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The Menu Foods pet food contamination and subsequent recall that began in mid-March continues to make national news. Although the company will only confirm sixteen confirmed pet deaths related to the contaminated food so far, the Pet Connection database of cats and dogs lists a total of 2,907 pets as of 7:35 a.m., April 2. 1,592 cats and 1,314 dogs have been reported dead, primarily from renal failure linked to contaminated wheat gluten imported from China by Menu Foods for use in many products distributed under familiar product names, including Iams and Nutro.
Federal testing of some of the cat and dog food and the wheat gluten used in their production turned up melamine, a chemical used to make plastics that can be toxic in high doses. Early reports from The New York State Food Laboratory identified Aminopterin, a cancer drug also used as rat poison, as the likely cause on March 23, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not confirmed this. The gluten was obtained from the Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Company in China. The FDA has blocked further gluten imports from the company.
Menu Foods first announced the recall in a March 16th release, saying that
Over the past several days, the Fund has received feedback in the United States (none in Canada) raising concerns about pet food manufactured since early December, and its impact on the renal health of the pets consuming the products.
By March 19th, the company had set up a recall information page, with a toll-free number for consumers and links to separate complete lists of recalled products for dogs and cats. On March 30th, pet food giant Purina had released its own recall for Alpo Prime Cuts, indicating that they too contained melamine. Hill's Pet Nutrition of Topeka, Kansas recalled one variety of their cat food, the only dry food reported affected so far. Other companies to voluntarily recall their products include Eight in One Pet Products, who pulled Dingo Chicken Jerky products, and Del Monte, who pulled several varieties of treats.
It is reported possible that pet food may not be the only edible product affected. Kim at the "For Pets and Pet Lovers" blog was one of many to link to David Goldstein's April 1st Huffington Post piece on the possibility that some of the contaminated gluten was classified "food grade" and therefore may have entered the human food supply.
Jen in Toronto blogs at Apartment 606, a site she says she was planning to shutter until she had to call it "Pet Recall Central". Her cat Harry died on March 23 from symptoms not consistent with the renal failure that appears to result from the contaminated melamine, but still, she says,
One is that while Marmalade's death does not fit the renal-failure pattern of other pet deaths in this scandal, I am still not convinced that his consumption of the recalled products - specifically Iams and Nutro "cuts and gravy" pouches - had nothing to do with his demise. He ate at least 1/2 a pouch pretty much every day from July 2006, when he was first introduced to the product, to March 16th 2007. I learned of the recall on March 17th and stopped using the product immediately. On March 22nd, Marmalade became suddenly gravely ill, and early on March 23rd, he died. Up until that time, he had been in near-perfect health, apart from the vomiting in late February and early March.
Pet Connection has a comprehensive and frequently updated "recall basics" page. Gina Spadafori, and Christie Keith are the primary contributors.
NYC-based blogger and animal lover Elaine Vigneault is also blogging prolifically about the recall, with many links and hints for other food options and recourse for owners.
At least one consumer has filed suit in the death of her dog, who she claims needed to be euthanized after eating the tainted food, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The AP reported yesterday, however, that consumers would be better off filing class action suits in groups, and would likely have limited luck in individual efforts.
The bottom line advice for consumers is to be vigilant about what kind of food they are feeding pets, to watch for signs of sickness if any of the suspected foods have been consumed, and to visit a veterinarian immediately if the pet exhibits such symptoms.
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