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Major Recall of Pet Food Has Animal Owners Frantic
By Matthew Verrinder
March 19, 2007

Silviene Grzybowski became worried when her local pet store pulled the food
she normally feeds her cat and posted an announcement saying it, and many
other popular pet foods, had been recalled. Her cat, Smokey, hadn't been
eating for days.

"The vet told us to buy her her favorite food, but I'm going to call the vet
right now," Grzybowski said.

Menu Foods, the Ontario, Canada-based company that produced the pet food,
said Saturday it was recalling dog food sold throughout North America under
48 brands and cat food sold under 40 brands including Iams, Nutro and
Eukanuba. The food was distributed by major retailers such as Wal-Mart,
Kroger and Safeway.

An unknown number of cats and dogs had suffered kidney failure and about 10
died after eating the affected pet food, the company said.

Two other companies -- Nestle Purina PetCare Co. and Hill's Pet Nutrition
Inc. -- said Saturday that as a precaution they were voluntarily recalling
some products made by Menu Foods.

Many stores that sold the affected brands frantically pulled packages off
shelves.

Ron Finegold of Boynton Beach, Fla., said he noticed about a week or so ago
that his family's 3-year-old cat -- who was regularly fed a variety of Iams
cat food -- had stopped eating and did not appear well. He quickly took the
animal to the veterinarian, who determined she was in renal failure.

He said he heard about the recall on the radio Friday night. He checked his
trash, and found out he had given the cat some of the affected food.

"That's when I realized (the illness) had to be related," Finegold said.
"She won't be eating that stuff anymore."

A complete list of the recalled products along with product codes,
descriptions and production dates was available from the Menu Foods Web
site, http://www.menufoods.com/recall. The company also designated two phone
numbers that pet owners could call for information -- 866-463-6738 and
866-895-2708 -- but callers kept the lines busy for much of Saturday.

Menu Foods' chief executive and president Paul Henderson told the Associated
Press on Friday that the company was still trying to figure out what
happened.

He said that the company had received an undisclosed number of owner
complaints that dogs and cats were vomiting and suffering kidney failure
after eating its products. He estimated that the recall would cost the
company, which is mostly owned by the Menu Foods Income Fund, an estimated
$26 million to $34 million.

Sarah Tuite, a company spokeswoman, has said the recalled products were made
using wheat gluten purchased from a new supplier, which has since been
dropped for another source. Wheat gluten is a source of protein.

Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman Julie Zawisza said it is still too
early to determine what could have affected the food. Zawisza added that
even if wheat gluten is the source "it doesn't necessarily mean the wheat
gluten per se. It could be another substance associated with the wheat
gluten."

The recall covers the company's "cuts and gravy" style food, which consists
of chunks of meat in gravy, sold in cans and small foil pouches from Dec. 3
to March 6.

In Omaha, Neb., Susan Balvanz said she sometimes feeds her five cats packets
of sliced meat and gravy sold by Nutro Products, one of the brands affected.

"I've done so much research on pet food. It didn't surprise me but it scared
me all the same," said Balvanz.

She said her 9-year-old cat, Boots, was especially fond of the food but
seemed to have lost its appetite in the last few days.

At the Missouri Valley Veterinary Clinic in Bismarck, N.D., veterinarian
Jacob Carlson has been referring worried pet owners to the Menu Foods web
site.

"We've had a lot of calls," Carlson said, although none of his patients were
sick.

The company said it makes pet food for 17 of the top 20 North American
retailers. It is also a contract manufacturer for the top branded pet food
companies, including Procter & Gamble Co.

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