Menu Foods Pet Food Recall Expanded to Canada, New Brands Affected

The Associated Press reported on Wednesday April 11 that the pet food recall that swept the US and affected more than 100 brands has now expanded into Canada. Canadian company Menu Foods, whose use of tainted wheat gluten prompted the recall, has said that while the previous recall affected foods made at their New Jersey and Kansas plants the recall has now been expanded because some of the tainted wheat gluten was used and has been shown to be contaminated at their plant in Streetsville, Ontario, Canada.

A previously unaffected brand, Royal Canin, has been named in expanded recall. Royal Canin Canada's Medi-Cal Feline Dissolution Formula canned diet is prescribed and sold only through veterinarians. Only one production lot contained the contaminated wheat gluten, the company said.

"After being repeatedly reassured by Menu Foods, as reinforced by FDA public statements, that none of the contaminated wheat gluten had made its way to Canada, we were completely shocked to learn yesterday that this was not the case," said Xavier Unkovic, Royal Canin Canada's chief executive officer, in a public statement made Tuesday.

An updated list of recalled food made by Menu Foods was posted Tuesday and can be viewed at : http://menufoods.com/recall/.

The FDA has stopped all wheat gluten imports from a Chinese company while it investigates how melamine could have contaminated the vegetable protein.

In related news, Banfield, The Pet Hospital, a large veterinary hospital that works closely with pet mega-store PetsMart has documented 30 percent increase in kidney failure among cats at their 615 national facilities during the three months that pet food contaminated with melamine was sold. Nationally more than 1,000 pet deaths have been blamed on tainted food and many pet owners are scrambling to file class-action lawsuits against Menu Foods. Records show that during taste-test trials performed by the company an abnormally high percentage of animals used in the trial became ill or died, but the company declined to do any testing or study of the food for contamination at that time.

The pet food recall, which has affected more than 100 well known brands of dog and cat food at both the high and low ends of the price spectrum, is the largest in US history and is motivating many pet owners to call for expanded legislation to regulate pet food manufacturing.

Many pet owners are also searching for alternative foods and are turning to certified organic or homemade foods in record numbers.