Pet-food recall: Who’s who at VIN … plus a ‘horrible coincidence’ for Menu’s CFO

By Gina Spadafori

April 10, 2007

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The Sacramento Bee’s Carrie Peyton Dahlberg takes a look at Dr. Paul Pion and the Veterinary Information Network in a story on The Bee’s front page today:

When pressed to estimate how many cats and dogs nationwide have died from tainted pet food, the FDA has said it will rely on the Davis-based Veterinary Information Network to help answer that question.

On Monday, the network released the first major national survey of veterinarians and concluded that at least hundreds and more likely thousands of pets have died.

The medical costs could run from $2 million to $20 million across the United States, said network president Paul Pion.

Unlike owner reports online, where deaths have also risen into the thousands, the new survey’s numbers come from veterinarians who have treated ailing animals and taken case histories.

“I put a lot of credibility in what Paul does,” said Steven Hansen, a veterinary toxicologist and vice president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “He’s generating some of the best data right now.”

The announcement came as a veterinary chain housed in PetSmart stores confirmed that it had seen a 30 percent spike in renal disease in cats from early December through early March.

Both groups said they believe the largest wave of acute deaths has passed, although there will be some stragglers as less well- informed pet owners or shops still use contaminated food.

Here’s the rest (need a log-in?), including Dr. Pion’s pre-VIN work, when as a researcher at the University of California, Davis, he lead a team of researchers that established link between taurine defiency in cat food and diliated cardiomyopathy that was killing thousands of cats every year. The discovery led to the reformulaton of all cat foods.

Here’s a link to the previous post  on VIN’s take on the number of pets potentially affected by the recall, as reported by VIN’s member veterinarians. That post also explains the longstanding professional relationship between Pet Connection and VIN.

And in the Toronto Globe and Mail (thanks, itchmo), this piece:

The chief financial officer of Menu Foods Income Fund says it’s a “horrible coincidence” that he sold nearly half his units in the troubled pet food maker less than three weeks before a massive recall of tainted pet food.

Insider trading reports show that Mark Wiens sold 14,000 units for $102,900 on Feb. 26 and Feb. 27. Those shares would be worth $62,440 today, based on yesterday’s close of $4.46 a unit.

That represented 45 per cent of Mr. Wiens’s units. After the sale, he still owned 17,193 units and options to purchase 101,812 units, according to insider trading reports.

“It’s a horrible coincidence, yes . . .” Mr. Wiens said yesterday.

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Filed under: 2007 food recall, animals: pets, medical, news — Gina Spadafori @ 6:37 am

215 Comments »

  1. There is no such thing as “coincidence”! Do you hear that huge booming sound? I sure do….it’s my blood pressure! Are these people kidding? If I weren’t near tears from reading the latest numbers, this would almost be laughable. (Laughable in a kind of insane, hysterical kind of way!)

    Comment by PJ — April 10, 2007 @ 6:46 am

  2. There is no doubt that he knew.

    Comment by Lorraine Takahashi — April 10, 2007 @ 6:50 am

  3. This alien no soul CEO belongs in outer space -earth is too good for him.

    He knew when the lab animals started to die - he knew and he was scared for his own sorry fanny.

    I hope they fire the jerk. I wonder too if this toxic waste Wheat Gluten could have been altered here in the U.S. since after all, ChemNutra has some business facilities in Kansas.

    So everyone is focusing on China and the criminals have time to hide and dispose of evidence and play “I’m Innocent”.

    Does anyone know where the Dry SD is manufactured?

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 6:52 am

  4. Timeline:

    Feb 20th - Menu Foods receives first reports of problems with pet food.

    Feb 26th - Menu foods commence tests on 50 animals.

    Feb 26th & 27th - Menus CFO sells half his shares for $102,900.

    March 16th - Recall announced. Share price plunges

    April 10th - CFO calls this a “horrible coincidence”

    Cynical, moi?

    Comment by Phil from England — April 10, 2007 @ 6:56 am

  5. So this explains the *silence* so far! Is this a repeat of *Martha Stewart* ????

    Comment by Mary Smith — April 10, 2007 @ 6:56 am

  6. I deal with many multi-millionairs and CEO and Billionaires etc and most are polite and tend to business - their business is how to keep as much money in their pockets as they can - namely their stock portfolio growth.

    It is common knowledge that when a CEO starts selling stock, someting is terrible amiss. This guy doesn’t care a rats ass about our dying pets - he probably figured “What can they do to me - afterall it isn’t people - just pets dying?”

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 6:59 am

  7. The story about the sales of shares is the lead story on the radio news here in Toronto. That coupled with that the numer of pets sick or killed is around 40,000. It appears that finally the news of the disaster is finally sinking in to the media (some quicker than others).

    I too wonder about where the adulteration eminated - it seems the easy way out to blame the Chinese (I have seen that country vilified on other forums - I am not - at this point - certain it is completely warranted).

    The importer needs to be targeted and the actual imported product examined. That will tell the story of where the tainting came from - whether it was included before importation or not. I also accept that this will be somewhat difficult given the timelines now. However - One can only hope this is possible.

    Comment by Peter — April 10, 2007 @ 7:05 am

  8. He should of been worried about the pets who were about to eat this food instead of his sorry a..!they all belong in jail !!!!!!!

    Comment by MARY ANN — April 10, 2007 @ 7:11 am

  9. OK, I have no reasonable info to base this on, but I am saying it anyway. He is probably the same CFO that was helping cut costs by using this cheap stuff in our pets foods. I count myself as so lucky that I still have my Sadie after over 3 months of battling kidney failure at 3 yrs old. I can only hope that the strange test results that came back for my other two are not indicators of trouble ahead.

    These announcements make my blood boil!

    Comment by Boopadaboo — April 10, 2007 @ 7:26 am

  10. Just throw his sorry a$$ in jail, let the inmates deal with him…I’d pay to see that!

    Comment by Jamie — April 10, 2007 @ 7:32 am

  11. Okay, so, how does one go about getting Mark Wiens investigated and thrown in jail? It could be a start - one corporate pet killer down, many more to go.

    As with all of you, I’m having a very difficult time keeping up with this. I’m constantly sending out updated emails begging the recipients to forward the information on. I know that Pet Connection, Itchmo, Howl911 and the others are doing a remarkable job (Ace Venture Pet Detective ain’t got nothin’ on you guys!), but there are many, many people who aren’t staying up to date - they mostly rely on the media - that’s why I send out my emails.

    I just wanted to thank each and every one of you for all the investigating and research that you are putting into this effort. I hope you all realize that each and every day, you are helping to save our loved ones and I thank you for that.

    Sincerely, Jamie

    Comment by Jamie — April 10, 2007 @ 7:48 am

  12. To Linda MS Re: Location of Manufacturing of SD

    Hills Science Diet and Prescription Diet is manufactured in Kansas according to the FDA representative who contacted me. He said my complaint re: Hills Prescription Dry c/d for cats had been sent to Kansas since it was in their jurisdiction because of the manufacturing site. There is a possibility suggested by someone on one of the blogs that wheat gluten may have been substituted for corn gluten because the wheat was cheaper. According to the person who commented, the pet food companies were not required to change labels for ingredients until up to 6 months after making the substitution. I do not know if this is correct, and I am not trying to start a rumor. Can anyone check the validity of this possible substitution?

    Comment by Janice — April 10, 2007 @ 7:53 am

  13. I never did make it to bed last night. First Nutro then this guy Wien(er)s. So when does Nutro plan to drop the bomb on the rest of the public? Or did they run off with Miller and Q to Shanghai!! Deadly silence. Can you hear them? I said they were shredding before the recall. I hate it when I’m right! I’ve been saying since day one Nutro Maxcat cans were poison. And someone else said they probably dumped some stocks before recall. And why aren’t the rest reporting in like Pedigree and Fancy Feast Elegant Medleys. I don’t think my favorite mystery novels have this many twists and turns.

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 7:57 am

  14. Mr. Weins is looking pretty criminal. And the huge number of pets! How devious and cruel these people have been.

    Comment by Cynthia — April 10, 2007 @ 7:58 am

  15. What dry food pet manufacturer is in Kansas - not Menu - they are only wet right?

    But whoever else is in Kansas and manufacturing dry pet food - wanna bet their food is contaminated also? Just a guess here but it seems reasonable since SD recalled their dry pet food that had this alien toxic Wheat Gluten junk in it.

    I will research later today - can’t right now.

    Linda MS.

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 7:58 am

  16. I wonder if these wonderful Pet Food Companies are changing labels right now - removing all reference to Gluten anything and not changing the ingredients = swapping labels to sell their food.

    I would put nothing past them - the slim balls - nothing. They can’t sit on all this product - I don’t know where it will end up but wanna bet back on the shelves with a new label sans Gluten.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 8:09 am

  17. Pet Food manufacturers in Kansas:

    http://www.local.com/results.a.....earch=true

    Comment by Sharon — April 10, 2007 @ 8:10 am

  18. I’ve heard lots of people complain their pets only ate dry. So yeah, where is the dry plant???? Some have said Nutro dry only. I guess that would imply A-L-L Nutro. Explains why they wouldn’t want to list their other products. That would mean no $$$$$$!!!! I don’t know who’s Pres of Nutro but he or she needs to be fired big time.

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 8:11 am

  19. Journalists in all media formats who are interested enough to tackle the pet food recall horror are going to be superstars in their fields. I see the talk show circuit, articles, books, TV shows, and awards galore! Their names will go down in history as having helped expose the dirty details of the largest pet food recall in history and through this exposure, will have effected a change in the way the pet food industry is run. Our fur friends will not have died in vain. OK, journalists, let’s step up!

    Comment by petlover — April 10, 2007 @ 8:17 am

  20. I just found this on FDA’s website dated 4-7….

    “FDA’s priority now is to assure that all contaminated product is identified and removed from store shelves. All the contaminated wheat gluten has been traced, and all the pet food manufacturers who have received contaminated ingredients have been identified and have initiated recalls;”

    Oopsey, do we think that some food might have been missed Mr FDA person? Me thinks they will be ‘adjusting’ this statment very soon….

    Comment by Sandi K — April 10, 2007 @ 8:17 am

  21. Sharon,

    Thanks for the link. I will research. Something is not right about the dry science diet recall - other dry with wheat gluten should be recalled -

    I checked out some of the links, it just seems too darn convenient for ChemNutra to have facilities in Kansas - it’s a shipping issue - saves money to be located in Kansas because their clients are close.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 8:19 am

  22. And what about this e:mail that some of us ex-Nutro customers were sent?

    April 3, 2007

    Dear Nutro Customers,

    Several of you have asked about Nutro dog and cat “treats,” “biscuits” and canned products currently on shelves. We can assure you that these products are safe to feed your pets. While some of these products do contain the ingredient wheat gluten, none of Nutro’s “treat,” “biscuit” or canned products, currently on shelves, contain any wheat gluten from China or from the manufacturer suspected of selling the compromised wheat gluten.

    For a complete list of Nutro products included in the recall, as well as further information about Nutro and
    how its products are affected by the Menu Foods recall, please visit http://www.nutroproducts.com or call
    1-800-833-5330.

    Our team of customer care representatives is working diligently to respond to each and every email personally. We ask for your patience during this very unfortunate situation.
    Sincerely,

    Dave Kravis,
    President & CEO
    Nutro Products

    Comment by Sandi K — April 10, 2007 @ 8:20 am

  23. I really hate to be cynical but, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll just go ahead anyway…..

    I’ve been reading tons of posts on different websites & I’m not only terribly sad for all the sick & dying pets but I’m angry as hell.

    I believe all these pet food manufacturers had a good idea their food was tainted & tried their best to hide it from the public. I also believe they knew of other tainted food & have tried to pull it off shelves rather than admitting it publicly…..too bad about those who already have it at home & are feeding it to their pets. They (big-wigs of these large corporations) could care less about our pets, just their bottom line (the $$$$$$ they could lose from bad publicity or people not buying their products because they no longer trust them).

    I heard rumblings at a big pet store locally that somebody pulled bags of dry dog food off the shelves & replaced them with new ones, probably when the store was closed (a worker said she was stocking so I assume it was closed). Then I read a post from another worker at a “large retail store” who said they did the same where she works. Folks, do you smell a rat here or am I the only one?

    I’m not sure what to feed my dog but I was very lucky. I had her on Nutro Ultra (all natural yet the wet was made at MF & recalled so I say all natural my ass!) but she had an upset stomach so I switched to Blue Buffalo. She was a bit lethargic so I flew into the vet to have bloodwork done ($150 out of my pocket that I don’t have). All is well, thank God. Now I read that BB has some additive that is not approved for animal consumption….I just don’t know what to do.

    My thanks to everyone & all the wonderful websites like this one who have kept us all on top of the latest…..it’s so scary & so hard to keep up to date.

    My heart goes out to all those who have lost their beloved pets or whose pets have been sickened.

    One last thing…..has anyone seen any kind of apology from these companies whose food has killed or sickened our beloved pets? Maybe I’m missing something but I haven’t heard word one from any of these sleaze-balls…..

    Comment by jan — April 10, 2007 @ 8:29 am

  24. I agree with what Dr. Pion (??) said about the FDA. They have done what they can but they are not the CDC. The man I spoke to was more than helpful, compassionate when I started to cry after finding out every single thing I fed my cats was recalled. I even included the Iams Original Chow, which I thought was interesting since that wasn’t on the recall list. My cats refused to eat it. In any event, I didn’t have the packaging but provided him what information I could about the product.

    He was very concerned about the grocery stores continuing to stock the wrong products and said he’d spent alot of time dealing with that and contacting Maryland vets in addition to returning pet owners phone calls.

    I understand people are feeling that the FDA is protecting someone, I feel that way too. However, they aren’t the CDC. Ultimately, it’s the responsibility of the vendors and company producing the bad product. We cannot forget that.

    I’m praying the Congressional Hearing just doesn’t turn into a finger pointing exercise at the FDA. It needs to be more than that.

    Comment by Sharon — April 10, 2007 @ 8:35 am

  25. It’s a bad situation. We must flex what little muscle we have, because pet parents and pet owners, whatever nomenclature works for you all across the country have no advocacy group that is organized, funded, and has the resources to aggressively tackle this emergency and go face to face with this monster called the Pet Food Industry.

    Let The Buyer Beware in the meantime, because every day there appears to be some new potential poison or contaminate that shows up in another brand.

    Comment by Steve — April 10, 2007 @ 9:16 am

  26. Does anyone know where this 39000 pet death figure came from?

    It was quoted last night on the public media and then immediately discounted as the “actual numbers are well below that.” In other words, that is supposed to be the end of this issue. It sounds like an old public information ploy to defuse a situation, such as “the national deficit is only 600 billion rather than 800 billion dollars, so “no big deal” and end of story.

    Are we going to allow the media to “kill this story, along with the pet food manufacturers and the FDA, and whoever else has been involved? I am still finding a dangerus fungus in samples of food and blood, which points to an even more dangerus mycotoxin as a causative agent.

    Comment by Ronald Wempen, MD — April 10, 2007 @ 9:19 am

  27. Comment by Ronald Wempen, MD — April 10, 2007 @ 9:19 am

    What is the dangerous fungus you are finding?

    Comment by Nadine Long — April 10, 2007 @ 9:28 am

  28. This was previously posted by Ronald Wempen MD:

    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, MD — March 24, 2007 @ 12:36 am

    I assume this is the same person who did a post today (April 10)

    If so Dr. Wempen..can you elaborate on how your research and findings are going and what steps you have used.

    Thank you in advance

    Comment by mal — April 10, 2007 @ 9:49 am

  29. Comment by Ronald Wempen, MD — April 10, 2007 @ 9:19 am

    The 39,000 came from an AP story that was changed within about 35 minutes of being posted.
    Headline and first paragraph changed. Why? Who knows.

    Compare the first headline and paragraph:
    Tainted food may have hurt 39,000 pets

    By ANDREW BRIDGES, WASHINGTON

    Pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical may have sickened or killed 39,000 cats and dogs nationwide, based on an extrapolation from data released Monday by one of the nation’s largest chains of veterinary hospitals.

    Banfield, The Pet Hospital, said an analysis of its database, compiled from records collected by its more than 615 veterinary hospitals, suggests that three out of every 10,000 cats and dogs that ate the pet food contaminated with melamine developed kidney failure. There are an estimated 60 million dogs and 70 million cats in the United States, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

    To the Second headline and paragraph

    Tainted Pet Food-Kidney Illness Link

    By ANDREW BRIDGES
    Associated Press Writer

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Cases of kidney failure among cats rose by 30 percent during the three months that pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical was sold, one of the nation’s largest chains of veterinary hospitals reported Monday.

    Comment by spocko — April 10, 2007 @ 9:50 am

  30. I don’t know for certain that Hill’s Prescription Dry is manufactured in Kansas, but it comes until the Kansas jurisdiction of the FDA rather than the district in which I live. All dry food needs to be tested. Hill’s Prescription c/d dry was all our cat ate. He had to be euthanized in January due to acute renal failure.

    Comment by Janice — April 10, 2007 @ 9:56 am

  31. Hills has four plants across the United States. My vet prescribed Hill wet C/D (last weekend)for a young dog I have and after feeding him four cans, I stopped. He is now being fed all homemade. I just got a funny feeling about that pet food and it is still in the cupboard.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 10:01 am

  32. Dr Wempen
    I posted my thoughts on fungus contamination earlier on another blog post.
    ChemNutra lists a product as: ESB mycoprotein. I, not being a chemist or anything assumed it might be Quorn (veggie burgers) as the little meat chunks in the gravy. I found it to be Fusarium Venenatum strain PTA-2684. Or it could be the other Fusarium ……. I can’t find my note on that one but you probably already know that it is a fungus and not the “mushroom” as the original labels tried to imply. I hope this helps.

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 10:02 am

  33. For protein the Chinese grow these strange funguses off of insects or bugs or something. When I read it I could hardly believe it. It probably isn’t the same thing, but fungus eating is quite the thing as we all know.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 10:04 am

  34. The recall has exposed the fact that, although sold under many different brand names, most pet foods are created only a few manufacturers, such as Menu Foods, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

    The companies that own the brand hire these “contract manufacturers” to make their particular pet food. The contract company owns the processing plant where the food is made and rent out time on their production equipment to make each particular kind of food. Officials explain it is a much cheaper way of making the food because each individual brand doesn’t have to buy the expensive manufacturing equipment themselves.

    The manufacturing company purchases the ingredients while the brand often provides the recipe or formula for their particular brand of pet food.

    Comment by Steve — April 10, 2007 @ 10:05 am

  35. In this case, Hills bought the toxic waste and manufactured it in their own (Hills) plants.

    So how much confidence can we have if these companies don’t use the Menu plants but buy Menus raw ingredients.

    Wake up call 1001 and counting.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 10:08 am

  36. About blue bufflo dog food, i met someone who had his dogs on it,i was al ready to put them on it. then i google it and read that it gave alot of pets the screaming popopopopopopops.so i will not put them on it. what ever food u deceide check it out real good ,google it,yahoo it,ask.com it. after all the pet owners who fed our pets this dam crap menu food put in the wet food killed alot of pets.and menu foods needs to shut down now

    Comment by MARY ANN — April 10, 2007 @ 10:09 am

  37. Steve,do u know who makes their own food? I’M At my wits end want to feed the dogs.ALSO did Nutro and Iams put a recall on dry food? I READ IT EARLIER Today

    Comment by MARY ANN — April 10, 2007 @ 10:13 am

  38. Steve — that is true in the human food industry as well. A snack food facility that I worked for did name brand foods for a numerous amount of stores including private label items. The recipe used for private label was 99% the same for a name brand item. The recipe had to be changed a little due to contracts.

    You folks are doing a remarkable job and I wish I had more time to assist. Thanks a bunch for everything!

    Comment by Sunshine — April 10, 2007 @ 10:14 am

  39. ChenNutra is falling off the radar screen also.

    You can see by this add it should be obvious they intend to sell ingredients to whom ever will buy.
    And not just gluten.
    http://tinyurl.com/2b8pv7

    Comment by Steve — April 10, 2007 @ 10:15 am

  40. Look at this Link:http://www.ita.doc.gov/td/ocg/petfood_overview04.pdf

    Now tell me who owns Menu - they are not listed as a top player on this gov. chart or docs?

    I wonder why not?

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 10:15 am

  41. Time has something just out: Unraveling the pet food mystrey: I haven’t read it yet - just linked it for you all.

    http://www.time.com/time/natio.....83,00.html

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 10:19 am

  42. I’m going to puke:

    Los Angeles Times have suggested that pets killed in animal shelters just might make it into the slop. The Pet Food Institute, whose members create most of the dog and cat food sold in the U.S., told the Times that pets are not allowed in their products. But the FDA has admitted to finding “very, very low levels” of sodium pentobarbital — the chemical used to euthanize animals — in some brands of dog food. Wayne Pacelle, President of the Humane Society of the U.S. said the allegations need more scrutiny. “The pet food industry is not the most transparent of industries and it has been really difficult for the public to obtain information,” he says.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 10:21 am

  43. Well, this morning, I have sent out the “timeline” of Menu Foods’ Chief Finanacial Officer, Mark Wiens, and how his stock was sold just before the recall, to a couple of the newspapers. My thanks to Phil from England who posted this information up-above

    Timeline:
    Feb 20th - Menu Foods receives first reports of problems with pet food.
    Feb 26th - Menu foods commence tests on 50 animals.
    Feb 26th & 27th - Menus CFO sells half his shares for $102,900.
    March 16th - Recall announced. Share price plunges
    April 10th - CFO calls this a “horrible coincidence”

    This, I’m sure, will get around. Hopefully, action will be taken. Isn’t this turning into a case of “animal abuse or cruelty”?

    Its reporters like you that will be remembered by us, the pet parents, when the dust settles. It is reporters like you who will save a few more lives and for that, we are forever grateful.

    Thank you Jim for all that you are doing.

    Comment by Jamie — April 10, 2007 @ 10:25 am

  44. I just heard on the news that many patients in a hospital in China have become very ill from ingesting RAT POISON that was in their breakfast. The hospital has been shut down and the water is being tested.

    Comment by gerry m. — April 10, 2007 @ 10:29 am

  45. Did you hear where one company made Lard and added sewage, human waster, to the mix - made a whole bunch of people sick.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 10:37 am

  46. Reports of food poisoning outbreaks emerge frequently in China, where hygiene and safety standards remain low for many of the nation’s 1.3 billion people.

    Comment by Steve — April 10, 2007 @ 10:38 am

  47. Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 10:37 am

    Yes we covered that topic well over a week ago here.

    What is most important is breaking news at this point.

    Comment by Steve — April 10, 2007 @ 10:41 am

  48. I don’t understand why “Time” didn’t report more deaths - this is a serious problem and seems like are pets are getting shortchanged here all the way around.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 10:41 am

  49. I would REALLY like to see some future ex-spouses step forward & tell a story about how their spouse came home (before the recall) & said “Honey, let’s not give Fluffy the Nutro (or IAMS, Alpo, Special Kitty, et al) tonight. Let’s just toss that bag or can out.”

    I’d like to read about some spousal squealer.

    Comment by Kat — April 10, 2007 @ 10:41 am

  50. I’d like to focus on the missing Links here in America and what dry brand dog food is being pulled in the middle of the night and replaced - surely someone knows out there -

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 10:44 am

  51. Linda,i read the same story and saw the pictures of all these dead dogs. the more we read what goes into pet food who the hell wants to feed it to their pets now !

    Comment by MARY ANN — April 10, 2007 @ 10:49 am

  52. As you can see on the Yahoo! Finance Chart — Menu Foods dropped just slightly between Feb. 27 & 28. THEN — on March 1 — as insider leaking (I am assuming) got out — another drop. Biggest drop was the day of the recall.

    http://tinyurl.com/2woduf

    Comment by Kat — April 10, 2007 @ 10:51 am

  53. Mary Ann:

    I don’t know who wants to feed it to their dogs, busy people who are maxed out with children and their jobs etc. and don’t have the time to stop and discover these facts.

    Poor little kittys and doggies.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 10:53 am

  54. Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 10:41 am

    Don’t worry about that the article was from last Thursday and events move really fast.

    What we need is watchdogs on the front lines at this point watching the wires. Most of the heavy duty detective work has already been accomplished and archived.

    http://tinyurl.com/28x3sb

    Comment by Steve — April 10, 2007 @ 11:01 am

  55. Blog mistakes happen and we repeat ourselves all in the spirit of helping.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 11:05 am

  56. Steve,

    the link you posted is not working.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 11:06 am

  57. http://news.google.com/news?hl.....earch+News

    Comment by Steve — April 10, 2007 @ 11:07 am

  58. The converstation I posted with the Hills people happened this morning - do we have in our big brain memory bank of repeated information - what companies buy wholesale from MENU, so as not to repeat ourselves?

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 11:08 am

  59. I just read, with horror, the article regarding the “horrible coincidence” and Mark Wiens, CFO Menu Foods. I am disgusted. For anyone interested, here is the direct phone number-1-905-826-3870- secretary put me through to his voicemail. I left a message telling him that I lost my beloved kitty due to this mess and demanding an answer because I do not believe in coincidences. Whether he calls me back or not is irrelevant- I made my point clear. I encourage others to do the same. Lets keep Mr Wiens busy sifting through voicemails.

    Comment by Sue — April 10, 2007 @ 11:09 am

  60. Hey Sue, I’ve sent that information to the New York Times, The LA Times, CNN, MSNBC and the Marin Independant Journal. I’ve almost completely given up on the San Jose Mercury News. But, there are still LOTS of news agencies, I figure, that will appreciate this little bit of information about Mr. Wiens.

    Comment by Jamie — April 10, 2007 @ 11:15 am

  61. This is just a guess, but I wonder if these Pet Food Companies are not adding Wheat Gluten or switching the Glutens around, and not letting anyone know.

    So, their labels are not truthful. Just how truthful are the labels anyway. If this is a repeat question, then direct me to the answer. If we can’t trust the labels then we can’t trust anything - not one darn cat or dog product.

    Thanks.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 11:16 am

  62. Day One
    http://www.petconnection.com/b.....d-warning/

    and

    http://www.petconnection.com/b.....l/page/21/

    Comment by Steve — April 10, 2007 @ 11:17 am

  63. Who really owns MENU?

    It is not happenstance that four of the top five major pet food companies in the United States are subsidiaries of major multinational food production companies: Colgate Palmolive (which produces Hills Science Diet), Heinz, Nestle, and Mars )see The Corporate Connection). From a business standpoint, multi-national food companies owning pet food manufacturers is an ideal relationship. The multinationals have captive market in which to dump their waste products, and the pet food manufacturers have a direct source of bulk materials. Both make a profit from selling scraps that originate from places far worse than the dinner table. In his 1986 book Pet Allergies veterinarian Al Plechner sums up what goes into companion animals food: Condemned parts and animals rejected for human consumption are routinely rerouted for commercial pet foods. A similar fate applies to so-called 4-D animals. These are food animals picked up dead, or that are dying, diseased, or disabled, and do not meet human-food qualifications. They are processed straightaway for companion animal consumption. Little goes to waste. Says Plechner, Food processing refuse of all sorts winds up in your animals dinner bowls. Moldy grains. Rancid foods. Meat meal. The latter is ground-up slaughterhouse discards often containing disease-ridden tissue and high levels of hormones and pesticides, the very things that may have contributed to the death of the steer or hog. A decade later, his words still apply. When cattle, swine, chickens, lambs, or other animals meet their ends at a slaughterhouse, the choice cuts — lean muscle tissue and organs prized by humans — are trimmed away from the carcass for human consumption. Whatever remains of the carcass (bones, blood, pus, intestines, ligaments, subcutaneous fat, hooves, horns, beaks, and any other parts not normally consumed by humans) is, according to the pet food industry, perfectly fit as a protein source for cat and dog food.

    Linda MS - if this is a repeat forgive me.

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 11:20 am

  64. This is a very interesting article:www.api4animals.org/facts.php?p=359&more=1

    The Manufacturing Process: How Pet Food Is Made
    Dry Food

    The vast majority of dry food is made with a machine called an extruder. First, materials are blended in accordance with a recipe created with the help of computer programs that provide the nutrient content of each proposed ingredient. For instance, corn gluten meal has more protein than wheat flour. Because the extruder needs a consistent amount of starch and low moisture to work properly, dry ingredients — such as rendered meat-and-bone-meal, poultry by-product meal, grains, and flours — predominate.

    The dough is fed into the screws of an extruder. It is subjected to steam and high pressure as it is pushed through dies that determine the shape of the final product, much like the nozzles used in cake decorating. As the hot, pressurized dough exits the extruder, it is cut by a set of rapidly whirling knives into tiny pieces. As the dough reaches normal air pressure, it expands or “puffs” into its final shape. The food is allowed to dry, and then is usually sprayed with fat, digests, or other compounds to make it more palatable. When it is cooled, it can be bagged.

    Although the cooking process kills bacteria in the ingredients, the final product can pick up more bacteria during the subsequent drying, coating, and packaging process. Some experts warn that getting dry food wet can allow the bacteria on the surface to multiply and make pets sick. Do not mix dry food with water, milk, canned food, or other liquids.

    A few dog foods are baked at high temperatures (over 500°F) rather than extruded. This produces a sheet of dense, crunchy material that is then broken into irregular chunks, much like crumbling crackers into soup. It is relatively palatable without the sprayed-on fats and other enhancers needed on extruded dry food.

    Semi-moist foods and many pet treats are also made with an extruder. To be appealing to consumers and to keep their texture, they contain many additives, colorings, and preservatives; they are not a good choice for a pet’s primary diet.

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 11:25 am

  65. These major corporation are using their waste and by products in our pet foods: Now if this isn’t enough to make us all puke I don’t know what will:

    The Players

    The pet food market has been dominated in the last few years by the acquisition of big companies by even bigger companies. With $15 billion a year at stake in the U.S. and rapidly expanding foreign markets, it’s no wonder that some are greedy for a larger piece of the pie.

    Nestlé’s bought Purina to form Nestlé Purina Petcare Company (Fancy Feast, Alpo, Friskies, Mighty Dog, Dog Chow, Cat Chow, Puppy Chow, Kitten Chow, Beneful, One, ProPlan, DeliCat, HiPro, Kit’n’Kaboodle, Tender Vittles, Purina Veterinary Diets).
    Del Monte gobbled up Heinz (MeowMix, Gravy Train, Kibbles ’n Bits, Wagwells, 9Lives, Cycle, Skippy, Nature’s Recipe, and pet treats Milk Bone, Pup-Peroni, Snausages, Pounce).
    MasterFoods owns Mars, Inc., which consumed Royal Canin (Pedigree, Waltham’s, Cesar, Sheba, Temptations, Goodlife Recipe, Sensible Choice, Excel).
    Other major pet food makers are not best known for pet care, although many of their household and personal care products do use ingredients derived from animal by-products:

    Procter and Gamble (P&G) purchased The Iams Company (Iams, Eukanuba) in 1999. P&G shortly thereafter introduced Iams into grocery stores, where it did very well.
    Colgate-Palmolive bought Hill’s Science Diet (founded in 1939) in 1976 (Hill’s Science Diet, Prescription Diets, Nature’s Best).
    Private labelers (who make food for “house” brands like Kroger and Wal-Mart) and co-packers (who produce food for other pet food makers) are also major players. Three major companies are Doane Pet Care, Diamond, and Menu Foods; they produce food for dozens of private label and brand names. Interestingly, all 3 of these companies have been involved in pet food recalls that sickened or killed many pets.

    Many major pet food companies in the United States are subsidiaries of gigantic multinational corporations. From a business standpoint, pet food fits very well with companies making human products. The multinationals have increased bulk-purchasing power; those that make human food products have a captive market in which to capitalize on their waste products; and pet food divisions have a more reliable capital base and, in many cases, a convenient source of ingredients.

    The Pet Food Institute — the trade association of pet food manufacturers —has acknowledged the use of by-products in pet foods as additional income for processors and farmers: “The growth of the pet food industry not only provided pet owners with better foods for their pets, but also created profitable additional markets for American farm products and for the byproducts of the meat packing, poultry, and other food industries which prepare food for human consumption.”1

    Linda MS.

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 11:30 am

  66. Great job sending that info to so many news outlets, Jamie. I’ll do the same here with my local media. Anything to get the word out and demand some answers.

    Comment by Sue — April 10, 2007 @ 11:32 am

  67. “There is a possibility suggested by someone on one of the blogs that wheat gluten may have been substituted for corn gluten because the wheat was cheaper. According to the person who commented, the pet food companies were not required to change labels for ingredients until up to 6 months after making the substitution. I do not know if this is correct, and I am not trying to start a rumor. Can anyone check the validity of this possible substitution? Comment by Janice — April 10, 2007 @ 7:53 am
    WOW this is terrifying!! I agree with Janice — can we please get an answer to this question? Is it true about the label changing policy?

    Comment by Christi — April 10, 2007 @ 11:34 am

  68. If one of these big corporations has a label that has been recalled, all brands with Gluten anything is suspect - no matter what the “brand name” on the Label.

    Nestle makes ALPO and Natures Recipe and Friskies? Can we trust any of them? So how can we trust one of their brands and not feed another?

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 11:38 am

  69. My hubby was right!!! Since the recall, he has been searching for a news article he read shortly after 3/18 that stated CEO sold stock in Feb before the recall.

    Spent hours searching, to no avail. He thinks the MENU CEO paid off google and/or the author of that Internet report to erase/delete it off the Internet.

    Also, Vet Mr. FOX opinion about GM wheat is right on!! I spent the last 3 days researching the GM industry in the USA and around the globe.

    I have come to the conclusion that the wheat in question is indeed modified with the insecticide Cyromazine>>(Melamine is the parent chemical to this insectide) and also modified with Aminopterin. The FDA will soon tell us that the ‘tainted wheat gluten’ is from a GM seed that they approved in 2004/Monsanto

    Please research the Internet and you will find out what has been going on in the field of GM seeds/crops right in our own backyard. I was shocked to find out that GM products causes renal/kidney, liver failure and allergic reactions. Only by court order has these findings been released!

    search for: Monsanto Transgenic or Genetically Modified. Read about what happened in India GM corn/cotton and other places around the world, who don’t want/banned GM cotton, soybeans, wheat, rice, potatoes, the list goes on. Monsanto bribes Indonesian officials to approve GM cotton without looking at their own studies that show health problems with BT GM cotton.

    Check out the news release of 3/17 from Criigen that went un noticed re GM corn effects on organs. Google GM potatoes in France & UK.

    Read about Jeff Smith’s article about an ex Monsanto whistle, Kirk AZevedo.

    Sorry this post is so long, but this information needs to get out!!

    Comment by Annie — April 10, 2007 @ 11:39 am

  70. Response to Comment by Christi — April 10, 2007 @ 11:34 am

    Apparently it is true that companies have 6 months to update labels. I received an email from Natural Balance stating, “Label laws allow the use of out-dated packaging and support materials for 6 months.” This was in response to a question about menadione which they have removed from their ingredients, but is still listed on packaging temporarily.

    Comment by Ken — April 10, 2007 @ 11:40 am

  71. Here’s some interesting label information:

    “Today’s pet food packaging carries such descriptive words as “senior,” “premium,” “super-premium,” “gourmet,” and “natural.” While these terms have no standard definition or regulatory meaning, other terms do have specific meanings, and pet foods, which are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) and state agencies such as the Michigan Department of Agriculture, must carry certain information on their labels. Consumers can be confident that their pets are eating a nutritionally sound food if they understand the full significance of these labels.”

    http://www.michigan.gov/mda/0,.....2;,00.html

    Comment by Jamie — April 10, 2007 @ 11:40 am

  72. To what companies are board members of Menu Foods related to. Since Menu Foods is an Income Fund…I wonder who else owns their stock? Didn’t I read that the CEO of ChemNutra previously held the postion of VP at EF Hutton?

    I hope the news services pick-up on what appears to be “insider trading”..

    Re: dry food
    My dog who ate Eukanuba dry food and dry bones - had respiratory distress,upset stomach,dry nose and drank lots of water. We measured 188-256 oz/day. She was taken off that product, is getting home cooked and for the last two weeks now drinking 42 oz/day! I have heard others feeding Euk. noticing the same problem off and on since late Dec. The bones contain wheat but food is corn. P&G told me the food is safe.
    So what food bags are being switched out is what I would like to know??

    Katie

    Comment by Katie — April 10, 2007 @ 11:41 am

  73. Here’s something else from that same article:

    Pet Food Safety and Nutrition

    No matter what choice they make, consumers can take comfort in knowing that pet food is manufactured under a series of standards and regulations. These regulations require some nutrients and additives, disallow others, and stipulate certain information that must be on the label. The labels of packages and cans of commercial cat and dog food must list five pieces of information: guaranteed analysis, nutritional adequacy statement, ingredients, feeding guidelines, and the manufacturer’s name and address.”

    Comment by Jamie — April 10, 2007 @ 11:43 am

  74. The “95% Rule” applies when the ingredient(s) derived from animals, poultry, or fish constitutes at least 95% or more of the total weight of the product (or 70% excluding water for processing). Because all-meat diets are not nutritionally balanced and cause severe deficiencies if fed exclusively, they fell out of favor for many years. However, due to rising consumer interest in high quality meat products, several companies are now promoting 95% and 100% canned meats as a supplemental feeding option.

    The “dinner” product is defined by the “25% Rule,” which applies when “an ingredient or a combination of ingredients constitutes at least 25% of the weight of the product (excluding water sufficient for processing)”, or at least 10% of the dry matter weight; and a descriptor such as “recipe,” “platter,” “entree,” and “formula.” A combination of ingredients included in the product name is permissible when each ingredient comprises at least 3% of the product weight, excluding water for processing, and the ingredient names appear in descending order by weight.

    The “With” rule allows an ingredient name to appear on the label, such as “with real chicken,” as long as each such ingredient constitutes at least 3% of the food by weight, excluding water for processing.

    The “flavor” rule allows a food to be designated as a certain flavor as long as the ingredient(s) are sufficient to “impart a distinctive characteristic” to the food. Thus, a “beef flavor” food may contain a small quantity of digest or other extract of tissues from cattle, or even an artificial flavor, without containing any actual beef meat at all.

    The ingredient list is the other major key to what’s really in that bag or can. Ingredients must be listed in descending order of weight. The ingredient names are legally defined. For instance, “meat” refers to only cows, pigs, goats and sheep, and only includes specified muscle tissues. Detailed definitions are published in AAFCO’s Official Publication, revised annually, but can also be found in many places online.

    The guaranteed analysis provides a very general guide to the composition of the food. Crude protein, fat, and fiber, and total moisture are required to be listed. Some companies also voluntarily list taurine, Omega fatty acids, magnesium, and other items that they deem important — by marketing standards.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 11:46 am

  75. Where can we get PET FOOD TESTED???

    Comment by kelly B — April 10, 2007 @ 11:50 am

  76. UC. Davis Veterinary School in California, in the City of Davis.

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 11:54 am

  77. Comment by Annie — April 10, 2007 @ 11:39 am

    I may be out of the loop on this but are GM produce/foods required to be labeled as such? I recently heard that the FDA will NOT require labels on CLONED MEAT. They say it is no different. I assume the same for GM products.

    Comment by Christi — April 10, 2007 @ 11:56 am

  78. I’m concerned that these big corps (who are listed above) that own all the pet food companies are buying the same crap toxic junk and putting it in all their products - now this is a big worry. (except those that specifically exclude the Glutens - no wheat or corn Gluten anything)

    Who makes the dry food store brands? I bet they are all buying the same toxic junk and putting the Gluten in those products that have Gluten listed. I just bet!

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 11:57 am

  79. Here’s who is making the store brand dry pet food:

    http://www.redcoatpublishing.c....._doane.asp

    Doug Cahill tells Katherine Lomasney
    how his company’s unique
    culture contributes to its success.
    With 70% market share of the private label dry dog food business in the US, it’s somewhat surprising that few people have heard of Doane Pet Care. But the company would rather have it that way.
    “Our company is a big, quiet player in the global pet food business,” said Doug Cahill, president and CEO. “We want to be the ones behind great pet food.”
    Doane is a private label manufacturer of cat and dog food with 24 plants in the continental US. Its customers run the gamut from small pet-food companies to giants like Wal-Mart and Costco. Doane also is skimming the surface of the European market with plants in the UK, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Austria, and most recently Russia. “No one knows who we are,” said Cahill. “We’re quiet because we are not in the branded pet food business ourselves—we don’t own the brands.”
    Instead, Nashville, Tenn.-based Doane operates behind the scenes, providing services like marketing, R&D, and manufacturing to major private-label customers as well as nationally advertised brands. “Our role is to grow our customer’s branded business and do everything for them that they need,” Cahill said.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 12:03 pm

  80. Mars to buy Doane Pet Care Enterprises
    April 26, 2006

    BRENTWOOD, Tenn. —Mars Inc., which makes M&M’s and Snickers candies, said Wednesday it will acquire pet food manufacturer Doane Pet Care Enterprises Inc.

    Article Tools
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    Globe front page |
    Boston.com
    Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts Mars, which also owns pet food brands Pedigree and Whiskas, would not disclose the terms of the Doane deal from Teachers’ Private Capital, the private equity arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

    Brentwood-based Doane Pet Care has been the primary supplier of store-brand pet food for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. since 1970. The company also produces pet food for grocery chains including Kroger Co., Albertson’s Inc. and Safeway Inc. The company manufactures a variety of pet foods and treats for dogs and cats.

    The deal is expected to close in the next few months, pending regulatory approvals.

    Doug Cahill, Doane’s president and CEO, will manage the newly combined Mars North American Pet business. The new company will be based in Nashville.

    Privately held Mars operates six pet food plants in five states and Canada, and the acquisition will expand that operation to 26 plants in 16 states and Canada, Mars spokeswoman Alice Nathanson said.

    The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan is an independent corporation responsible for investing the funds assets and administering the pensions of the Canadian province’s elementary, secondary and retired school teachers.

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 12:06 pm

  81. Linda MS

    Great sleuthing. If I didn’t have to pack, I’d be on it today as well. I’m reading all the posts when I stop to take a break. Wish I could contribute. Just wanted to thank you for all that you and the others are doing.

    Comment by Nadine Long — April 10, 2007 @ 12:07 pm

  82. Mars finalized it. Mars owns it. Great!

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 12:08 pm

  83. Thanks Nadine. I try to be helpful and now I must earn a living. More later.

    Keep up the good work everyone.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 12:10 pm

  84. All this info just has me reeling with so many
    different emotions! I fear for all of my family
    which includes of course my 2 precious Shelties
    when I think of the fact that I have Del Monte
    and Nestle’s products in my cupboards…I don’t
    just fear for my fur-babies! I find this so,so,
    disturbing! I have researched “Fido” recipes
    and am cooking at home for them. My vet and his
    wife also cook for their Black Lab at home…so
    I know I’m doing the right thing. I want to
    thank EVERYONE who is putting an effort into
    further exposing the Petfood Industry for the
    frauds and criminals that they are! My son, who
    is a Journalism Intern at a University paper,
    has taken a huge interest in this, and sits by
    my side night after night as we read over the
    different websites……He has been submitting
    some articles…God Bless him!!….Nothing like
    getting a few thousand students to fight for
    this cause which is touching us all!!! For all
    you younger people looking for a cause in which
    can take part and feel justified…this is not
    only the cause….but, this is the time!!!

    Comment by Deanna — April 10, 2007 @ 12:12 pm

  85. Doane Pet Care (Owned by Mars makes)

    Product Examples:

    Mass Merchandise: Doane Pet Care has been the primary supplier of store brand pet food for Wal*Mart since 1970 - manufacturing and distributing a variety of products direct to their stores including Ol’Roy , Wal*Mart’s store brand and largest selling brand of dry pet food by volume in the United States .

    Grocers: Doane Pet Care also produces pet food for such nationally recognized grocery chains as Kroger, Albertson’s, Winn-Dixie, Safeway, Food Lion, Bruno’s and Bi-Lo, who market the products under their own store brands.

    Trail Blazer dog foods, available in six formulations, are complete and balanced for all stages of a dog’s life. Trail Blazer products have no artificial flavors, are routinely tested to ensure high digestibility and taste appeal, and come in a variety of package sizes to meet different consumer needs.

    Kozy Kitten cat foods are established and popular products that provide all the nutritional requirements for adult cats. Long known as a leading national value-priced brand, Kozy Kitten caters to the taste preferences of different cats with three flavor varieties, and is available in a variety of sizes for households with one or many cats.

    G. Whiskers is an affordable premium cat food offering gourmet flavor in the economy segment while still delivering a complete and balanced formula for all stages of a cat’s life. G. Whiskers is high in protein and contains linoleic acid for healthy skin and coat, calcium for strong bones and teeth, and taurine for good vision and healthy organ functions.

    Bonkers cat treats have been a favorite of cats for over 16 years. The five flavor varieties come in fun shapes to make Bonkers more entertaining for both cats and their owners. The colorful packaging is specifically designed to seal in freshness.

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 12:16 pm

  86. I don’t have time to look if any of these contain wheat gluten or are recalled. More to do later.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 12:17 pm

  87. We don’t buy ‘McPetfoods. Never have.

    Sadly, our top quality brand turned out to be made by a ‘McMenu McFactory.

    And I’m mad as hell about it.

    Comment by Steve — April 10, 2007 @ 12:25 pm

  88. Annie and Christi
    NO they do not have to label Genetically altered food in the US. Long story.
    If you want more info on this watch utube or order the film “Future of Food” at http://www.futureoffood.com the film is $25 2-DVD with special footage included.
    God save us all from Monsanto.

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 12:26 pm

  89. Annie:

    I think this is a very important point that you’re bringing up and well worth a deeper look. It could be the key to the mystery as to why Melamine isn’t supposed to be poisonous but apparently is… and speaks to the whole idea being eluded to by people doing analysis on the food that melamine is involved somehow but “assisted” by an other mystery ingredient in the illness and death of our pets.

    “I have come to the conclusion that the wheat in question is indeed modified with the insecticide Cyromazine>>(Melamine is the parent chemical to this insectide) and also modified with Aminopterin. The FDA will soon tell us that the ‘tainted wheat gluten’ is from a GM seed that they approved in 2004/Monsanto”

    I wonder if any biochemists/vets/jounalists could comment on this theory??

    Comment by Cynthia — April 10, 2007 @ 12:26 pm

  90. Coincidence my A$$!!!!!!!!!

    Comment by Ron — April 10, 2007 @ 12:33 pm

  91. Cynthia - I agree.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 12:34 pm

  92. Nutro can kiss where the sun don’t shine. I knew from day one it was all bad.
    Monsanto is embedded deeply on the East Coast on both sides of the fence and in every department. That’s why we have no labels telling the truth about pet or people food.
    Please see the film. I’ve known for years but the film packages really well.

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 12:35 pm

  93. All the little companies are being bought up by the big companies and pretty soon even the holistic organic certified blah blah blah will be owned by the big companies and they all will have us by the ……well you know what I mean.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 12:38 pm

  94. Anybody want a soap sandwich? I noticed Bayer is doing rice. WHY? I thought they were just Pharma. I think I’m behind on the Bayer Co.

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 12:41 pm

  95. All store brands dry food are manufactured by Mars Company out of their TN Plant that was once Doane Company, once until last year.

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 12:42 pm

  96. Probably another reason there is a coverup is because the financial repercussions of a collapse-shut down of the Pet Food industry would reverberate throughout the economy and Wall Street triggering who knows what kind of calamity.

    Investors and executives in the Monopolized Pet Food Industry are being protected before us and our pets. Thats completely obvious by now. Our only option is to seek out alternatives in the smaller private label sector who aren’t part of “The Club”.

    Comment by Steve — April 10, 2007 @ 12:46 pm

  97. I agree with Cynthia….I would love to get
    those that are more “learned” on the bandwagon!
    I’m just a Mom, with no special degrees or for
    that matter diplomas in these fields and I am
    so angry at the arrogance this industry….like
    we couldn’t possibly figure anything out or
    have the bollocks to band together and do
    anything about even IF we could! They treat the
    consumers like sitting ducks. I’d love to see
    them behind bars eating the crap that they sell
    ….just like those poor animals that they have
    tested and killed!

    Comment by Deanna — April 10, 2007 @ 12:46 pm

  98. Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 12:38 pm

    I have to say that among the many disturbing aspects of this story the idea that even the small “holistic organic certified blah blah blah …” pet food companies are really part of the bigger corporations ie Menu Foods. I have never fed Newman’s (only one example at random) but was shocked to see that Menu makes some of their food! Now I didn’t really expect Paul Newman to be cooking dog food on his stove but COME ON! I REALLY DID assume they had tighter control over things. Maybe now they will???

    Comment by Christi — April 10, 2007 @ 12:48 pm

  99. No, Linda, the big companies will not have us …. With OUR VOICES, WORDS, and INFORMED PURCHASING POWER, we can grow the “smaller” companies that want to produce high quality food and want their ingredients’ origins and manufacturing processes and locations disclosed to the consumers, without giving up legitimate trade secrets, of course. No, we will not let the “big” companies swallow up the little guys (producing premium products) with the lure of profits.

    Already at my local farm/feed store, which sells a lot of premium foods to breeders, etc., they added a completely grain-free dog & cat food just this week - DUE TO CONSUMER DEMAND — I was told. We CAN effect change. We just have to insist on what we will tolerate as full disclosure. Those companies who want to thrive (and I believe some will emerge with huge profits) will be the ones to make as much transparent as possible, whether its the little guy or one of the big guys.

    The pet food and related industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, and we have voices and can sway the market.

    The only way to effect change is by causing declining sales and profits. We need to insist on what we want to see and spend our money accordingly.

    Comment by petlover — April 10, 2007 @ 12:52 pm

  100. Comment by Steve — April 10, 2007 @ 12:46 pm

    Have these been identified yet? Will they have the resources and power to assist in battle?

    The April convention should be extremely interesting. Especially at the cocktail parties.

    Comment by Nadine Long — April 10, 2007 @ 12:55 pm

  101. I must have missed a few posts. Where has it been reported that Newman’s pet food was contaminated? The other night CNN showed a list of pet food brands/companies that were NOT affected by recall. These companies called or wrote into CNN saying so. Newman’s was among them.

    Comment by Barb — April 10, 2007 @ 12:55 pm

  102. “The only way to effect change is by causing declining sales and profits. We need to insist on what we want to see and spend our money accordingly.” Comment by petlover — April 10, 2007 @ 12:52 pm

    This is absolutely the way to proceed. Money talks.

    Comment by Christi — April 10, 2007 @ 12:56 pm

  103. More on Mars/Doanne Pet Food

    Doane Pet Care Company, based in Brentwood, Tennessee, is the largest manufacturer of private label pet food and the second largest manufacturer of dry pet food overall in the United States. The Company sells to over 600 customers around the world and serves many of the top pet food retailers in the United States, Europe and Japan. The Company offers its customers a full range of pet food products for both dogs and cats, including dry, semi- moist, wet, treats and dog biscuits.

    Here are their requrements for a Quality Assurance Technician…very impressive….NOT

    http://expo.live.com/ViewListi.....sn_careers

    Looking through their listings for employment opportunities I have counted at least 10 different plants operating.

    http://expo.live.com/UserProfile.aspx?user=1402530

    They produce dry, wet, semi-moist and treats.

    It looks like a very few pet food producers control all of the pet foods supplied.

    Comment by mal — April 10, 2007 @ 12:57 pm

  104. NO NO NO Newman’s NOT recalled BUT some of their products are made by Menu (see http://www.thepetfoodlist.com/petfoods_pg2.htm) I just assumed they manufactured their own food. Sorry for the confusion

    Comment by Christi — April 10, 2007 @ 12:59 pm

  105. Christi and petlover,

    Hopefully, Senate hearings this week will be helpful to this plight getting the bad news out to the public. Media overage on this whole tragedy has been nothing. Put pressure on Wal-mart and big stores. Full page ads in major newspapers. Etc.

    Comment by Nadine Long — April 10, 2007 @ 1:07 pm

  106. Comment by Nadine Long — April 10, 2007 @ 12:55 pm

    I am not sure who to look towards just yet. Much research needs to be done. Those that do not use menu foods is a start. I haven’t seen any recently compiled public list of brands that are not involved with Menu Foods or the Pet Food Institute Lobby group.

    Comment by Steve — April 10, 2007 @ 1:08 pm

  107. I wonder if any other of the big-wig corporate murderers sold off any of their shares… Does anybody have any way of looking that information up?

    I see that the Mark Wiens’ Menu Foods share sale is making the rounds in the news!

    Comment by Jamie — April 10, 2007 @ 1:09 pm

  108. Ken - thanks so much for your response. I find this absolutely terrifying.

    “Apparently it is true that companies have 6 months to update labels. I received an email from Natural Balance stating, “Label laws allow the use of out-dated packaging and support materials for 6 months.” This was in response to a question about menadione which they have removed from their ingredients, but is still listed on packaging temporarily.

    Comment by Ken — April 10, 2007 @ 11:40 am “

    Comment by Kim — April 10, 2007 @ 1:14 pm

  109. Comment by Jamie — April 10, 2007 @ 1:09 pm

    Many other brands operate at subsidiaries of big corporations.
    Translation, they have very deep pockets. Some brands are now owned by global venture capital and investment groups.
    http://www.nutroproducts.com/press122005.asp

    Comment by Steve — April 10, 2007 @ 1:15 pm

  110. I have a feeling that when all is said and done Iams Co will be finished.

    Comment by Christi — April 10, 2007 @ 1:20 pm

  111. RE: Pet Food Labels and substitutions
    Comment by Janice — April 10, 2007 @ 7:53 am
    The big companies/manufacturers have fixed formulas. That’s the major question you have to ask your pet food manufacturer. Fixed formulas means no substitutions. I think all of Hills products are fixed formulas. As to the 6 month lag in changing the label, I suspect that’s in the AAFCO regs, which would mean finding someone with a current 350 page copy! It’s oft repeated and even a Hill’s rep said it out loud.

    http://www.purina.com/dogs/foo.....elReg.aspx
    Who Establishes and Governs Label Requirement Policies?
    The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) develops the regulations for livestock and companion animal foods. The regulations are published annually in the AAFCO Official Publication.

    Interpreting pet food labels (dry):
    http://www.dogfoodproject.com/.....belinfo101
    They have a disc group if you want to see if anyone can nail down the 6 month label change issue.

    States may also add things, so check your state. Might be worth a phone call, though the last time I called the AAFCO rep in FL he knew…..not much.
    http://www.aafco.org/SummaryOf.....fault.aspx

    Some good questions here by a vet about what she looks for on the label:
    http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/Se.....R00173.htm

    Comment by CathyA — April 10, 2007 @ 1:24 pm

  112. “Iams Company mission is to enhance the wellbeing of dogs and cats by providing world-class quality foods and pet care products.”

    Maybe they should just concentrate on providing wholesome and safe products.

    Comment by Steve — April 10, 2007 @ 1:27 pm

  113. Here’s a release from Science Daily. I wonder if the researchers are considering how genetically modified wheat might play or have played a role. Could the gluten have come from Monsanto test crops grown in China? Do modified crops ‘behave’ differently with conventional pesticides?

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/re.....185542.htm

    Comment by Cynthia — April 10, 2007 @ 1:29 pm

  114. What I’d like to do is look at the labels of some of these recalled foods, not wet, dry and see if anything might have been manufactured in TN and if we find that, I just bet we have the big corp that has used some of this WG toxic waste junk. And if not TN then where so we can find the plant - because they buy in bulk and use main ingredients in almost everything, except those that specifically say no Gluten etc. then we have the company that is being withhled from us.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 1:41 pm

  115. Cynthia
    YES, must use patented brand only to make plant grow.

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 1:41 pm

  116. Doanne is owned by Mars Inc who is owned by Masterfoods.

    The Waltham section of Mars lists all the brands:

    http://www.waltham.com/brands.htm

    Of these is Royal Canin which is still involved in a lawsuit started in 2007.

    ROYAL CANIN recalled three of its Veterinary Diet Canine canned dog foods in April 2006 following 24 reported cases of hypercalcemia in Canada and eight cases in the United States from November 2005 through February 2006. Left untreated, hypercalcemia (excessive amounts of calcium levels in the blood) can lead to bone defects, cardiac changes (including abnormal heart rhythm, or arrhythmia), kidney hypertension and possible renal failure, and, at especially high levels, death.

    http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story.....wsuit.html

    Obviously none of the pet food companies can be trusted.

    Comment by mal — April 10, 2007 @ 1:42 pm

  117. This is interesting “…as GM crops become more prevalent, there is little that an organic farmer can do to prevent a speck of GM pollen or a stray GM seed from being blown by the wind onto his land or farm equipment and, eventually, into his products. In 2006, GM crops accounted for 61 percent of all the corn planted in the U.S. and 89 percent of all the soybeans.” Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/stat.....peaks.html

    Comment by Christi — April 10, 2007 @ 1:54 pm

  118. Comment by mal — April 10, 2007 @ 1:42 pm

    What’s going on in Canada, Europe? Any problems with pet food there?

    Comment by Christi — April 10, 2007 @ 2:20 pm

  119. Does anyone have a bag of the recalled Sciene Diet for cats m/d - can you look on the bag and tell us where it was manufactured - that must be on the bag by law. Thanks

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 2:22 pm

  120. SD and Prescription SD apparently only have country of origin on label. Made in USA.

    Comment by Christi — April 10, 2007 @ 2:32 pm

  121. It is supposed to show the location - city, state, that type of thing not just USA - that’s meaningless.

    I read the regs. earlier.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 2:35 pm

  122. I read of one death in Europe but can’t remember where.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 2:36 pm

  123. Steve comment @ 1:15 Nuto link
    Great! The first time I get a free coupon for Domino’s. Oh, well mine tastes better anyway.
    Hope that’s not where the excess gluten went.
    Even if by extremely remote chance Nutro was unaware (which I doubt), They’re behavior, response, arrogance, indifference, bald-faced lying. It’s criminal and I hope they go to jail and have to eat their own special recipe.

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 2:37 pm

  124. You can listen to the MENU FOODS INCOME FUND 2006 FOURTH QUARTER RESULTS CONFERENCE & FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS FOR 2007

    Audio Conference Link is below(25 minutes total)
    Click on “Listen to the Archive” button

    http://events.onlinebroadcasti...../index.php

    Comment by petlover — April 10, 2007 @ 2:39 pm

  125. If SD is made in USA as some others are and Nutro Product of Canada then how did they all get Chinese WG. Oh yeah The slippery little 6 mo label law.

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 2:42 pm

  126. Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 2:35 pm

    I have a bag of Prescription Diet j/d canine and the info reads :
    Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc.
    PO Box 148
    Topeka, KS 66601

    Comment by Christi — April 10, 2007 @ 2:46 pm

  127. Linda,

    I’m working on packaging for home products at this moment, and while food may have different requirements, my supplement labels that are sitting here are labeled in the same way I do the labeling. We put manufactured for:Company name/Location. We do include country of origin. On my supplements I have 3 variations: Manufactured for (contracted?), Manufactured By (tends to be same as brand), and one just has Brand Name and location (?).

    Comment by straybaby — April 10, 2007 @ 2:46 pm

  128. Maybe I was wrong about the location - where it was manufactured - feed has to have it - but maybe the pet food industry slipped a fast one in.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 2:57 pm

  129. I need to research this but it seems that at least the labels need to state: Where the food was manufactured and by what company - Like Made for Science Diet by Menu Foods out of xxxxxx city in xxxxx state.

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 3:02 pm

  130. From their website:

    Contact Hill’s by phone:
    If you would prefer to speak with us immediately and are located in North America, call us at 1-800-445-5777 from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. CST, Monday-Friday.

    Comment by Christi — April 10, 2007 @ 3:03 pm

  131. yeah, we just have to put country of manufacture, but nothing more pinned down than that. So there is really no way to know where the raw ingredients are coming from. Manufacture location will only help if you know there is a problem at the plant. The supplement labels that say manufacture for/by seem to just have the headquarter location and nothing about where exactly they were manufactured or if that is indeed the factory location. I had to check the websites to try and figure out where factories were and sources of raw ingredients. that was fun . . .

    Comment by straybaby — April 10, 2007 @ 3:06 pm

  132. I am learning this:

    The exact amount of our pets dead bodies compared to cows and pigs etc in a rendereing batch is difficult to determine - 10,000 and 30,000 pounds of dogs and cats a day out of 250,000 to 500,00 lbs of cattle, poultry, butcher scrap and other materials. California law requires that rendered dogs and cats be labeled as “dry rendered tankage” and is rarely used in Pet Food. However, outside Ca. it is common and legal to use this tankage and in pet foods and ship it back in California. California does not inspect meat and bone meal imported from other states.

    God have mercy on our souls -

    Linda MS.

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 3:06 pm

  133. Here’s a thought or more so, something for all here to reflect on. After Sen. Durbin’s hearing, even if we get all or some of the changes we want, what happens next. The changes will take time. Someone or some organization needs to watchdog to make certain the changes are instituted in a timely manner. And what about all of us pet parents that will continue to worry about the food we serve each time we put that plate down for our “lovies”. Where will we continue to go for support. Still concerned about the little treats they get. I’m not a big advocate of rawhide chews, but my dogs get the occasional chew and it makes them happy. I watch for the ones made in this country and not S. America or some other country that uses arsenic to tan the hides. But how can I trust anything that goes into my pets’ tummies is safe after this. Will Itchmo, or Pet Connection or Vetcetera still be on the watch for us. Could someone address this?

    Comment by VJ — April 10, 2007 @ 3:08 pm

  134. The pet food company, namely the big corporations, are just slipping a fast one in. Feed has to have all this info - why not our Pet food and even our own food for heavens sake.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 3:08 pm

  135. Also, saran wrap and expired products from grocery stores go to rendering plants and this too is in the pet food.

    Linda MS.

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 3:09 pm

  136. PET FOOD - EUROPE
    Comment by Christi — April 10, 2007

    What’s going on in Canada, Europe? Any problems with pet food there?

    Most dog & catfood is (imported and) manufactured in Europe. So far, so good - no horror story’s. To date only one product is known to be imported from USA to Iceland with one other possibility.

    Producers: Sunshine Mills (Performance) & Nutra (all brands of Nutro).

    Pressure on here on importers and producers.

    Answer to an Icelandic client’s inquiry (mind you info on the bag my friend has specifies wheat gluten others (ProPower) corn gluten in 16 languages. What we don’t know is where it’s produced) from P. Watson CEO ? for Proformance.

    “Thank you for your letter. The short answer to your question is “no”. There is no wheat gluten in any of the Proformance formulas and no wheat gluten is anywhere in our pet food factory either. Proformance has no problems with safety and no recall is planned here in the US or anywhere else.

    Thank you for your business.

    Paul Watson
    Proformance Pet Products, Inc.”

    Thank you for “an” answer, now could you answer the question asked ? Is the Proformance Lamb & Rice contaminated, where is it produced & and by whom ? I suggest that you read the label before you answer, it’s in English !!!

    My friend has 4 dogs, she has made a vet appointment for all. Expect the bill(s) Paul.

    My deepest sympathy to all that had to see their good friends, dogs and cats, suffer.

    Comment by Stefania — April 10, 2007 @ 3:12 pm

  137. PFI members constitute 97% of domestic pet food production….

    What next?

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 3:14 pm

  138. The AAFCO’s labeling requirements: A manufacturer must list their name and address, brand name, product name, quantity statement, species statement, guaranteed analysis, ingredient statement and, if required, a statement of nutritional adequacy and feeding direction.

    Linda MS.

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 3:16 pm

  139. “Also, saran wrap and expired products from grocery stores go to rendering plants and this too is in the pet food.”

    Linda MS.

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 3:09 pm

    I don’t like that!!! How do you know this?

    Comment by Christi — April 10, 2007 @ 3:25 pm

  140. I’m reading a paper about it. The stores take all their expired meat to the rendering plants -it is expired and has been wrapped to sell but didn’t so they truck it to the rendering plants. The workers don’t unwrap the meat before they dispose of it.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 3:29 pm

  141. It gets worse than that. Those products that say they use human grade ingredients - lie. Now is that an eye opener or what?

    Linda MS.

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 3:30 pm

  142. Is there an online version of this paper? And do I really want to read it?????

    Comment by Christi — April 10, 2007 @ 3:33 pm

  143. It’s a Harvard Law School Research Paper:

    http://leda.law.harvard.edu/le.....rick06.pdf

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 3:35 pm

  144. Isn’t that saran wrap also wrapped around styrofoam? And isn’t saran wrap petrochemical?

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 3:35 pm

  145. is distributed by the same as manufactured by? i have several foods that say distributed by, but no manufacture information included. the only one that i could find that had the manufacture name listed was College Inn broth where it says manfactured in the USA by Heinz. but the info on that gives the General Office address for inquiries, so no clue as to where in the states it was actually produced.

    Comment by straybaby — April 10, 2007 @ 3:35 pm

  146. ANOTHER ONE!!!!!!!!!!

    Royal Canin Recalls Wet Cat Food Made by Menu Foods (Update1)

    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/.....fer=canada

    April 10 (Bloomberg) — Royal Canin Canada, a unit of Mars Inc., said it’s recalling a brand of canned cat food made by Menu Foods Ltd. that contains contaminated wheat gluten linked to the deaths of at least 16 animals.

    The company’s Medi-Cal Feline Dissolution Formula, made at an Ontario plant, is being withdrawn from veterinary clinics, the Guelph, Ontario-based unit said today in a statement. The affected food isn’t sold through supermarkets or pet-food stores and must be prescribed by veterinarians.

    Menu Foods, based in the Toronto-suburb of Streetsville, recalled 60 million cans and pouches of wet pet food on March 16 that was subsequently found to contain wheat gluten contaminated with melamine, a substance used to make plastic utensils and fertilizer. Royal Canin is at least the seventh company to recall pet food made with suspect wheat gluten obtained from China.

    Royal Canin said it was “completely shocked” to learn that the wheat gluten had made its way to Canada, after being assured by Menu Foods that it was distributed only in the U.S.

    Comment by mal — April 10, 2007 @ 3:38 pm

  147. There’s a lot more to the paper I haven’t read yet. Some of it is pretty scary. I will take it apart, line by line, tonight.

    I shudder to think what I am going to read and most of these people overseeing our pet food, the agencies, have on their board - guess who? The Pet food Companies -

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 3:39 pm

  148. The toxic junk Wheat Gluten is in many dry foods too - many. I went to the store and looked.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 3:40 pm

  149. Here is the Royal Canin Recall on their site:

    April 10, 2007

    ROYAL CANIN CANADA PROACTIVELY RECALLS FELINE DISSOLUTION FORMULA (canned)

    http://www.royalcanin.ca/index_en.php

    Comment by mal — April 10, 2007 @ 3:41 pm

  150. If you read the paper (I printed it) see the note at the bottom of page 22 and get a bag to catch the vomit.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 3:43 pm

  151. Not sure if this has come up on any other posts, but I’ve been here religiously since this started, and I haven’t seen it. Thought it was interesting, and it was new to me, thought I’d share. I found this on another blog, http://dogblog.dogster.com/200.....-pet-food/

    writen by “Fred’s mom” :
    Thought you might find this quite interesting.

    Menu Foods is on the Board of Directors of the Pet Food Institute in Washington, DC.

    http://www.petfoodinstitute.org

    What they are:

    “Since 1958, the Pet Food Institute has been the voice of U.S. pet food manufacturers. PFI is the industry’s public education and media relations resource, representative before the U.S. Congress and state and federal agencies, organizer of seminars and educational programs, and liaison with other organizations. PFI represents the manufacturers of 97 percent of all dog and cat food produced in the United States.

    PFI is dedicated to:

    Promoting the overall care and well-being of pets.
    Supporting initiatives to advance the quality of dog and cat food.
    Supporting research in pet nutrition and the important role of pets in our society.
    Informing and educating the public on pet proper feeding and pet care.
    Representing the pet food industry before Federal and State governments.”

    Comment by marianne — April 10, 2007 @ 3:47 pm

  152. Just catching up on the posts. Christi’s post on 1:20 p.m…. Yes Iams should go out of business. But who will continue to keep watch that the same a$$h—-s don’t become the new a$$h—-s in another company with the same concept as Iams. New name, same playing field.

    Comment by VJ — April 10, 2007 @ 3:48 pm

  153. FYI: to anyone who read my post above. I am getting very close to providing 100% documentation that the wheat gluten in question came from a GM wheat seed approved by our government.

    I’ve already found where XXX gave tolerances for CYROMAZINE and took away/removed the tolerances for Melamine, older report for XXX company.

    Trust me, I will find current data, that’s all I can say right now.

    Comment by Annie — April 10, 2007 @ 3:51 pm

  154. http://www.avma.org/aa/menufoo.....oducts.asp

    AVMA updates website with Nutro alert

    Comment by Carole — April 10, 2007 @ 3:54 pm

  155. Alert: Additional Nutro cat food products were reported in the media on April 9 as having tested positive for melamine, but the findings have not been confirmed nor has an expanded recall been issued. Consumers should contact the manufacturer directly with questions about these additional products:
    Nutro California Chicken Supreme 3-oz. Can
    Nutro Chicken Cacciatore 3-oz. Can
    Nutro Lamb & Turkey Cutlets 3-oz. Can

    Comment by Carole — April 10, 2007 @ 3:55 pm

  156. That seems reasonable Annie. They have grass seeds that contain their own nutrients - so you water and the seeds grows tall and lovely. Why not the same thing with Wheat.

    What if the GE Wheat could supply nitrogen or something for its own growth - what a big plus that might be.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 3:57 pm

  157. I do not for one moment believe this is “recent”. I had 3 cats become ill about 9 months ago. All mysterious illnesses. The vet continually asked me if they could have gotten into some kind of poison..which was a big NO. Every possible test was run on the one (even cancer scans) to no avail. My cat became so ill she had to be hospitalized over the week end. When I took her to the hospital..there in the waiting room were 3 other people with dogs..all with the same ‘mysterious illness’. No virus was found nor was any bacterial infections. All three of my kitties were on the Iams pre packaged food. Now there is nothing I can prove here…but in my heart of hearts I believe this has gone on far longer then the ‘recent reports’.

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 3:58 pm

  158. Did these cans list Wheat Gluten as an ingredient?

    Please folks don’t use anything with “Gluten” in it, corn or wheat.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 3:58 pm

  159. They should have recalled all food made at Menu, regardless.

    Comment by Carole — April 10, 2007 @ 4:01 pm

  160. Also, pet food companies are must follow manufacturing laws and rules in the state where their factories are located - now that’s interesing. Maybe it is wise for these companies to be in Kansas or where ever.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 4:02 pm

  161. I’ll just bet they are shocked, as shocked as Nutro? Or as shocked as Menu? Or maybe as shocked as Horrible Coincidence? Or as shocked as Shanghai Sally? Or as shocked as Xuzhou Anying? Or…FDA? Or…Walmart? Or…Iams, Eukanuba, Purina, Ol Roy, or any other SHOCKED CEO? Oh my God, I’m so-o-o-o-o-o shocked by this revealation. I guess everyone is Shocked. Are you shocked? I’m shocked! I wonder how this could have happened. I mean we’re all just so darned shocked.

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 4:05 pm

  162. Comments by Kathi, Linda, etc - I posted this on the CA Recall comments, but since Monstanto and thoughts about genetic wheat are being discussed here, I’m reposting it.

    This sounds alot like what would explain why this wheat gluten is so bad. Read his numbered comments especially.

    LARGEST PET FOOD RECALL EVER—
    -A Genetic Engineered Food Disaster?
    By Michael W. Fox B.Vet.Med., Ph.D., D.Sc., M.R.C.V.S.

    I have received several letters from dog and cat owners thanking me for ‘saving their animal’s lives’ because they were feeding them the kind of home-made diet that I have been advocating as a veterinarian for some years. These letters came after the largest pet food recall in the pet food industry’s history.

    On March 23, the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets announced that they had found ‘rat poison’ in contaminated wheat gluten imported from China was responsible for the suffering and deaths of an as yet uncounted numbers of cats and dogs across North America. The poison is a chemical compound called aminopterin.

    Veterinary toxicologists with the ASPCA and American College of Internal Veterinary Medicine shared my concern that there may be some other food contaminant (s) in addition to the aminopterin that was sickening and killing many pets. Experts were not convinced that the finding of rat poison contamination was the end of the story.

    On March 30, the FDA reported finding a widely used compound called melamine described as a chemical used in the manufacture of plastics, as a wood resin adhesive and protective, in the suspect pet foods. The FDA claimed that the melamine was the cause of an as yet uncounted number of cat and dog poisonings and deaths. The FDA could not find the rat poison, aminopterin, in the samples it analyzed. However a lab in Canada, at the University of Guelph, has confirmed the presence of rat poison.

    The Associated Press cited the Environmental Protection Agency as having identified melamine as a contaminant and byproduct of several pesticides, including cryomazine. People began to question if there is also pesticide contamination of the wheat gluten. Is there a possibility of deliberate contamination, or is it the result of gross mismanagement and lack of effective food-safety and quality controls that accounts for levels of melamine reported to be as high as 6.6% by in FDA analyzed samples of the wheat gluten?

    A brief internet search quickly reveals that the widely used insect growth regulator cryomazine is not only made from melamine, but it also breaks down into melamine after ingestion by an animal. Wheat gluten is wheat gluten, fit for human consumption, so the question remains, what was wrong with this gluten that it was only bought for use in pet food?

    On April 3 Associated Press named the US importer as ChemNutra of Las Vegas, reporting that the company had recalled 873 tons of wheat gluten that had been shipped to three pet food makers and a single distributor who in turn supplies the pet food industry.

    While Congressional hearings are now being called for by grieving pet owners, and class action suits put together, this debacle could have catastrophic consequences not only for conventional agribusiness, of which the pet food industry is a lucrative subsidiary, but also for the agricultural biotechnology industry, with its millions of acres of genetically engineered crops around the world.

    I reach this conclusion, until there is evidence to the contrary, for the following reasons:

    1. The wheat gluten imported from China was not for human consumption, because, I believe, it had been genetically engineered. The FDA has a wholly cavalier attitude toward feeding animals such ‘frankenfoods’ but places some restrictions when human consumption is involved (yet refuses appropriate food labeling).

    2. The ‘rat poison’ aminopterin is used in molecular biology as an anti-metabolite, folate antagonist, and in genetic engineering biotechnology as a genetic marker. This could account for its presence in this imported wheat gluten.

    3. The ‘plastic’, ‘wood preservative’, contaminant melamine, the parent chemical for a potent insecticide cyromazine, could well have been manufactured WITHIN the wheat plants themselves as a genetically engineered pesticide. This is much like the Bt. insecticidal poison present in most US commodity crops that go into animal feed.

    4.So called ‘overexpression’ can occur when spliced genes that synthesize such chemicals become hyperactive inside the plant and result in potentially toxic plant tissues, lethal not just to meal worms and other crop pests, but to cats, dogs, birds, butterflies and other wildlife; and to their creators. (For details, see my book Killer Foods: What Scientists Do to Make Food Better is Not Always Best. Lyon’s Press, 2004).

    How else can one account for samples of pet food containing as much as 6% melamine? It was surely not mixed in such amounts when the wheat gluten was being processed, but rather was already in the wheat, along with the aminopterin genetic marker. My suspicion is that the FDA was aware that the gluten came from genetically engineered wheat that was considered safe for animal consumption. To admit that the gluten came from a genetically engineered food crop could harm the US agricultural biotechnology industry, and raise valid consumer concerns.

    I could be wrong. But a greater wrong is surely for the pet food industry to use food ingredients and food and beverage industry by-products considered unfit for human consumption; to continue to do business without any adequate government oversight and inspection; and for government to give greater priority and support to agricultural biotechnology ( that requires far more food quality and safety tests and surveillance than conventional crops— all at the public’s expense0—than to organic, humane, ecologically sound and safe food production.

    I believe that there is evidence of gross negligence, not simply on the part of the pet food industry, but by all who are responsible for food quality and safety in the global market that is clearly dysfunctional. The Pet Food Institute should start an emergency fund to compensate all veterinary expenses incurred as a result of this—and any future—mass poisonings of people’s beloved animal companions.

    Dr. Fox writes the syndicated newspaper column Animal Doctor, with United Features, NY, and is author of the forthcoming two books on pet care, Dog Body, Dog Mind: Exploring Canine Consciousness and Well-Being, and Cat Body, Cat Mind: Exploring Feline Consciousness and Total Well-Being, published by The Lyons Press. His website is http://www.doctormwfox.org

    Comment by Becky — April 10, 2007 @ 4:06 pm

  163. We should know the dry pet food company too that got the toxic WG junk. I wonder if it is located in TN. Just a guess. I found some Organic Dry Cat Food, wasn’t really Organic, but the label called it that - and it had this Wheat Gluten in it - from a brand I had never seen before. It was being sold at Wal-Mart.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 4:07 pm

  164. Linda MS,
    Yes, I went to the pet store today and these 3 Nutro products listed Wheat Gluten as an ingredient. Don’t know how many other products also contain this ingredient.
    I absolutely can’t believe that this company (these companies) didn’t test their products to ensure they were not poisoning our pets.

    Comment by Janet — April 10, 2007 @ 4:08 pm

  165. Very good article. I read it on another site. But it’s good to be reminded. There’s lots of buzz around the GE toxic waste Wheat Glute junk. Thanks Becky.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 4:09 pm

  166. Janet - that is terrible. You simply can’t trust these companies. They are making mistakes.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 4:10 pm

  167. I’ve been giving my dogs cheese for a treat. Little pieces of real cheese. I just don’t trust anything anymore and can you blame me?

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 4:11 pm

  168. Annie, Is this what you’re talking about?

    http://tedeboy.tripod.com/drmichaelwfox/id74.html

    It’s an interesting write-up.

    Comment by Cynthia — April 10, 2007 @ 4:13 pm

  169. That is the point the writer of the Harvard Law School Paper makes: These companies use their industry waste and by products in our pet food as a filler and it is legal: And Mr Fox points out:

    But a greater wrong is surely for the pet food industry to use food ingredients and food and beverage industry by-products considered unfit for human consumption; to continue to do business without any adequate government oversight and inspection; and for government to give greater priority to agricultural biotechnology and the patenting of genetically engineered crops and animals, and not to organic, humane, ecologically sound and safe food production.

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 4:19 pm

  170. Janet
    Are you kidding! I know you’re not. But of course they don’t want to tell because ALL of their products are contaminated and some are waiting to get tapped before they’ll squeak out the friday night poop. Fancy Feast, for one. Numerous complaints locally on the east coast.

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 4:21 pm

  171. Linda
    When you say beverage. What beverages?

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 4:27 pm

  172. The worse part is that some of this toxic Wheat Gluten maybe sitting in a storage facility or warehoused right now ready to go into a batch of pet food -

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 4:28 pm

  173. That was a quote from his article. These giant corps that own the pet food companys need to dispose of their waste products and they manufacture lots of things and some of it can go into pet food legally -

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 4:30 pm

  174. Kathy - Can you please direct me to reports you’ve seen/heard/read on Fancy Feast effecting pets on the East Coast. I’m going petsitting in a few minutes and know that Fancy Feast is what owners feed their cats.

    Comment by Barb — April 10, 2007 @ 4:33 pm

  175. Barb
    For certain complaints are with the new Medley line. Illness and I think one very near death.

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 4:36 pm

  176. I told my son to look at his cans of cat food, and on the bag of dry and if it has Wheat Gluten (or even corn gluten) listed not to use it.

    Do some of these cans not list the Wheat Gluten ingredient?

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 4:38 pm

  177. Barb
    If I remember correctly, it’s the comments on March 31 pet food recall page at http://www.wwaytv3.com You may have to scroll the news pages to find it.

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 4:38 pm

  178. You can listen to the MENU FOODS INCOME FUND 2006 FOURTH QUARTER RESULTS CONFERENCE & FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS FOR 2007

    Audio Conference Link is below(25 minutes total)
    Click on “Listen to the Archive” button

    http://events.onlinebroadcasti...../index.php

    I posted this earlier in the blog and have listened to the audio. Menu Foods was concerned about the rising costs of medical insurance for U.S. workers in the plants, the rising costs of the aluminum and tin cans they use, and their operating costs. Profit. Profit. Profit. Did they get a good deal on the wheat/wheat gluten and save some money??

    I’d like to hear an audio conference of their 2007 first quarter results!! Wouldn’t you like to be at that conference?

    Comment by petlover — April 10, 2007 @ 4:42 pm

  179. Pet food giants

    Three big mergers in the past decade gave seven companies 86 percent of the pet food market in the U.S. The mergers included: Proctor & Gamble buying Iams in 1999 for $2.05 billion, Mars buying Royal Canin in 2000 for $730 million and Nestle buying Ralston Purina in 2001 for $10.3 billion.

    The consolidations continued last year. Del Monte acquired Meow Mix for $705 million and Milk-Bone for $580 million; Mars bought Doane Pet Care Inc. for an undisclosed price.

    Nestle Purina Petcare (Alpo, Fancy Feast, Friskies) 30%

    Iams, Eukanuba (owned by Procter & Gamble) 12%

    Hill’s Pet Nutrition (owned by Colgate-Palmolive) 12%

    Mars (Kal Kan, Pedigree, Whiska, Royal Canin) 11%

    Ol’ Roy (sold at Wal-Mart, manufactured by Doane) 10%

    Del Monte Foods (9Lives, Kibbles ‘n Bits, Pounce, Meaty Bone) 7%

    Nutro (Max, Natural Choice) 4%

    Others 14%

    Comment by Barb — April 10, 2007 @ 4:48 pm

  180. Linda MS
    Please if you can tell me about the beverages
    if you know what kind. Any soda?

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 4:50 pm

  181. I don’t know. I will try to find out about the soda. There is a list of allowable ingredients and it may include the chemical equivalent of soda. I would be suspicious of any of these companies - they are owned by all the big food/product manufactures in America and worldwide.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 4:54 pm

  182. Linda MS
    Any beverage or food stuff that may contain a sweetener. It’s important.

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 4:57 pm

  183. The pet food market has been dominated in the last few years by the acquisition of big companies by even bigger companies. With $15 billion a year at stake in the U.S. and rapidly expanding foreign markets, it’s no wonder that some are greedy for a larger piece of the pie.

    Nestlé’s bought Purina to form Nestlé Purina Petcare Company (Fancy Feast, Alpo, Friskies, Mighty Dog, Dog Chow, Cat Chow, Puppy Chow, Kitten Chow, Beneful, One, ProPlan, DeliCat, HiPro, Kit’n’Kaboodle, Tender Vittles, Purina Veterinary Diets).
    Del Monte gobbled up Heinz (MeowMix, Gravy Train, Kibbles ’n Bits, Wagwells, 9Lives, Cycle, Skippy, Nature’s Recipe, and pet treats Milk Bone, Pup-Peroni, Snausages, Pounce).
    MasterFoods owns Mars, Inc., which consumed Royal Canin (Pedigree, Waltham’s, Cesar, Sheba, Temptations, Goodlife Recipe, Sensible Choice, Excel).
    Other major pet food makers are not best known for pet care, although many of their household and personal care products do use ingredients derived from animal by-products:

    Procter and Gamble (P&G) purchased The Iams Company (Iams, Eukanuba) in 1999. P&G shortly thereafter introduced Iams into grocery stores, where it did very well.
    Colgate-Palmolive bought Hill’s Science Diet (founded in 1939) in 1976 (Hill’s Science Diet, Prescription Diets, Nature’s Best).
    Private labelers (who make food for “house” brands like Kroger and Wal-Mart) and co-packers (who produce food for other pet food makers) are also major players. Three major companies are Doane Pet Care, Diamond, and Menu Foods; they produce food for dozens of private label and brand names. Interestingly, all 3 of these companies have been involved in pet food recalls that sickened or killed many pets.

    Many major pet food companies in the United States are subsidiaries of gigantic multinational corporations. From a business standpoint, pet food fits very well with companies making human products. The multinationals have increased bulk-purchasing power; those that make human food products have a captive market in which to capitalize on their waste products; and pet food divisions have a more reliable capital base and, in many cases, a convenient source of ingredients.

    The Pet Food Institute — the trade association of pet food manufacturers —has acknowledged the use of by-products in pet foods as additional income for processors and farmers: “The growth of the pet food industry not only provided pet owners with better foods for their pets, but also created profitable additional markets for American farm products and for the byproducts of the meat packing, poultry, and other food industries which prepare food for human consumption.”1

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 4:58 pm

  184. http://tinyurl.com/39r95v

    Comment by Steve — April 10, 2007 @ 5:02 pm

  185. Kathi - email the Vet Mr. Fox and ask him. He should know. His link is above I believe.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 5:05 pm

  186. Good work Linda
    They don’t waste anything. The major players have every aspect of the market goods in their own corp. Hence my soap sandwich comment earlier today. An inside joke I had with my friend on the phone about P-G, and C-P.

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 5:07 pm

  187. It’s worse than you can imagine: by the rules, they can also include animal Feces.

    Linda MS

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 5:09 pm

  188. Mr. Fox Link:
    http://tedeboy.tripod.com/drmichaelwfox/id74.html

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 5:11 pm

  189. Cynthia,
    Yes, what he said sent me off on my quest to confirm if it could actually be true. Since last Sat, crash course on GM everything! Global, market, who’s doing what when, etc. Studies, health effects, plublished articles. He will be the first to know of my 100% docs, like I said, I’m real close.

    Comment by Annie — April 10, 2007 @ 5:11 pm

  190. Good Annie. Waiting to hear the truth. It’s about time we got it.

    Linda MS.

    Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 5:12 pm

  191. Found here last post: http://cats.about.com/b/a/257789.htm

    Raymond says:
    April 10, 2007 at 6:18 pm

    Del Monte says their cat food 9lives is safe I found the same recall code (BC7A19 JAN 19 10) on their SuperSupper cat food as it appears on their recalled dog food. They have not answered the eMail I sent them last night - BEWARE check all the codes and cross reference them between cat & dog foods of each company. FREE TRADE be damned we ship out America’s jobs and get back tainted food, non-native bugs, plants and strange viruses.

    Comment by Barb — April 10, 2007 @ 5:22 pm

  192. Barb
    Consider all grocery and Walmart Brands as suspect. They are all connected.
    Seek out individual Brands not connected to major corps.
    Those like Canidae, Felidae, Dick van Patten Natural Balance, etc.
    All the ones Linda listed above are suspect.

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 5:31 pm

  193. Thanks Kathi…I have always fed my dogs Canidae dry, thank goodness! Although, they did recently eat a few of Del Monte’s Jerky Treats Beef flavor days before recall that my boyfriend bought but code on my bag is not listed on recall…straight into the trash they went. No symptoms.

    Comment by Barb — April 10, 2007 @ 5:35 pm

  194. Barb
    The dirty little secret is: It’s US (not we) who brought these things to China, India, Mexico, etc. Follow the Company names around the world.

    The east coast -not a state- is embedded with major corps on both sides of the fence in every single Dept. of the very ones we were depending on. This goes all the way UP in every building and every branch including the big Gavel.

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 5:41 pm

  195. Interesting diachotomy between website ingrediants and package label product. Visited DVP natural balance website for our 3 dogs and 6 cats, purchased dog and cat (dry) on returning home, reveiwed the labels, dog food stated “vitamin K supplement”, the kitty food stated “menadione sodium biasulfate complex ( a source of vitamin K activity)”. We called the 800 number to inquire, we received the most broke d**k response, that they no longer use this ingrediant,they were using up “old” labeled packaging, and they could not givee the name of the product for “vitamin K supplement”, as labeled, on the dog food. We were told to “trust the website for ingrediants”. In spite of what is labeld we are SUPPOSED to trust an call operator, reading from a script? Why don’t they destroy the prior packaging, and actually declare the “real” ingrediants?

    Comment by sandi1 — April 10, 2007 @ 5:47 pm

  196. BREAKING ALERT - Menu Foods expands recall - Again!

    Menu Foods transfered some of the tainted wheat gluten to their
    Canadian facility and has issued yet another recall.

    From - http://www.itchmo.com/read/men.....n_20070410

    Comment by Barb — April 10, 2007 @ 5:51 pm

  197. How are they disposing of the poisoned pet food?

    Like so many others, I am concerned about how the government plans to dispose of millions of pounds of poisoned pet food.

    So, I did some research and discovered that the Department of Defense has a system called the ALFOODACT which announces recalls and potential recalls of hazardous or tampered products that might have been purchased by the military.

    These ALFOODACT messages are distributed worldwide and contains information and instructions on how to identify and dispose of the hazardous/recalled product.

    I also learned the DOD offices will only issue an ALFOODACT (there are other, less urgent announcements) when either the FSIS/FDA notifies them that the military has procured the product or they receive notification from the field that the product has been identified in the DOD system.

    In other words, it seems they only make these announcements if they KNOW the military has purchased the recalled product.

    Apparently, the U.S military did indeed purchase some of the poisoned pet food because…

    It took some finding but I eventually stumbled across this military website:
    http://www.dscp.dla.mil/subs/f.....famess.asp

    Go there and look for a .PDF document titled ALFOODACT 010-2007 (it should be the first one)

    This communication was issued by the military on March 20, 2007. It is titled “Menu Foods Issues Recall of Specific Can and Small Foil Pouch Wet Pet Foods“.

    So what did the military propose to do with the products they have in their own stocks?

    This same document reads, in part…

    “INSTRUCTIONS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR MESSAGE RECIPIENTS:

    “Ships at sea are authorized to destroy or dispose of recalled products at their discretion.”

    Wow.

    Maybe I’m just misinformed but ——- If Melamine-laced Wheat Gluten can kill anything from a 3# kitten to a 90# Rottweiler, it must be pretty dangerous stuff. Dangerous enough to warrant more than just “destroy at your own discretion” instructions. Don’t ya think?

    Comment by Joy — April 10, 2007 @ 6:04 pm

  198. Joy

    You would think so. Well, I guess they can “destroy at your own discretion” by dumping it into the sea… Hummm…who eats the fish that come out of the sea? What a bunch of clowns. They’ve probably been disposing of stuff like this for years. No wonder all these strange new illnesses are coming alive. They’re creating our demise.

    Comment by Jamie — April 10, 2007 @ 6:46 pm

  199. I’m sure Menu Foods CFO Mark Wiens will use his profits to fund advertising in the media to alert people about the dangers represented by the recalled foods. After all, Menu Foods, the other pet food manufacturers, and the Pet Food Institute care about our pets. Why don’t they put their profits where their mouths are? Where are the full page newspaper ads warning people? Why haven’t they stepped up to the plate?

    Comment by MFEMFEM — April 10, 2007 @ 7:21 pm

  200. MFEMFEM
    Proctor & Gamble took out 58 or so full page ads last week in major newspapers. I didn’t see one but I’ll bet they said there products were safe. Anybody see one of those ads?

    Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 7:59 pm

  201. Dr Ronald Wempen Re: testing cat food.. I am interested in having the Science Diet Indoor Cat dry food that my cat ate, exclusively, tested. Gracie died on March 13th of acute renal failure after a 2-3 week-long illness. I strongly suspect this food. Gracie was never sick a day in her life until this happened. I have kept the food in order to have it looked into. The label lists corn gluten as an ingredient. Some on this board have suggested that wheat gluten (if that , in fact, was the source of the contamination) could have been used in place of the corn gluten without changing the label.

    Comment by Heart-Sick — April 10, 2007 @ 8:10 pm

  202. The P&G ad reads:

    Dear Concerned Pet Owner:

    As Iams and Eukanuba employees, we feel deeply for everyone affected by the Menu Foods wet food recall involving 95 brands, including our own. We are heartsick that any of our Iams and Eukanuba products were involved. We have added more customer service support people to respond to our call lines and have added a dedicated veterinarian hotline to address further questions. Our commitment is to respond personally to everyone who contacts us.

    In our efforts to keep you informed, we want you to know that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has recently announced that they have found a substance called melamine in the wheat gluten of recalled products, and not aminopterin, as earlier suspected by the New York State Foods Laboratory.

    We can reassure you:

    There is no melamine or aminopterin in any of our Iams and Eukanuba dry pet foods.

    In fact, Iams and Eukanuba dry dog and cat foods DO NOT contain wheat gluten. They are made exclusively in our own manufacturing plants in Ohio, Nebraska and North Carolina, and not by Menu Foods. You can feel safe and confident in feeding all Iams and Eukanuba dry foods, as well as any wet foods that are not on the Menu Foods recall list. You can go to Iams.com or Eukanuba.com to see the specific list of recalled wet pouch and canned products.

    In addition, we want to keep you updated on the key actions we’ve taken.

    Our immediate response priorities included:

    • Working with retailers to remove all affected wet can and pouch products from store shelves.
    • Suspending production of all our foods manufactured at the affected Menu Foods plant. Our production remains suspended.
    • Sharing all our data and cooperating fully with the U. S. Food & Drug Administration, which is leading this important investigation.

    As part of our ongoing, additional efforts:

    • We convened a task force of prominent North American veterinary healthcare experts to review the recall. They recently agreed: “Veterinarians and pet owners should feel safe recommending and feeding Iams and Eukanuba dry foods.”
    • We have established a council of leading veterinarians and healthcare professionals to provide the most up-to-date learning on how we can continue to enhance all pets’ quality of life and disease prevention.

    We again want to assure you that Iams and Eukanuba dry foods were not affected by this recall and continue to be endorsed by veterinarians as the highest-quality nutrition for cats and dogs. We make our own dry dog and cat foods using high-quality animal-based protein and they do not contain wheat gluten.

    We want to reassure you that you can feed Iams and Eukanuba dry foods, as well as any wet foods that are not on the Menu Foods recall list with complete confidence.

    Pets are an important part of all our families. We share your concerns and are firmly committed to you and the health of your pet. If we can answer further questions, please call us at 1-800-882-1591.

    Sincerely,

    The Employees of Iams and Eukanuba Pet Foods

    Comment by Joy — April 10, 2007 @ 8:54 pm

  203. In response to an inquiry I sent regarding whether a particular company’s canned food was made at MenuFoods, I got this response quoted below:

    “We are not part of any recall nor do our products contain the adulterated wheat gluten ingredient. Our product has been cleared as safe to sell and eat by the FDA.

    The FDA has made it clear that no company could have detected the adulteration of this ingredient by any existing good manufacturing practices. This is not a Menu issue; it has now been traced to a number of other plants making dry products as well. I am sure this is possibly being looked into as some type of bio-terrorism by the FBI. Somewhere, somehow it got adulterated and probably on purpose by someone overseas.

    The reason these large companies use Menu is because they are by far the best manufacturing facility in North American. They also allow themselves to be third party inspected by these companies as well. Their facilities look like Compaq or Microsoft Campuses. They are impressive.

    We are proudly made at Menu and even after this would still only have our products made there because of what we know about the other manufacturing choices.”

    This is the first time I’ve seen any mention of the FBI & bioterrorism.

    Comment by Pam — April 10, 2007 @ 9:50 pm

  204. There’s something else that needs to be considered: WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO WITH ALL THE RECALLED FOODS?

    wanna bet they’ll just recycle it and thin it out with something else like rice chaff or other filler? Then put it back on the shelf with a bright new lie on the label?

    Comment by ginger Ambrosio — April 10, 2007 @ 10:19 pm

  205. Dr Ronald Wempen:

    I would be interested in having my dogs’ foods independently tested. I don’t fully trust Nutro or the FDA to be completely honest. I do not have any urine/blood samples from my dog who died, but I will be having my other dog retested around the 21st of this month (I had her tested because she finished our outher dog’s last can of food…some of her values were a bit off, but not enough to be worried about, so our vet wants to retest her.)

    Comment by Pamela J. Betz-Baron — April 10, 2007 @ 10:47 pm

  206. “Horrible coincidence” my patoot! They are deluded if they actually think most people will believe that one!

    Comment by Pamela J. Betz-Baron — April 10, 2007 @ 10:48 pm

  207. RE: Comment by Pam — April 10, 2007 @ 9:50 pm

    So Pam, are you going to share with us the name of the company you inquired of, and who apparently sent you this response? Those are some pretty heavy comments they wrote, if true.

    Comment by Barb — April 10, 2007 @ 11:06 pm

  208. I wanna know too Pam! Please.

    Comment by Kim — April 10, 2007 @ 11:12 pm

  209. Some odds and ends of related research:

    A patent which claims melamine enhances the effect and longevity of bio toxins:

    http://www.everypatent.com/comp/pat5022917.html

    In short mixing melamine with poisons makes the poisons stronger, and the toxin remains active longer on whatever it is sprayed on. So far I haven’t found anything which would support the idea melamine itself is toxic, but the above would suggest other trace contaminants would be far more powerful in its presence.

    It’s kind of interesting that Wikipedia recently amended the entry on aminopterin to discount the rat poison announcements:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aminopterin

    But far more interesting is the Wiki claim appears to be based solely on a company sponsored press release by a couple of outfits that have a very strong financial interest in good PR for aminopterin:

    http://sev.prnewswire.com/biot.....007-1.html

    Hmmm… nothing like “independent” testing to get unbiased factual information.

    This article is related to urea, but goes a long way toward explaining why a company would be motivated to add a high nitrogen content chemical:

    http://www.ext.colostate.edu/P.....01608.html

    Evidently measuring actual protein in food directly is fantastically difficult. As protein is high in nitrogen, and the nitrogen in protein runs at a more or less constant ratio, the practice of measuring “protein” is to measure the nitrogen instead, then multiply by around 6 to get a measure for protein.

    Melamine is 67% nitrogen. So, for example, to get a guaranteed minimum analysis of 10% crude protein, adding 2.5% melamine to garbage that has no food value whatsoever would give you the 10%. I would also be possible to throw the garbage in the pot, cook it up, then if it fell short of the 10% target, it would be easy to dose it with melamine as needed to get it to pass the minimum standard.

    Unfortunately, if the rendering plants are cooking up poisoned rats, road kill, euthanized pets with flea collars attached, and grain byproducts that have been dosed with everything under the sun, the melamine will dramatically increase the toxic effects of those substances.

    My guess is the melamine is a red herring to shift attention away from a laundry list of toxins present in other ingredients.

    A rather chilling piece on the rendering process for pet food:

    http://www.mad-cow.org/~tom/cats_bse_rend.html

    In passing, one might also note that the Chinese company currently being blamed for everything happens to be a supplier of chemicals, 5 of which - rifadin, glanciclovir, clarithromycin, ibuprofen and pryazinamide - are known to be toxic to kidneys:

    http://www.hengrunchina.com/en.....p?DirID=43

    The University of Gulaph in Canada has confirmed both melamine and aminopterin, plus they apparently have found a crystal they are unable to identify:

    http://www.labservices.uoguelph.ca/urgent.cfm

    On another note, the legal quacks claiming pets aren’t worth anything are ignoring at least a few cases. From the following, “A few malpractice cases have succeeded, such as a 2004 jury award in California to the owner of a Labrador retriever. The owner had sued his veterinarian after the dog died of liver failure. The jury found the value of the dog was $10 but assessed a “unique value” of $30,000.”

    http://www.animalcities.com/content/view/6/2/

    UC Davis will test your food samples for melamine at a cost to non California residents of $200:

    http://cahfs.ucdavis.edu/

    In any case, the above are some of the references I’ve collected over the past few weeks in an effort to find information a bit more reliable than the mindless tripe being pumped out by the Associated Press.

    Comment by Don — April 10, 2007 @ 11:56 pm

  210. Kim & Barb: I received the e-mail from Nature’s Logic pet foods (they are based in Nebraska).

    Comment by Pam — April 11, 2007 @ 5:01 am

  211. I STILL want to know what they do with all that recalled food!!!!!

    Comment by ginger Ambrosio — April 11, 2007 @ 5:17 pm

  212. Now the plant in New Jersey has issued a warning about their products. I will not be suprised that OUR FOOD is equally as poisoned. yes i DID say poisoned.

    There are those within our country, and many around the world who hate us, the security in food producing plants in the vast majority of these countries could EASILY put just about anything into food destined to the States.

    LOOK HOW EASY IT WAS FOR THE PETS. I am willing to stick my neck out here and say that I think this was just an experiment on how easy it would be to get to US. (remember the mass poisoning by Saddam.) There are entirely too many of people here who openly hate Americans… what’s to say that they’re not working in concert with their families & co-conspirators in other countries? WE ARE NOT SAFE IN OUR OWN COUNTRY ANYMORE!!!

    Comment by ginger Ambrosio — April 11, 2007 @ 5:23 pm

  213. My formerly healthy guy ate the bad cat food and is alive but now in renal failure. One option we are considering is a kidney transplant. Has anyone gone that route yet? The choice between SubQ fluids forever and transplant rejection drugs forever is not an easy one, and any experiences would be appreciated. Also, what are the other pet owners with sick kitties doing now? Thanks!

    Comment by Ann — April 11, 2007 @ 5:35 pm

  214. Regarding the pet deaths; Possible genetic manipulation of the chinese wheat in the first poisoning or our pets… If true, the implication would have rice causing the poisoning the same way…

    Web page for article on a possible genetic engineering link to pet deaths
    http://www.organicconsumers.or.....e_4776.cfm

    This information, if true, would have to be forced out of the FDA which will do anything to protect genetically modified foods from bad publicity, even if they are hurting us… To find one disaster caused by genetic engineering that took the lives and impaired the health of thousands of Americans and Canadians run a search using the terms eosinophilia myalgia syndrome tryptophan …
    Here are two web sites out of 10,000+ hits … http://www.nemsn.org/ —- http://www.eosinophilia-myalgia.net/

    Search for “Arpad Pusztai” and learn how a batch of gene altered potatoes killed lab rats and the British government tried to silence the person doing the research and exposing the information, and the world’s scientific community stood up and rallied around Pusztai.

    Aminopterin is sometimes used as a “marker gene” to allow scientists a quick way to determine if a gene package has been accepted by an altered organism (plant or animal). Sometimes it is a gene for anti-biotic resistance. However, since European scientists have shown that this antibiotic resistance can be transferred to bacteria in the gut of bees who feed on gene altered crops’ flowers, that may have changed.

    Aminopterin is a poison commonly used against rats and should never be used as a marker gene in any plant or animal used as food. Can a poison be produced inside a plant or animal by changing it’s genes? Yes, of course. That is how the toxic pesticide BT is now in some of our food crops (mainly in the US and Canada — The following is an FDA web page about a recent contamination —- their reasoning is seriously flawed and they deceitfully speak about their internal procedures and safety of the food product without saying that it has been tested and is safe — http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/biobt10.html). This poison expresses itself in every part of the plant from the leaves to the roots to the fruit. We have also altered plants to be immune to certain herbicides, to produce pharmaceutical grade contraceptives and to grow factory enzymes …
    ALL of these genetic manipulations cause known AND unknown changes in the plants.

    The FDA and the USDA have decided not to regulate these organisms, merely appearing to regulate them with a series of forms that does not prevent gene altered food crops from appearing on our grocery shelves, UNLABELED (even though some of these plants have been tricked into producing an EPA registered pesticide in every part of the plant) and never tested by the FDA/USDA or objective third parties.

    The FDA and the USDA consider these altered organisms (GMO, genetically modified organisms) “substantially equivalent” to natural plants and animals (in spite of the FDA scientific advisors recommending further study for possible harmful long term effects —- http://www.biointegrity.org/Lawsuit.html ). These modified life forms contain genes from bacteria, virus, fish, other plants and animals, and humans. Yes, you have eaten some, but you don’t know when or where or in what processed foods these un-natural organisms are in. You should be afraid, unless you can afford to eat nothing but organic foods.

    If aminopterin began to be produced by gene altered wheat or rice there would be no way to catch it before it hit the market and started having some dramatic widespread harmful effects, such as the pet deaths, and someone was able to make the connection and someone else willing to report it, someone willing to spend money to prove it and then the FDA willing to act on it. If you are just made mildly sick by intended and/or unintended changes in our food then you would be treated for the symptoms without anyone looking into your potatoes and corn for possible causative substances.

    We had a genetic contamination of Taco Bell taco shells a few years ago (http://www.biotech-info.net/after_TB.html)... How did we find out about it? Not the industry that profited off of it, not the government agencies responsible for our food safety. Scientists associated with Greenpeace (http://www.gefoodalert.org/). And the industry and the government fought the findings at first. A huge recall of corn products ensued while the company responsible tried to backdoor the approval for human consumption of this corn through the FDA and the USDA.

    WHERE IS THE COVERAGE ON THIS STORY OF THE STEALING OF OUR ENTIRE FOOD SUPPLY?
    The supreme courts of all of the western nations have allowed gene altered plants and animals to be patented and farmers who plant these crops or herd these animals owe fees and royalties everytime they plant/profit from this organisms. So it is not
    feeding the world’s starving masses” that motivates these companies, but the continuing flow of money for every acre of land or every head of cattle that drives these bio-techs. They are also buying up all of the seed companies in the world so that farmers will not have any choice but to plant these crops. See what two farm families are going through (http://nelsonfarm.net/ , http://www.percyschmeiser.com/ ), both attacked by Monsanto in its relentless pursuit of profits from these crops at any cost to the public’s life, liberty or financial stability.

    Genes from bacteria, virus, other animals, fish, even humans are used in this evil attack on our food supply. More information can be found at http://www.organicconsumers.org/gelink.cfm

    I hope this information does not fall on deaf ears

    Michael Polidori

    Comment by Michael Polidori — April 23, 2007 @ 11:54 am

  215. Pet deaths are possibly the result of genetically engineered wheat and rice…
    I cannot say enough bad things about genetic engineering… neither can a lot of other people around the world and in the USA… here are some web sites to visit and learn from…

    Pet food contaminated by genetic manipulation?
    http://www.organicconsumers.or.....e_4776.cfm

    37 to hundreds of Americans and Canadians known killed, thousands more permanently harmed, by toxins associated with genetic engineering in ONE product… Europeans spared by more thorough testing…
    http://www.nemsn.org/
    http://www.eosinophilia-myalgia.net/

    Damaging Effects of GMOs
    http://www.mercola.com/2005/jun/11/gmo_effects.htm
    http://www.psrast.org/importantnews.htm#suppr

    For kids - explanation of genetic engineering-
    http://warrensburg.k12.mo.us/i.....story.html

    For Adults - Simple to technical explanations of genetic engineering and the consequences of its misuse…
    http://www.psrast.org/intro3.htm

    Arpad potatoes rats … then us… GMO-free Ireland
    http://www.gmfreeireland.org/potato/

    Monsanto Aventis and Bayer! OH MY!!!
    http://www.mercola.com/2006/ja.....health.htm

    GM debate in Austrailia - Same shenanigans “down under” as in the states by their “regulatory agencies” and bio-tech companies—
    http://www.non-gm-farmers.com/.....sp?ID=1890

    FDA sued over gene altered food policy
    http://www.biointegrity.org/Lawsuit.html

    Get smart about what’s in your food
    http://www.organicconsumers.org/gelink.cfm

    Safe Food that is not GMO (genetically modified organism)
    http://www.truefoodnow.org/shoppersguide/

    Genetic tampering with Taco Bell taco shells
    http://www.biotech-info.net/after_TB.html

    Who found the Taco Bell contamination? These guys…
    http://www.gefoodalert.org/

    Two family farmers (out of thousands) attacked by Monsanto
    http://nelsonfarm.net/
    http://www.percyschmeiser.com/

    In case you have doubts … Mainstream Media Investigation
    http://www.sacbee.com/static/l.....s/biotech/

    Comment by Michael Polidori — April 23, 2007 @ 7:52 pm

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