More Products (Treats) To Be Recalled
Apr 2nd, 2007 by Beate
Pet owners are not likely to get much compensation if they individually sue pet food-maker Menu Foods over the death of a dog or cat, although they might fare better if they joined forces in a class action suit, legal experts say.
Most state laws consider animals — even beloved pets — to be only personal property. That means that even for the loss of a faithful family companion, a successful civil lawsuit would not likely produce much reward, said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond.
“With animals, all you get is the value of the property,” he said. “There are no emotional damages.”
In early March, Menu Foods recalled 60 million containers of its “cuts and gravy” style wet pet foods, sold under nearly 100 store labels and major brands across North America. It did so after cats fell sick and died during routine company taste tests.
It is not clear how many pets may have been poisoned by the apparently contaminated food, although anecdotal reports suggest hundreds if not thousands have died. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has received more than 8,000 complaints while the company has fielded 300,000 calls from consumers. The company has only confirmed the deaths of 15 cats and one dog. There is no central database tracking pet deaths in the United States.
Numerous pet owners around the country have sued or are considering legal action against Menu Foods. Some are seeking class action status.
“I would love to find an attorney to take on this company,” said Brenda Hitchcock of Tampa, Fla. Hitchcock said she racked up $4,000 in veterinarian bills trying to save her 5-year-old cat “S.S.” to no avail. She said she still has two pouches of the recalled food to prove her case.
Ontario-based Menu Foods has taken a low-key approach to the recall, expressing concern for people who have lost pets and offering to pay veterinary bills if a pet’s illness or death can be directly linked to the food, but admitting no wrongdoing.
Jack Hall, a product liability lawyer from Pittsburgh, said the owner of a dog or cat used for breeding or of a specially trained animal could argue for higher compensation on the basis of lost potential earnings.
Hall said pet owners would fare better if they joined in a class action suit.
“I would think this kind of case would allow itself to a class action. That could work for somebody here,” he said.
Still, Tobias said even a class-action suit could be tricky.
“The factual variations in the cases will make it very difficult to form a class action,” he said. “Will people have the proof they need to trace the harm done to the animal back to Menu Foods?”
Dog and cat food sales in the United States reached over $14.3 billion in 2005, according to the Pet Food Institute that represents manufacturers of commercial pet food.
On Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said recalled pet foods contained melamine, a chemical used to make plastics, but that its tests failed to confirm the presence of a rat poison, aminopterin, reported by the New York State Food Laboratory. The FDA said it also found melamine in wheat gluten used as an ingredient in the wet-style products. Still, it was not immediately clear whether the melamine was the culprit in the deaths.
“We are angered that a source outside the company has adulterated our product,” Menu Foods Chief Executive Paul Henderson said Friday.
Nestle Purina PetCare Co. said Saturday it was recalling all sizes and varieties of its Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food with specific date codes. Purina said a limited amount of the food contained a contaminated wheat gluten from China.
Also on Saturday, Del Monte Pet Products announced it was voluntarily recalling some of its dog and cat treats with certain date codes. The affected brands are Jerky Treats Beef Flavor Dog Snacks, Gravy Train Beef Sticks Dog Snacks and Pounce Meaty Morsels Moist Chicken Flavor Cat Treats. The company said two other products sold under private labels also are affected: Ol’ Roy Beef Flavor Jerky Strips Dog Treats and Ol’ Roy Beef Flavor Snack Stick Dog Treats.
Del Monte said it was recalling the food after learning that the wheat gluten supplied to it from a Chinese plant contained melamine.
Henderson insisted his company’s products are safe and undergo the “highest levels” of testing.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is blocking imports of wheat gluten from a company in China, acting after an investigation implicated the contaminated ingredient in the recent pet-food deaths of cats and dogs.
The Food and Drug Administration took action against wheat gluten from Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. in Wangdien, China, after the U.S. recall of nearly 100 brands of pet food made with the chemically contaminated ingredient. The pet food, tainted with the chemical melamine, apparently has resulted in kidney failure in an unknown number of animals across the country.
Click here for a list of foods subject to recall.
Wheat gluten from China has been suspected in the outbreak since the first of multiple recalls was announced in mid-March. Even more pet food could be recalled in the next few days, though there probably has been no contamination of human food, FDA officials said Monday.
The FDA reported last week that it had found melamine in samples of the vegetable protein source used in the recalled wet and dry pet foods and treats, as well as in cats that died after eating contaminated food.
“The wheat gluten that is positive for melamine all has come from this manufacturer,” Neal Bataller, director of the division of compliance with the FDA’s veterinary medicine office, told reporters. Melamine is used in plastics, countertops, glue, fire retardants and other products. Its toxicity to dogs and cats is unknown, but it is not allowed in food in any quantity.
Geng Xiujuan, Xuzhou Anying’s sales manager, said the company was aware of the FDA’s import alert and was looking into it. However, Geng said the company, based in the eastern province of Jiangsu, had not manufactured the wheat gluten but had instead bought it from companies in neighboring provinces. She said Xuzhou Anying sold it onward to another Jiangsu company, Suzhou Textile Import and Export Co.
“There are many other exporters and I don’t see why they would just blame us,” said Geng, adding that the company was undertaking an inspection but that it was too early to announce results.
The FDA still doesn’t know where all the contaminated imported wheat gluten ended up, though it appears unlikely any made it into human food.
“At this time, we can say that there is no evidence to suggest that any of the imported, suspect wheat gluten formed positive lots that made it into the human food supply,” said Michael Rogers, who oversees field investigations for the FDA’s office of regulatory affairs.
The imported product was only minimally labeled but apparently went only to pet food producers. The FDA considers the contamination an aberration since wheat gluten generally is not considered a product at risk for contamination.
“This should not be viewed as suddenly our food supply is unsafe, because I don’t believe that to be the case. In fact, the opposite is true,” agency chief Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach said.
FDA officials said its nationwide investigation could turn up more pet food manufacturers that used the tainted ingredient, prompting even more products to be recalled.
“It is impossible for us to say at this time that there won’t be additional recalls. We’re continuing to follow the trail,” said David Elder, who oversees enforcement in the FDA’s office of regulatory affairs. Menu Foods, a major manufacturer of nearly 100 store- and major-brand pet foods, announced the first recall March 16. Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc., Del Monte Pet Products and Nestle Purina PetCare Co. all have since recalled some of their products as well.
The FDA’s import alert, disclosed Monday but posted on its Web site Friday, notifies its field offices to detain any wheat gluten offered for import from the Chinese company.
The order also recommends inspectors screen all wheat gluten from China as well as from the Netherlands, a country through which transshipping of Chinese products can occur.
The FDA could not immediately say how much wheat gluten was exported to the U.S. by Xuzhou Anying. The FDA also was working to determine whether it shipped any other food products to the U.S., said Ellen Morrison, director of FDA’s office of crisis management.
The FDA has received in recent weeks more than 9,400 pet food-related complaints from consumers — nearly twice what the agency receives in a full year for all the products it regulates, von Eschenbach said.
“The sheer volume of this is extraordinary,” he added.
The number of confirmed pet deaths remains at roughly 15, though anecdotal reports suggest hundreds of pets may have died. Cats appear to have been especially susceptible to the contamination.
Also Monday, Eight In One Inc., a division of United Pet Group Inc., announced the unrelated recall of all Dingo brand Chick’n Jerky treats for dogs, cats and ferrets. The treats are being recalled because they may be contaminated with salmonella, the company said. They were sold at Target, PetSmart and other stores.
And it is going on and on, when will that ever stop. I’m so glad our food, Life’s Abundance and Flint River Ranch - both holistic brands are not effected!
WASHINGTON Apr 5, 2007 (AP)— The recall of pet foods and treats contaminated with an industrial chemical expanded Thursday to include dog biscuits made by an Alabama company and sold by Wal-Mart under the Ol’Roy brand.
The Food and Drug Administration said the manufacturer, Sunshine Mills Inc., is recalling dog biscuits made with imported Chinese wheat gluten. Testing has revealed the wheat gluten, a protein source, was contaminated with melamine, used to make plastics and other industrial products.
Also Thursday, Menu Foods, a major manufacturer of brand- and private-label wet pet foods expanded its original recall to include a broader range of dates and varieties. Menu Foods was the first of at least six companies to recall the now more than 100 brands of pet foods and treats made with the contaminated ingredient.
The recall now covers “cuts and gravy”-style products made between Nov. 8 and March 6, Menu Foods said. Previously, it only applied to products made beginning Dec. 3. In addition, Menu Foods said it was expanding the recall to include more varieties, but no new brands.
The FDA knows of no other pet product companies planning recalls, agency officials told reporters.
“Other than that, I think, you know, the public should feel secure in purchasing pet foods that are not subject to the recall,” Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, told reporters.
Sunshine, of Red Bay, Ala., sells pet foods and treats under its own brands as well as private labels sold by grocery, mass merchant and dollar stores, according to its Web site. The recall included some of the products made for sale under five private labels, including Ol’Roy biscuits, sold by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and Stater Bros. large biscuits, sold by Stater Bros. Markets. It also covered a portion of Sunshine’s own Nurture, Lassie and Pet Life dog biscuit brands.
Previously, Menu Foods had recalled some wet-style dog foods it made for sale under the Stater Bros. and Ol’Roy brands as well.
Sunshine said there have been no reports of dog illnesses or deaths in connection with the recalled dog biscuits, which contain one percent or less wheat gluten by weight.
The FDA continues to focus on melamine as the suspected contaminant of the pet products, though Sundlof said it could be a marker for the presence of another, yet-unknown substance. Melamine previously was not believed to be toxic.
The recall is one of the largest pet food recalls in history, Sundlof said. The FDA has received more than 12,000 complaints but has confirmed only about 15 pet deaths. Anecdotal reports suggest the tally is in the hundreds or low thousands.
Sunshine Mills said it would post a complete list of the recalled dog biscuits on its Web site, http://www.sunshinemills.com/.
The FDA last week blocked wheat gluten imports from the Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. in the eastern city of Xuzhou, saying they contained melamine. A Las Vegas importer, ChemNutra Inc., recalled this week all wheat gluten it had purchased from the supplier and in turn distributed to pet food manufacturers.
Xuzhou Anying has said it is investigating the claims.
On the Net:
Sunshine Mills Inc.: http://www.sunshinemills.com/
FDA pet food recall: http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html