THURSDAY, April 5, 2007 (HealthDay News) -- Twenty more dog and cat foods joined an already massive list of recalled pet products on Thursday as a key Canadian company expanded its potentially tainted products' list back one more month.
Menu Foods, of Ontario, announced the voluntary recall for "cuts and gravy" products back to a manufacture date of Nov. 8, 2006. Its previous recall on March 16, which involved more than 60 million cans and pouches for close to 100 brands, had covered a production period between Dec. 3, 2006, and March 6, 2007.
The new recall now covers five more cat food varieties and four more dog food varieties of the moist products, which were all manufactured with imported wheat gluten tainted by melamine, a toxic chemical used to make plastics. And it also includes seven new varieties sold in Europe.
An additional recall for pet treats made by Sunshine Mills of Red Bay, Ala., -- particularly dog biscuits sold by Wal-Mart under the Ol'Roy brand -- was also announced Thursday because the treats were made with the contaminated wheat gluten.
In a press release issued after U.S. health officials held a teleconference to announce both new recalls, Menu Foods said it was recalling all products that used wheat gluten from its former supplier, ChemNutra Inc. That company, Menu Foods said in its press release, has issued its own recall of wheat gluten it imported from Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. in Wangdien, China.
The Menu Foods statement added, "The vast majority of the products affected by this expansion are already off retailers' shelves. No new brands have been added."
U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials, at their teleconference Thursday, did not have an exact list of the newly recalled products. But Dr. Stephen F. Sundlof, the FDA's chief veterinarian, told reporters, "Consumers should (still) feel safe in purchasing products not on the recall list."
The recall includes about 1 percent of all the pet food in the United States, Sundlof, the director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, added. "So there is plenty of safe food for consumers to buy," he said.
Sundlof also said the FDA still has no idea how many pets have died or become sick from the recalled food, beyond the 16 confirmed deaths so far.
"We know that there are a lot more animals that have been affected by this -- made ill and died -- but trying to put an estimate to it at this time is just not something we can do," Sundlof said.
To date, the FDA has received more than 12,000 calls to its consumer complaint line -- a record number, Sundlof said. However, he said he did not know how many of those calls were related to the pet food scare.
And the agency is still investigating the cause of the illnesses and deaths, he said.
The nationwide recall was based on the finding that melamine wound up in the pet food and in the wheat gluten imported from China that was used in the food. But, Sundlof said, while melamine is not typically used as a ingredient in food, it is not thought to be toxic.
"Melamine is a relatively nontoxic substance," Sundlof said. "We don't know how it relates to the conditions that we are seeing. We are relatively certain that there is a connection here someplace, whether it's melamine or some other contaminate that is traveling along with the melamine. All of the cases of disease and deaths in animals seem to be tracking only to the product which we know contains melamine."
Last week the FDA stopped wheat gluten imports from the Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. The company has said it is investigating the claims of contamination, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.
In addition, a group of pet owners has filed a federal class action lawsuit against Menu Foods. On Wednesday, pet owners and their attorneys said they are seeking an injunction to prevent the destruction of tainted food, because it is considered evidence in the class-action lawsuit, according to a press release.
Meanwhile, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., announced Thursday that the Senate will hold hearings to examine the pet-food recall, Bloomberg news reported.
Durban said he wanted to know why Menu Foods waited at least 22 days after it first suspected potential problems to recall its foods.
The latest Menu Food cat food recalled includes selected dates for Authority sliced chicken cans; Nutro Max Cat Gourmet Classics kitten and senior pouches; Pet Pride tuna, chicken, turkey and beef cans; Sophistacat chicken, beef, and salmon cans; and Science Diet Feline Savory Cuts cans.
The recalled dog food includes selected dates for Great Choice liver grill cuts in cans; Pet Pride chicken teriyaki and stew pouches; Springfield Prize chicken cuts cans; and Stater Brothers chicken cuts cans.
Consumers can find a complete list of the recalled foods at the Menu Foods Web site: http://www.menufoods.com/recall.
In addition, a complete list of recalled products from Sunshine Foods, including Nurture, Lassie and Pet Life dog biscuit brands, is posted on the FDA's Web site: http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/sunshinemills04_07.html.
In a separate pet food alert also issued Thursday, FDA officials warned consumers to throw out any American Bullie A.B. Bull Pizzle Puppy Chews and Dog Chews they had. The products, manufactured and distributed by T.W. Enterprises in Ferndale, Wash., are potentially contaminated with salmonella.
More information
For more information on pet food, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
