It appears the newly recalled dog biscuits come from Sunshine Mills.  

I don't know who's politics might or might not be a factor in this and similar instances.

However, de-regulating, or expecting corporations to self-regulate, will not work. As I said in a previous post, for businesses, the bottom line is the only line that matters.

Now, I don't know that this totally true across the spectrum of all possible issues, but "getting government out of business" is more of a Republican mantra than a Democratic mantra.

Not that there's anything WRONG with that   :wink:   ... but it isn't nearly as IMPORTANT as the SAFETY of our food and water supply. (Up to and including, of course, what we feed our pets.)  

How many recalls does it take to revisit standards and inspections?

The date of the contamination has now been pushed BACK!

38 pets dead in Oregon at:

2yfotd

And another on the date now being November 8.


 
   
   
Menu Foods expands pet food recall
Thu Apr 5, 2007 3:26 PM ET



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Menu Foods has expanded its recall of dog and cat foods to include products with an earlier production date and 20 more varieties, the company said on Thursday.

The Canada-based company said the recall now included all products manufactured with wheat gluten bought from ChemNutra Inc. going back to November 8, 2006.

In March, Menu Foods recalled 60 million cans and pouches of "cuts-and-gravy" style wet pet food sold under various brands after the deaths of 14 cats and dogs. The earliest production date announced at the time was December 3, 2006. The wheat gluten was last used March 6, Menu Foods said.

Sunshine Mills Inc. of Alabama also is recalling dog biscuits made with contaminated wheat gluten, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said. Company officials had no immediate comment.

The FDA has identified melamine, a chemical used in plastics, as a contaminant in wheat gluten supplied to Menu Foods. Officials said Thursday they remained unsure if melamine was the cause of any cases of pet sickness or death.

 

2e96vm

 

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And from Bloomberg:

 
 


 


U.S. FDA Investigators Say Pet Food Recall Extended (Update1)

By Kevin Bell

April 5 (Bloomberg) -- A recall of North American pet food linked to at least 16 animal deaths was extended today after U.S. investigators traced a suspect ingredient to dog biscuits.

Pet treats made by Sunshine Mills, based in Red Bay, Alabama, will be recalled after officials found it used wheat gluten that may have contained melamine, said Stephen Sundlof, the director of the Center for Veterinary Medicine at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, today in a news conference today.

Menu Foods Ltd., which recalled 60 million pet food cans and pouches on March 16, said today it's extending the recall date to pet food made between Nov. 8 and March 6. The FDA last week said it found melamine, which is used to make plastic kitchen utensils and fertilizers, in some of the company's wet pet food. At least five pet-food makers have recalled some products.

``We still have a lot of work in understanding why melamine is involved,'' Sundlof said. ``We are relatively certain there is a connection here someplace.''

Melamine, a ``relatively non-toxic'' substance, may be linked to another substance that has not yet been identified that could have contributed to pet deaths, he said. The FDA has received more than 12,000 complaints from pet owners.

Menu Foods said in a statement today that a total of 20 varieties of dog and cat food have been added to the recall list, including Science Diet Feline Savory Cuts Can and Grreat Choice wet dog food. Company spokesman Sam Bornstein didn't immediately return a telephone call. Originally, the pet-food maker said the recall applied to food made as early as Dec. 3.

Units of Menu Foods Income Fund, which owns Menu Foods Ltd., fell 21 cents, or 4.6 percent, to C$4.35 by 3:28 p.m. in trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. They've fallen 41 percent since March 15, the day before the recall.

A receptionist at Sunshine Mills who declined to identify herself said officials couldn't comment immediately.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kevin Bell in Toronto at kbell2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 5, 2007 15:30 EDT



 


 
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Sunshine Pet Treats Website is down.  They make Crunchin Bones and PupCorn both of which I feed liberally to my dogs.  I am hoping that the reall effects the regular kind of biscuits and not the puffed variety.

.

I don't recall any better behavior on the part of corporations operating under more regulation but this is how a free market works.  They have failed the test and we get to put them out of business so they don't get to do this again.

And certainly anyone who wants to do so has the right to sue individually or via class action.

The FDA is a shining example of regulational failure.  See Celebrex, Vioox and all the other FUBARS they have created.  FDA is populated with people on the pay of big drug companies who give favorable treatment to their drugs of choice and not the public welfare.  They OK the drugs manufactured by the companies they represent then a few years later, after the corporation has collected massive profits, we are told the drug will kill us!  No accountability at all.

So it seems suits are an integral part of open markets but I think this is political but it is internationally political not DNC/GOP so much since Menu Foods is Canadian and the wheat is Chinese.

Read today the Chinese deny anything wrong with the wheat when it left China, too.  No surprise there!

I have been feeding my nursing mothers Crunchin Bones, all they wanted as they have chicken liver and I thought they would need the iron for the puppies.  Now I am waiting to see if that is what Sunshine recalled.  I order by the case, six huge barrels so maybe mine predate the recall.

It has been moved back to Nov 8 and more types of the canned foods within the companies named, too.

Every day something new is added.  I have one sick mother dog, Boop.  I hope she is just tired from these pups keeping her awake, etc.  I am weaning them with Esbilac dog milk replacement.

Pups can drink once their eyes open and do not have to be bottle fed and for that I am thankful.

.And of course Sunshine's website is down, prolly overloaded and their phone lines busy for I have tried both just to find out if these are in the recall.  I pray they are NOT!