Alabama-based pet food company Sunshine Mills is recalling some of its dog treats and dog biscuits as part of the continuing dog food recall stemming from contaminated wheat gluten, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced April 5.
Additionally, Menu Foods is extending its recall of 95 brands of dog and cat food to additional manufacture dates, the FDA said.
The FDA has finished tracing all routes of the melamine-tainted wheat gluten supplied by a company in China, Stephen Sundlof, DVM, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine said this morning. It does not expect additional pet food recalls but because the investigation is ongoing, it cannot guarantee this to be the case, he said.
Last week the FDA issued an import alert blocking all wheat gluten imports from Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd. According to some news reports, however, the company said it did not manufacture the wheat but bought it from other sources. Days later, ChemNutra Inc. of Las Vegas, recalled wheat gluten it had imported from Xuzhou that it distributed to three pet food manufacturers and one distributor that supplies wheat gluten to the pet food industry.
The United States “reached out” to the Chinese Embassy regarding the problem, said Michael Rogers, director of the FDA’s Division of Field Investigations and Office of Regulatory Affairs. “We fully expect the Chinese government will cooperate,” he said.
One hundred percent of all Chinese imports of wheat gluten are being tested at this time, Sundlof added. The contaminated product does not appear to have entered the human food supply.
The FDA said it continues to look for additional toxins in recalled dog foods, but melamine, a synthetic plastic not approved for pet or human consumption, is likely to blame or is at least related to the cause of the pet illnesses and deaths.
The initial pet food recall announced March 16 by Menu Foods involved only wet-style dog and cat food but since the likely contaminant was found, the recall has spread to other manufacturers including Del Monte Pet Products and dry food, such as Hill’s Prescription Diet m/d Feline.
To date, 12,000 people have called into the FDA’s recall hotline in relation to the pet food recall, said Sundlof. That’s more calls than the agency typically receives in two years, he added.
Although the FDA can only confirm 16 animal deaths directly related to the recall at this time, it expects that number to grow once it sorts through its calls and information sent by veterinarians and animal hospitals. The agency’s priority at this time, however, is to remove all contaminated product from the shelves and ensure the recall’s effectiveness, Sundlof said.
A list of the pet food brands that were recalled on April 5 can be found at http://www.menufoods.com/recall/Press%20Release%2004052007%20US.htm, and a full list of the recalled Menu Foods brands can be found at http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_dog.html.
For more DogChannel articles on the dog food recall, visit http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-news/dog-food-recall-updates.aspx