Looks like someone has finally found a common thread with some of the pet food samples from food involved in Menu Foods pet food recall of March 16, 2007: aminopterin (rat poison) “possibly” found on wheat imported from China(click on the “Rat Poison in Pet Food” link for an informative video). Here is the press release issued today from New York State’s Department of Agriculture and Markets (it’s also copied below). I’m sure a lot more information will be forthcoming today…thankfully! (Thanks for the heads up, Connie VC!)
Here’s my INITIAL POST on the pet food recall which contains many links, including the recall lists.
UPDATE 3/23/07 2:15 PST: Menu Foods held a media teleconference today. Here is a raw video link of it from WSYR (they also have video of the NY State Dept. of Agriculture and Markets conference) which I was able to open using Firefox, and here is a link to CTV’s article which has a link to their broadcast of the conference which I had to open using Internet Explorer. I’m interested in hearing what everyone’s response is to what Menu Foods had to say during their news conference.
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New York Department of Agriculture and Markets press release:
NEW YORK LABORATORIES IDENTIFY TOXIN IN RECALLED PET FOOD
Aminopterin Confirmed in Recalled Pet Food and Implicated Tissue Samples
Aminopterin Confirmed in Recalled Pet Food and Implicated Tissue Samples
New York State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker and Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Donald F. Smith announced today that scientists at the New York State Food Laboratory identified Aminopterin as a toxin present in cat food samples from Menu Foods, the manufacturer of the many brands of dog and cat food that are currently the subject of a nationwide recall.
The Food Laboratory received the pet food samples from a toxicologist at the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University, where testing has been underway to try to identify the cause of kidney failure in dogs and cats that consumed the recalled brands of pet food. At Cornell’s request, the Food Laboratory tested the samples for poisons and toxins, and identified Aminopterin in the pet food samples at a level of at least 40 parts per million.
“We are pleased that the expertise of our New York State Food Laboratory was able to contribute to identifying the agent that caused numerous illnesses and deaths in dogs and cats across the nation,” the Commissioner said. “New Yorkers can be assured that we have two of the nation’s leading laboratory programs in food safety and animal health working on this problem.”
The Dean of the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine Donald F. Smith concurred by saying, “The close partnership between the Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University and the Department of Agriculture and Markets was key to this finding.”
Aminopterin, a derivative of folic acid, can cause cancer and birth defects in humans and can cause kidney damage in dogs and cats. Aminopterin is not permitted for use in the United States.
On March 16, 2007, Menu Foods initiated a recall of numerous varieties of dog and cat food that were manufactured at two of its plants in the United States between December 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007. The products are both manufactured and sold under private-label and are contract-manufactured for several national brands. Information on the specific brands of pet food subject to the recall can be found at <a href=www.menufoods.com/recall >www.menufoods.com/recall</a>.
Since the recall, Department food inspectors have contacted all of the organizations that represent retail food and pet food stores to ensure that the stores were aware of the recall and that the recalled products had been removed from store shelves in New York State.
New York State is home to two laboratories that are part of federal emergency lab networks, created through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after 9-11 to keep the nation’s animals and food supply safe. The New York State Food Laboratory is part of the Federal Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) and as such, is capable of running a number of unique poison/toxin tests on food, including the test that identified Aminopterin. The New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University is a member of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network and thus, is uniquely qualified to investigate the causes of animal health emergencies, like the sudden deaths of dogs and cats from the recently recalled pet food.
11 comments
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March 23, 2007 at 1:31 pm
diafaux
Wow, I’m glad I feed my dog homemade food, and not that store bought kibble!! How very sad for all those people who have lost there dear pets/family members…
March 23, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Deborah
I want an updated list. The last list posted at MenuFoods.com/recall was listed as of March 16th!!!! Are there more?? My cats and dog are my children.
March 23, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Randy-Lyn
How terrible to think you are doing the best for your furry baby and end up feeding them rat poison! I’m so glad I found/switched to a new brand, Pet Promise, that buys real chicken and meat from family farmers — before this all started. We really need to start thinking about where our food (animals and people) comes from. We can no longer say “this is safe” because it’s on the store shelf.
March 23, 2007 at 4:08 pm
SoCalMuchacha
Diafux, I went to your interesting blog (love the houses! :)) and found the diet you mentioned on there interesting. This recall really has me looking into what I feed my beloved Rudy.
Deborah, there have been no updated lists posted (remember though, that Science Diet and P&G did voluntarily recall some products as well), but if I see any I will post them. Not sure if you followed my links to the Menu Foods conference, but in it a reporter asked if food was still being processed at the plants in question, and the answer was a resounding YES by Menu Foods! Seems to me that if they have NOT narrowed down exactly HOW the tainted product reached their plants, shouldn’t they be ceasing production at those plants until they do? That alone would have me seriously reconsidering using ANY food produced by Menu Foods at this time.
Randy-Lyn, I couldn’t agree with you more about us ALL taking a cold, hard look at where human AND animal food comes from and how it is treated in the process. Short of growing our own food it’s really hard to make sure that no contaminants come into play. Scary times, but times that are helping us all become more aware of so many things important to our health and that or our pets.
March 23, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Cheryl
Because my Siamese was getting older, I switched her to Iams cat food last fall, thinking it was a better quality food for an older cat.
Then about the end of January, Kelsey was not feeling well. I took her to the vet and had lab work done.
She was in full renal failure. We caught it just in time. I now have her on daily fluids and 3 different medications. The bill? Well, it’s near $800. On-going cost? Just under $40 to $50 a month. The prognosis? Maybe a year – best case scenario.
I was ready to write it off to my aging kitty, now I believe the tainted catfood caused the renal failure.
Will I ever buy Iams again or any of the products listed on the recall report? Nope
i’ll be checking out home recipes for my cats and dog and getting away from packaged pet food all together.
March 24, 2007 at 12:24 am
MJ
So unethical and irresponsible of these companies.
Thank God I use another brand.
March 25, 2007 at 1:05 pm
Randy-Lyn
URGENT to all people who are still using Nutro wet food. I called the Nutro number this morning (800-833-5330) and was told,
1. ALL Nutro wet products are produced at the SAME Menu facility where the poisoned food was made (including ones not involved in the recall that are currently for sale) and,
2. that recalled product pouches that were not made from Dec. to March are OK to use. I informed the person that during the Menu news conference on Fri. they extended the recall to ALL “cuts and gravy…regardless of when they were produced.” She said Nutro did not tell them that, so she would continue to tell people who call that products not in that date range are safe to use. I asked the person to please contact Nutro people ASAP about that false information, and was told that she couldn’t do that!
March 25, 2007 at 1:30 pm
SoCalMuchacha
Good for you, Randy-Lyn! I also just did a new post which includes the two press releases Menu Foods posted on their web site. One is stating that they ARE having ALL IMPACTED VARIETIES O F WET PET FOOD removed from store shelves. As I’ve said before, I would NOT be using ANY Menu Foods produced product at all, especially since they are continuing to use their two plants which are in question relating to the tainted food. Again, thanks, Randy-Lyn! 🙂
March 26, 2007 at 10:12 am
Mary
Keep checking Menufoods recall list for updates. They update the list but DO NOT change the date of the list.
March 26, 2007 at 9:13 pm
Dr. Kevin
Only time will tell if any of the pet deaths will actually show significant levels of aminopterin in blood samples. the initial report coming from China reported that the company supplying the Genetically Modified Gluten believed it was the GMO Gluten that was the cause rather than any contamination…If this is true, that GMO Gluten can kill then it would be covered up because GMO foods are already being introduced into human food products. This could be a cover up?
June 11, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Marcus
Hey there,
Thanks for the post, helps to know about these things because the stores aren’t always that great at informing pet owners of these problems with stock!
Cheers,
Marcus