Menu Foods / cuts and gravy / dog food / cat food

UPDATE: March 30, 2007
Here is some animal health information
http://www.avma.org/aa/menufoodsrecall/default.asp

[Friday, March 16, 2007: below is the text from the PDF file “Press_Recall_03162007.pdf” in case menufoods.com becomes slower than it is now or temporarily unavailable; also, some people do not have the ability to open PDF files easily or at all.]

UPDATE: Saturday, March 17: Their web site is working fast now:
http://www.menufoods.com/recall/index.html

Here are some more links I found:

http://www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html

http://us.iams.com/iams/en_US/jsp/IAMS_Page.jsp?pageID=PCA&articleID=300003

http://us.eukanuba.com/eukanuba/en_US/jsp/Euk_Page.jsp?pageID=MC&newsArticleID=22&intcmp=HM_PRR

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/03-17-2007/0004548036&EDATE=

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070316/20070316005830.html

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PRESS RELEASE

Menu Foods Income Fund
TSX: MEW.UN

March 16, 2007
Menu Foods Income Fund Announces Precautionary Dog and Cat Food Recall
TORONTO, ONTARIO–(CCNMatthews – March 16, 2007) –

NOT FOR RELEASE OVER US NEWSWIRE SERVICES

Attention Business/Financial Editors

Menu Foods Income Fund (the “Fund”) (TSX:MEW.UN) today announced the precautionary recall of a portion of the dog and cat food it
manufactured between December 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007. The recall is limited to “cuts and gravy” style pet food in cans and pouches
manufactured at two of the Fund’s United States facilities. These products are both manufactured and sold under private-label and are
contract-manufactured for some national brands.

Over the past several days, the Fund has received feedback in the United States (none in Canada) raising concerns about pet food
manufactured since early December, and its impact on the renal health of the pets consuming the products. Shortly after receipt of the first
complaint, the Fund initiated a substantial battery of technical tests, conducted by both internal and external specialists, but has failed to
identify any issues with the products in question. The Fund has, however, discovered that timing of the production associated with these
complaints, coincides with the introduction of an ingredient from a new supplier. The Fund stopped using this ingredient shortly after this
discovery and production since then has been undertaken using ingredients from another source.

At the same time, the Fund’s largest customer, for which it manufactures on a contract basis, received a small number of consumer
complaints and has initiated its own recall. Furthermore, for the time being, the customer has put future orders for cuts and gravy products on
hold. This customer’s cuts and gravy purchases in 2006 represented approximately 11% of the Fund’s annual revenue.

“We take these complaints very seriously and, while we are still looking for a specific cause, we are acting to err on the side of caution” said
Paul K. Henderson, President and CEO, Menu Foods. “We will do whatever is necessary to ensure that our products maintain the very
highest quality standards.”

While the number of complaints has been relatively small, Menu is taking this proactive step out of an abundance of caution, because the
health and well-being of pets is paramount to the Fund.

In addition to changing suppliers, for production after March 6, the Fund has increased testing of all raw materials and finished goods. It is
also working closely with regulatory authorities and its customers to learn more and will take whatever additional actions are appropriate. The
Fund estimates that based on currently available information, this recall could cost between $30 million and $40 million, which will be
financed from a combination of internally generated cash flow and bank credit facilities. Furthermore, the Fund is aggressively producing
product, utilizing a different supplier for the ingredient in question, to replenish customers as quickly as possible.

In order to determine whether cat and dog food in their possession is subject to recall, consumers should refer to the list of brand names
(“listed products”) at http://www.menufoods.com/recall. This will be available by 6 a.m. Saturday March 17, 2007. Products not identified on the
website can continue to be used.

Menu is the leading North American private-label/contract manufacturer of wet pet food products sold by supermarket retailers, mass
merchandisers, pet specialty retailers and other retail and wholesale outlets. In 2006, the Fund produced more than one billion containers.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Menu Foods Income Fund
Media and Investor Relations
Sarah Tuite
(416) 848-1703

or

Menu Foods Income Fund
Consumers
1-866-463-6738
Website: http://www.menufoods.com

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12 Responses to “Menu Foods / cuts and gravy / dog food / cat food”

  1. Lois Sommerfield Says:

    Why can I not get some satisfaction from you when I am panicking over this scare? I can’t get through on the phone lines or this site. Why don’t you take the initiative and publish names of affected cat and dog foods.

  2. bork Says:

    The lists are long and complicated, and they might be changed also.
    If you are able to, maybe you could switch to “dry” food for now.

    1-866-895-2708
    http://www.menufoods.com/recall/index.html

  3. Barbara Finch Says:

    I have been a faithful Special Kitty buyer for several years, my cats, we had 2, liked the gray cuts so I fed them one a day. The recommeded amount was three, but I only fed them one and dry food. Lizzy our 13 year old cat started not eating as much and then within a week-end got sick, stopped eating completely and died in two days, so we didn’t get a chance to have the vet confirm weather it was kidney failure or not but she did eat Special Kitty and is now dead. I have stopped giving the other cat this food and hope it will not affect her too. Can you tell me what food are on this list because we also give our dogs the old roy can mixed with dry which is also a Wal-Mart brand.

  4. Anonymous Says:

    At least you have given me a reason why I can not find a list of products. But I would bet that money has more to do with it ,than the health of my pets. Tell me which do you think would be cheaper. Afew cans of food or a few million lawsuits

  5. max Says:

    Current lists of the recalled food brands are here: http://celluloidblonde.wordpress.com/2007/03/21/update-emergency-pet-food-recall/

  6. bork Says:

    Thank you for that information, max.

    I apologize for over-estimating the Internet skills of my readers.

    If you go here for cat food
    http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_cat.html
    or here for dog food
    http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_dog.html
    you will see a list of brands.

    Here is the ‘Special Kitty’ cat food information specifically:

    http://www.menufoods.com/recall/Cat/Special%20Kitty%20US_040507.htm

    http://www.menufoods.com/recall/Cat/Special%20Kitty%20Canada_040507.htm

  7. Mark N Says:

    Boycott any store that sells Menu Food products and together we can put them out of business as well as send a strong message to other companies that operate like Menu does!

  8. Kathy Says:

    Thank you, have been looking for product codes to identify possible sources, yours are the only one I’ve located. Do you have a list of the canned items?

  9. bork Says:

    As far as I know, there is not one good place to get a direct list.

    I would say that if there is food that you are unsure of, look on the package to see who made it, and then find the web site of the company.

    For example, for information about Alpo dog food, it says on the can that it is from Purina, so go to purina.com and see what they have to say.

    http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html

    http://www.avma.org/aa/menufoodsrecall/default.asp

  10. max Says:

    I have the initial lists posted here: http://celluloidblonde.wordpress.com/2007/03/21/update-emergency-pet-food-recall/

    There have been additional foods added to the initial lists though. Hills Prescription Diet, the dry food, for example, has been reported to have problems. Purina is having problems with some brands. If you are looking for food to check against what you have purchased and fed the animal, you want to do what Bork said, visit the manufacturer’s website where info should be available. [Let us hope.]

    If you are looking for a safe brand to feed animals, word is Natura brands are clean: http://www.naturapet.com Innova gets especially solid word of mouth, and Evo has not grain products included at all.

    Good luck.

  11. bork Says:

    Maybe to be somewhat totally safe, avoid all pet food that lists wheat gluten as an ingredient for now.

  12. bork Says:

    Here’s an interesting blog:
    http://petsympathy.blogspot.com/

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