Pet food recall expands, some dog biscuits pulled : US Business

By Lisa Richwine

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The company at the center of a massive pet food contamination scare expanded its recall on Thursday to include products with earlier production dates and 27 more varieties sold in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Canada-based Menu Foods said its previously announced recall now extended to certain "cuts-and-gravy" style wet pet food manufactured from to November 8 to March 6. The earliest production date had been December 3.

Menu Foods also recalled an additional 20 varieties sold in the United States and Canada, and seven sold in Europe.

Separately another company recalled dog biscuits made with contaminated wheat gluten that is the focus of an investigation into 16 deaths of cats and dogs.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has identified an industrial chemical called melamine in wheat gluten it said was shipped by a Chinese company to ChemNutra Inc. of Las Vegas. ChemNutra then sold the wheat gluten to Menu Foods and a few other companies that have since recalled pet products.

FDA officials said they remained unsure if melamine was the cause of cases of pet sickness and death. Limited studies have found melamine is "fairly nontoxic," but investigators are considering if dogs and cats might be especially sensitive to it, or if another chemical may have been present, they said.

"We are relatively certain there is a connection here someplace, whether the melamine or some other contaminant traveling along with melamine," Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, told reporters.

Investigators believe they have tracked all of the wheat gluten from the Chinese supplier, and the agency is not aware of any more recalls being planned, Sundlof said.

"I think the public should feel secure in purchasing pet foods not subject to this recall," he said.

Menu Foods announced in March its initial recall of 60 million cans and pouches of wet pet food sold under various brands including Procter & Gamble Co.'s Iams and Eukanuba, as well as store brands sold at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Safeway Inc. .

Menu Foods was unable to say how many additional units of its products were involved in the expanded recall.

Sunshine Mills Inc. of Red Bay, Alabama, said on Thursday it was recalling certain dog biscuits made during March and sold under Nurture, Pet Life, Lassie and other brands.

Sunshine Mills said it learned from the FDA that the company had received tainted wheat gluten. No deaths or illnesses have been reported, the company said.

ChemNutra announced on Tuesday it was recalling all wheat gluten it had received from the Chinese company that the FDA identified as Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd.

The FDA has received 12,000 reports of pet illnesses in the past three weeks. Officials have confirmed just 16 deaths but believe the actual number is higher, Sundlof said.

Colgate-Palmolive Co.'s Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc. has recalled its Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry food, while Nestle SA's Purina PetCare Co. recalled Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food with specific date codes.

Del Monte Pet Products has recalled certain dog treats and wet food.

The recalled products represent about 1 percent of the total pet food industry, Sundlof said. Information can be found on the FDA Web site at http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html.

Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said senators would hold a hearing on the pet food contamination after they return from a recess next week.

Also on Thursday, the FDA warned consumers not to use American Bullie A.B. Bull Pizzle Puppy Chews and Dog Chews manufactured and distributed by T.W. Enterprises of Ferndale, Washington. The chews could be contaminated with salmonella, the FDA said.

Representatives for T.W. Enterprises could not immediately be reached for comment.

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