Canadian pet food manufacturer Menu Foods recalled an additional 20 varieties of pet food sold in Canada and the United States, including some varieties of PetSmart’s Sophistacat, Nutro’s Max Cat, Pet Pride items and Hill’s Science Diet Feline Savory Cuts canned varieties.
For a detailed list of the new items being recalled, visit Menu Foods’ website.
Menu Foods also expanded its previous March 16 recall of 95 “cuts and gravy” wet-style pet food brands to include all of those named items manufactured between Nov. 8, 2006, and March 6, 2007. The previous recall included items manufactured between Dec. 3, 2006, and March 6, 2007. Menu Foods updated its recall after one of its wheat gluten suppliers, ChemNutra Inc., of Las Vegas, recalled all of the wheat gluten it imported from a Chinese company, Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co., Ltd.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a week ago that it found melamine, a plastic used in some Asian fertilizers and in making dishware and countertops, in the contaminated wheat gluten that Menu Foods used. Since last week’s discovery, additional pet food manufacturers including Nestle’s Purina and Del Monte Pet Food Products recalled items after the FDA alerted them that they too had received shipments of the same wheat gluten Menu Foods used. The tainted pet food is suspected to be responsible for last month’s dog and cat deaths and illnesses.
The contaminated wheat gluten originated from Chinese supplier Xuzhou, the FDA said, and the Unites States has since suspended wheat gluten imports from the company.
Sunshine Mills Inc., of Red Bay, Ala., recalled 21 types of its dog biscuits April 5 after learning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that its mill had received some of the melamine-contaminated wheat gluten that was linked to pet illnesses and renal failure.
Sunshine Mills makes a variety of biscuits, including some private label products for national retailers, such as Wal-Mart. The recalled brands include: Nurture Chicken & Rice Biscuit, Lamb & Rice Biscuit, several “large” varieties of Pet Life biscuits, Lassie Lamb and Rice Biscuits, several varieties of Ol’Roy biscuits and some Champion, Slater and Companion’s private label dog biscuits.
In a statement issued late Thursday evening, Sunshine Mills said that no dog illnesses or deaths have been reported to date in connection with these dog biscuits.
The company asked that consumers stop feeding the recalled products to their dogs immediately. However, Sunshine Mills said that its other pet food products, including its small- and medium-sized biscuits, are safe for pets to consume and are not affected by the recall.
For a complete list with UPC codes, product sizes and dates, visit the FDA’s website.
For more CatChannel articles on the pet food recall, click here.