Pet-food recall: FDA news on Friday
By Gina Spadafori
March 29, 2007
- If you’re new to the site, please check out our general information page.
- If you have lost a pet, we encourage you to learn about pet-loss resources.
FDA will release more information Friday.
If you have a pet with a recall-related illness, let us remind you to:
- Call the FDA to report your information
- Call your veterinarian and ask him or her to report to your state veterinarian, also for the FDA
- Enter your pet in our database
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Technorati Tags: pet food recall, dogs, cats,veterinarian, veterinary
Looks like vulturous lawyers are out in force. Menu foods has stated it will reimburse for vet bills. It makes much more sense for people to send their bills to Menu for reimbursement than to have the lawyers make a lesser settlement and get a big fee. There is a lot of justified anger out there, but I don’t think it makes sense to be part of a class action suit unless you have no evidence to back your claim. I am more concerned about where the contamination came from than just punishing Menu. I think class action suits are going to stifle information.
Comment by Melinda — March 29, 2007 @ 2:24 pm
I actually just got a call form someone at the FDA about my cat after leaving a message Last week. They took down all my info and said that the next stage would be gettign a sample of the food I currently have that he ate from so they can test it and getting copies of his Medical records.
Comment by Rafael — March 29, 2007 @ 2:24 pm
OH MY GOD ,I HOPE DRY FOOD O.K. I’M SCARED TO FEED THE DOGS NOWS. MY HEART BREAKS FOR EVERYONE WHO LOST A PET AND HAS A SICK PEOPLE. MENU FOOD NEEDS TO CLOSE ASAP
Comment by camile — March 29, 2007 @ 2:26 pm
I mentioned in an earlier post that a Nationwide March (regarding pet safety and the recall) was being organized, well the date has been decided. It will be Saturday April 28,2007. Please join the following community (follow the link) and look for info on the March. Jen H. is leading the group, contacting animal rights organizations,shelters and such for support. I have included myself as a contact and to help with the organization efforts here in California. We need people from all geographic areas. Anyone in Northern/Central CA who wants to help please contact me at bodasnotaryservice@yahoo.com.
MenuFoodsClassAction@yahoogroups.com
Comment by Amy Boda — March 29, 2007 @ 2:37 pm
This was from the about.com site on the pet food recall:
What manufacture dates are included in the pet food recall?
The original suspect products were manufactured from December 3, 2006 through March 6, 2007.
How in the world are we supposed to keep product samples from Dec. 3, 2006?
Comment by Linda — March 29, 2007 @ 3:09 pm
There’s so many crazy rumors out on the web, and especially given Camile’s earlier concern, I thought it was worth clarifying one thing in particular.
The most important fact is that absolutely NO dry foods are included in the recall. ALL DRY FOODS ARE SAFE. This is per the Pet Food Institute website (www.petfoodinstitute.org).
It doesn’t make sense to make people more nervous than they already are, so I hope that clarifies stuff!
Comment by Christina — March 29, 2007 @ 3:17 pm
Linda, It’s worse than that! SCI.AM.COM ARTICLES: product numbers on his packages of Iams wet food fell just outside of the range of recalled products. The date codes on his packages were 6256 and 6293; the recall range extends from 6339 to 7073. Nevertheless, Valentine believes that his cat was a victim of food poisoning, raising the question of whether the recall was wide enough.http://sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa004&articleID=9AA80BDC-E7F2-99DF-325B0C8F34C09E95&pageNumber=2&catID=4
Comment by 4lgdfriend — March 29, 2007 @ 3:26 pm
Sci Am:The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports that the lethal concentration of the chemical is three parts per million (ppm) for rats; the amount found in the contaminated food samples was 40 ppm.
That’s quite a lot - so if they found that why can’t they say it’s that substance?
Comment by 4lgdfriend — March 29, 2007 @ 3:28 pm
I think class action suits are going to stifle information. Comment by Melinda — March 29, 2007
Law suits be it private or class action are warranted because Menu did stifle information. You can rest assured everyone from Menu Foods right up to and including their legal teams and PR people are monitoring this blog. And probably most Pet Food Companies are doing the same.
It will be interesting to see what the FDA has to say tomorrow. Hopefully not more of the same. “We don’t know what it is”. Well, they have a whole day to spin it just right. Tainted Chinese wheat?
Two members of Congress have officially submitted notice to Menu and the FDA they want ANSWERS. As do all the people who pet’s died or are dying or now have chronic illness because of this Menu produced product.
The bottom line is the Pet Food Industry’s credibility is completely shot. Word gets around fast. And these Brands that contracted with Menu certainly understand now they also are going to pay a big price because of the way Menu handled this.
I don’t feel sorry for any of them after the manner in which this disaster has been handled on their end.
Comment by Steve — March 29, 2007 @ 3:30 pm
I have no doubts that the recall wasn’t wide enough. Best thing to do - don’t use any food whatsoever manufactured in Menu Plants, especially those on the recall list no matter what the date codes.
They are just guessing anyway as to the problem with the new supplier - they don’t even know what’s wrong. Not Menu, not FDA, and we are being told partial truth because it is better than nothing.
Comment by Linda — March 29, 2007 @ 3:33 pm
I finally got a call from the FDA, she was nice and took down all my information on Tommy.
Comment by Tina — March 29, 2007 @ 3:35 pm
Dry food concerns:
http://www.westonaprice.org/mo.....syrup.html
Quote:
“Consumers trying to avoid genetically modified foods should avoid HFCS. It is almost certainly made from genetically modified corn and then it is processed with genetically modified enzymes. I’ve seen some estimates claiming that virtually everything—almost 80 percent—of what we eat today has been genetically modified at some point. Since the use of HFCS is so prevalent in processed foods, those figures may be right.”
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-.....p;id=28535
http://www.checkbiotech.org/ro.....1&pg=1
There’s exactly where it gets into our food chain. The problem with the dry pet food is almost certainly GM corn and byproducts. Since GM corn came about, so is dry unless it contains no corn or meat products fed on this corn.(specifically organ meats of said animals, which concentrate the toxins)
Me? I’ve become horribly allergic to corn syrup since 2002 or so, which coincides with the creation of this GM corn. Before it was an annoyance like MSG, now I can’t touch the stuff or else I feel like I’ve got the flu.
Comment by Joseph — March 29, 2007 @ 3:40 pm
Hi there!
I didn’t get your name…
I am Diane Priesmeyer in Chicago.
I am OUTRAGED to say the least!
Another interesting piece of information:
http://www.amny.com/news/local.....pheadlines
So far my two cats (who seem to be fine so far…waiting for their blood and urine results tht i should get back later today or tomorrow) They ate at least 34 confirmable pouches of Nutro Max Goumet Classics, Adult California Tuna….all so far on the recall list. The trauma that I have been through just taking them to the vet and the days and nights of WORRY…not to mention all of the absolutely HEARTBREAKING stories I have read, we NEED to do something! I started researching and thinking….R.P.M. and O….Rallies, petitions, media, and Oprah! I am putting a list together right now to check my local stores and make sure the tainted product is OFF THE SHELVES!
If we organize now…we CAN and WILL make a difference!
My local Petco store managers have been really cool so far. They are even going to give me a copy of all the UPC codes and the item numbers that correspond. They told me that the FDA came in the other day and “confiscated” all the remaining recalled food. …hmmmm….and I dont even have not ONE single pouch of all the tainted food I fed my cats!I am going to find out if the store would be willing to put the petition that Itchmo!Seattle has started in paper form for people to sign at all their registers. I would even be willing to stand outside their store on a saturday to collect them too!
I have decided to be extremely PROACTIVE on this one! I Love animals and we cannot let this one go! We need to demand some changes! I will purchase NO MORE food or treats that are made outside this country EVER AGAIN!
PETS ARE PEOPLE TOO!
They are my family!
ALoha!
Diane ; )
P.S. ~ thank you everyone for your help in passing along all the helpful information. My heart and prayers go out to all of you who have lost pets, who love pets, and who are going through this difficult time of nursing their sick pets. LEt’s all make sure that this NEVER happens again!
Comment by Diane — March 29, 2007 @ 3:48 pm
My sister finally got a call from the FDA today, and they took information and all. Yea! Finally. I suppose they were just swamped with calls that needed to be returned.
Comment by Darlene — March 29, 2007 @ 3:48 pm
I was just Googling for pet foods and there are hundreds and hundreds of boards and forums talking about this criminal corruption and loss of morality and ethics in the pet food industry.
Gary
Comment by Gary — March 29, 2007 @ 3:50 pm
P.S. ~ Nutro finally gave me a case number concerning my cats eating pouches of their tainted food. They also sent me an eamil which stated that “some pets have become ill” from eating their food, not even MENTIONING that PETS have died! How dare them!
Comment by Diane — March 29, 2007 @ 3:50 pm
Safe is apparently a relative term. The below article is about a WARNING on dry&wet lite, NOT a recall.
http://www.reuters.com/article.....5120070329
FDA warns Iams about food for fat dogs and cats
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning letter to pet food maker Iams about an additive in some of its products for fat dogs and cats.
The letter, dated January 8, 2007, and posted on the FDA Web site on Thursday, said that several Eukanuba-brand dry and canned pet food products made by The Iams Company, a unit of Procter & Gamble Co., contain chromium tripicolinate, which is only allowed as a source of supplemental chromium in swine feed.
etc…
The letter issued by the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine also said Iams had earlier tried to demonstrate that chromium tripicolinate is non-genotoxic, but the agency determined that data submitted by the company did not sufficiently address its safety concerns.
Genotoxic compounds can cause genetic mutations or tumors, according to the FDA Web site.
Chromium tripicolinate is known to boost metabolism in both humans and animals, Iverson said.
“The FDA wanted additional studies to prove certain things but those would require us to go beyond our animal welfare policy, so we’ve chosen to take that ingredient out,” he said.
However, Iverson did not have a date by which time the compound — which continues to be listed as an ingredient on the Iams Web site — would be removed.
etc…
-=-=-
A representative of Iams used the phrase “animal welfare policy.” It would be funny if it weren’t so sad…
FDA’s letter at: http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/b6285d.htm
Also interesting. Google result #10 of search for Chromium tripicolinate (preview of site I can’t access from here): “Two cases of renal failure were attributed to ingestion of excessive doses of chromium tripicolinate in women with no history of renal dysfunction. …”
http://www.medicinescomplete.c.....hromium%22
Comment by Becca — March 29, 2007 @ 3:51 pm
KEEPING THEM HONEST 03/29/07
CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 says: It’s what we’re about at “360°.” It includes challenging authority…whistleblowers …corruption … And we want your help. Please send us your tips with enough detail so we can investigate them.
Here are a few our own questions we would like Anderson Cooper and his team to ask of Menu foods:
* Why is there a discrepancy surrounding when Menu Foods first received customer complaints of their pets falling ill from Menu Foods products? (The Canadian Press reported MF first received calls in December 2006, whereas MF told the U.S. media the first calls weren’t received until February 20, 2007.)
* Why is there a discrepancy surrounding the animal testing performed by Menu Foods?( Menu Foods initially told the press the cats and dogs which died during the February 27th tasting tests were tested after MF received their first complaints on February 20th. Later, MF said the test animals were merely part of their routine quarterly palatability testing and had nothing to do with complaints of tainted food.)
* Why has Menu Foods refused to identify the supplier of the allegedly tainted wheat gluten?
* Was cost the driving factor for Menu Foods’ decision to import raw materials (e.g., wheat gluten) from China?
* Why was Menu Foods so slow in initiating the recall, and why did MF do so only after one of their largest contract customers put all future orders on hold? Why did MF ignore the complaints of the pet owners who complained as far back as December 2006?
* Why won’t Menu Foods disclose all of the companies / brands which contract with Menu Foods, including those not on the official recall list?
To ask Anderson Cooper 360 to investigate Menu Foods, click HERE http://www.cnn.com/exchange/ir......anon.html to fill out the online form.
Comment by Steve — March 29, 2007 @ 3:52 pm
Some of these pet food companies are bad news and they have such nice ads too with the puppies looking so sweet and lovely and the food is poisonous. Our pets need us to make changes and to be aware. If this won’t motivate us to change some old convenient habits, I don’t know what will!
Comment by Linda — March 29, 2007 @ 4:00 pm
Diane, I was thinking about contacting Oprah as well. Great minds think alike!:}
Comment by Tina — March 29, 2007 @ 4:08 pm
Comment by Linda — March 29, 2007 4:00 pm
The marketing, and the imagery and suggestion used is very sophisticated. The marketing evangelists don’t mention production methods much.
Comment by Steve — March 29, 2007 @ 4:11 pm
SO U DIDN’T HEAR THAT ON FRI.IT WILL BE ANNOUNCE THAT NUTRO AND OTHER DRY FOOD WILL BE RECALLED,WELL I DID.GO TO THE ASPCA BLOG AND READ IT FOR YOUSHELF
Comment by camile — March 29, 2007 @ 4:16 pm
Today I finally received a reply from PetSmart indicating I had indeed purchased pet food from the recall list, however they neglected to actually attach my list of purchases! I don’t know if the e-mail means I only purchased products from the list, or if I actually purchased cans and pouches from recalled batches. I won’t know until I get my list of purchases.
My dog died in late January of acute renal failure. I am not aware of any pet deaths related to the recalled batches occurring before February. The only deaths I’ve read about have all occurred in February and March. Because my dog died January, my vet does not believe my dog ate tainted food. Needless to say, I’m VERY anxious to get that list of purchases from PetSmart.
Comment by Dee — March 29, 2007 @ 4:19 pm
camile - can you post a link to that info??
i don’t see it. tks.
Comment by 4lgdfriend — March 29, 2007 @ 4:26 pm
Attention Business/Financial Editors:
NOT FOR RELEASE OVER US NEWSWIRE SERVICES
March 19, 2007
http://www.whatsnextblog.com/a....._foods.asp
Comment by Steve — March 29, 2007 @ 4:30 pm
For Camille, can you give us that link? I cant seem to find that.
Comment by Lacy — March 29, 2007 @ 4:31 pm
Camile - I tried to find it but got lost in the maze of articles about the recall - help us with this one please.
Dee- The tainted food goes back to Dec. 3rd I believe are in the recall. I posted it. Busy at work so I can’t remember where.
Comment by Linda — March 29, 2007 @ 4:31 pm
A gentleman from the FDA in Shreveport, LA just called me regarding my complaint about Hill’s Prescription dry c/d. He apologized for not calling sooner. He did tell me that his district, which includes Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, has received more than 8,000 complaints regarding pet food in the last two weeks. He acted a little surprised that I had contacted the New Orleans (state number) office instead of contacting the Shreveport directly, so maybe you can get a faster response if you call your local office. He also told me that my complaint had been sent to the Kansas City office because that is the office in the jurisdiction for where Hill’s Prescription food is manufactured. He also discussed that corn may be contaminated. Also, he stressed that if I do not hear from the Kansas City office in 2 weeks, to call him and he would check the status of my complaint.
Please, please, please, call your local of state office of FDA. Both the state and local investigators have been very polite and sympathetic.
Also, email Anderson Cooper and any other journalist local or national that you feel may be interested in this scandal.
Comment by Janice — March 29, 2007 @ 4:33 pm
Nutro ‘s dry food is not being recalled.
Comment by NIKIE — March 29, 2007 @ 4:36 pm
Dee- The tainted food goes back to Dec. 3rd I believe are in the recall. I posted it. Busy at work so I can’t remember where.
Comment by Linda — March 29, 2007 @ 4:31 pm
Thanks Linda. I know the recalled batches go back do December 3, but I’m not hearing about related cases to those specific batches until February. If anybody is aware of pet deaths that occurred in January or earlier with a tie to the recalled batches, I would be interested to know.
Comment by Dee — March 29, 2007 @ 4:40 pm
Considering how concerned all of us are about the poisoned pet food, please if you comment on something here, especially something that is not common knowledge, like what camile posted, give us a way to access the information otherwise it doesn’t carry much weight and wastes time and adds frustration. Thank you.
Comment by Linda — March 29, 2007 @ 4:42 pm
Christina, you are wrong about the DRY FOODS. On January 6th, 2007, Diamond Pet Foods recalled 19 brands of DRY dogfood because it was contaminated with aflatoxins. All of the brand names listed started with Diamond, Country, or Professional. Some pet owners could still have some of these DRY foods in their homes.
Comment by Jeanette — March 29, 2007 @ 4:56 pm
You mean 2006 - Christina. Last year?
Comment by Linda — March 29, 2007 @ 4:58 pm
Here’s a recent article on China’s rise in controling industry:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=2992832
Comment by Elizabeth — March 29, 2007 @ 5:00 pm
If Menu Foods and Nutro had recalled their food when they knew there was a problem my beautiful friend and I’m sure the deceased pets of many others would still be alive. I bought the poisoned Nutro packets on March 7th. The companies, IMO hoped the whole problem would go away. Nutro still hasn’t contacted me even though I sent two emails and left information with their representatives at a pet show (they were marketing Nutro products with big, happy smiles). I hope every legal action possible is taken against these companies - they have behaved miserably if not criminally. Compensation for my vet bills (and I’m sure they will make it difficult to get that compensation) won’t bring my beautiful friend back.
Comment by MFEMFEM — March 29, 2007 @ 5:10 pm
FDA targets chemical in Iams pet food
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it has issued a warning letter to Iams Co. that says some of its diet pet foods contain an unapproved substance.
chromium tripicolinate
http://www.chron.com/disp/stor.....73221.html
Comment by Steve — March 29, 2007 @ 5:15 pm
Thank you PetSmart! Wow, these people are responding FAST. It took them about 30 minutes to get back to me with the missing list of purchases. Unfortunately, the list does not include the batch codes, only the product codes.
I purchased Eukanuba food with gravy products in early January. I already had a small stock, so I probably didn’t start feeding my dog the new stuff until mid January. By the end of the month she was dead of acute renal failure. Will she ever be included in official numbers? Probably not.
Comment by Dee — March 29, 2007 @ 5:17 pm
Comment by Steve — March 29, 2007 @ 5:15 pm
Thanks Steve. I stopped feeding dry IAMs several months ago but I shudder to think what I was putting into my dogs.
Comment by Linda — March 29, 2007 @ 5:20 pm
Thanks Steve. I stopped feeding dry IAMs several months ago but I shudder to think what I was putting into my dogs. Comment by Linda — March 29, 2007
I don’t like being the breaker of unnerving news but I think it’s time for some heavy scrutiny and Pet Food Industry Regulation. Not just on production but marketing departments as well.
Comment by Steve — March 29, 2007 @ 5:27 pm
In response to Camile’s post. . .I doubt Nutro would put out a press release today stating their dry products are safe, then turn around and recall them tomorrow.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-.....amp;EDATE=
Comment by Jackie — March 29, 2007 @ 5:29 pm
Our cat, Mystery had eaten Special Kitty food, a pouch a day supplemented with her normal dry food. She didn’t eat for several days, and then stopped “grooming” herself. Vet test results showed BUN over 130, and toxins just as high; kidney failure. She is actually slowly recovering, and we may be able to bring her home tomorrow. The bill exceeds $1500. I called Menu Foods on Sunday and registered our issue. They hadn’t called as of Thursday afternoon, so I called them back. They aren’t able to see if my complaint was ever registered, they don’t know how long it will be before we get called back, and they don’t have supervisors at the call center. All they can do is register the complaint again. I’m suspecting that many of the complaints aren’t even being registered with Menu Foods. All of Menu Foods phone numbers have been removed from the Internet. (Look at Yahoo Financials). This is just disgusting.
Comment by Dale — March 29, 2007 @ 5:44 pm
MenuFoods must know exactly when they added the poisened wheat to the production run. They also must know exactly where the wheat come from and when. Even the dock worker should know these details. Yet, they are hiding it. If they began suspecting it in February, it was probably being used months before February, possibly back to mid 2006.
Gary
Comment by Gary — March 29, 2007 @ 5:48 pm
If they began suspecting it in February, it was probably being used months before February, possibly back to mid 2006. Comment by Gary — March 29, 2007 @ 5:48 pm
That might explain those lab tests Menu performed where the animals died after ingestion.
Comment by Steve — March 29, 2007 @ 5:51 pm
Hi there EVeryone!
In case yoy haven’t noticed…Menu foods has added a TON more brands to their recall list RECENTLY! Hmmmm…Makes you wonder what was there originally and what was added. Please everyone check.
ALoha!
diane
Comment by Diane — March 29, 2007 @ 6:01 pm
Does anyone have the latest numbers sent to Pet Connection? If 8,000 complaints have been lodged with the FDA for just 4 states, the national numbers must really be huge!!! The 2300 reported to pet connection is small compared to what must be being reported to the FDA.
Keep reporting your concerns to the FDA and any national journalist who will listen.
Comment by Janice — March 29, 2007 @ 6:13 pm
I found out about the recall of the cat food on March 19th. I immediately took my cat, Chester to the vet the following day. Sure enough, he was sick. I very rarely by canned food for him, so I thought I would give him a treat, instead I was killing him. After a week stay at the vet, Chesters kidney values were back to normal. I did contact Menu Foods, and now Im waiting to find out what information they need for reimbursement. $1,948.00 for the vet, special “kidney diet” food he needs for the rest of his life, $41.00 for 24 cans and 4lb dry, and follow up visits to the vet. Im glad Chester came home on the 27th. I just hope there are other pet owners that got thier cat or dog to the vet on time! The cost of the vet bills might be high, but you can’t put a price on a member of your family that you love! And for those who lost a pet, God Bless you. I know the pain of losing a cherished pet.
Comment by Jennifer — March 29, 2007 @ 6:14 pm
What to feed?? Went to all the links & sites I could find re foods available (yes- eyes are strained!) Ck’d petsitUSA.com (they have contacted and added info from comapanies - see their list/notes.) Called Denver and talked to Kumpi. I’m going w/the ATFs choice in food! Have ordered Senior & Cat food. Will be here by MON/TUE by FedEx. Here is Lincoln CA - near Sacramento. Their # is 303-693-6533. So far cats ok on Innova & Fancy Feast, Maltese on Ceasar & (resisting) dry Innova.
Comment by PM Hill — March 29, 2007 @ 6:27 pm
Diamond Pet Foods DRY food recall was 2006; however, some of the bags have “best by” date of January 29, 2007.
Comment by Jeanette — March 29, 2007 @ 6:28 pm
I know I keep saying the same thing, but my parents still refuse to change their dog’s food. They say that because her skin and ear conditions seemed to clear up on Iams kibble, they’re concerned about switching her food. My little sister says Rosie was drinking a lot today. I asked my mom to take her to the vet, but Mom says the dog is fine. I think it might help if anyone who has experienced problems with Iams dry food to email me at AriseChicken420@aol.com, so I can forward your stories to my mother, hopefully changing her mind. I don’t want their little pug to get poisoned. She seems okay for the time being. I seriously hope its not too late. At the very least, maybe some outside info will convince my parents to take her in for a check up. They are not that worried and are trusting in the company to do the right thing. I really hope there is a recall on the dry foods causing problems before Rosie, or any more beloved pets, for that matter, fall ill. The fact that it’s too late for many should be enough for all the precaution in the world.
Comment by Ginger — March 29, 2007 @ 6:58 pm
Hi, All. Fox 4 News in Dallas didn’t air our interview last night but Jason Overstreet, the reporter, called me to assure me it would air. He also said he’d call me before it does. I also emailed Anderson Cooper and Oprah. If we send them enough email, they’ve got to take notice! I’m so impressed by the way everyone is working together here. Good job!:) It’s amazing how much people can accomplish when they work together for a good cause. My heart goes out to all who are mourning their pets or fighting to save their lives.
Comment by Ann Jackson — March 29, 2007 @ 7:22 pm
Thanks for your efforts, Ann. If everyone just does even one small thing…
Comment by Nadine Long — March 29, 2007 @ 7:34 pm
How we are so many days into this and the wheat gluten supplier remains one of the best kept secrets in history, really has me wondering WHY? Has anyone researched ADM? There are 3 major wheat gluten manufacturers in the US. 2 have denied any recent involvement with Menu Foods, one has not. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/.....p;refer=us
This is from the Midwest Grain Products website “Newkirk acknowledged that MGPI has done business with Menu Foods in the past, noting that the company’s last shipment of wheat gluten to Menu occurred over 18 months ago”. Now, would it be sensible for Menu to find a wheat gluten broker or supplier in China, or contract with one of the other big US manufacturers? It just so happens that ADM has wheat milling plants and offices in the Asia Pacific! http://www.admworld.com/asen/about/
ADM remaining silent on this when the other 2 manufacturers came out right away and denied any involvement, makes me wonder. ADM Asia is likely dealing with wheat grown in China. . .why else would they buy plants in that area?
Comment by Jackie — March 29, 2007 @ 7:51 pm
This is likely true considering two things.
1 - companies don’t just jump ship after years of working with a supplier - not unless there’s some major newsworthy problem.
2 - ADM/Monsanto/etc certainly has the clout to quiet Menu - or at least try to. If it was some no-name company in China, they’d have given the name up immediately. For them to cover this long means we’re talking about a big company that scares them.
We don’t know who it is, but it’s big - and almost certainly affects the beef and poultry industry as well as things like corn syrup and so on, which is in everything.
The 8,000 complaints translates into easily 100,000+ nationwide. All due to cost-cutting and genetic modification.
Comment by Joseph — March 29, 2007 @ 8:10 pm
Comment to Dee —
I assume my 17 year old precious kitty, Jinxy, was among the first victims of this nightmare. He had always been extremely healthy. I bought the food on 12/6/06 and took him to the vet because of remarkably declined health on 12/8/06. I was told that his levels were off the charts and he was dying of kidney failure. I put him down on 12/15/06. I was told this was due to his age. In my heart I never really believed that because he had always been so healthy. Now, in light of everything, I know he was murdered. He always slept on my pillow at night. Never leaving me any of the pillow. As much as I complained about it, I loved it just the same. It was our nightly ritual.
Luckily, my other 2 kitties do not eat wet food or they would be dead too. I still have the unused food in my pantry as evidence.
My best friend put down her kitty on 2/9/07 due to kidney failure. She discovered that she had fed her cat the tainted food as well.
At least now I know this wasn’t something I should have noticed sooner. Don’t get me wrong, I am livid about this entire senseless tragedy, it’s just that it gives me perspective.
I, too, wish for the people involved to eat the food that’s in my pantry so they can suffer just like my baby boy did. He was miserable in his last few days on this earth.
I miss him every day.
Comment by Cathie Steinberg — March 29, 2007 @ 8:34 pm
I don’t want to be reimbursed for vet bills I want my cat to be ALIVE and WELL. Menu Foods knew something was wrong FEB 20th! My beloved Whiskers died March 9th, IF they had, had the decency to announce something was wrong on Feb. 20th my beloved Whiskers would still be alive. That is why there needs to be a class action lawsuit. Because this greedy corporation put their companies profits ahead of our pets LIVES!
Comment by Alasandra — March 29, 2007 @ 8:34 pm
Just saw this on another website message board.
just wanted everyone to know and be really cautious right now until we find out whats going on. This is from an email I received regarding the PETA press conference, hopefully the FDA will have one as well.
FDA CONFIRMS DRY PET FOOD COMPLAINTS; PETA CALLS FOR EMERGENCY EXPANSION OF RECALL TO INCLUDE DRY PRODUCTS
PETA News Conference Urges Consumers to Boycott Iams Over Possible Recall Delay and History of Cruelty to Cats and Dogs
Washington - With the FDA now confirming that consumers suspect dry pet food may have sickened or killed their companion animals, PETA will hold an emergency news conference on Friday and call on the FDA to immediately expand the pet food recall to include all dry varieties subject to complaints until they are chemically tested for safety. PETA will also ask the FDA to investigate Iams in order to find out if the company knew about the contaminated food before calling for a recall. Pennsylvania resident Yvette Faulkner-whose cat Sassafras suffered kidney failure and had to be euthanized and who states that Sassafras ate only Iams’ dry food-will speak at the news conference.
Comment by D Jackson — March 29, 2007 @ 8:42 pm
I am continuely checking to see if any new information is out there concerning this horrific mess. My dog was 16+ years old, but in good health in December. He’s now dead, was euthanized because of incurable kidney failure and all the canned food in my cupboard was IAMS from the recalled list. Coincidence? I do not think so. I hand fed my beloved pet this poison thinking it was premium food. I am confident that had I not been feeding him IAMS, he would be here with me tonight healthy and well. I blame IAMS as much, if not more than Menu Foods. I was buying IAMS dog food because years ago my vet recommended it, and it is supposed to be premium food. I just hope Proctor and Gamble suffers immensely for this.
And one more thought, I pray this was a horrible mistake, not a deliberate and evil act.
Comment by M. Burch — March 29, 2007 @ 9:41 pm
I live in Wilmington, NC, and other than one lady who has a cat who she believes was sickened by this tainted food and went public with this assertion, I haven’t heard of other local victims. There have to be others, I would think. If there are others out there who live in this area, please come forward and let us know.
Comment by M. Burch — March 29, 2007 @ 9:44 pm
Are anybody talking about class action lawsuit? Why are things taken so lightly? For others it may be pet/animal but for us it is family member.
Comment by Amy Nahar — March 29, 2007 @ 10:10 pm
The FDA is announcing tomorrow morning that they found melamine, not rat poison in the tests they conducted.
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pi.....00296.html
Comment by Christi Alcox — March 29, 2007 @ 10:41 pm
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/.....00296.html
By Karen Roebuck
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, March 30, 2007
U.S. Food and Drug Administration testing found a chemical commonly used in plastics, but no rat poison, in the recalled pet food that has killed and sickened cats and dogs nationwide, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review learned Thursday.
Comment by Cathy — March 29, 2007 @ 11:20 pm
This stuff is just not that toxic. The LD50 is 3161 mg/kg for rats. (LD50 is the lethal dose that kills 50% of the test subjects.) For some reason cats may be peculiarly susceptible, but still, this does not smell right.
What the heck is melamine? It’s a resin used in making plastic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine
http://www.pesticideinfo.org/D.....Id=PC35459
MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for Melamine:
http://www.sciencelab.com/xMSDS-Melamine-9924600
Toxicological Data on Ingredients: Melamine: ORAL (LD50): Acute: 3161 mg/kg [Rat]. 3296 mg/kg [Mouse]. DERMAL (LD50): Acute: >1000 mg/kg [Rabbit]
http://www.inchem.org/document.....108781.pdf
The toxicity of melamine is low. Repeated exposure resulted in urinary bladder stones and other lesions of the urinary tract. Bladder tumours occured only in male rates after prolonged irritation of the epithelium by the bladder stones. Melamine has a low acute and also low long term toxicity
Also used as a flame retardant on textiles:
http://www.pops.int/documents/.....20IPEN.pdf
Melamine and its derivatives display several toxic effects. These include changed electrolyte compositions of urine, teratogenic effects in fertilized rainbow trout eggs, and reproductive effects in snails and houseflies. (27) In addition, melamine caused chronic injury to the male rat bladder due to stones formed during exposure which correlated strongly with carcinoma. (28) The Danish report notes that there is no data on emission from products and that melamine appears to have low acute and chronic toxicity. The report concludes that, “…no adverse effects are envisaged from the level of exposure expected from the use of melamine as a flame retardant. At the level of exposure precipitation in the renal tubulus and in the bladder should not be a significant risk.” (30) In contrast, the German report describes the lack of data, presence in environmental samples and moderate organ toxicity of melamine and concludes it is a “…problematic substance.” (31)
Comment by Cathy — March 30, 2007 @ 12:31 am
What I like to know is, why is such a mystery? Does anybody know what is in these foods? Or are our pets just going to keep getting ill until they decide whats in it? This is totally unacceptable.
Comment by Jennifer — March 30, 2007 @ 6:25 pm