The Pet Food Recall

WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON WITH THIS FOOD RECALL?

The following has been assembled from an assortment of FAQ’s at several veterinary and pet food web sites.

WHAT PET FOODS HAVE BEEN RECALLED?

The problem ingredient is wheat gluten provided by a Chinese supplier (Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology, of China). This wheat gluten was used by a company called Menu Foods, which had been contracted by numerous pet food companies to manufacture “cuts and gravy” style pet foods. The tainted wheat gluten shipment was used in foods made in a specific manufacturing plant between December 6th, 2006 and March 6th, 2007. These foods have been recalled.

After melamine (see below) was identified in the above wheat gluten, several other companies who had also purchased wheat gluten from the same Chinese supplier decided to recall their foods as a precaution. These foods include:

Dry Hills m/d prescription diet purchased after January 1st, 2007

Only the dry formula has been recalled and no other Hills prescription diets are involved in this recall. M/d dry cat food is currently being reformulated so as not to include wheat gluten. The new supply should be available in a couple of months.

Purina Alpo Cuts and Gravy style canned food

Purina announced the recall on the same day they discovered that they had received wheat gluten from the above Chinese supplier. Their shipment of wheat gluten went to only one manufacturing plant. Purina no longer uses the affected Chinese supplier but domestic wheat gluten supplies that mean Purina’s specifications are not available in adequate quantity. They must continue to use foreign sources for this ingredient.

Pounce Meaty Morsels, Jerky Treats, and Gravy Train Beef sticks have been recalled by Del Monte.

Other pet foods and treats by Del Monte are not affected.

Royal Canin has recalled it’s Canadian sales of Feline Stone Dissolution Diet (a prescription food).

WHAT SHOULD I FEED MY PET NOW?

Any food that is not on the recall list should be fine to feed. Given that the recall list expanded to three new pet food companies in the 72 hours between March 30th, 2007 and April 1st, 2007, you may feel safer avoiding any food listing wheat gluten in its ingredient list.

None of the foods manufactured by Mars have been recalled and Mars Petcare has issued a statement confirming their foods are safe. These foods include Whiskas, Sheba, Cesar, and Pedigree. Royal Canin foods are also unaffected as are most foods available at Pet Supply Outlets. If you are still confused, contact your vet’s office.

  • The only dry food involved in the recall is Hills m/d prescription diet for cats. All other dry foods are unaffected.
     
  • Only foods containing wheat gluten have been recalled.
     
  • Not all foods containing wheat gluten have been recalled (only those with wheat gluten obtained from a specific Chinese supplier) but if you don’t want to take a chance on the recall list being expanded, simply don’t feed a food containing wheat gluten.
     
  • It is unnecessary to cook your own pet food (plus it is complicated to make a balanced diet if you do not have guidance from a veterinary nutritionist – see below).

If your cat has been eating Hills m/d dry cat food, you may still safely feed Hills m/d canned food. If you are looking for a similar low carbohydrate/high protein dry food, Purina’s prescription diet called CNM-DM is very comparable and can be substituted. Purina’s DM diet uses corn gluten for texture instead of wheat gluten. If you have m/d dry food in your possession, you should return it for a full refund to your veterinary office.

For more information about Purina CNM-DM diet visit:
          http://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com/FelineProductDetail.aspx?prod=14

WHAT DO I DO WITH RECALLED FOOD IN MY POSSESSION?

Return the food to the store where it was purchased for refund.

Hills dry m/d cat food should be returned to the veterinary hospital where it was purchased.

HOW DO I COOK MY OWN PET FOOD?

It is very difficult to create a properly balanced diet on your own. If your pet has a medical problem and you want to make your own food, it is best to use a veterinary nutritionist to formulate a diet specifically for your pet. This takes hours of calculations and computer work and is not free. Veterinary Teaching Hospitals have entire nutrition departments for this type of service and some will offer their service to the public. Your veterinarian will need to contact the university to review the lab work and medical records for your pet. A private service is also available at www.petdiets.com.

If your pet is healthy (i.e. has no metabolic problems requiring special supplementations or restrictions) you may find the program at www.balanceit.com helpful.

Again, it is not necessary to cook your own food.
You can simply avoid the foods on the above lists or
check with your veterinarian as to what foods
are not involved in the tainted wheat gluten shipment.

WHAT HAPPENED?

In the end of February Menu Foods was performing tests on a new diet for an undisclosed manufacturer when many of the test cats began to develop kidney failure. They at first thought the problem was confined to the test batch of this new food. After some investigation, the problem was narrowed down to a shipment of wheat gluten obtained from a new supplier in China. Extensive testing by Menu Foods, several independent labs, and by the FDA followed in hope of identifying the toxin. At first the New York State Laboratory isolated a substance called “aminopterin,” a rat poison used in other countries but the FDA has been unable to find aminopterin in any of the food samples provided. Melamine, a nitrogen-based material used in fertilizers as well as kitchenware, has been found in the food and tainted wheat gluten plus Cornell University’s laboratories have found melamine in the urine and kidneys of the original Menu Food test cats. Melamine is generally considered to be of low toxicity and may not be the toxin involved but it may be a good marker for poisoning as its presence seems to be unique to the tainted wheat gluten.

The FDA is currently testing all wheat gluten shipments from China for the presence of melamine.

WHAT IS AMINOPTERIN?

Aminopterin is a chemical used only in research in the U.S. It has had uses as a chemotherapy agent in the treatment of cancer, as an agent used to cause abortion, and as a rat poison. It is still used as a rat poison in other countries. In high doses it causes kidney failure which is what killed the poisoned animals who ate the contaminated wheat gluten. Initial findings from the New York State Food Laboratory isolated aminopterin in some of the contaminated food samples but the FDA has not been able to do so nor have any of the other labs working on the problem. At this time, aminopterin does not appear to be the toxin causing the problem though it has not fully been ruled out. Attention is currently focused on melamine (see below).

WHAT IS MELAMINE?

Melamine is a powder made from urea (a biological nitrogen). It can be polymerized into resins, the most famous of which is formica, though it can also be combined with microorganisms to metabolize the nitrogen to create fertilizer. It is also used as a flame retardant. “Plastic” plates and dishes for outdoor use are commonly made of melamine. There is a good chance you have some melamine dishes in your kitchen right now. Melamine is not generally considered toxic but it has been found in the affected food, in the kidneys and urine of animals that died or were sick, and in the wheat gluten. At this time, it seems unlikely that the melamine is the toxin but, until a more likely toxin is isolated, melamine seems to be a marker for exposure to the toxin (in other words, if melamine is found, the yet unidentified toxin is probably also present).

Melamine testing is not commercially available to private hospitals or individuals at this time.

WHAT IS THE FDA DOING ABOUT THIS?

All shipments of wheat gluten from China are now being tested for melamine. They are also collecting food samples that have been recalled for testing and tracing the contaminated wheat gluten to see if it made its way to any other pet food companies. From the FDA’s web site:

  • FDA has dedicated each of its 20 district offices to this investigation and approximately 400 + employees are involved in sample pet food collection, monitoring of recall effectiveness, and preparing consumer complaint reports.
     
  • At least 3 field laboratories are directly involved in active sample analyses and each field laboratory is highly capable and standing by to conduct additional analyses as needed.
     
  • FDA's Veterinarians and Toxicologists from the Center for Veterinary Medicine and elsewhere in the agency have been researching potential causative agents, analyzing possibilities, evaluating scientific and analytical information, and guiding and supporting the overall efforts.
     
  • FDA is working with its regulatory partners in all 50 state agriculture and health agencies to inform them of the status of the investigative and analytical efforts.

FDA's Emergency Operations Center remains activated and is managing the incoming information from pet owners and veterinarians and others, and is making sure the information gets to our scientists and inspection teams.

HOW DO I KNOW IF MY PET IS AFFECTED?

Affected individuals often vomit soon (1-12 hours) after ingesting the food, some become lethargic and lose their appetites. Some salivate and have oral ulcerations. Weakness and bloody urine has also been reported. The most consistent finding is that blood values for BUN/creatinine and phosphorus are elevated.

Many colleagues are reporting confirmed exposure to the diet with a wide spectrum of presentations where some individuals affected exhibit signs of mild renal insufficiency, developing after days or weeks, while others rapidly exhibit signs of acute renal failure.

Given what we know about the toxicity of melamine, it is hard to make more specific treatment recommendations other than treatment of renal failure.

We can easily screen your pet if you are concerned. Pet food companies are willing to pay for treatment of affected animals but not for screening (the exception is Hill’s Pet Nutrition, which is contributing for screening tests of pet owners who purchased the prescription m/d diet through their veterinarians in 2007).

WHAT DO I DO IF MY PET IS AFFECTED?

If you think your pet might be affected, please come in for screening tests and treatment as soon as possible.

For more information, there are FAQ’s at

http://www.aahanet.org/About_aaha/petfoodrecall.html

http://www.avma.org/aa/menufoodsrecall/default.asp

www.fda.gov

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