Menu Foods knew about the pet food problem LAST MONTH...

[Manedwolf]

Pet Food Co. Knew Of Problem Last Month
In Tests After Complaints, As Many As 1 In 6 Animals Died; Cause Still A Mystery

(CBS/AP) As many as one in six animals died in tests of suspect dog and cat food by the manufacturer last month after complaints the products were poisoning pets around the country, the government said Monday.

"That's a huge number, considering when you feed pet food no animal should die," says CBS News The Early Show veterinarian Dr. Debbye Turner.

A federal investigation is focusing on wheat gluten as the likely source of contamination that sparked a recall last Friday of 60 million cans and pouches of the suspect food, said Stephen F. Sundlof, the Food and Drug Administration's top veterinarian.

"I'm certain someone's going to figure this out because there are a lot of pet foods involved, a lot of pets involved and a lot of veterinarians who are upset," Dr. Ann Hohenhaus of New York's Animal Medical Center told CBS News.

Last month they knew.

How would you feel if your "man's best friend" of many years died suddenly because of food they knew was possibly fatally toxic? Or your kids' pets?

This is the sort of thing that once led to mobs showing up at a building and people being tarred and feathered. Shame that can't happen anymore.

[wmenorr67]

How about a class action federal lawsuit?  I'm sure there is a jury out there willing to award millions based on the fact the company knew something was wrong and continued to sell the food.  The unfortunate thing is that the lawyers would get the biggest percentage of the settlement. 

[Thor]

I think individual lawsuits levied against the company would be more in order.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

How do you know the manufacturers knew about the danger a month ago?  I didn't see anything to that effect in the article you quoted.

[Sindawe]

Other reports online about this indicate that Menu Foods were aware of a possible issue with their products Feb. 20.

http://manufacturing.net/article/CA6426131.html

[AmbulanceDriver]

I think individual lawsuits levied against the company would be more in order.

That's assuming there's gonna be anything left of Menu Foods after Iams, Eukanuba, Walmart, etc.  all get done with them......

[Manedwolf]

I think individual lawsuits levied against the company would be more in order.

That's assuming there's gonna be anything left of Menu Foods after Iams, Eukanuba, Walmart, etc.  all get done with them......

They won't make too much noise. After all, Iams and Eukanuba were representing themselves as somehow superior and better for your pet, when it turns out their stuff was the same junk as the generic brands, just relabeled and with a much higher price on the can.

[Car Knocker]

After all, Iams and Eukanuba were representing themselves as somehow superior and better for your pet, when it turns out their stuff was the same junk as the generic brands

Source, please?

[charby]

doesn't mean it is relabeled junk, more than likely it is a different formula and ingredients than the cheaper food.

Do you really think all the vegetables in a name brand company are canned in factories owned by the name brand?

-Charby

[Sindawe]

From the Iams website splash screen:

"Our Mission is to enhance the well-being of dogs and cats by providing world-class quality foods and pet care products that delight the customer and strengthen the human-pet bond."

http://www.iamsco.com/splash/iamsco_splash_page.jhtml

From the Eukanuba site:

"Eukanuba provides custom nutrition to help your pet be the best of its breed. From life stage to lifestyle, our nutritional options are engineered to help your pet achieve optimal health."

http://us.eukanuba.com/eukanuba/en_US/jsp/Euk_Page.jsp;jsessionid=X1WU0AIK2IGZJQFIAJ1JY2WAVABHRHE0?pageID=PR

From the web page concerning this recall:

"To read can product codes, refer to the bottom of the can. The first four numbers of the second line of numbers are the date code, and the following four numbers indicate the plant code. For example, if the second line begins with four numbers from 6339 to 7073 followed by the plant code 4197, then the can should be recalled. For foil pouches, the code numbers are located at the lower left hand corner on the back of the pouch. The date and plant codes appear in the third group of numbers, beginning an 11-digit sequence. See www.Iams.com and www.Eukanuba.com for illustrated details. Review the list of involved products here."...'All other canned and small foil wet pouch products produced at other plants are not affected by this issue"

http://us.iams.com/iams/en_US/jsp/IAMS_Page.jsp?pageID=PCA&articleID=300003

All these product came fron one plant in Kansas ( http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fi-petfood19mar19,1,3768069.story?coll=la-headlines-nation )

[Car Knocker]

That all these foods came from one plant doesn't, by any stretch of the imagination, mean that the products are identical.  Bread bakeries make everything from garlic Italian to pumpernikel to sweet rolls in the same bakery, on the same equipment, with many of the same ingredients and there is no doubt that these are substantially different products.

[garyk/nm]

Here we go again defending Big Business. All of this crap came from the same factory, just had different labels put on. The owners should fry.
One of my co-workers just replaced a kitten that died from kidney failure, and the replacement is not looking good. Not a very big news campaign to keep this from happening.

Oh, and that high-priced Iams/Eukanuba you've been buying is no better than the Wally brand.
Same crap, different label.

[Car Knocker]

Here we go again, trashing a company with no evidence at all.

Again - proof that it's all the same, please?

Talk is cheap.

[garyk/nm]

Time will tell, I suppose.

[K Frame]

"Oh, and that high-priced Iams/Eukanuba you've been buying is no better than the Wally brand.
Same crap, different label."

In a word, absolute, utter bullshit.

What evidence do you have that supports that accusation?

Here's a concept that I HOPE isn't too hard for you...

Menu makes pet foods for many different companies/retailers. Simple, right?

Here's where it gets a little more difficult...

Menu works with the different independent companies to provide products to THEIR specifications -- Iams has a different formulary than Nutro, which has a different formulary from Science Diet, etc.

The retailers who come to Menu for their products generally pick from a pre-set "slate" of formulas. That's why if you go to the lists you'll see some products with the same lot codes being sold by different retailers.

Now here's where it might get just a little more difficult to understand. Stop me if the concepts are flying past you too quickly.

ALL of these products, whether they're made for the lowest end retailer or the highest end pet food company, have a LOT of ingredients in common -- including the suspected cause of the problems -- the wheat gluten.

Eukanuba pet food very likely has fewer fillers than, say, Hi Vee pet food, more real meat and fewer by products, but they share a LOT of ingredients in common.

Correlary. Many of the vehicles produced by Ford -- cars, trucks, vans, etc. -- have a LOT of parts in common. Does that mean that every vehicle coming out of a Ford factory is, in fact, actually a Taurus?


Just because products are made by the same company in the same factory does NOT mean that they are identical.

[Manedwolf]

"Oh, and that high-priced Iams/Eukanuba you've been buying is no better than the Wally brand.
Same crap, different label."

In a word, absolute, utter bullshit.

What evidence do you have that supports that accusation?

Here's a concept that I HOPE isn't too hard for you...

Menu makes pet foods for many different companies/retailers. Simple, right?

Here's where it gets a little more difficult...

Menu works with the different independent companies to provide products to THEIR specifications -- Iams has a different formulary than Nutro, which has a different formulary from Science Diet, etc.

The retailers who come to Menu for their products generally pick from a pre-set "slate" of formulas. That's why if you go to the lists you'll see some products with the same lot codes being sold by different retailers.

Now here's where it might get just a little more difficult to understand. Stop me if the concepts are flying past you too quickly.

ALL of these products, whether they're made for the lowest end retailer or the highest end pet food company, have a LOT of ingredients in common -- including the suspected cause of the problems -- the wheat gluten.

Eukanuba pet food very likely has fewer fillers than, say, Hi Vee pet food, more real meat and fewer by products, but they share a LOT of ingredients in common.

Correlary. Many of the vehicles produced by Ford -- cars, trucks, vans, etc. -- have a LOT of parts in common. Does that mean that every vehicle coming out of a Ford factory is, in fact, actually a Taurus?


Just because products are made by the same company in the same factory does NOT mean that they are identical.

Eukanuba pet food very likely has fewer fillers than, say, Hi Vee pet food, more real meat and fewer by products, but they share a LOT of ingredients in common.

Actually, Eukanuba has a lot MORE fillers than cheaper wetfood brands like Purina's Friskies, which have far more organ meats than fillers. Friskies isn't on the recall list.

As for the rest of the arguments, hey, don't tell me. Tell all the people whose pets, especially those they regarded as family members, just died as a result of corporate negligence. Those brands represented themselves as something special, yet they were subcontracted to a third party with apparently shoddy quality control at some level. And as for that third party, Menu Foods, they knew, they didn't let the public know. To me, that's criminal.

I can understand standing up for the web of megacorps sometimes...but not when it involves preventable DEATH.

[Sindawe]

I can understand standing up for the web of megacorps sometimes...but not when it involves preventable DEATH.

Oh come on.  Its just some freaking dogs and stupid cats. What does their suffering count when compared to the profit margins and stock performance of the companies selling the food?  What are you?  Some kind of tree-hugging communist or something?

The more I learn about people, the better I like my cats, fish and houseplants.

[LadySmith]

So far a confirmed 13 cats and one dog have been killed by the pet food. I don't think that includes the 6 out of 50 that died during the tests I just heard about on the radio. I can't imagine losing one of my cats by simply feeding it. Feline leukemia is doing enough damage to my household. Can't lash out at a disease. Now if I had a neglectful target, as in this case, I believe I'd get seriously pissed.

[K Frame]

"Tell all the people whose pets, especially those they regarded as family members, just died as a result of corporate negligence."

I wasn't addressing that aspect of this at all, Manedwolf, just the claim that all of the food coming out of that plant is exactly the same; only the labels are different.

I guess that concept was too hard for you.

"Actually, Eukanuba has a lot MORE fillers than cheaper wetfood brands like Purina's Friskies..."

Proof, please?


"I can understand standing up for the web of megacorps sometimes...but not when it involves preventable DEATH."

Please show me where I was stainding up for a megacorp?

Hint for you.

I wasn't. Another difficult-to-grasp concept?

I was addressing the manufacture of different types of pet foods only, NOT the motivations behind those who own the company.

[roo_ster]

Sometimes pet food is different enough to make a difference & be noticed (Ol' Roy vs Diamond, made in different factories).  Sometimes, not so much (Diamond vs Costco store brand, made in the same factory).

When I checked out hte ingredient compositions of the major top-line dog foods, Costco store brand was their equal (ingredient-wise), and by the same guys who make other top-line foods.

I can't speak for all store-brands, however.

[TarpleyG]

Pretty intense review of different foods...

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/family/cat-food/review.html

[Manedwolf]

"Tell all the people whose pets, especially those they regarded as family members, just died as a result of corporate negligence."

I wasn't addressing that aspect of this at all, Manedwolf, just the claim that all of the food coming out of that plant is exactly the same; only the labels are different.

I guess that concept was too hard for you.

"Actually, Eukanuba has a lot MORE fillers than cheaper wetfood brands like Purina's Friskies..."

Proof, please?


"I can understand standing up for the web of megacorps sometimes...but not when it involves preventable DEATH."

Please show me where I was stainding up for a megacorp?

Hint for you.

I wasn't. Another difficult-to-grasp concept?

I was addressing the manufacture of different types of pet foods only, NOT the motivations behind those who own the company.

Who pi**ed in your cornflakes? What's with the insults?

And maybe you ought to be thankful that your dog there wasn't a victim of this food. If they were, I think you'd be shouting from the other side about now.

[charby]

No one pissed in his Wheaties, he was just pointing out some of the erroneous statements that were being made.

I didn't see any insults.

[Manedwolf]

No one pissed in his Wheaties, he was just pointing out some of the erroneous statements that were being made.

I didn't see any insults.

Being sarcastic about "I guess that was too hard for you" is pretty darned rude and uncalled for, IMO.

[roo_ster]

Nobody peed in his Wheaties.  They peed in his Eukanuba.

Which is why I store my dogs' food in a metal, lidded garbage can.  Prevents such occurances & helps me see America as a shining city on a hill.  Try it, sometime.  Mind-altering pharmeceuticals help, too.