Pet Food Recall Includes Canada

Posted by Darlene Cheek Apr 12, 2007

On Monday, April 9th, Menu Foods announced that they have now found melamine traces at a Canadian processing plant. They have now updated the recall list, and the FDA has blocked imports of wheat gluten from China pending further investigation.

Banfield Veterinary Hospital has been investigating records collected from 615 vet clinics and has found that there was a 30% increase of kidney failure in cats during the time the contaminated food was on the market, and that about 3 in every 10,000 cats seen nationwide developed kidney failure. Altogether, 16 deaths have been reported, and 12,000 pets have been reported ill.

MSNBC also reported that the FDA inspected 400 stores and still found recalled food on store shelves! The recall seems to still be expanding.

Many pet owners have resorted to cooking for their pets, while others are trying out organic pet foods. MSNBC’s Kim Campbell Thornton has an excellent report on what is in our pet’s food and how to read a pet food label.

One thing for certain is that the FDA will be under scrutiny from pet owners the world over. Hopefully, if any good can come of a situation like this, stricter guidelines and regulations will be placed on our pet food products and the companies that produce them. Maybe this was a wake-up call for all of us.

Resources:

• Recall Expands to Include Pet Food in Canada
• Tainted Pet Food Still on Shelves, FDA says