60 million containers of wet cat and dog food are in the process of being recalled. The suspect food, made by Menu Foods, was sold at various retailers and under various store brand and brand names (including Eukanuba, Nutro, Iams and Science Diet) from December 3, 2006 through March 6, 2007. All of the contaminated food was sold in cans or pouches.
Update (3/22/07): Below is a full list of brand names the food was sold under:
DOG FOODS
Americas Choice-Preferred Pets, Authority, Award, Best Choice, Big Bet, Big Red, Bloom, Wegmans Bruiser, Cadillac, Companion, Demoulas Market Basket, Eukanuba, Food Lion, Giant Companion, Great Choice, Hannaford, Hill Country Fare, Hy-Vee Iams, Laura Lynn, Loving Meals, Meijers Main Choice, Mighty Dog Pouch, Mixables, Nutriplan, Nutro Max, Nutro Natural Choice, Nutro Ultra, Nutro Ol’Roy Canada, Ol’Roy US, Paws, Pet Essentials, Pet Pride – Good n Meaty, Presidents Choice, Price Chopper, Priority, Publix, Roche Bros, Save-A-Lot, Schnucks, Shep Dog, Springsfield Prize, Sprout Stater Bros, Weis Total Pet, Western Family, White Rose, Winn Dixie, Your Pet
CAT FOODS
Americas Choice-Preferred Pets, Authority, Best Choice, Companion, Compliments, Demoulas Market Basket, Eukanuba, Fine Feline Cat, Food Lion, Foodtown, Giant Companion, Hannaford Hill Country Fare, Hy-Vee, Iams, Laura Lynn, Li’l Red, Loving Meals, Meijer’s Main Choice, Nutriplan, Nutro Max Gourmet Classics, Nutro, Natural Choice, Paws, Pet Pride, Presidents Choice Price Chopper, Priority, Save-A-Lot, Schnucks, Science Diet Feline Savory Cuts Cans, Sophistacat, Special Kitty Canada, Special Kitty US, Springfield Prize, Sprout, Weis Total Pet, Wegmans, Western Family, White Rose, Winn Dixie
For a full list of brand names the food was sold under, visit the Menu Foods Recall website or call 1-866-895-2708.
Package codes: Plant code 4197; Lots 6339 to 7073
Dates sold: 12/03/06 through 03/06/07
Symptoms to watch for: Lethargy (more sleepy/tired than usual), vomiting, acute renal failure
If you notice any of the above symptoms and have been feeding your pets the recalled food, take your pet to your veterinarian and mention that you think it might be related to the food recall.
Update:
Yahoo! has a news story with more details: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070317/ap_on_bi_ge/pet_food_recall
(Thanks for the heads-up on the news story, Cat! :-))
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
The decision to create a home cooked diet using dog food recipes is a hard one. While it sounds attractive, it is quite a task to ensure that you get all of the right nutrients. The vet who consults for us is a leading veterinary herbalist and has written a number of books on dogs detailing diets, dog food recipes and pet health tips.
My dog Nelson now eats a mis mash of home cooked food (which once you get the hang of it is surprisingly easy), samples of other quality organic home cooked dog food and the el cheapo dry I keep at the back of my cupboard.
The premium pet foods do have all of the right balance for a dogs diet so before leaving it completely behind it is worth doing some reading
Congratulations on your pregnancy. My little boy is 12 weeks old and I have a 3 and 2 year old. Its such a lovely time.
Vivienne
I think that making your own dog food is a wonderful option — but it takes a bit of time. We tried it for 3 months, and we found that we could not do it so we switched to healthful, store-bought dog food. I think that the important thing is to do the best thing for your dog that also works for your family. It is always a risk that the food will be recalled, but we try to choose reputable brands and hope for the best. It is the same criteria that we use when we buy food for the human members of our family!