Pet Food Issues

[psawyer]

There has been a lot of attention in the media, and justifiable concern among pet owners, about a recall of certain pet foods manufactured by Menu Foods at two of their four processing plants.

As the owner of a business that sells food and supplies to pet owners, I have been following this closely since the story first broke on Friday afternoon two weeks ago, March 16th.

First some background. Menu is a Canadian company with headquarters and a plant in the city of Mississagua, Ontario, just west of Toronto. They also own three plants in the US. They manufacture wet pet food under contract, both private label (house brands) for many retail chains, and some specialty items for national brands. They do NOT manufacture any dry food.

They are the largest manufacturer of pet food in North America.

Information from them about the recall is available Open Original Shared Link. You will find a list of the affected products here, and either an explanation of how to identify the affected batches, or a link to another site with that information.

Originally, the recall affected foods manufactured between December 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007. On March 24, Menu Open Original Shared Link to include all products on the list regardless of date code. This was to avoid confusion by consumers and retailers about what should be recalled. The product list did not change, but there was widespread confusion among consumers and the media that "all wet food was recalled."

The list of affected products has not changed since Monday, March 19.

On March 23, it was reported that a state-operated lab in New York found Open Original Shared Link in the suspect food.

Much happened today, March 30. The FDA released their analysis, which reported finding melamine in the suspect wheat gluten. Since this test identified the contaminant in the specific ingredient, not in the final product, it establishes the source, and allows for the determination that food outside the date range is indeed safe: Open Original Shared Link

At the same time, Hill's Pet Nutrition recalled one specific veterinary Prescription Diet formula, Feline m/d, in a reportedly precautionary move. Hill's statements, including the recall of Feline m/d are Open Original Shared Link Hill's said today that they obtained wheat gluten from the same source, but that this formula is the only product they make that uses it.

I have had enquiries from many of my customers, and some members here. I am posting this note, which has information which is to the best of my knowledge the whole truth. There has been much panic. Also, some distributors and some retailers have withdrawn from sale foods not on the list, leading to unfounded speculation that those foods are unsafe.

In a completely unrelated matter, suits have been files against Royal Canin (owned by Mars, Inc) alleging problems with their foods. There were seven distinctly identified runs of dry veterinary (presciption) food produced by them in early 2006 which were all recalled at that time due to an imbalance in the vitamin content. Opportunistic lawyers have taken advantage of the hysteria to launch suits (my opinion).

I am sure someone will come here and say that there is a conspiracy or a cover-up, or what-have-you. I have been involved in the pet food business since 2000, and I do not believe that there is a corporate conspiracy to poison pets.

I remain confident that ALL dry food availble at retail is safe, as are wet foods NOT on Menu's list. There are a number of brands that are available who do not source any of their products through Menu. They include Eagle Pack, Newman's Own Organics, Natural Balance, Wysong and others. The suspect ingredient was only used in the US, so any food manufactured in Canada is safe.

[Lisa]

Thanks Peter for posting this. I know that you are a busy man. Lisa

[larry mac]

Hi Peter,

I second the thanks for being our pet food "business" representative. As a lab technician in several industries (never medical though) I think I know just enough to recognize some of the stuff they're putting out about the laboratory search for the toxin. It's quite an endeavor, encompassing many different private, governmental, and quasi-governmental facilities. They're now finding more than one possible toxin but can't agree or replicate all the findings. Neither can they agree on which toxin or even if either one is responsible for the outbreak of illnesses.

One thing does seems to be accepted so far however. The problem probably originated with the Chinese wheat gluten.

That makes me suspect any product containing wheat gluten that I cannot verify did not come from China. Additionally, it was reported that in 2006, 13% of wheat gluten in the US was imported from China, according to the US Customs data (todays Dallas Morning News). Not just pet food stuff either mind you. We can't even trust our own greedy corporations from doing anything they can get away with to maximize their profits. We damn sure can't trust third world countries that have almost no oversight of health and environmental concerns.

As for your post. Of course there's no widespread corporate conspiracy. And though you believe ("I remain confident that ALL dry food availble at retail is safe, as are wet foods NOT on Menu's list") the immediate problem is contained by the recalls, there was a recall of dried cat food yesterday and there could be more recalls later for all we know. As with the peanut butter recalls a few weeks ago, we're just now finding that brand loyalty for the most part is a farce. Many of the food/pet food makers claims of superior product is just marketing BS, considering dozens of brands are contracted out and made by the same company in the same facility and share many ingredients with the cheapest brands. We're paying a premium price but not getting a separate premium product.

For now, I'm avoiding any pet food products that contain wheat gluten, period! Unless the wheat gluten source is here in North America.

None of my remarks are a reflection on you. You are an innocent bystander getting screwed worse than we are by all this (at least economically). Please feel free to respond. Thank you.

best regards, lm

[jerseyangel]

Peter,

As always, thank you so much! After the one dry food was mentioned, I went back into panic mode....I was hoping you'd post and give us the whole story.

I feel much better now--thanks again

[elye]

Peter,

Thank you for that terrific post. I have just written on another thread that I'm confused (who isn't!) as to whether I can continue feeding my dog and two cats their kibble. News last night stated that there was testing to begin on dry food, but it was just mentioned and seemed rather vague. You said that Menu does not manufacture any dry foods, so can I assume that even though the brands I buy are on the recall list (Ol' Roy Premium and President's Choice), they are safe? You have also said that all of the food manufactured in Canada is safe. But how do we know where it has been made? I'll have a look at the bag again, but couldn't see a place of manufacture. Thanks again foir sharing all your experise!

[psawyer]

As I mentioned, Menu is strictly a wet food manufacturer. I don't know who makes the Ol' Roy dry food, nor do I know for PC. There are many possibilities for a contract maker of kibble. Pet food sold in Canada does not need to declare the country of manufacture, but if the food does not state a country of origin, and also does not say "imported by" on the label, then it is of Canadian origin.

While wheat is fairly common in dry foods, processed wheat gluten is almost unheard of. This ingredient has a very specific purpose in giving consistency to gravy or sauce while withstanding the high heat of the canning process. I was surprised to learn that Hill's used it in one (and apparently only one) of their dry formulas. I'm not really in the know about m/d formula and what specific condition it is designed to treat, so I don't know why they use it.

In another development, Purina announced Friday a Open Original Shared Link These cans are made by Purina in one of their own plants, but contain wheat gluten from the same supplier used by Menu and Hill's.

It is still possible that more food will be recalled, but I would only expect wet foods of the chunks in gravy style to contain wheat gluten. Such foods may have wording such as "slices in gravy," "cuts with gravy," "flaked xxxx in sauce" and similar wording. As I said, it is a mystery to me why Hill's puts wheat gluten in a dry food at all.

I hope this helps.

[Lisa]

What a wonderful resource you are Peter. Thank you for your time. It is much appreciated.!

[larry mac]

Now it's Iams Pet food (including some Eukanuba pet food). Found to contain an unapproved substance, Chromium Tripicolinate. The FDA says it speeds up metabolism for overweight dogs & cats and is not available on store shelves but could damage DNA and cause tumors in pets ( I would assume this means it's by prescription only but darn I've been burned for assuming before, I would prefer someone else to assume).

The FDA did not ask for a recall, just that Iams test it's products. But Iams decided to remove the substance from it's products anyway.

Best regards, lm

[elye]

Wow...this all tempts me to simply feed my animals human food, at least until everything is sorted out. Kind of tough with my cats, however. They don't seem to like anything I've ever given them that we're eating, including tuna or cheese...hmm...might be a challenge.

[psawyer]

The two DRY foods that have been recalled are prescription formulas sold exclusively by veterinarians.

They are Hill's Prescription Diet Feline m/d, which has been recalled because the wheat gluten if contains was obtained from the same (as yet unnamed) supplier that provided tainted wheat gluten to Menu Foods. There has been no evidence that the m/d is actually tainted. Hill's Pet Nutrition is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive Company.

The other dry food is an Eukanuba dog weight control formula. FDA learned that an ingredient approved for animal feed, but not for pet food, was in the product. It, too, is sold only by veterinarians. Eukanuba products are made by The Iams Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Procter & Gamble Co.

Each of these two dry products has caused widespread confusion because they are associated with huge companies and headlines like "Iams recalls dry food" generate chaos, particularly when many people don't read the full story, or when the news report is not clear about the narrow scope of the issue.

[gfp]

As I said, it is a mystery to me why Hill's puts wheat gluten in a dry food at all.

its just cheap, a filler that also allows them to up the protein content?

[larry mac]

.....While wheat is fairly common in dry foods, processed wheat gluten is almost unheard of. This ingredient has a very specific purpose in giving consistency to gravy or sauce while withstanding the high heat of the canning process. I was surprized to learn that Hill's used it in one (and apparently only one) of their dry formulas.

It is still possible that more food will be recalled, but I would only expect wet foods of the chunks in gravy style to contain wheat gluten. Such foods may have wording such as "slices in gravy," "cuts with gravy," "flaked xxxx in sauce" and similar wording. As I said, it is a mystery to me why Hill's puts wheat gluten in a dry food at all.....

We have four pet food products for Phoebe in our house, all dry. 1) Her food, Authority dry mini-chunks, a petsmart brand that contains no wheat ingredients (also no animal digest by-products). No Wheat Gluten. Product of USA.

2) Wholemeals (a healthy happy way every day), formerly called mealbones, these are bone shaped chewey meal/food replacements. You feed your dog these instead of regular dog food. I just use these for a lunchtime snack,

[psawyer]

I have just become aware of some additional recalls by yet another manufacturer who used wheat gluten from the same Chinese source.

Del Monte Pet Products have recalled certain private label wet foods and treats, as well as some treats sold under their own national brands. Del Monte brands affected include Jerky Treats, Pounce and Gravy Train. Private labels include Ol' Roy, Dollar General and Happy Tails.

Open Original Shared Link

Canadians, I am advised by my distributor that, "Del Monte has confirmed that the Jerky Treats Beef were NOT shipped to Canada."

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Larry, I can understand why you might use wheat gluten in a tartar bone, for its adhesive properties to bind tartar to the treat. It is not something you would use as a filler; it is a refined product and less expensive fillers are available. If you want protein, meat by-product meal is cheaper and has lots of protein.

[psawyer]

Del Monte has now issued a recall for Beef Jerky Treats, regardless of production date, as a precautionary measure. This includes Beef Jerky Treats distributed in Canada.

[Lisa]

Peter, thank you for your updates.

[psawyer]

I was surprised to learn that Hill's used it in one (and apparently only one) of their dry formulas. I'm not really in the know about m/d formula and what specific condition it is designed to treat, so I don't know why they use it.

I met with my Hill's representative today and asked him this question. The Feline m/d is a high-protein, low-carbohydrate formula. He said it is like the Atkins diet for cats. Because there is not enough carbohydrate to hold the kibble together, they use processed wheat gluten instead. It does not provide calories through carbohydrates, but has the adhesive properties needed.

[Deanne]

I have a buff colored Lab who showed up about three years ago on snowy January night and adopted me. (I tried in vain to find the owner). I took him to a vet since he seemed to have this pink itchy skin who told me to take him off of high protein dry dog food. He was about two years old. We tried it for awhile and then he kind of grew out of it.

Then about a year ago he had an ear infection and another vet treated it with MalOtic and Epi-Otic to rinse ears out. No problems but he tends to lick his feet a lot and I thought it was his coloring but maybe not his feet seem kind of pinkish between his toes.

Now a year later he has ear infection again and I called the vet and this gal now tells me that his ear infection maybe due to a food allergy like wheat and that I should maybe switch to something like Purina One. Why the vet didn't tell me that a year ago makes me wonder if anyone one really knows what they are talking about.

So I am going to take him in again today to get ears checked and more drops and rinse but I would like to try another gluten free dry dog food. When I went to the Purina One's website they make it kind of confusing as to what products are gluten free. You have to use a pull down menu for each ingredient provided you know if that ingredient is or is not gluten free and when I search for gluten free on their site it comes up with nothing about their dry dog food. Plus from the looks of these postings Purina has some wheat gluten contamination issues and not so sure about them in general and their disclosure practices.

I have two labs and I can't spend a fortune on fancy dry dog food.

Does any one know of a dry gluten free dog food that can be bought at a Winco in the NW that is reasonably priced? Also do you know of any milk bones kind of thing for their teeth that is gluten free?

I am very sadden by the deaths and illness for so many pets out there. But I have to admit there certainly was a part of me glad to see the media picking up on this wheat gluten issue about pet food and then it kind of led to the questions about gluten in human food supplies. I think it has started a nation wide dialogue about gluten and I think we will all benefit from that. Maybe those food manufacturers who will not help disclose for Celiacs or for folks with food allergies about gluten will rethink their policies and decide to disclose about gluten and it sources to get back market share. Or better yet to just switch to using alternatives to gluten to rid themselves of the negative feelings when folks hear the word gluten in any ingredient. I also think that this is a great time for leaders of Celiac groups to get on the air waves to talk about gluten in our food supply and how it harms so many and introduce the term Celiac to a broader audience. What is that latin term Carpe diem?