Where does pet food come from? It’s the kind of question a child might ask and is hard to answer. Ever since Canadian-based pet food company Menu Foods, Inc. began its massive recall of dog and cat food nearly a month ago, pet owners have scrambled to find something safe to feed Fido and Fluffy.
Serving up death
Where does pet food come from? It’s the kind of question a child might ask and is hard to answer. Ever since Canadian-based pet food company Menu Foods, Inc. began its massive recall of dog and cat food nearly a month ago, pet owners have scrambled to find something safe to feed Fido and Fluffy.
The recall
The Menu Foods recall affected a whopping 42 brands of cat food and 53 brands of dog food. Brands with dubious names such as Big Red, Cadillac, Price Chopper, White Rose and Your Pet were recalled alongside of more credible-sounding trusted names including Iams, Eukanuba, Mighty Dog, Nutriplan, Science Diet and Nutro Natural Choice.
The shear volume of recalls left the incredulous consumer to wonder, “Is all dog and cat food made by Menu Foods?” As it turned out, Menu Foods only makes wet food, giving the consumer a furtive glance into the secretive world of pet food manufacturing. A wet food product with the Iams label is produced by Menu Foods, while a dry food product with the same label is produced by a different manufacturer. Same brand, different sources for different product lines.
In March 2007 when the story broke, the recall was limited to the “cuts and gravy” food style in cans and foil pouches dated Dec. 3, 2006 to March 6, 2007. As of April 5, 2007, the recall was expanded back to Nov. 8, 2006. Not only is the continuation of this story troubling, but the source of contamination, the mysterious “adulterated” wheat gluten, raises new questions.
Unsolved mysteries
What is wheat gluten? Why is it in dog food? How was it contaminated? With what? At first we heard the contaminant was rat poison. A few days later, chemical analysis revealed it was melamine. Melamine is a chemical used to make plastics, glues, countertops, fabrics, fertilizers and flame retardants. It is also a byproduct of several pesticides.
Questions remained. How did the melamine get mixed up with the wheat gluten? What else could the contaminated wheat gluten have gotten into? We thought the contamination was limited only to “wet” pet food until Fox 12 reported online on March 31, 2007 that dry food–Hill’s Pet Nutrition Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry cat food–included the tainted wheat gluten.
What about human food? What about humans who eat dog food?
Amid the growing hysteria, local television stations reported on people making their own pet food from scratch, while concerned veterinarians warned against improperly balanced diets. Meanwhile, many dogs and cats around the nation, once “pampered” with wet food, began exhibiting signs of kidney failure: vomiting, lethargy and extreme thirst. Since not all kidney conditions were a result of the Menu Foods diet, pet owners were left with conundrums. Was Fido suffering from wet dog food, antifreeze or the grapes that were now mysteriously missing from the kitchen counter?
On April 1, 2007, not as an April Fool’s joke but in all seriousness, Nestle Purina PetCare Co. announced it was recalling all varieties of its Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food within the affected date range. In the case of Nestle Purina, the dog food recall was due to contaminated wheat gluten from China. This begs the question, “Can I still eat my Nestle Toll House Cookies?”
On April 5, 2007, we learned from Menu Foods that the appetizingly-named ChemNutra Inc. had decided to recall all wheat gluten it imported from Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. in Wangdien, China.
The good news is the contaminant was found and (we hope) removed from the shelves. The bad news is the uncertainty that pet owners must now contend with when feeding their pets. When did Menu Foods first suspect that its wet food was contaminated? Did it really take a full month to initiate a recall? Why were live dogs and cats forced to consume toxic food in order to prove its toxicity? Why weren’t chemical analyses done instead? What does this say about Menu Foods’ commitment to animal health and well-being?
Dog and cat testing
Peoples’ eyes start to roll when the issue of animal testing is brought up. The reality is that the technology exists to test products for safety without using animals. What does it mean when a multimillion-dollar pet food company disregards such testing alternatives and instead tests on the very animals its business is built around?
What is the difference between the dog that is forced to endure tests and trials, and the dog that waits for his master to come home? What happens behind the closed doors of the testing laboratories of the pet food manufacturers? Is it as bad as the animal rights activists claim? And if it is, shouldn’t it be stopped?
Recently, at least, some lucky dogs and cats have been receiving tasty treats in the form of full servings of fish, bacon and scrambled eggs. Maybe this isn’t the veterinarians’ recommended diet, but it doesn’t take a doctor to know it’s better than that smelly wet crap they used to get.
For more information about the recall
Menu Foods 1-866-895-2708 menufoods.com
Hill’s Pet Nutrition hillspet.com
Local pet food alternatives
Healthy Pets Northwestwww.healthypetsnw.com
Green Dog Pet Supplygreendogonline.com
Western Pet Supply Inc.503-297-6644
