Menu asks stores to remove pet food

Acting cautiously in the wake of rat poison being found in the pet food, Menu Foods Ltd. has decided to recall all brands irrespective of the date of manufacture. The company had earlier recalled 60 million cans of wet pet food in the U.S. last week.

The decision has been taken amid concerns that tainted products are still being sold in the market. The original recall, announced March 16, was applicable to wet food made at its Emporia, Kansas, and Pennsauken, New Jersey, plants between December 3 and March 6. The recall, however, doesn't include any dry pet food or pet food sold in Canada.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed that at least 16 cats and dogs have died as a result of eating the contaminated food. The suspected chemical which made the food toxic was recognized as aminopterin. The link to aminopterin was confirmed by New York State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker and Dr. Donald Smith, Dean of Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

Aminopterin can cause cancer and birth defects in humans and kidney failure in dogs and cats. How aminopterin got into the pet food, remains a mystery. Speculation is rife that wheat gluten imported from China and elsewhere could be the source. Aminopterin can be used as a rodenticide, although it is not approved for that use in Canada or the United States.

New York Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker said, "Any amount of this product is too much in food. This is one step in a long process that will lead us to know what has happened and how it has happened."

The tainted food fright has let loose a wave of concern among North American pet owners, who have flooded the company and government health offices with apprehensive calls.

The incident has become a public-relations nightmare for Menu Foods, The company is already facing several class-action lawsuits from pet owners with dead or sick animals.