Dog and cat food recall!

MenuFoods.com has announced a huge recall of its dog and cat food products.  The foods are manufactured in plants in Canada and the US, but are then distributed as “private label” products to stores like Walmart and PetsMart.  The company has set up a specific page listing products which are part of the recall (http://www.menufoods.com/recall), but I haven’t been able to get to the page yet—perhaps it’s overrun with worried pet owners.  I was able to find this list of foods manufactured by MenuFoods on the PETA website, however:

Albertson’s
A&P’s Master Choice
Authority (PetSmart brand)
Award (PetSmart brand)
IGA
Kroger
Loblaw
Pathmark
Safeway Select
ShopRite
SophistaCat (PetSmart brand)
Stop & Shop
Wal-Mart’s Special Kitty Pouches

That list may not be all-inclusive, but it’s all I can find right now.  The company doesn’t know (or say) specifically what is wrong with the food (I think the recall is confined to the “cuts and gravy” style pet food), but it’s been anecdotally linked to kidney failure deaths in dogs and cats.  Cats seem to be most at risk.


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Update:  Here’s the official press release about the recall.  The webpage listing the brands and lot numbers will be up and running by 6am Saturday, March 17th.


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The lists/lot numbers of recalled food are now available on the MenuFoods site.  Here’s the list for cat food, and the list for dog food.  Please note there are some foods manufactured by Nutro on both lists, so the recall doesn’t just apply to grocery store brands.


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The “good” news just keeps on rolling.  Iams/Eukanuba is now part of the recall as well.  Read the news release on their website.


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I’ve added a couple of other entries on this issue—they’re a bit more organized than this one, which was sort of just tossed together on a moment’s notice.  If you’re interested, check out More on the pet food recall and A veterinary toxicologist opines about the pet food recall.  I hope you’ll find some information which is useful to you.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 03/16 at 06:26 PM

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  1. Yep, that has hit my list too. Is it just me or have these recalls and problems gotten more frequent? This one was from what - wheat gluten? Oy.
    I’m glad I never feed wheat gluten to my dogs. smile

    Posted by Carina  on  03/17  at  03:12 AM

  2. Yes, the news release on the Nutro site identified wheat gluten as the problem.  It’s so frustrating… I avoid feeding my cats kibble, and instead try to feed them “no by-products or weird ingredients” wet food, then something like this arises.  I don’t have any of the problem food in the house right now (I have some matching UPC codes but not matching batch numbers/expiration dates), but I may have, and it just didn’t cause problems.  I’m so glad I avoided feeding Madison any of the Nutro foods during weaning.

    I was trying to feed my dogs a diet of at least 50% raw last summer, but I’ve slacked off since we had money problems.  Now we don’t have money problems, but I work the equivalent of two full-time jobs so my pets are lucky if I even bother to open the cans of food for them.  I feel so rushed I wish I could teach them to use the can opener.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  03/17  at  03:38 AM

  3. Finnovar is fond of Nutro, as you know - and wheat gluten is generally pretty far down on their ingredients list. We threw out all his wet food even though we didn’t have any of the bad dates/lot numbers. It’s so frustrating because you try to only feed quality food, with real meat and vegetables as the primary ingredients and yet things still go wrong. *sigh* But I guess that’s true of our food, too, what with the E Coli scares and such recently.

    Posted by Helly  on  03/17  at  07:29 AM

  4. We had *one* packet of the Nutro. The rest is earlier dates, and I remember that flavor being less available, so that I had to reach into the back for the one packet. So I’m pretty sure none of them have had it.

    Wheat gluten in the small amount that this food has it is one of the very few things grain-allergic Sassy can have. Most of the “good” brands have rice and she can’t eat rice. We feed Innova Evo dry, but they refuse to eat that wet.

    I used to BARF the cats, but half of them refused to eat it. Tom sincerely wishes I’d resume the habit. He won’t leave me alone if I have a cleaver out.

    Posted by Georg  on  03/17  at  01:03 PM

  5. Thank you for the info! We didn’t have any of the formulas on the list but our previous batch of cans are from the same time frame. We only get one spoonful at each meal but, if the cans we have now were tainted, you can bet they would be going back to PetsMart!

    Posted by Roxie, Sammy & Andy  on  03/18  at  07:13 AM

  6. rolleyes Is this only canned food? I purchased a bag of(cat) authority for the free spirited group of cats who have decided my place is motel purrrfect!  They wouldn’t eat it.!! I ended up throwing it away and buying a different brand. I usually buy whats on sale for these poor cats.hmmmm homeless cats refusing food. Now i’m wondering!

    Posted by jan Stanfill  on  03/18  at  12:54 PM

  7. Jan, this particular recall is only canned, thank goodness.  Susan at Wildrun posted recently about a bag of kibble that her cats wouldn’t touch—I think it was a bag of Science Diet, but I can’t be sure.  I do the same thing you do - my stray cats get whatever is cheap, because money and kibble don’t grow on trees, and dammit, they’re not my cats!  They’re usually very receptive to whatever is left for them, and I agree that something is amiss when stray cats won’t eat!

    Carina, do you have any details about the wheat gluten problem—was it contaminated with a toxin?  Until I started researching aflatoxin, I thought it just affected corn, and I was surprised to see that it could also grow on rice, wheat, and a number of legumes.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  03/19  at  03:51 AM

  8. Is ceasar dog food included in the recall list?

    Posted by a. han  on  03/19  at  08:54 AM

  9. I’m so glad the only wet food Salem gets is Merrick. But my in-laws and my SIL feed Nutro, so I’ve sent them the appropriate links and told them to check their food. Thanks for posting this info!

    PS-I got your e-mail about the Windows Mail/Vista thing, but I keep forgetting to reply. Thank you so much for the info!

    Posted by Helena  on  03/19  at  09:04 AM

  10. The Menu Foods recall will likely be traced back to a mix up by a vendor that shipped the wrong material: Propylene glycol is used in pet food, and they possibly received ethylene glycol. Ethylene Glycol (used in antifreeze) produces the symtoms of renal failure. Either product is metabolized quickly and lab tests to confirm are usually too late to help with the emergency care issues. Both of these glycols appear similiar and odorless.

    Respectfully submitted based on 27 years in the pet food business.

    Posted by Dawg Man  on  03/19  at  10:09 AM

  11. I would like to know if friskies cat food is on recall. cans of FINE CUTS SLICED WITH BEEF IN GRAVY, ALSO CHICKEN IN GRAVY, GOURMET GRILL PLEASE LET ME KNOW

    Posted by Frances T. McMillan  on  03/20  at  04:35 AM

  12. Cesar is made by Pedigree, and Pedigree is fine. They also make the friskies and whiskas. So all of those are fine. Pretty much everything else on the other hand…

    My dogs get Pedigree canned for dog dinner.

    Posted by Georg  on  03/20  at  04:40 AM

  13. Thanks, Georg smile

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  03/20  at  07:04 AM
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