Wednesday, May 2, 2007

19 New Cat Food Brands, 9 New Dog Food Brands Recalled by Menu Foods due to cross contamination

Menu Foods expanded their recall today. See the post just below this for the full text.
Added 9:32am: See this for a couple of corrections to yesterday's press release. (They added Cat's Choice and corrected a couple of dates. Their website has corrected information) Thanks Mike!

Added 9:40am - Menu Foods updated yesterday's press release to include the above corrections.


The Menu Foods list had a few errors. Therese at thepetfoodlist.com and I put together a list of the new brands. It took the two of us more than two hours to cross-check the Menu Foods press release and their website information against the Master List of Recalled Pet Foods that I've got here.

Below is a list of which BRANDS are new to the recall. The Menu Foods press release was missing some names, and included brands that just had new flavors. (Our list also pointed out that one brand was missing from their cat recall list, they've now corrected that. Good to know we're not the only ones working late.)

If you find mistakes in any of our info - email me and let me know. Thanks to those of you that already have!

9 New Dog Brands - Menu Foods Recall on 5-2-07 due to cross-contamination
(All of these are canned foods only)

  1. Co-Op Gold
  2. Go Natural

    (This company was listed on the Menu Foods “recalled Dog Product Information” page Wednesday night at http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_dog.html) It is no longer there, and the company (Petcurian) has said it is not being recalled, so we're removing it. Thanks Therese!
  3. Health Diet Gourmet Cuisine
  4. La Griffe
  5. Master Choice
  6. Nu Pet
  7. Performatrin Ultra
  8. Triumph
  9. Truly
  10. Western Family Canada (Note: Western Family US has been on the list)

19 New Cat Brands – Menu Foods Recall on 5-2-07 due to cross-contamination
(All of these are canned foods only, except the Triumph which also includes pouches)

  1. Cat’s Choice (This is NOT on their press release, but is on their “recalled Cat Product Information” page at http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_cat.html ) Added 9:32am Menu Foods just issued a correction and stated Cat's Choice is new, and it has been added to the press release.
  2. Co-Op Gold
  3. Despar (This is NOT on their press release, but is on their “recalled Cat Product Information” page at http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_cat.html . It appears to be one of the two European brands they mentioned. Thanks Renee!)
  4. Fame
  5. Feline Classic
  6. Feline Cuisine
  7. Giant Eagle
  8. J.E. Mondou
  9. La Griffe
  10. Master Choice
  11. Medi-Cal (UPDATE: Thanks to an alert poster, we've learned that this is apparently not new, but we never heard about it. If we didn't, chances are many of you didn't, so we're leaving it here, but subtracting it from the number of new brands. It's a Royal Canin canned food that was recalled in Canada only)
  12. Natural Ultramix (added: this is a Castor and Pollux brand. See their press release)
  13. Nu Pet
  14. Performatrin Ultra
  15. Roche Brothers (Note: Dog food from Roche Brothers has been on the recall list)
  16. Roundy’s
  17. Stuzzy Gold (This is NOT on their press release, but is on their “recalled Cat Product Information” page at http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_cat.html ) It appears to be one of the two European brands they mentioned.Thanks Renee!)
  18. Triumph
  19. Western Family Canada (Western Family US has been on the recall list)
  20. Your Pet (Dog food from Your Pet has been on the recall list)
Full flavor and date details can be found at http://www.menufoods.com/recall/index.html

When the FDA updates its site, you can find information there too. They've got a great new search feature. But it hasn't been updated since April 30th. Added 9:22am: The FDA site is in the process of being updated, so keep checking it. http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html

UPDATE: My two lists have been updated to include the new brands - see the section at the top of the page to open them in PDF format. Thanks Therese for hosting the files! (My file hoster died tonight...)

Added 10:53pm:
Dog Food Brands that added new flavors to the list (see the press release for details, my lists do *not* have this information)
Authority
Award
Best Choice
Compliments
Hannaford
Hill Country Fare
Hy Vee
Natural Life
Ol' Roy Canada
Pet Pride / Good n Meaty
Presidents Choice
Priority US
Schnucks
Springfield Prize
Stater Brothers
Western Family US

Cat Food Brands that added new flavors to the list (see the press release for details, my lists do *not* have this information)
Americas Choice, Preferred Pet
Best Choice
Companion
Compliments
Demoulas Market Basket
Drs Foster & Smith
Food Lion
Giant Companion
Hannaford
Hill Country Fare
Hy Vee
Laura Lynn
Master Choice
Meijer's Main Choice
Nutro
Paws
Pet Pride
Presidents Choice
Price Chopper
Priority Canada
Priority US
Schnucks
Sophisticat
Special Kitty Canada
Springfield Prize
Wegmans
White Rose
Winn Dixie

Added 6:25am Thursday: Judi McLeod of The Canada Free Press has an article out this morning "No nice guys among robber barons in pet food industry". Doesn't that title just say it all? Nothing on the expanded recall, but a must read.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I could be wrong, but I don't think the Medi-Cal cat food recall is new. The Medi-Cal feline dissolution formula recall is listed on the Medi Cal page here:

http://www.medi-cal.ca/

It was recalled by Royal Canin on April 10th.

Isn't that the same food referred to on the menu foods link?

http://www.menufoods.com/recall/Cat/Medi-Cal_043007.htm

Or has a new Medi-Cal cat food now also been recalled.

Medi Cal is usually pretty good about putting up the most recent recall info on their website, and I see nothing there about a new recall today ...

Kim said...

Thanks, you're right about the Medi-Cal not being new. It was new to us! I updated the post...

Anonymous said...

Thanks Kim.

And it's not that I'm necessarily alert, just Canadian. ;-) So I remember seeing the Medi-Cal recall back in early April.

I want to THANK YOU and the folks at Itchmo and petsitusa (petfoodlist) and petconnection for the absolutely fantastic job you guys are doing. I don't know what we (and our pets) would do without you and the timely information you are providing.

P.S. I don't know if you guys know this, but apparently the Royal Canin company is paying all of the veterinary costs for all pets who ate their recalled foods in North America. I have friends in both Canada and in the States who have had all their vet bills and lab tests etc paid by Royal Canin (directly to the Vet). One of my friends says that her bills are over $3000 already and Royal Canin is paying every cent of it. My friend said the only proof Royal Canin asked for was the Vet's word that her cat had been eating a recalled Royal Canin food. And Royal Canin has pledged to never use any imported ingredients from China ever again.

I don't understand why other pet food companies are not doing the same.

Anyway, that's why I was surprised to see the Medi-Cal listed as a new recall and yet no word of it on their site.

(Although I guess it wouldn't be the first time you guys beat the webmasters of the petfood company websites to posting the recall info)

Anyway, THANK YOU again. You have all very likely been saving many lives by doing what you're doing.

Anonymous said...

oops I forgot to say thank you to howl911. Thank you everybody!

(hope I didn't forget anybody else ... it's late here and I'm pretty bleary eyed .. time for bed!)

Anonymous said...

is fancy feast still ok for cats?
is greenies (for dogs) trustworthy?
is pedigree's treats ok?

Unknown said...

Despar is an Italian grocery chain according to this link:

http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/casestudy.aspx?docid=286810

Stuzzy Gold is also apparently Italian:

http://www.agras-delic.it/2006/stuzzy_gold.php

I can't read Italian, so I can't find out if it mentions the recall yet on the site or not.

Anonymous said...

I applaud Royal Canin Ca for doing this (paying directly to vets). They have big lawyers and teams to make the suppliers pay, we as pet owners do not and cannot wait months or years for class action suits to be won. By paying vets right away is valuable to owners so that if more complications occur, they can get their animals looked at. It is also just smart business to make things better as much as you can up front, that way you will not lose customers.

Anonymous said...

you can check all pet food recalls brand names..us and canada..dogs and cats..here:

http://www.menufoods.com/recall/

teak outdoor furniture said...

Oh, good thing they're recalled.

Volunteers Needed! Get food off shelves...

howl911.com, itchmo.com, thepetfoodlist.com, petconnection.com, petfoodtracker.com and spockosbrain.com have joined together to ask for your help.
Update 6-10: Recalled food was purchased from a
California store on 5-29th – this stuff is still out there!
We need Volunteers to help get recalled food off store shelves. Read this post at Spocko’s Brain for instructions. Print a list (or two) on this site. Visit stores, then report safe stores here at Itchmo.com.

Printing Information:
1. Print the main FDA Pet Food Recall page http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html – this will be handy to show retailers who haven’t heard anything about the recall. (3 pages)

2. Print the list of 14 Major National Brands - it includes flavors and date information where applicable so you can tell if specific products for these brands have been recalled. The brands are: Alpo Prime Cuts, Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul, Doctors Foster and Smith, Eukanuba, Gravy Train, Hill’s Science Diet, Iams, Jerky Treats, Lick Your Chops, Mighty Dog Pouches, Natural Balance, Nutro, Pounce, Royal Canin. (It’s 7 pages and includes FDA contact information.)

3. Print the List of All Brands – it will remind you what products have been recalled - but it does not give you date and flavor information, there is just too much to put in one document. (7 pages, but the 7th page is links to more detailed information so you don’t need to print it)

If you want, and are going to a store that you know has store brands that have been recalled (such as Walmart), go to that recall information at the links on the summary or at the FDA site and print it out. Some of the information is formatted in ways that make it difficult to read (one of the main reasons for this site), but it’s better than nothing.

Note: The FDA is the official source for all recall information and recalled products. This is an unofficial volunteer effort to help get the word out and get recalled foods off of shelves. We’re doing the best we can but can’t guarantee these lists are completely accurate. Again, here is the official recall site: http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html