Humans aren't the only ones who have to worry about a tainted food supply. Canadian pet food manufacturer Menu Foods Income Fund says it is recalling 48 brands of dog food and 40 brands of cat food after reports of pets suffering kidney failure and at least 10 pet deaths.
Among the affected brands are Iams, Eukanuba and Nutro.
The company said it was initiating a precautionary recall of 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 company's United States facilities. The products are both manufactured and sold under private-label and are contract-manufactured for some national brands.
"Over the past several days, we have received feedback in the United States, raising concerns about pet food manufactured since early December, and its impact on the renal health of the pets consuming the products," the company said in a statement.
Menu Foods says it began a battery of technical tests as soon as the first complaints came in, but has not identified any problems.
They did find, however, that timing of the production associated with these complaints coincides with the introduction of an ingredient from a new supplier. The ingredient was dropped shortly after this discovery, the company said, and production since then has been undertaken using ingredients from another source.
"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."
In a scene reminiscent of the recent peanut butter salmonella scare, U.S. retailers frantically pulled the recalled products from store shelves.
Pet owners are urged to carefully check the food they are using. Dog owners can check here and cat owners can check here.