Comments on: Menu Foods announces tentative settlement agreement

By: slt

slt — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:22:26 +0000

O come on! We must find out who is buying up all the feathers for use in pet food. Super sleuths, get your caps and pipes on!

By: Colorado Transplant

Colorado Transplant — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:45:02 +0000

I sure would hate to see my cats clucking.

I do not want them to wake up the neighborhood at 5:00 o’clock in the morning.

If it was 3:00 o’clock in the morning, I’d call Hillary—she would know what to do—hehehaw!

By: The OTHER Pat

The OTHER Pat — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:44:08 +0000

Comment by Ann Hill — April 4, 2008 @ 4:37 am

“Also, my husband is in the agriculture business, and was recently told by one of his associates that they had contracted to sell their entire ‘output’ of chicken feathers to ‘the big pet food companies’—wouldn’t tell which one(s)—who wanted to use chicken feathers in their pet food as a protein source, since corn and wheat prices had gotten so high”

But of course, they still won’t tell us what the ingredients are or where they get them because that information is “proprietary”.

The more things change, the more they stay the same?

By: Ann Hill

Ann Hill — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:01:22 +0000

Opps—correction—hubby tells me that the chicken feathers are only going in (so far) dog food, so your cat is safe from clucking for right now.

By: Ann Hill

Ann Hill — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:37:49 +0000

Thanks, Eden, for your posting. I, too, did not want to join the class action and I also filed a claim with Menu Food’s insurer. I am not an attorney, so I was wondering if I would need to file my own lawsuit as well as to opt out of the class action. Your information was appreciated, and please keep us informed as to what else happens with you.

Also, my husband is in the agriculture business, and was recently told by one of his associates that they had contracted to sell their entire “output” of chicken feathers to “the big pet food companies”—wouldn’t tell which one(s)—who wanted to use chicken feathers in their pet food as a protein source, since corn and wheat prices had gotten so high. So, if your cat starts to cluck or your dog to crow, you’ll know you’re feeding him too much of this yummy pet food.

Comment by Harry’s Mom

By: Louise

Louise — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:03:45 +0000

I do not expect much in the way of justice from the Menu Foods Settlement. An Income Trust is an odious Canadian invention that we are not proud of. Castleberry’s, proud producers of botulism, is also an Income Trust. I have been lead to understand by one of the class action lawsuit lawyers and a friend in a brokerage firm that if information (with proof) that the executives at Menu knew that the food was tainted before they admitted to it was found that criminal charges could be brought. Not for killing pets but for defrauding the investors.
There must be employees of Menu Foods who knows, your conscience must be bothering you. Blow the whistle to Christie Keith, please.

By: Mark Bullock

Mark Bullock — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:51:40 +0000

I had a similar experience when researching Innova/California Natural. I received a form letter explaining that the company was “committed” to not sourcing ingredients from China, even though it hasn’t actually followed through on this commitment.

By: Eden

Eden — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:40:58 +0000

I bet I am one of many who decided not to join the class action lawsuits because I would rather have my extraordinarily high vet bills reimbursed than get a food coupon or a nominal award. So I filed a claim with Menu Foods in May 2007 according to their insurer’s directives.

But soon thereafter, Menu Foods claimed it could not process any claims because a federal judge had ordered it to stop communicating with complainants. That was not true - the judge ordered them to stop contacting complainants WHO HAD JOINED THE CLASS ACTIONS because they were represented by attorneys. As an attorney, I could see that MF was improperly relying on this court order to avoid processing claims.

Now that the class actions are settling, it seems Menu Foods will have to resume processing reimbursement claims filed by those who have not opted into/will not opt into the class actions. I intend to pursue that remedy as soon as possible and will post about how it goes - if others in the same boat could do so as well, it would be helpful to all.

By: CynthiaW

CynthiaW — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:57:16 +0000

A couple weeks ago I checked in with Innova/California Natural to see if they have made any progress on their promise of building their own canning facility. That was after all, their response to last year’s Menu Foods poisonings.

After about a week they sent me the same form letter response that they sent to me a year ago so I took that as a ‘no’…. no progress made and maybe they’re hoping that people don’t remember that they have their canned food made at Menu and that they promised to do otherwise. Although their canned food was not recalled, I still resent the fact that they use Menu Foods. I don’t want to support Menu Foods. At all.

By: slt

slt — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:37:45 +0000

Isn’t it amazing that a two inch tall plastic figurine has “Made in China” stamped on it but if you search your FOOD labels, you’re not likely to find anything? Even then, if you call, they may not tell you. I remember when I contacted an oats company they wouldn’t get any more specific than “North America”. My rule of thumb has been: no tell/no buy.