We did feed him the wet ol’roy can food and pedigree dry food since we brought him home which was about three weeks or so.Early the morning of March 10th we woke to painful screams from the puppy.Come to find out he had vomited and then got up and went upstairs to our daughters room where he began vomiting blood.Our four year old daughter was watching as we hurried to rush him to the vet.While my daughter and I were hysterical at home my husband was calling me on the phone the same way.One of the first questions asked was about rat poisioning which we have none of in our household around our children much less our pet.They worked on him vigariously trying to help save his life and wanted him to take our Franklin to another emergency vet where they were more equipt to handle severe emergencys.While walking to the car with the puppy in his hands he spewed blood out of his nose and mouth and then collapsed in his hands.He rushed back in and they determined that he had passed away when he collapsed.All my husband could do was cry because our puppy suffered so much and it was a very vicious death.In the days prior we had noticed a constant thirst and not the energy level a 14 week old puppy should have.We had company the night before who commented that they couldnt believe how much the puppy was sleeping.Now we are left to deal with a loss that was in vain.Our puppy had consumed all of the cans of food purchased and we were not inclined to save our reciepts.We do have the vets statement and a dead puppy in our backyard though.I did call Menu Foods who promised a return call which I’m sure will never come.Do I have any recourse against this company?I want to see them pay in more ways than one.Its not about the money; rather I would like to see this company off the market for good.
Comment by Melissa — March 24, 2007 @ 1:22 am
The sad thing is that this isn’t the first time their food has been killed animals - and the CEO knows it - so does the company’s attorneys. Our dog, Lexie was killed from the poisoning and we can’t stop missing her. We had no idea that the food we were attempting to make her eat was killing her. We brought her to the vet and she never came home. Her kidneys failed - when they shut down she went into DYI (the rest of her organs began to shut down) and my wife and I watched our beloved friend leave us. We ran test after test after test. Nothing could be done. We have all of the information, all of the docuemtation and NO, I’m not leaving anything here nor should anyone else. This is a legal matter and has tremendous ramifications for the company and it’s management. The truth has a funny way of making it’s way out and the CEO and his company will be held accountable sooner or later. Kharma’s a boomerang. The amount of cost associated/ attendant to wrongful death litigation is the CEO’s major concern - he doesn’t give a damn about anything else - and this will be easily proven. The company’s attorneys are all attempting to contain the damages. None of us can afford to have the expectation that he or his company is going to do the right thing.
Comment by Eric Turk — March 24, 2007 @ 6:15 am
I just read Comment 12 from Virginia written on March 23. Thank you. My dog has not been eating the recalled food either, but he has been eating Iams Small & Toy dry food with a small amount of canned Iams Chicken and Rice Entree mixed in. He has been ill with all of the symptoms listed for the recalled food. It began with vomiting then progressed to drinking so much water that his urine had almost no color in it. I would find “pee” spots on the floor, but thought someone had spilled water because it was so thin and colorless. He would have little bouts of diarrhea during the night in the house. He didn’t want to eat the food, but he was so lethargic that my husband and I were enticing him to eat it by adding little bits of real meat or maybe some grated cheese thinking the food would give him energy. He began waking us up in the middle of the night so that he could either drink more water or go outside to eat grass and vomit. This dog normally walks 45 min. each morning and 20-30 min. each evening, but suddenly he could barely walk for 10 min. if he would go walking at all. I thought he must have suddenly developed some fast moving cancer and was about to make a vet appointment to check for that when the recall was announced. I stopped feeding him the food a week ago Fri. when I saw the list of symptoms relating to the recalled products. I took him to the vet on Wed. to give him a complete checkup. His blood work showed no kidney or liver problems and no diabetes, but the small stool sample provided was full of bacteria. He’s been put on antibiotics and prescription dog food to get his intestinal tract cleared up. I’ve called Iams customer service at the number provided on the food packaging to tell them of my concerns and they have asked for samples of the food to determine if there is a problem with it.
Comment by Marsha — March 24, 2007 @ 11:45 am