Worries about food safety hit America's pet owners last weekend as they came to grips with a dog and cat food recall affecting 88 brands of mostly canned "cuts and gravy" selections.
In all, about 60 million cans and foil pouches of items made by Streetsville, Canada-based Menu Foods Income Fund were being recalled.
As the food became linked to at least 10 recent animal deaths, pet owners began making nervous calls to their veterinarians and flooding the Canadian company's phone lines. Many of the best-known U.S. brands of pet food are on the recall list.
Patrick McElroy was annoyed and a little nervous Sunday while playing with his dog Eli at the Silver Lake dog park. "I did recently just buy three to four cans of Mighty Dog," he said. "I guess I'm just going to throw it out and not think about it. It's not even worth the chance."
McElroy expressed anger at the recall, particularly at a time when there have been increasing reports of contaminated foods.
"It's indicative of the trend of the entire country -- not just dog food but human food too. If my dog ever died, I'd be outraged."
The large number of brands affected -- all made by the same company at a Kansas facility from Dec. 3 to March 6 -- also caught people's attention.
The list included big names such as Iams, Eukanuba and other private-label brands sold at major retailers. Nestle Purina PetCare Co. and Hills Pet Nutrition Inc. also voluntarily recalled some of their products made by Menu Foods.
"Oh my god, Eukanuba, too?" said Victoria Levy, 31, of the brand she occasionally buys for her teacup Yorkshire terrier. "That's so disturbing. When they put food on the shelves, you trust that it's safe."
On Sunday, an investigative team from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration collected more samples from the Menu Foods plant in Emporia, Kan., for testing and analysis. No cause had been identified.
Menu Foods spokeswoman Sarah Tuite said the complaints from consumers coincided with use of a new ingredient from a new supplier, but she declined to give more details until tests confirmed the problem. The company has stopped using the ingredient.
Most retailers have pulled the recalled products from their shelves. Now the FDA is encouraging consumers to check the company's website at www.menufoods.comfor specific recall information, including Universal Product Codes. They should purge their cupboards if necessary, said David Elder, the FDA's enforcement director. Distribution of the food appears to be nationwide and not necessarily isolated to a specific region.
