Pet Food recall sheet update- April, 3, 2007

By Stone Martindale Apr 3, 2007, 19:51 GMT

Menu Foods Income Fund faces lawsuits in Canada and the United States over its pet food recall, but the company said on Thursday it still doesn\'t know what went wrong. REUTERS/Nikolay Doychinov

PRINT AND KEEP HANDY FOR REFERRAL

The ingredients pet owners should look out for and avoid, and steps to insure you are buying safe food.  Watch for Wheat Gluten:

What is wheat gluten?
Gluten is a glycoprotein that's found in wheat, oat and barley. It's used to thicken, and to make gravy in wet food. It may also be used in dry food as part of a protein supplement or a carbohydrate source.

How to pick a good dog food:
You want to pick a dog food that conforms to minimal AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) standards because AAFCO officials strictly regulate pet food.

(personal note: I use homemade recipes from a holistic dog book for my wet food, and swear by Solid Gold's Hundenflocken Adult weight formula for kibble. 

free-dog-food-recipes-website )

You want to pick pet foods that have good sources of animal protein. If you look at the ingredient list, it is listed in descending order by amount.

So the first two or three ingredients should be some type of animal protein — chicken, beef, fish, lamb, beef or turkey. They shouldn't be vegetable, wheat or grain, or animal by-products.

Also, the pet food — can or bag — should have an expiration date. And it should have a phone number and/or Web site, so you can call the company and ask questions.

These are the things that are going to be on high-quality pet foods. You also want to look for natural preservatives, like vitamin C or vitamin E, and stay away from chemical preservatives. Ethoxyquine is one that they used years back that was determined to be a carcinogenic, and are no longer using.

Avoid generic-label or store-label brands because the food is probably from bulk suppliers. Don't pick products that have unidentified meat or bone meal. It's got to specify the protein(i.e. chicken, turkey, salmon).

Avoid preservatives that are controversial: BHT, ethoxyquine, BHA and propolyneglycol. Those are things you don't want to see on the label.

Key points
Make sure there are no wheat or wheat gluten products in your pet food, and monitor your pet's behavior to be sure your pet is well.

Avoid these ingredients

    * Wheat or wheat gluten
    * BHT
    * Ethoxyquine
    * BHA
    * Propylene glycol

How to pick safe food

    * Read ingredient labels
    * Find AAFCO stamp
    * Check expiration date
    * Get contact information 

Additional foods announced for recall:
Pounce Meaty Morsels Moist Chicken Flavor Cat Treats 

Code: Best By:  TP7C07
Sep 04 08  TP7C12
Sep 09 08

PRIVATE LABEL  Production Code/Best By Date

Ol' Roy Beef Flavor Jerky Strips Dog Treats  Code:
Best By:  TP7B06
Aug 06 08  TP7B07
Aug 07 08  TP7C05
Sep 02 08  TP7C06
Sep 03 08  TP7C07
Sep 04 08
Code:
Best By:  TP7C08
Sep 05 08

Ol' Roy Beef Flavor Snack Sticks Dog Treats  Code:
Best By:  TP7B19
Aug 19 08  TP7B20
Aug 20 08  TP7B21
Aug 21 08  TP7C08
Sep 05 08  TP7C09
Sep 06 08

Ol' Roy Bark'n Bac'n Beef & Bacon Flavor Dog Treats  Code:
Best By:  TP7C14
Sep 11 08

Ol' Roy with Beef Hearty Cuts in Gravy Dog Food  Code:
Best By:  BC6M21
Dec 21 09

Ol' Roy with Beef Hearty Strips in Gravy Dog Food  Code:
Best By:  BC7A19
Jan 19 10

Ol' Roy Country Stew Hearty Cuts in Gravy Dog Food  Code:
Best By:  BC6M15
Dec 15 09  

Dollar General Beef Flavored Jerky Strips Dog Treats  Code:
Best By:  TP7C06
Sep 03 08

Dollar General Beef Flavored Beef Sticks Dog Treats  Code:
Best By:  TP7B20
Aug 20 08  TP7B21
Aug 21 08

Happy Tails Beef Flavor Jerky Strips  Code:
Best By:  TP7B08
Aug 08 08  TP7B09
Aug 09 08

Happy Tails Meaty Cuts with Beef in Gravy Dog Food  Code:
Best By:  BC7A29
Jan 29 10

FDA recall information:

The following companies have initiated voluntary recalls of their pet food products:

On March 16, Menu Foods, Inc. recalled dog and cat foods produced at its facilities in Emporia, Kansas and Pennsauken, N.J. between December 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007. The products are sold by many different distributors under a number of different brand names. A full listing of all the recalled products can be found at http://www.menufoods.com/recall/. The affected products are moist (packaged in pouches) and canned diets. The products have been described as “cuts and gravy” style pet foods.

On March 16, 2007 -- Nestlé Purina PetCare Company announced that as a precautionary measure, it was voluntarily withdrawing its 5.3 ounce Mighty Dog® brand pouch products that were produced by Menu Foods, Inc. from December 3, 2006 through March 14, 2007. On March 30, Nestlé Purina PetCare Company voluntarily recalled all sizes and varieties of its ALPO® Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food with specific date codes http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/purina203_07.html . Consumers can call 1-800-218-5898, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CDT or visit http://www.purina.com/ to receive more information.

On March 30, Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc., voluntarily recalled Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry food http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01599.html . The cat food is sold exclusively through veterinarians. Consumers can contact Hills at 1-800-445-5777 or visit http://www.hillspet.com/ for more information.

On March 31, Del Monte Pet Products voluntarily recalled select product codes of its pet treat products sold under the Jerky Treats ®, Gravy Train ® Beef Sticks and Pounce Meaty Morsels ® brands as well as select dog snack and wet dog food products sold under private label brands http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/delmonte03_07.html. A complete list of affected brands and products can be found at http://www.delmonte.com/petfoodrecall.html. Consumers can contact Del Monte at 1-800- 949-3799 for further information about the recall.

Please see http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html for additional information.