Menu Foods Recalls More Cat Food Made With ChemNutra Wheat Gluten; Nutro Products Recalls All Wet Pet Foods Regardless of Date

April 11, 2007
Menu Foods and Nutro Products have expanded their recalls of pet food.

Menu said its latest recall was prompted by reports from the US Food and Drug Administration about the presence of melamine in cans of cuts and gravy pet food produced in Menu Foods' Canadian production facility, Menu Foods said it undertook an accounting of all recalled wheat gluten supplied by ChemNutra Inc. to Menu Foods in the United States.

As the result of that review, Menu Foods said it has identified a single interplant transfer of the ChemNutra supplied wheat gluten, shipped from Menu Foods' plant in Emporia, Kansas, to its plant in Streetsville, Ontario. This wheat gluten was subsequently used in the production of pet food in December, 2006 and January, 2007, which is being recalled by Menu Foods.

The new varieties in the United States and Canada have been added to the recall list. The latest recall group is listed below, and a complete list of recalled products, including the new items can be reviewed at www.menufoods.com.

Nutro Products said it's ordering all its wet pet food product made with wheat gluten removed from store shelves -- regardless of production dates.

"Pet owners are fed up with confusing information regarding the Menu Foods recall," Dave Kravis, President and CEO of Nutro Products, stated in press release. "I had previously ordered a broader recall of affected products than what Menu Foods had suggested. Given this new information from Menu Foods, I have ordered all wet pet food products containing wheat gluten to be removed from store shelves. Our dry pet food is not made by Menu and remains unaffected by the recall."

Kravis said his company has also suspended all shipments to retail stores of Nutro's wet canned and pouch products that contain wheat gluten it's able to confirm their safety. He asked customers with the following Nutro wet pet food products (which are made by Menu Foods and contain wheat gluten) regardless of "best by date," to immediately stop feeding the products to their pets:

• All Cat Pouch Food Products;
• Listed Cat 3.0 oz can products;
• All Dog Pouch Food Products;
• Listed Dog 12.5 oz Canned Products

Kravis said Menu Foods' recall does not include Nutro's dry pet food. Nutro's dry pet foods are not produced by that Canadian company and do not contain wheat gluten. Nutro's dry pet foods, biscuits and treats, are not involved in the recall and remain safe for pets to eat, Kravis said.

Menu Foods, he added, only manufactures wet, canned and pouch products for Nutro.

Menu Foods Update