FDA expects pet food death toll to rise
Pastor Dale Morgan
FDA expects pet food death toll to rise*
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Experts advise owners to call their veterinarian if a pet has eaten
recalled food and shows symptoms of possible kidney failure. An animal
could be in trouble if it:
• Stops eating
• Appears tired and lifeless
• Seems excessively thirsty
• Urinates much more than usual
• Vomits
• Has diarrhea
• Seems to have abdominal pain
Source: The FDA; veterinarian Laurie Miller of the Hope Center for
Advanced Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Va.
By Julie Schmit and Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
Federal regulators said Monday that contaminated wheat gluten is the
most likely source of deaths in a large pet food recall, and that it is
investigating whether other pet food makers got wheat gluten from the
same supplier.
The Food and Drug Administration also said that it expects the number of
deaths linked to the food to grow. Of the 10 so far, at least seven
animals died in a test by pet food maker Menu Foods after it received
consumer complaints, the FDA says. Forty to 50 animals were tested. Of
the 10 deaths, nine were cats and one was a dog, the FDA said.
The recalled foods cover 91 brands of wetdog and cat food, in cans and
pouches. They account for about 1% of pet food sold in the U.S. the FDA
says. No dry foods are included.
Neither the FDA nor Menu Foods, based in Canada, have determined the
exact contaminant. Other ingredients are being investigated along with
wheat gluten, often used as a source for protein and as a binding agent
in wet food.
Menu Foods, one of the largest makers of wet pet food in the nation, has
said that consumer complaints coincided with the date that it switched
to a new wheat gluten supplier, which has since been dropped. The FDA
would not identify the supplier. Menu Foods did not return phone calls
Monday.
The recalled "cuts and gravy" food was produced between Dec. 3, 2006 and
March 6, 2007 at two Menu plants in Kansas and New Jersey, although
consumer complaints have involved only product made in Kansas, the FDA says.
Over the weekend, website blogs filled with people reporting sick or
dead cats and dogs who ate the recalled foods. Phone numbers supplied by
Menu Foods were jammed Monday. "The panic and concern is Manhattan to
Mayberry," says veterinarian Marty Becker of petconnection.com.
Q-and-A: What pet owners need to know
Because the contaminant is unknown, some retailers are taking extra
precautions.
"Until we know what the problem is, we're going to assume everything
made at that plant is suspect," says Mark Witriol, co-owner of Pet Food
Express, with 31 stores in San Francisco's Bay Area.
Along with the recalled product, Pet Food Express isn't selling other
wet foods made by Menu and other wet foods made by other manufacturers
unless Pet Food Express knows Menu did not make them. The 31-store
company is "fielding hundreds of calls" from consumers and even
employees, says Witriol.
Kidney failure is often caused by heavy metals and mold, the FDA says.
Testing did not show aflatoxin, a mold traced to a pet food recall in
2005 in which more than 70 dogs died. Liver failure was a prime culprit.
The current contaminant may be more toxic to cats than to dogs, says the
FDA's Stephen Sundlof, director of the Center for Veterinary Medicine.
Kidney failure tends to be a bigger issue for cats than for dogs,
veterinarians say.
The FDA says Menu received its first consumer complaint on Feb. 20,
started the trials on Feb. 27 and that the first test animals started
dying or showing signs of sickness on March 2nd.
Menu notified the FDA Thursday about the need for a recall, the agency
says. Food recalls are usually initiated by companies, which are most
likely to first receive consumer complaints.
For Rene Norrif of Hollywood, Md., the problem started two weeks ago.
She'd recently switched to wet food for her cat, Robin, 12, because he
had lost some teeth.
"All the sudden, out of the blue, he stopped eating. He was still
drinking water but he wouldn't eat. He was really tired and he kept
throwing up."
Norrif took Robin to the veterinarian on March 5. "His kidneys were
totally shot," she says, and he was put down the next day.
At first, Norrif thought, "well, he had cancer, I did the best I could."
But then she saw the notices about the recall and found recalled food in
her cabinets.
"Now I feel so guilty," she says, "because I'm the one who brought him
the food and if I hadn't fed it to him he'd still be laying on the couch
in the sun."
On The Web: http://www.menufoods.com/recall/index.html
Posted 4h 8m ago