Pet food recall: Help out where you can
By Gina Spadafori
March 27, 2007
- If you’re new to the site, please check out our general information page.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead
Thank you, everyone, who came here today, to tell your stories, celebrate your memories and help others. Two things come to mind based on so many of the comments I’ve seen today:
-
If you know a pet-lover who isn’t likely to have Internet access, be sure that person knows about the recall. You know the sweet elderly widow who has a couple of cats and no computer? The one who doesn’t read the newspaper anymore because she doesn’t see so well? Go say hello, and ask if she knows. Offer to help her check labels, if you have to. Help her get new food, if that’s what it takes. We have to look after one another.
-
If you see recalled product on a store shelf, insist on talking to a store manager. Be polite and persistent. If you are sure the product is on the recall list and the manager refuses to pull it, tell the manager you’re calling the media. And then do. Get that product off the shelves.
That’s it for tonight. If you have lost a pet, please report to the FDA, get your veterinarian to report to the state veterinarian and also check in with us. All that info is here.
Finally, I leave you with a link to another editorial cartoon, this one by Robert Unell.
Go to the latest blog post | Go to the PetConnection home page
Technorati Tags: pet food recall, dogs, cats,veterinarian, veterinary
If anyone is looking for a good food, not one of the commercial brands, I recommend ABADY brand, out of New York. Made for carnivores. No fillers, no artificial preservatives, etc. Can be shipped to your doorstep by UPS.
I used to feed ABADY then got lazy and switched to Iams DRY (mini chunks). My dog has/had undiagnosed blood in her urine. I’m switching back to ABADY on Friday when my order arrives on my doorstep.
Comment by Sarah — March 27, 2007 @ 9:45 pm
I find it frightening that one company can be responsible for manufacturing so many different types of pet food. They claim to sell food to feed over 5M pets a day. What will happen if Menu Foods is not able to resolve this problem? What other companies exist to pick up the manufacturing load? Already at my local pet food store there is no more food appropriate for my dog. Where are all of us pet lovers to turn to to find good and healthy food?
Comment by Meg Kettlitz — March 27, 2007 @ 9:45 pm
Thank you so much to everyone at PetConnection.com for all your hard work! It is greatly appreciated and needed! My local newspaper, the Ft. Myers (FL) News-Press - March 24th reported that Wal-Mart was still selling poisoned food (Ol’Roy) as late as last Friday and now a woman’s dog is very sick. I did go to Wal-Mart on Saturday when I read the article and there were still cans of Ol’Roy on the shelf. I talked with the manager and she said it was out of her hands because the Corporate Office makes all the decisions and she couldn’t pull cans off the shelf. I told her about the article in the newspaper that someone’s dog became sick from food bought at her store but she didn’t seem to care and was distracted by a young child in a shopping cart she was pushing. I gave her the recall list and the article from USA Today dated March 24th. She even said she had a dog at home. It is just shocking how people don’t care or won’t stand up for what is right. Since this was already reported in the media, you would think the cans would have been removed. I really felt helpless but will go back and call the media if the food is still on the shelf. I honestly think stores such as Wal-Mart that are not cooperating with the recall should be boycotted. I certainly plan to never purchase items from Wal-Mart or Menu Foods again. Unfortunately, I suspect the problem with the poisoned food is not just limited to Menu Foods with so many people reporting illness with dry food which Menu Foods does not make.
A quote from Edmund Burke sums it up —
“All that is needed for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
Comment by Cindy — March 27, 2007 @ 10:57 pm
Meg - see the post above yours!
Comment by Sarah — March 27, 2007 @ 11:37 pm
What this is, is a colossal scandal that has severely violated the trust of people.
The economic damage to the Pet Food industry could be HUGE. Everyone from Menu Foods right on through to Retail could be held accountable for gross negligence and worse.
Winning back the trust of the people is going to be a major undertaking. If not impossible in many cases. When millions of what were once loyal customers suddenly stop buying your product. You have big trouble.
Comment by Steve — March 27, 2007 @ 11:40 pm
Another great blog post with the latest news about the pet food recall.
http://www.bloggingwv.com/pet-.....et-deaths/
Comment by Bucky — March 28, 2007 @ 5:28 am
I created a website where people can post pictures of their pet and tell people about their pet and what happened.
We need to put a face on this tragedy, there are still people out there that think only 15 pets died and that it’s not really a big deal.
Wal-Mart is still selling Special Kitty Canned Cat food. Which isn’t on the recall list, but Menu Foods did say that all their wet pet food should be removed from shelves. I can’t seem to get the media here on the MS Gulf Coast interested.
Comment by Alasandra — March 28, 2007 @ 6:35 am
The website is The Last Meow
http://thelastmeow.blogspot.com/
It’s for cats and dogs. The name merely reflects something that stuck in my head.
Comment by Alasandra — March 28, 2007 @ 6:37 am
urgent,did anyone hear or read that NUTRO IS going to put a recall on dry food also???? i just read it on another blog on pet conection,the blog about aspca,i’m freaking out
Comment by judy — March 28, 2007 @ 6:47 am
Is the Special Kitty the canned stuff? Our Wal-Mart was great about removing everything from the start (day of the recall, pulled all pouches/cans from Menu regardless of codes/dates just to be on the safe side).. but their canned Special Kitty is still on the shelves. I don’t see any SK cans listed on the Menu site, so I am suspecting that they don’t make them.
Comment by Gwen — March 28, 2007 @ 6:55 am
I have found recalled cans of Nutriplan and IAMS pouches, both dog & cat, at a SuperValu and a Walmart near my home in WI. Even after speaking w/the manager and providing info about the recall to him it still remains!! To add insult to injury, at the SuperValu the NUTRIPLAN IS ON SALE 3 CANS FOR .99!!! I contacted the FDA regarding this and did receive a call back…they stated they are the appropriate agency to report such incidents to…the person I spoke with stated she will call me back today to let me know exactly what action they will take. So, in addition to the media also contact your area FDA regarding complaints about stores not removing product from their shelves. The phone numbers are listed on the FDA website.
Comment by Phyllis — March 28, 2007 @ 7:19 am
i called petsmart,and they told me they did not hear anything about nutro dry food being recalled, .i know everyone is upset over this but saying stuff that is not true is very wrong also on NUTRO’S web site it states no dry food recalled
Comment by judy — March 28, 2007 @ 7:49 am
Let me put this on the record.
Here is our situation. We have been loyal customers of Wellness for several years after much hard research on pet food. We do feel Wellness has a good formula.
When news of this recall first surfaced we thought we were not affected. Last week we purchased three cases of Wellness 5.5 ounce cans. We were very disturbed to learn that Wellness uses Menu Foods as this story broke.
What I am going to try to find out is if Wellness has gone beyond the call of duty other then this statement of quality assurance.
Wellness (verified by company 3/26/07)
* “Menu does make some of our canned cat and canned dog foods. They make
OUR recipes according to OUR quality standards.”
* “We have procedures in place to clean between each run of food that is produced. We also inspect the plant regularly to audit their procedures. Since we take our quality very seriously we go above and beyond what is expected in the industry. We are happy to tell you that we require our facilities to pass an audit by Cook & Thurber, a HUMAN FOOD auditing firm.”
* Other manufacturers are used besides Menu Foods.
* Products do not contain wheat, corn or soy, artificial preservatives, flavors or colors.
What my goal is over the next few days is to find out if Wellness has actually pulled and tested any recently produced canned product that came out a Menu plant. If I was CEO of this company, I can guarantee you I would have done that and not taken any chanced.
Any feedback from Wellness customers would be appreciated. We are feeling kind of “burned” over this news. Not to mention we are going to have to break into a new case of food tomorrow.
Comment by Steve — March 28, 2007 @ 8:36 am
Menu Foods NJ Plant Operating While Investigation Continues
We know about the continued operations of the Menu Foods Kansas plant. Now we also learn that their New Jersey plant is also still open while the investigation continues. The role of the NJ plant has been downplayed consistently, but in the presence of Menu Foods “business as usual” attitude as well as a definitive answer on how all those pets died, we feel absolutely no safer.
http://www.itchmo.com/read/men.....t_20070328
Comment by Steve — March 28, 2007 @ 8:48 am
Gwen, Special Kitty is on the recall list. Whether canned or not, I would not use it.
Comment by Lacy — March 28, 2007 @ 9:04 am
steve,it sucks that the fda did not close them 2 plants that menu food had to make all this food.these plants need to close down now. how many pet owners have to have a pet die on them before they do something
Comment by judy — March 28, 2007 @ 9:12 am
No reports of contamination in Wellness dry foods here;
Voluntary Dry Food Reports
http://www.itchmo.com/read/vol.....s_20070328
Comment by Mike — March 28, 2007 @ 9:22 am
Judy I agree on the FDA. If I had to name one quality that I have, then it’s in being able to stay calm in very stressful situations. Patience has it’s limits though. And it is taking hard work right now to remain poised.
And what does one do when you put your trust in a company and believe you are feeding your pet companions the healthiest food available in the commercial market then something like this happens?
Bow and kiss their feet and be thankful only a few of your pets died when it could have been prevented?
Say, “oh it’s okay Mr. CEO I don’t want to inconvienience you I know you have much more important things to do then a lowly nobody consumer like me.” ????
Comment by Steve — March 28, 2007 @ 9:26 am
Are you a Good Corporate Citizen?
Vicarious Liability Subjects Corporations to a Broad Spectrum of Criminal Liability.
Corporations are vulnerable to all the acts of their employees and agents under the doctrine of vicarious liability.
Comment by Steve — March 28, 2007 @ 9:42 am
Like it or not we are ALL eating from a common food production chain. From pets to human beings that fact can not be denied.
This makes this wall of silence we are having to deal with in this crisis even more disturbing.
Comment by Steve — March 28, 2007 @ 9:53 am
Lesson learned here. I will NEVER buy from those criminals who were using MenuFoods again.
Gary
Comment by Gary — March 28, 2007 @ 9:58 am
Steve-I am very happy that you received the info from Wellness about the steps that they are taking to insure the quality of their product. I too have been a Wellness customer and my cat loves their wet and dry food. When I called them at the beginning of this thing they gave me no info, just that they were happy with Menufoods. Two days ago I received the letter from Wellness that is posted on their website that states they are basically not involved in the recall (Wellness - About Us - Corporate History). I don’t understand why they don’t put the info that you have gotten on their website.
Comment by Shawn — March 28, 2007 @ 10:03 am
Comment by Shawn — March 28, 2007
Shawn thats not official company correspondence.
I still do not know if we have a 100% safe product yet.
I got this info from here.
http://petsitusa.com/blog/?p=210
Comment by Steve — March 28, 2007 @ 10:23 am
What I meant Shawn was that is an official statement for general release from Wellness but I have not received any info personally in request to the issue I am concerned about.
Comment by Steve — March 28, 2007 @ 10:25 am
The reason I am concerned is that Wellness recently closed their main production plant on the East Coast last year or late 05. You may recall a shortage of Wellness product availability. According to what I was told from retailers and vendors they were supposed to be “building a brand new facility for production” but Wellness was providing little information to them. They also said Wellness had to have a larger facility to meet growing demand.
Going with Menu Foods to produce your food is not investing in and building your own facility.
Comment by Steve — March 28, 2007 @ 10:33 am
More. May 16, 2006
Old Mother Hubbard appoints VPs
Old Mother Hubbard welcomes Mark Shuster to the position of vice president of marketing and has named Jeanne Lizotte to the newly-created position of vice president of new products. Shuster will lead Old Mother Hubbard’s marketing organization. He will be responsible for developing the company’s marketing strategy, identifying new approaches to reach consumers and driving continued rapid growth. Shuster brings over 25 years of experience with fast-paced, consumer-driven brands. Most recently he was the chief marketing officer for Timex Incorporated. As vice president of new products, Lizotte will be responsible for identifying, developing, validating and launching new products. She was previously VP of marketing for Old Mother Hubbard. In the past five years, Lizotte has developed several line extensions for the Old Mother Hubbard and Wellness brands.
Comment by Steve — March 28, 2007 @ 10:45 am
I am going to do my very best to never buy food manufactured by Menu Foods again. I just wish we could get a complete list of ALL brands that they manufacture, not just the recalled ones.
Comment by Elizabeth — March 28, 2007 @ 10:57 am
Found this post on another board. Looks like a “stock response” from PR.
Mar-20-07 11:08 PDT
“The following is a copy of an email I received in response to one I sent to Wellness asking that if their canned foods are produced by Menu Foods how can they state, without doubt, that none of their foods are affected…
Dear Ms. xxxxx,
We are aware that Menu Foods has initiated a recall. No products made by
Wellness & Old Mother Hubbard are affected in any way.
Again, no Wellness, Old Mother Hubbard, or Neura products are part of this
recall.
We do use outside manufacturers to produce our product. We choose the industry
experts to make our formulas for us under our strict quality guidelines.
While we do have some of our products made at Menu Foods, we do not use the
specific ingredient that has caused the recall to take place. In addition, we
have strict cleaning procedures in place to prevent cross-contamination.
There are two very important factors in determining the quality of a food. The
first is the manufacturer. In this case, Menu Foods is a top notch manufacturer
that receives excellent scores for food safety and quality systems. They make a
consistent product which is exactly what the company asks for. Frankly, they
make product for so many companies because they are one of the best.
The second factor is formula. Ingredient selection can make or break product
quality. Certain ingredients can be allergens to certain pets. Other
ingredients can be sourced for either their quality or their price. Chicken for
example, can be sourced for a certain price. But low ash chicken, which is
better for a cat, can be sourced, but at a higher price. Those are the types of
ingredients we use, because they are of higher quality. So I would not assume
all companies are created equal. If you’d like to learn more, please call us.
We have much more information where that came from!
Nicole Bibeau
Specialist
Consumer Affairs
Personally, I do not find Ms Bibeau’s answer reassuring and I plan to discontinue feeding my pets the Wellness brand until more details and/or facts are made public as to the exact cause of the contamination. I feel more comfortable with another brand ..unless or until I am able to determine if they too outsource the production of their foods.”
So there we have it. Guess some of us have some serious decisions to make.
Comment by Steve — March 28, 2007 @ 11:41 am
I’ve created a summary (PDF file) of the pet foods recalled by the National Brands (Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, Nutro, Mighty Dog). (It makes it easier to see which foods are on the list.)
It’s 4 pages total, and the 4th page is FDA contact information for every state.
Take this into stores to make sure products are not still on the shelves. If they are, call the FDA (phone numbers included). Then contact your local media.
If the media won’t do it, and the manufacturers won’t do it, and the retailers won’t do it, we need to check store shelves ourselves!
Print file at http://playingbig.blogspot.com.....e-now.html
(www.petfoodtracker.com and http://www.petfoodtracker.blogspot.com coming soon)
Comment by Kim — March 28, 2007 @ 11:42 am
Elizabeth- I’m in the process of switching my dogs from Innova Evo to Solid Gold Barking At the Moon. Both are grain-free dry diets; the difference is that Natura (who makes Innova) uses Menu Foods to make their canned products. My dogs like this food and have been healthy on it, and there’s allegedly no risk, since they’re only fed dry kibble, but I don’t want to support any company that uses Menu Foods as a supplier. This is the website for Solid Gold:
http://solidgoldhealth.com/news/
If you’re interested in their products, click find a store and they will direct you to a store in your area that carries their product.
Comment by Ginger — March 28, 2007 @ 12:35 pm
I wouldn’t place much reliance on the so called “our food isn’t part of the recall” statement from Wellness. They may very well have special protocols in place, but what have they done to verify that these were followed? Since toxicology labs now think a second toxin might also be involved, this could involve more than just wheat glutin. I doubt Iams’ protocols state “add toxic wheat glutin to the mix.”
Wellness should not be putting its reliance on Menu Foods assurances and neither should you. Maybe Wellness is OK, but given the total dishonesty of Menu Foods do you want to play Russian Roulette with your pets safety?
Comment by Andrea — March 28, 2007 @ 2:30 pm
I’ve been reading over the last two days about all sorts of potential problems with the corn we get recently. And it’s really frightening. Everything from fungus, purposely spraying contaminants on it to save money(ADM), improper storage, and also genetic modification.
Make sure you get rid of fillers, corn, and also wheat from their diets. Make sure it’s human-grade food. Nothing rendered or made from waste/scraps. The dry food is also causing massive problems, though it’s on a slower basis.(takes months to cause the same effect)
My cats used to throw up their food every other day. I switched and now it’s once a week at most. The dry food that we’ve been sold as being good for them is most certainly junk. All to make a profit.
Also for this specific recall, my two cats ate half a pouch of the bad stuff about a month ago as a “treat” The results were slightly bloody urine in one and the other hid under the bed looking like it was in shock. They recovered in 24 hours, but it was immediately clear what caused it.
Every neighbor that I’ve talked to in my condo complex has had various problems with their pets and food - the brand seems to make little difference. This is why a bigger problem with the Corn and/or Wheat is likely. When I see ten or more people in my complex having problems… it’s a sure sign that something’s incredibly wrong on a massive scale.
Comment by Joseph — March 28, 2007 @ 4:06 pm
If wheat or corn really is the problem, Wellness, Innova, Castor & Pollux, and other human-grade pet food companies that use Menu foods as a supplier should be safe, since they don’t use corn or wheat in their product. The real concern IMO is that by supporting these companies, we’re supporting Menu Foods, and, as I have stated before, I think a boycott of this corporation is in order. There are a few other companies that don’t use Menu Foods in the production of their pet food. I would assume they all would state on their websites, but, if you’re unsure, there should be contact info. In addition to a boycott of Menu Foods and their affiliates, I believe this should serve as a wake-up call to America. There are many corporations out there whose unethical practices are causing suffering the world over. Most of those companies are actually based here in America (technically, though a lot of them export their labor to other countries.) I think it’s about time we all start campaigning for a better world, by taking money out of the hands of murderers and putting it back into communities where it belongs.
Comment by Ginger — March 28, 2007 @ 6:19 pm
Ginger, I agree with almost everything in your post but I disagree with your assumptions about the safety of nonrecalled foods made by Menu Foods. Here are some thoughts to ponder.
The FDA remains uncertain how the toxin got in the wheat glutin and whether this is the only problem with the food. An Illinois toxicology lab believes it has identified a second unnamed toxin in the food but has not said whether it was found in the wheat glutin or another element of the food.
We do not know if recalled and nonrecalled food are processed on the same equipment. Menu Foods has not announced a shutdown of lines for cleaning so cross contamination is still an issue.
Animals who ate food manufactured before the tainted wheat glutin was introduced have been reported on this website as becoming ill and/or dying. Animals who ate food that are not part of the recall (e.g. Nutro wet chunks) have made similar reports. So you have to wonder, is it the wheat glutin, does Menu Foods even know when they used this stuff. do they even care?
You are correct that these reports do not seem to include the brands without wheat gluten, but as brands with much smaller distribution, you would expect to see far fewer reports.
Wellness, Innova, etc are fine companies, but they have to rely on the honesty of Menu Foods when they state that their food is safe. Are you willing to place your pets’ safety in the trust of Menu Foods?
For at least the immediate future, I won’t be feeding my cats anything that is made by Menu Foods. Yes, because I’d like to see them go out of business, but more importantly, because I won’t take any more chances with my pets’ safety. Better safe than sorry.
Comment by Andrea — March 29, 2007 @ 8:08 am
For safe foods use Del Monte brand—-these include Kibble & Bits and Gravy Train for dogs and meow mix for cats. See their web site or email them for informatin. they will answer you and they do have a complete list of their foods on their website—-they do not use menu.
Comment by nancy vanwyk — March 29, 2007 @ 1:51 pm
Nancy
DelMonte brand?…Call 800-949-3799 and listen to the recorded message. There appears to be a new recall of several of their pet treat products. I found an article online dated March 31, 2007 07:14 PM Eastern Daylight Time with this information. The recorded message confirms the printed article!!!
Comment by Phyllis — March 31, 2007 @ 6:05 pm